Anyone
who has tried to scratch on belt drive decks or anything that isn't
top end, is going to know that it really is important (not only
for improving your learning curve, but also maintaining your sanity)
to ensure that the equipment you're using is suitable.
The first thing you're going to need is a set of good, slippy slip
mats. Either go into a specialist record shop, and ask their opinion
(They should point you towards hip-hop mats (coz they are designed
to aid the hip-hop artists do his 'thang' (or her))). As
I said before in the equipment section, you can place a piece of
wax paper underneath the slip mat to aid it in its slippiness, the
paper creating less friction. Be careful though, as much as sticky
mates can hinder the budding scratch artist, too slippy a mat can
also really cause problems (Not too sure what, but that's what they
say!!)
You're also going to have to make sure that things like needles,
and the general well being of the vinyl you are using are up to
scratch (forgive the pun). Make sure the needle is clean (without
all the sunk that gathers around it) relatively new (an old one
just won't do) and positioned correctly. A lot of people swear by
angling the needle in by about 10 degrees, meaning it cuts into
the records groove at an angle, therefore, giving it more bite,
and less chance of slipping. I don't know how it's done, and I have
absolutely no intention of learning. This set up, though giving
more traction wears out the record like a knife through butter.
(That's maybe a bit harsh, but it really does wear it down). This
also means dealing with the counter balance on the deck. Don't opt
directly for maximum weight though. Try and increase it gradually,
although you might only end up a couple of milligrams off maximum,
those milligrams can mean months of wear on your needle.
If the worst comes to the worst though, and the needle still flies
when you're trying to scratch, even with the counter weight set
to maximum, there are a few other options. The first is to put the
counter weight on backwards. Allegedly, this can give a little more
weight, because it's not tapered towards the front anymore. The
second (if you have the right kind of deck) is to raise the height
of the tone arm. This extra height creates more down-force. The
last - and most 'dangerous' to your needle is to add weight to the
cartridge, by means of a coin or blu-tack etc. Bad move, you can
watch the needle wear down this way!! And watch your wallet empty,
as you have to replace needles.
The other problem that you have to overcome before really mixing
it up and becoming a pro at scratching is your hand technique. Remember
that vinyl is really sensitive, and even with the extra pressure,
the new needles and the slippy mats, if you've a hand like a baby
elephant, then you're going to see that needle fly!!
Check out the vinyl you're using too. You may end up blaming bad
scratches on weight and bad mats, when in fact it comes down to
the size of the hole in your records. A wide hole is going to have
a lot of perpendicular movement going on when you try to scratch,
pulling the needle out of the groove. This can be fixed a couple
of ways. The fist is to put tape through the hole (reducing the
diameter of the hole). The second to find the sticky rings that
you put round paper when placing it in a ring binder, to reinforce
the existing holes. Put one of these either side, they are about
the right width, but if they are still too slack, put a few more
on, a little off center. If the hole is far too tight, then you
start to worry. I've actually bought records that won't fit onto
the plate. I know I'll incur the wrath of a thousand Dj's for saying
this, but all I do is get a small piece of sandpaper, roll it up
it a cylinder, put it through the hole in the record, then, holding
the sandpaper, spin the record round the sandpaper. Do this a couple
of times, and it will relax. A bit dangerous though, it has the
possibility of cracking your records.
Roc Raida DMC Scratch DJ Routine Live
in Shanghai 2007 Video
If you're a DJ lookin to learn how to scratch and do bodytricks
and more advanced shit... checkout the Grandmaster Roc Raida from
the X-Ecutioners in this exclusive video on DJViBE TV. Roc Raida
rips his winning DMC Scratch DJ Routine Live in Shanghai 2007..
the is the first episode in a 3 part series.
Here's
where it all starts to go wrong!! If I have any names or descriptions
completely screwed up, please tell me, I don't want to seem like an
arse!!
The baby scratch is probably the easiest scratch there is.
This is the one that I CAN do!! It has an easy pattern to remember
and it provides a great starting point for the beginner. This is the
one that anyone who comes to you're house, sees your decks, and says
"Can I have a go" will do almost immediately. It's just
a forwards movement followed immediately by a backwards movement.
It is important that the placement within the bar of tune is correct.
It's the convention to do the full forward and backward cycle in the
matter of one beat. Just think of it as starting the record, as though
you are going to drop in the tune in a mix, but then after half a
beat, pull it back. The speed that you do both of these actions with
can affect the sound produced, as does choosing whether to go backwards
or forwards first. This involves no cross-fader action, apart from
dropping it in, then taking it back out again.
