Breaking News: Fellow TechToolers Jump on The Cut!
Im extreeeeemely happy to see the mass influx of scratch talk on djtt. As much as I love all this technology talk and what not and smartmixing and controllerism jibber jabber, i tend to lurk more because no ones talking about what i love most…SCRATCHING. So tell me fellas, whats up with the all of a sudden jump in scratch interest. Its been an obsession of mine for some time now whats your story?
Didnt realise there was a sudden jump. I know I put a post up about scratching and a few peeps said they were glad to finally hear from scratchers but since that post I haven’t really seen anything else.
What is it you want to talk about with regards to scratching exactly?
I mean. I think that controller based dj’s are starting to appreciate and incorporate more scratch friendly equipment into their sets, mainly due to the fact that big name scratch dj’s (rafik off the top of my head) are starting to incorporate controllers into their setup.
Personally I’ve never understood the fascination with the scratch sound. Each to his own though and I appreciate the skill required.
+10000
well i dunno alot more talk in general has been going on. people putting pro x-fades in vci100s more threads about vci300 and capabilites saw a couple of posts about traktor vs scratch live in regards to scratching, just seems like more are talking about it on the forums than before. kind of refreshing.
I understand totally where you’re coming from. Too much scratching can sound irritating after a while. I used to be a scratch DJ in a band and the rest of members would say “right this is the part where you have your little scratch solo”, but that would be on every song. It got to the point where I had to turn around and tell them that less is more with scratching, and people are going to get pissed off with this constant tearing sound over every song. So I started playing bongos and percussion as well so I wasn’t doing nothing on a load of the songs.
I sometimes have my doubts to be honest. Like sometimes I think what is the point in all this, it’s not like a melodic instrument or anything (although to be fair some DJ’s do play it as an instrument, but I’m not quite at that level yet). I think to myself scratching up the word “hey” for example, when does anyone make a “h-h-h-h-yeh-hey-yeh-hey” sound with their voice. It doesn’t really make any sense.
But then on the flip side when it’s done well it adds energy to the music. Have you ever been to a DMC championship? That’s when you can really appreciate scratching for the art form it really is. Beat juggling, drumming, live remixing of tracks to make a completely new track, that to me is the essence of scratching.
Check out Kentaro, Q-bert, Scully, all those guys. They fucking smash it up.
Oh, and to Phormula1.8T, have you got any vids of you scratching or anything? Shame I don’t live in the States man, I’d love to hook up with someone who’s obviously as passionate about scratching as you. I’d bet my bottom dollar that if I put an ad/post up somewhere saying I’m looking to hook up with someone state side I’d get quite a few responses. It doesn’t really happen over here in England for some reason.
trying to get a good quality camera and find a good way to record using traktor scratch duo so that i can put up a video and scratch tracks. definately want oto put some videos up though.
I am gonna pop one on as soon as i get back to work. (free bandwidth).
I have it sounding pretty cool…ish.
I am still using deckadance and the VCI-100 as a mixer.
Then using a Traktor TC vinyl.
Upgrading to TSP ASAP…lol…its just too killa for words..
@sarasin bet those PDXs are the shiiiit.
As a matter of fact…they are!
I used the SL1200’s YEARS ago…and when the PDX’s became available to me I grabbed em as I knew I would use and love em some point.
Had em for a year now…and only getting into them now.
I got em from this rich kid who used em twice and could not bang HardHouse right off the bat…so got bored and left em in the cupboard.
They came with Stanton ScratchMaster v3’s.
So both decks and the needles…I talked him down to R4000.
Thats like…fuckall…!!!
But yeah…I was getting into it slowly…using old dance vinyl to cut etc and that was shitty.
Now that i got the TC vinyls and proper Scratch Samples…AHH YEAH!
My skills have leaped forward!!
I am not looking to enter a DMC ever…but would like to bust out a couple of killer scratch moves in the Club or other gigs!
But even just playing tracks with the TC’s is old skool fun to me.
These PDX’s are STRONG man…and you can abuse em.
I don;t have a fine technique but…NEVER get skips or jumps etc.
fucking AWESOME!
I feel like THE DUDE everytime i finish playing on em!
yeah man when i was looking at getting my new table it was either gunna be a PDX3000 Stanton STR8-150 or Numark TTX. I went with the TTX, it is a an absolute monster of a scratch tablw (w/ shure m-447.) rocking a single table timecode setup right now, want a PDX as my second deck.
U R correct
there has been more talk about scratching lately.
it takes a while to get your moves down with a controller.
Usually takes me about two days to get the feel down when I change between traktor, or VDJ, or mixvibes.
I’ve just started really getting into scratching on the Vci-100. It’s kinda hard with 1.1 firmware but I’ll be able to upgrade it come Monday. Does anyone have any videos of themselves scratching with the vci-100? I’ve seen all the ones on youtube.
I went to see Qbert live a few years back and honestly it was very boring. I’d compare it to a programming nerd doing all his tricks. Yeah he has total control of the scratches… but zero musicality imo.
I have to say I like the scratch sound as a rhythmical ornament, but in a good dose. It’s like percussion instruments. Rarely you see a solo of bongos/congas/drums/etc that works after a few minutes. Maybe a taiko japanese drum concert, but that is something really different than a guy doing his thing.
The “scratch” documentary is awesome btw.
I did just pick up a pair of used STR8-80’s can’t wait to start mixing
I have forgotten about trying to scratch with the VCI. Its just so much nicer using the turntable and a TC vinyl. I miss about trying to scratch on the controller but i get it right and much much tighter on the decks.
I want to learn how to scratch, I’ve been saying that forever haha.
Last time I saw QBert I thought it was great. I really like percussion, taiko, though lol! You can appreciate something for what it is without needing to apply it to your own craft. I love to scratch. I can just get mesmerized, and the practice and repetition builds skills useful for dj skills other than scratching. I’ll scratch for hours. BUT playing for other people, I only use a little scratching in moderation, and only if it serves to build the energy, or break something down. It’s gotta serve the music…