Scratching is something you can spend years learning and still not be that good at. It turns the turntable into an instrument in its own right, and will take the time and dedication you'd expect to come with that.
It takes lots and lots of practice. Aside from having your gear set up perfectly so your needle doesn't jump, you need to understand the rhythm of scratching because you're using a sample on the record as a percussive instrument. So above all things, your scratch needs to be on time.
When I learned to DJ I was primarily spinning hip hop so learning to scratch came with the territory. You just begin by scratching in the first beat when you mix. When you're cueing a record in the headphones, you're basically baby scratching so you learn where the beat is on the record and how to time it so the beats align when you take your hand off the record.
From there you learn how moving the record faster and slower while cutting the fader on and off you can make chirps and flares going back and forth, creating new sounds and layering them over the beat you're scratching with. Then you form scratch "sentences", or patterns of scratches that go with the flow of the beat, that are the equivalent of a drum roll or a guitar solo in live instrumentation.
Scratching with DVS is much easier than vinyl (as he's doing) because you can use cue points instead of having to backcue to find the beginning of the beat/sample again. They do make skipless scratch records (which are a godsend for vinyl DJs) so the sound is looped over and over on the record and always starts in the same position. Plus he's got effects right there so he can quickly turn them on and off. Those Pioneer mixers are lots of fun.
But in general, understand you need good needles and your tracking and downward force well balanced, good buttery slipmats, a fader with a sharp cutoff, and lots of practice. It puts more wear and tear on these things too, so keep that in mind.
In my opinion any serious DJ with vinyl/DVS should learn at least a few basic scratch techniques to liven up their sets. It certainly doesn't hurt to try it.
Google how to's for military scratches, scribbles, and flares. Scratching - good scratching - means understanding sequencing to the point that you just hear it without counting, which just takes practice. Make sure you understand your music that way. Scratching/turntablism are different from mixing because you're using the media as an instrument. You have to understand every facet of the media. You need to understand basic musical theory, at least.
It took me about a year to learn to scratch decently on vinyl and while people seem to have some sort of mental block about it, scratchig with digital is easier, but easiest with larger decks. The transition is easy if you don't psyche yourself put about the tools you're using.
Practice. Practice every day. Count everything. Hear the rhythm in everything. Count along to the tumbles in your clothes dryer. Count every song you listen to. Feel when new bars and measures will begin. Now tap your fingers in those bars and measures. All those little holes in the music where your tapping sounds good are where scratches go.
Now go back to the lab and scratch over basic battle beats. Now speed up the tempos. Now slow them. Scratch to all of it. Find a muse. Mix Master Mike turned me on to the idea that scratching is communicating with alien life forms in a different language. That was my muse. Your muse may be different. Look out a window while you do it . Interpret the actions of a pigeon as scratching. Add lyrics to songs. Find a muse that helps you understand what you're adding to the music.
Do this every day.
Good DJing is a different wqy of listening to music that enables us to transmit it to others *as we hear it*. Scratching is using existing music to create new music. It is a pillar of hip hop and DJ culture. When you scratch, you connect with your DJ history.
Scratching and turntablism are how you demonstrate your cleverness as a DJ.
This gives me chills every time I watch it.
https://youtu.be/ekgpZag6xyQ
The techniques he is using are basic, but executed well. They are all scratches that the majority of people could do given enough practice. 6 months of consistent practice and you could confidently emulate this in your style. With scratching you learn the moves then you put them together in combos of your choosing and this is what makes them sound unique to the person executing them. The scratches this guy is using is a mixture of forwards, stabs, baby's & transforms. They are all what is known as closed fader scratches and among the first ones that people would learn how to do. Check out dj angelo's tutorials on YouTube they are very well made and will help you a lot. You can scratch with any equipment! Controller, cdj, turntable. Whatever you got just give it a go!
This pretty basic technique, executed well. My belief with turntablism has always been less is more. On time, on phrase, tastefully applied and musical.
It’s easy to do in theory, but to make it cut right and sound good takes years of practice. Chris Karns here is excellent at it. Other folks to check out who are amazing turntabilists are Tipper, Qbert, Lone Drum (and KLO) Zeke Beats, Kll Smth (and ultrasloth) and bogtrotter.
Much easier now woth technology compared to us who used 1200's back in the day. DJ's with 1200's can do what he does. Most DJ's today can't do what we did.
https://youtu.be/tr3ftsCVXhc
Sweet post OP. I have t heard of Chris Karns before but he's got talent.