The scribble scratch is all but identical to the baby scratch,
except that there are far more scratches. The technique is to tense
the forearm and wrist (you may have a better way, but this is what
I do) (Yes, I know two scratches!!) And then "stab" back
and forth. I put that in inverts coz I can't think of a better way
to describe it, the one I read says it's like having a bad case of
the shakes. The other way of doing it though (if they are limber enough)
is just to use your fingers to move the record back and forth through
the needle. It's basically the same; all you're trying to do is improve
the speed that you can scratch at. Obviously, through doing this,
you want to make the amount of vinyl passing under the needle as small
as possible. Just find the beat or sample you are scratching through,
and keep it on that, try not too spill too far before or after the
sample.
The tear involves a bit more skill than the scratches covered
so far. Essentially the movement is the same as a baby scratch but
is now split into three. The forward stroke stays the same, but the
backwards s split into two; the first half being fast and the second
being half the pace. Try to practice just the backward stroke first,
so that you can get used to changing the tempo. (Any drummers out
there would recognise this as a variation on the triple)
Using
the Fader
Before
I get going on this part, find out on your x-fader where the cut
in point is. This is the point where the channel first becomes audible.
It will help to know where on the fader this is.
The chop (or stab) is a perfect introduction to the use of
the cross fader. The scratch itself is the same as in the Baby Scratch,
but the difference is in using the crossfader to cut off the back
stroke halfway. The fader should start with the sound on (just past
the cut in point) and the forward stroke completed as normal. The
cut comes just before you start the back stroke where you should
close the fader. The key to this scratch is the timing of the fader
action. The overall sound created should be a short sudden scratch.
The forward scratch. Rather then go into a long-winded explanation,
I'll give you an example. Kadoc's Nightrain starts off with
a simple vocal saying "All aboard". Position the sample
so that it is right behind the needle. On a particular point (normally
at the start of a bar in this case) move the cross fader in and
let the record run. As the sample stops, pull the cross fader back,
wind the record back to the beginning of the sample, and let it
run again. Then it's matter of repeating till your hearts content,
playing about with the sample (I like using just the 'All' part
a couple of times, then dropping in the whole sample. The trick
here though is to make sure you get the sample wound back to the
correct place, in time. Some Dj's use tape or a marker, to aid them
visually in this, but I tend just to get used to how far it has
to get pulled back (of course I use headphones as well, which a
lot of scratch Dj's do without.)
The Chirp this is where hand-co-ordination really comes into
play. Start with the fader open and make a forward stroke as normal
but fade out as you get to the end. The reverse is carried out on
the back stroke i.e. start fading the back stroke in. As the name
suggests this should create short snappy chirp sounds.
Grand Master Flash Scratch DJ Routine
Video
DJ Grand Master Flash pioneering use of the turntables as a musical
instrument, which helped elevate the status of the DJ to a masterful,
artistic position. Watch his scratch routine exclusive on DJvibe.com
where he scratchs and beat juggles like a mad mad.
The transformer all explanations of this seem quite confusing
to me. As far as I can gather, the essence of this is a use of high-speed
cuts in and out with the crossfader. At the beginning of this scratch
the fader should be in the closed position. When you are ready to
begin you should slowly drag the record forwards and backwards under
the needle. The fader should then be used to cut the sound in and
then back out straight away. To create a desired stuttering effect,
the fader needs to be moved in and out quickly, and quite a few
times. One tip I read was to find the cut I point, and place your
thumb at that point. Now every-time you want the scratch to cut
in, you just tap the fader with a finger. The fader should hit your
thumb, then bounce back into the closed position (with a little
bend of the thumb that is) Now all you have to do is tap till your
hearts content. There are special techniques to get this going faster,
which I've put at the bottom.
Here's some background to that Transformer scratch though:-
1) The Transformer Scratch, a bit of history:
It's named after the sound made by the American TV Cartoon Transformers,
which, when "transforming" between robot and automobile, made a
sound like "chi-cho-chu-chi-chi-cha-chik" (I grew up with all the
toys and watched it religiously. I can make the noises with my mouth,
and I've heard a good transformer scratch that sounds incredibly
accurate) incidentally, the chief robots got two more "chu"s because
they were bigger. Thanks to Barret Lawson for that history.
Here's
a couple that Dj Dave sent to me. I've not tried them, coz I don't
scratch! But give 'em a shot and see what you think. Send him a
mail if you want @ awdw2@aol.com
to either congratulate, or flatulate (tee-hee) him.
The
Trans-Backspin:- You do a backspin while doing a transform or
flare. It's easier when you turn the turntable off first and when
a mixer that has a transform button.
Fast
Track:-It's where you touch the record very lightly so it makes
a slow and wierd sound. But the trick is not to completly stop the
record. Just make it sound slow. Now that you've got that, you have
to do that very fast to make it sound very cool. It's almost like
the sound when you hear a baby in a mothers belly.
And
we have YET another entry on the "I have a mix" line. This one is
from Dj Break It Down and is
called
THE
ULTI SCRATCH.
