Mission 1: Meet the Machine
What your child does in their first Rainbow DJ Lab Mission, what you do, and what to ask at dinner.
Mission 1 · Red · Meet the Machine
Mission: "I can play a song and bring in a second one."
Mission 1 is about getting comfortable. Your child touches a real DJ controller, plays two songs, fades from one to the other, and leaves with a DJ name.
The Lab is proposed and not running yet. Children join any Tuesday and start here. See the schedule.
Arrival (for you)
- Sign your child in with a coach. You'll do this every Tuesday.
- Check that your pickup list is right. Your child goes home only with an adult on it, after a photo ID check.
- Stay and watch if you'd like. See the Open door policy.
What your child does, block by block
| Block | Minutes | In Mission 1 |
|---|---|---|
| Drop In | 0–7 | Music from the red crate is already playing. Kids clap on beat 1, stomp on beat 4, and get their Passport. |
| Mission Card | 7–12 | Kids hear the Mission and guess: easy, medium or hard? |
| Watch Me Think | 12–20 | A controller tour with color stickers: red is volume and faders, blue is tempo, green is EQ, yellow is pads. Load, play, cue. Everyone sets their headphone volume caps together. |
| Deck Time 1 | 20–35 | Everyone tries Mild: load two songs and fade from one to the other. Jobs rotate every 3:45. |
| Move Break | 35–40 | Freeze dance: freeze every time Coach stops the music. |
| Deck Time 2 | 40–55 | Kids pick a level. Mild: fade between two songs. Medium: use the crossfader instead of the channel faders. Spicy: bring song 2 in exactly on the chorus of song 1. |
| Wordplay Lab | 55–70 | DJ Name Builder: your name + a sound + a color. Try three and pick a favorite. |
| Spotlight | 70–82 | Volunteers play 60 seconds on the big speaker. Classmates give a glow and a grow. |
| Check Out | 82–90 | Traffic-light self-rating, a "Next time I'll…" line, Passport stamps, gear away. |
During Watch Me Think, the coach says things like: "I'm watching song 1 run out. I want song 2 ready before that, so I press cue now."
Passport skills in this Mission
- Load and play two songs
- Fade between them
- Find a song in my crate fast
What a 9-year-old might feel
- Excited, and a bit overwhelmed. It's a lot of buttons. The color stickers and the "one Mission" focus help.
- Shy about Spotlight. That's fine. It's volunteers only, and watching first is completely okay.
- Frustrated if a mix crashes. That's when they'll first hear the room shout "Data!" It's meant to make mistakes feel normal, even funny.
What to ask at dinner
This Mission's home question: "What's your DJ name, and how did you make it?"
Also try: - "What job did you have first: DJ, Co-pilot, Hype or Logger?" - "Did you go mild, medium or spicy?" - "What's your 'Next time I'll…' sentence?"
If you opted in to recap emails
You'll get a short recap after class. You can also see your child's activity with your private family link to the live class app, emailed when your child was approved for the class: their station and job, level, self-rating, "Next time I'll…" line, Mix Log and Passport stamps. The link shows only your own child, never other children. If it's lost or shared, the coach re-issues it. (If you didn't give digital-tracking consent, your child's in-class answers aren't saved in the app; they tell the coach instead.)
You'll also get an email when your child is signed out at the end of class. See Privacy.