I’ve been seeing a lot of discourse about scratching while DJing on various social media platforms so I just wanted to share my two cents.
Scratching is what got me into DJing. When I first got turntables at 16 I did not care whatsoever about blending / party-rocking I just wanted to have the fastest two click / crab combos LOL. It took me about a year to learn how to do “all” of the combos but around 10 to learn how to make it sound “nice” and not mechanical.
I feel that when you hear scratching in a normal club environment (most notably a top 40 / open-format set) it usually sounds sloppy, out of rhythm, takes away from the original record that’s playing underneath. Sometimes it goes on for far too long to the point where patrons might be like, “damn they’re doing too much.”
What you’re hearing is basically a DJ’s “practice cuts” which should be taking place in the studio but is instead happening live at an event. When it goes south the aforementioned artist might be like “oh well it’s all live deal with it.”
Good scratching (or good DJing in general) is about adopting as less is more approach and using tricks like scratching, effects, etc. as a seasoning in a meal - don’t make it the man course (unless it is an event that’s specially for technical DJing like a DMC battle). Let the records play!
You want the cuts to add just a little flavor to an otherwise “boring” 8 or 16 beat loop. This doesn’t mean throw in an ahhhh or fresh and spam clicks on the fader, maybe try and find a phrase or sample that compliments the record.
Listen to the cuts on Gangstarr “Mass Appeal”. They’re not the most technical BUT the musical phrasing is easy to follow and even someone with no experience with hip-hop / scratching can figure out the phrasing of the sample and even anticipate what’s coming next all while sounding really good!
You don’t need to be able to scratch to be a good DJ. Equipment doesn’t matter - only thing that matters is the sounds coming from the speakers and playing good records / digital files / whatever.
Practice your blends, try to beatmatch without looking at waveforms, try to minimize effects usage, drink water, eat your vegetables ..
vestax pcv-275 (early 2000s).
the eqs on this mixer are insane, the low end almost gives a pseudo compressor to each channel and makes records absolutely bump.
no sync full wax returns to @wavroom_ this saturday night.
@_lzrcat + @dopez1200
turntables only.
real dance music - real dance culture - real sweat on the dance floor.
see you this weekend.
It's back! Free Week returns this Friday and Saturday! 💛 Presented by the Red River Culture District! @redriverculturaldistrict #defendredriver
Free Week Night 1: @dopez1200 9pm-Midnight
Free Week Night 2:
EARLY
@gatortotz 5pm
@jdclarkmusic 6pm
@bettercalltheo 7pm
@suxxypuxxy closing it out from 9pm-Midnight!
We’re an all ages venue!
Check out these local artists and enjoy what the Red River Cultural District has to offer!
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