About Hone – hone.social

Hone is a free weekly DJ workshop in NYC, hosted by Lenora and Masha. We provide a place for everyone to learn and practice their skills in a casual, supportive, one-on-one environment.

Who We Are

Ma Sha is a Moscow-born and Brooklyn-based DJ and producer. She is a co-founder of Kindergarten, an event series and show on Newtown Radio.

Masha teaches on Fridays at Hone.

Lenora is an art director and designer who DJs under the name Circe. Lenora also runs SISTER: a virtual collective women and GNC electronic music professionals working to make the industry an equal place.

Lenora teaches on Saturdays at Hone.

Our Mission

We started Hone as an answer to the question: How can I learn and improve my skills as a DJ when I don’t own equipment?

It can be difficult to find space to learn on professional DJ gear as a beginner if you can’t afford gear or rental time, or access to a home setup or studio space.

For many of us, the only opportunities to practice CDJs are live at an event. (Not exactly a low-pressure learning environment.)

Both of us had separately noticed the lack in the community and were searching for a solution, so we put our heads together to create Hone in order to fill the void.

Inspired by the many spaces we’ve seen around the world that offer practice time for a fee, or sporadic workshops for free — we knew that offering free lessons on a consistent, frequent basis was an essential part of our mission.

How it Works

Hone is a space for us to share the art of mixing and provide time, space, and a supportive environment to learn. Hone is open to all ages and experience levels.

We have four hour-long sessions available each week on Friday and Saturday afternoons, to provide space for practice, recording mixes, and learning turntables or CDJs, with the option to play live on the radio.

Priority is given based on lack of access to equipment, recording deadline, and level of experience with preference to beginners. It is especially important to us to provide time for under-21 DJs as well, who are often unable to practice in bars or nightclubs.

Our residency is made possible by the long-running independent Internet Radio station, Newtown Radio. Founded in 2009 and playing host to over 70 different shows each month, Newtown Radio is dedicated to sharing the great music that the neighborhoods around Newtown Creek — Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Bushwick, Long Island City, Ridgewood — create and enjoy. We’re thrilled to call it our home.

Listen to our sessions live, every other Saturday from 12–2pm!

Listen to Newtown Radio