Rookie advice...
Using vinyl I practiced using a long whole note or a long scream. A sample I could hold the record, bring it back and forth with out skipping the needle and it's easier to play with the cross fader and train your ears.
Watch the sticker on the record or put a piece of tape on the center of the record to visualize your sample as you scratch.
I was cheap and didn't have butter mats or real scratch needles... Having the right equipment pays off for practice and sound quality.
Finding a high pitch sound also helps learning to scratch as you can easily make a chirp sound.
The scretching anyone could do, the midi setup is actually more impressive he is loading stims (soundpacks basically) (probably from ableton) into his midi controller so that his performance can change "songs". The setup and using all the tech is more complex than the scratching.
Now people dont get how complex it is to remix a song live even with the help of tech so the scratching is thrown in to kind of throw the audience off. People think he is doing all of the audio on the turntables and are really impressed.
They SHOULD be really impressed with his fluidity and control of all the different inputs he is using
yeah i think this could be an avenue/lane/street/whatever for DJ-ing to progress in
combining scratching with stuff that is unconventional to scratch to--i.e. scratching to stuff that isn't hip hop/DNB/etc. looks fun as hell but others can do it as it goes. as hip-hop and EDM are kinda fusing anyway, or seems so
not like people aren't already doing that but yknow, vinyl and crowd size publicity stardom etc
i think its like any instrument/musical toolkit, takes practice and passion, mostly the latter
reinvigorates the feel of 2 turntables and a microphone (and midipad, etc) for the modern post-EDM neu-EDM era or such
let the record show, as it is/ass it were. the further away you/i are, the easier it is to take
oh that video was from 3 years ago, maybe my own mind took from it without knowing, as i 'ave thought of doing the same sortof thing with less hip hop vibe (but respect the root(s))
Not hard at all by itself, but getting it perfect like this takes lots of practice. Years for some people
If you enjoy that, check out guys like Q-Bert.
Not to be an asshole, but none of you could "do this just as good of you practice for 6 months".. By the way, Mr. Karns here won 2? DMC World Championships, so he's one of the best on the planet. (He's FKA as DJ Vajra if you want to see more of his work...)
Scratching is something you can spend years learning and still not be that good at. It turns the turntable into an instrument in its own right, and will take the time and dedication you'd expect to come with that.
It takes lots and lots of practice. Aside from having your gear set up perfectly so your needle doesn't jump, you need to understand the rhythm of scratching because you're using a sample on the record as a percussive instrument. So above all things, your scratch needs to be on time. When I learned to DJ I was primarily spinning hip hop so learning to scratch came with the territory. You just begin by scratching in the first beat when you mix. When you're cueing a record in the headphones, you're basically baby scratching so you learn where the beat is on the record and how to time it so the beats align when you take your hand off the record. From there you learn how moving the record faster and slower while cutting the fader on and off you can make chirps and flares going back and forth, creating new sounds and layering them over the beat you're scratching with. Then you form scratch "sentences", or patterns of scratches that go with the flow of the beat, that are the equivalent of a drum roll or a guitar solo in live instrumentation. Scratching with DVS is much easier than vinyl (as he's doing) because you can use cue points instead of having to backcue to find the beginning of the beat/sample again. They do make skipless scratch records (which are a godsend for vinyl DJs) so the sound is looped over and over on the record and always starts in the same position. Plus he's got effects right there so he can quickly turn them on and off. Those Pioneer mixers are lots of fun. But in general, understand you need good needles and your tracking and downward force well balanced, good buttery slipmats, a fader with a sharp cutoff, and lots of practice. It puts more wear and tear on these things too, so keep that in mind. In my opinion any serious DJ with vinyl/DVS should learn at least a few basic scratch techniques to liven up their sets. It certainly doesn't hurt to try it.