Place
your right hand on your right turntable, place your left hand on
the switch on top of your right channel. Do a baby scratch with
your right hand and rapidly move the switch between line and phono.
You will get a scratch effect that sounds sort of like if you used/have
a transformer.
And
here's ANOTHER one!! I'll just paste in the whole mail:-
When
you were talking about stutter and orbital scratching, it made me
think of a trick I discovered on an old gemini mixer of mine. It
has an assignable crossfader. If you set both sides to the same
channel (i.e. fade between channel 1 and channel 1) you can perform
the stutter and orbital scratching a little faster.( you don't have
to worry about the position of the fader). Plus since the channel
is fading itself, it gives a little bit of a funkier sound. ( can't
really describe it) Plus you don't have to worry about throwing
the fader too far and cutting out the second channel.
Hope
I described that well enough. (so do I!)
Again,
I must point out that I don't know if any of these ARE invented
by them, or how good they sound, I just know they asked me to stick
'em in for you all to read.
I'm
going to do some blatant copying now. I really don't know enough
about any of these scratches, and Dj-jd knows everything there is
to know. If you want to know any more about scratching, I implore
you, go to this guys site, it's fantastic!! (Just finish dealing
with mine first!!!)
Back
to top Anyway, many thanks to Dj-jd for giving me permission
to quote off his site.
There
is no right and wrong way to scratch. It's alot of trial and error
and just trying different things out. There are alot of different
scratch DJs out there, but one that seems to stand out from the
rest is DJ Craze. This man is completely insane. Ive seen him live
a couple of times and he puts on a really good show. Listen to him
talk about the Flare Scratch and other ISH..
"Flare Scratch - Invented
by DJ flare, this scratch is much like the transform scratch in
many ways. Only instead of starting with the sound that you are
cutting up 'off', you start with the sound 'on'. Concentrate on
cutting the sound into pieces by bouncing the fader off the cut
out side of the fader slot to make the sound cut out and then come
back in in a split second. Each time you bounce the fader off of
the side of the fader slot it makes a distinct clicking noise. For
this reason, flares are named according to clicks. A one click forward
flare would be a forward scratch starting with the sound on as you
click the fader against the side once in the middle of the forward
stroke creating two distinct sounds in one stroke of your record
hand. In the same manner, 2 clicks, 3 clicks, and even more clicks
(if you're fast enough) can be performed to do different types of
flares..
Orbit Scratch - An orbit is most generally any scratch move
performed both backward and forward in sequence. Usually when someone
is referring to an orbit, however, they are most likely talking
about flare orbits. For example, A 1 click forward flare and a 1
click backward flare in quick succession (altogether creating 4
very quick distinct sounds) would be a 1 click orbit. A 2 click
forward flare and a 2 click backward flare in quick succession (altogether
creating 6 very distinct sounds) would be a 2 click orbit, etc...
Crab Scratch - To do a crab scratch you tap the fader knob
with 3 or 4 different fingers in sequence starting with the pinkie
or ring finger using the thumb as a spring to cut the fader back
out after each tap (or in if you scratch hamster style). The result
is much like a 3 or 4 tap transform (or a 3 or 4 click flare if
you scratch hamster style) only much quicker than you could probably
do with one finger. Many DJs find this move easier to perform hamster
style since you are bouncing the fader off of the side of the fader
slot, but the move can be performed both styles.
Twiddle Scratch - The Twiddle scratch is the precursor to
the crab scratch. Quite basically, the twiddle is a crab scratch
using two fingers instead of 3 or 4 to repeatedly "twiddle"
the fader.
Tweak Scratch - The tweak scratch is a scratch perhaps made
most famous by Invisbl Skratch Piklz member Mixmaster Mike. To perform
a tweak scratch, you turn the motor off on your turntable and move
the platter and record back and forth with your fingers in whatever
pattern you desire. The fader may be used to do transform sounding
tweaks, but the fader doesn't have to be used at all for this move
if you choose not to use it. This scratch is best performed on long
tone type samples, but can be applied to any sound. The result varies,
but usually is a somewhat jerky sounding scratch. Because the turntable
is turned off, each time your finger hits the record in a certain
direction, it continues to go in that direction, but slows down
as it does instead of returning to a constant speed after each time
it is released as it does when the motor is on.
Bubble Scratch - Invented by DJ Noize, this technique is
achieved by moving the record back and forth while at the same time
turning the EQ knob back and forth from minimum to maximum to get
a sort of wah-wah pedal sounding scratch effect. This move is easier
to perform on a Technics SHDJ1200 than on a Vestax 05/06 Pro since
the DJ1200's EQ adjustment is different.
Zig-Zag Scratch - What I call a zig zag is a move that I
first saw QBert perform where you use one hand on the record, and
one hand moving back and forth between the volume fader and the
record to create a unique scratch effect. If you scratch with your
right hand on the record the technique would go something like this:
right hand pulls back sound and lets go
left hand taps the record as it's coming back forward to make
a quick pause in the forward movement of the sound to make two
distinct forward sounds instead of one
left hand quickly moves and taps down the volume fader a small
increment to make the volume a little lower (or higher since you
could do the same thing in reverse).
repeat pattern
effect
you get is a 1,2,3 1,2,3 1,2,3... scratch of the sound while the
1,2,3 fades out a little more each time the volume fader is tapped
a little lower (the sound can be faded completely out or you can
start fading the sound in and out).
Hydroplane - A hydroplane is performed while the record is spinning
and you lightly apply pressure to the surface with one or more fingers
without stopping the record. The idea is to create light friction
between your fingers and the record and if you have the right touch,
a bassy friction sound is the result.
Airplane
- Although I haven't heard this term used very often, what I
have heard referred to as an airplane is taking two identical beats
and playing them simultaneously on both turntables with the crossfader
in the middle position. Although you're trying to match them up
exactly, the beats will always be a little bit off (but not enough
off for too much of a noticeable delay) so the end product doesn't
sound the same as just one of the channels playing the beat on it's
own. The result is a flange/phase sounding effect. I have also heard
this technique referred to as phasing.
Juggling - To beat juggle, you use two records with a beat on
each turntable and mix them together with the crossfader to create
new combinations of beats or to create new beats altogether in a
"cut and paste" fashion.
Strobing
- Strobing is a type of beat juggling made most famous by DJ
Shortkut where you usually mix back and forth between two records
with a beat on each while you also tap the records with you're hand
to slow down the tempo on each and keep them in sync. An example
might sound like kick, kick, snare, snare, kick, kick snare, snare,
kick, kick, snare, snare...alternating between the same sounds on
the two different records, but any combination is possible using
2 of the same records, or 2 completely different beats. By cutting
back and forth you're usually separating kicks, snares, cymbal sounds,
etc., to make new sounding or doubled sounding beats.
Looping
- Alternating between two different copies of the same record,
this technique is achieved by using the crossfader cutting in a
phrase of music from one record, then cutting in the same phrase
of music from the other record. At the same time, pull back each
cut out record to the phrase's beginning point before it is cut
back in again. By doing this you end up playing the same sound over
and over again much like a sampler looping a beat (or any other
sound for that matter).
Hamster
Style - Normally a DJ set-up would be configured with the right
turntable playing on the right channel of the mixer and the left
turntable playing on the left channel of the mixer. With a hamster
style set-up, however, the opposite is true. When using the crossfader,
the right turntable plays through the left channel, and the left
turntable plays through the right channel. Many DJs find it more
comfortable to scratch hamster style since to do many moves it is
easier to bounce the fader off of the side of the fader slot using
your multiple fingers rather than your thumb. Personally I think
that hamster style seems more conducive to flaring and doing continuous
crabs. DJ members of the Bullet Proof Scratch Hamsters crew are
most commonly recognised as the first DJs to practice/demonstrate
this style thus giving it the nickname "hamster" style.
Hamster Switch - A switch on a mixer that reverses the crossfader
without reversing the volume faders so that you can scratch hamster
style without physically hooking up the turntables to different
channels on the back of the mixer. "
DJ Hi-C + DJ Yasa (Kireek) Japan DMC Champs
Drum and Bass Scratch Routine Video
Hi-C and DJ Yasa the crazy DMC Champs from Japan rippin a 2x4 drum
and bass tuntablist set in Shanghai, China. Dj Hi-C getting down
performing his DMC final Set , Including some absolutley rippin'
jungle / drum n' bass juggling ! 最後のゲストDJ、"KIREEK"(DJ
HI-C,DJ YASA)のスーパープレイが
始まった。映像とのコラボで最新のDjプレイを披露してくれた。
“For
years now, DJ Vibe has been in partnership with Recess from www.recess.co.uk
to spread the knowledge of how to DJ. In that time, many DJs have
learnt how to mix from this text on this site, and Recess has expanded
on the info and turned it into one of the well known Dummies series
of books – DJing for Dummies.’ To give you a taster
of the info contained in the book and his website, we happy to host
the original text as a testament to how some folks like to help
out others. Take a read through these guides, visit his website,
and buy the book – it’s the first step to becoming a
DJ.”
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There
is no right and wrong way to scratch. It's alot of trial and error
and just trying different things out. There are alot of different
scratch DJs out there, but one that seems to stand out from the
rest is DJ Craze. This man is completely insane. Ive seen him live
a couple of times and he puts on a really good show. Listen to him
talk about the Flare Scratch and other ISH..