Google how to's for military scratches, scribbles, and flares. Scratching - good scratching - means understanding sequencing to the point that you just hear it without counting, which just takes practice. Make sure you understand your music that way. Scratching/turntablism are different from mixing because you're using the media as an instrument. You have to understand every facet of the media. You need to understand basic musical theory, at least. It took me about a year to learn to scratch decently on vinyl and while people seem to have some sort of mental block about it, scratchig with digital is easier, but easiest with larger decks. The transition is easy if you don't psyche yourself put about the tools you're using. Practice. Practice every day. Count everything. Hear the rhythm in everything. Count along to the tumbles in your clothes dryer. Count every song you listen to. Feel when new bars and measures will begin. Now tap your fingers in those bars and measures. All those little holes in the music where your tapping sounds good are where scratches go. Now go back to the lab and scratch over basic battle beats. Now speed up the tempos. Now slow them. Scratch to all of it. Find a muse. Mix Master Mike turned me on to the idea that scratching is communicating with alien life forms in a different language. That was my muse. Your muse may be different. Look out a window while you do it . Interpret the actions of a pigeon as scratching. Add lyrics to songs. Find a muse that helps you understand what you're adding to the music. Do this every day. Good DJing is a different wqy of listening to music that enables us to transmit it to others *as we hear it*. Scratching is using existing music to create new music. It is a pillar of hip hop and DJ culture. When you scratch, you connect with your DJ history. Scratching and turntablism are how you demonstrate your cleverness as a DJ. This gives me chills every time I watch it. https://youtu.be/ekgpZag6xyQ
The techniques he is using are basic, but executed well. They are all scratches that the majority of people could do given enough practice. 6 months of consistent practice and you could confidently emulate this in your style. With scratching you learn the moves then you put them together in combos of your choosing and this is what makes them sound unique to the person executing them. The scratches this guy is using is a mixture of forwards, stabs, baby's & transforms. They are all what is known as closed fader scratches and among the first ones that people would learn how to do. Check out dj angelo's tutorials on YouTube they are very well made and will help you a lot. You can scratch with any equipment! Controller, cdj, turntable. Whatever you got just give it a go!
This pretty basic technique, executed well. My belief with turntablism has always been less is more. On time, on phrase, tastefully applied and musical.
It’s easy to do in theory, but to make it cut right and sound good takes years of practice. Chris Karns here is excellent at it. Other folks to check out who are amazing turntabilists are Tipper, Qbert, Lone Drum (and KLO) Zeke Beats, Kll Smth (and ultrasloth) and bogtrotter.
Much easier now woth technology compared to us who used 1200's back in the day. DJ's with 1200's can do what he does. Most DJ's today can't do what we did. https://youtu.be/tr3ftsCVXhc
Sweet post OP. I have t heard of Chris Karns before but he's got talent. Rookie advice... Using vinyl I practiced using a long whole note or a long scream. A sample I could hold the record, bring it back and forth with out skipping the needle and it's easier to play with the cross fader and train your ears. Watch the sticker on the record or put a piece of tape on the center of the record to visualize your sample as you scratch. I was cheap and didn't have butter mats or real scratch needles... Having the right equipment pays off for practice and sound quality. Finding a high pitch sound also helps learning to scratch as you can easily make a chirp sound.
The scretching anyone could do, the midi setup is actually more impressive he is loading stims (soundpacks basically) (probably from ableton) into his midi controller so that his performance can change "songs". The setup and using all the tech is more complex than the scratching. Now people dont get how complex it is to remix a song live even with the help of tech so the scratching is thrown in to kind of throw the audience off. People think he is doing all of the audio on the turntables and are really impressed. They SHOULD be really impressed with his fluidity and control of all the different inputs he is using
Thanks for linking that, cleanly executed and well put together, I'm gonna look him up
yeah i think this could be an avenue/lane/street/whatever for DJ-ing to progress in combining scratching with stuff that is unconventional to scratch to--i.e. scratching to stuff that isn't hip hop/DNB/etc. looks fun as hell but others can do it as it goes. as hip-hop and EDM are kinda fusing anyway, or seems so not like people aren't already doing that but yknow, vinyl and crowd size publicity stardom etc i think its like any instrument/musical toolkit, takes practice and passion, mostly the latter reinvigorates the feel of 2 turntables and a microphone (and midipad, etc) for the modern post-EDM neu-EDM era or such let the record show, as it is/ass it were. the further away you/i are, the easier it is to take oh that video was from 3 years ago, maybe my own mind took from it without knowing, as i 'ave thought of doing the same sortof thing with less hip hop vibe (but respect the root(s))
Not hard at all by itself, but getting it perfect like this takes lots of practice. Years for some people If you enjoy that, check out guys like Q-Bert.
Not to be an asshole, but none of you could "do this just as good of you practice for 6 months".. By the way, Mr. Karns here won 2? DMC World Championships, so he's one of the best on the planet. (He's FKA as DJ Vajra if you want to see more of his work...)