The Art Of Scratching!
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What is hamster and regular style and which should I use?
"Hamster" style means scratching with the crossfader reversed, so when you move the fader to the left, the right turntable comes on and vice versa. Some people find this a more natural way to scratch (me included). The main thing is to choose a style that you prefer and stick to it. Switching between styles at the beginning will only slow up your progress. Don't be influenced by the style other people use, for example, just because QBert scratches hamster it doesn't mean you should.
What records do I scratch with?
Scratching takes years to master. If you want to become good, you'll be doing LOTS of practice. Every time you perform a scratch on a certain sample, you're wearing it away. It's essential not to practice with your treasured vinyl collection! Get yourself a couple of battle records to practice with and when they wear away, get some more. I'd recommend SuperSeal, because it has some common sounds and fresh arranged so they're skipless.
What are "skipless" records?
Imagine you stuck a little label on your record at the 12 o'clock mark. When you play the record, the label will go round and pass the same point every so often. Skipless records work by having the same sample at exactly the same point spread over several rotations. This means that if the needle skips forwards or backwards a couple of grooves, it'll land in exactly the same spot on the same sample. When you start out, you might be a little heavy handed and the needle skipping can be very frustrating. Buying battle records that have skipless sections is one way to get around this.
What scratches should I learn first?
Nearly all scratches are based on simple foundation scratches. It's important to start with the very basic scratches first. A lot of DJs will try and learn crabs and 2-clicks before they learn anything else simply because to them they sound impressive. That's not the best way to learn. If you wanted to learn how to play a guitar, you wouldn't pick one up and try playing a Hendrix solo - you'd start by playing single notes and work from there - scratching is no different. If you want the beat I used for the examples, It was a free loop made by DJ Toadstyle. Once you have it, you can loop it up using the Focus Looper I posted, or in the program of your choice.
What are the foundation scratches?
Baby - The baby scratch is the first scratch anyone should learn. All you're doing is moving the record back and forth in time with the music. There are various ways to perform it. Here's a little file with some examples:
Marches - Marches are a combination of babies and forwards. This is the first combo you'll learn. As with all scratches, you're aiming to have solid record control and get a clean and even sound. Here's an example using combinations of forwards and some of the different baby scratches mentioned above
Drags - A drag can be performed either forwards or backwards. What you're doing is slowing the record down rather than letting the sample play at it's regular speed.
Tips - A tip is like a really short baby. All you're doing is moving the record back and forth over a short distance to catch just the start of the sound
Stabs - Stabs are a little like forwards except you're only catching the very start of the sound. You can also change the pitch of the sound by pushing the record forwards at different speeds.
Chirps - The record movement of a chirp is the same as a baby. If you've practiced your baby scratches so they're nice and clean then give chirps a try. Start with the fader open, then move the record forwards. As soon as you hear the sound start to play, close the fader, but continue moving the record as if you were doing a baby. As you move the record backwards, just before you get to the start of the sample again, open the fader. What you're doing is using the fader to cut away a large portion of the sample. This gives a crisp, defined sound.
Tears - There are many different tear combinations. An easy one to learn first is the 1 forward, 2 back tear
Transforms - A transform is a technique, not a specific scratch. The fader starts closed and ends closed. What you're basically doing is snapping the fader on and off to chop up a sound. Transforms can be done over the top of other scratches including babies and tears to add more definition to the sound.
Dicing - Transforming over the top of tears is called dicing. There's two ways to speed up something like dicing. First off you can do the exact same record movement, but just do it faster. That will speed up the pitch of the sound too obviously. The other way is to do the tear over a shorter distance which means you can move the record slower. The fader movement is the same either way.
Why is it better to learn these scratches first?
An example of a more advanced scratch is the crab orbit. You move the record forwards and backwards while crabbing the crossfader. What you're doing with the record is a baby scratch. If you haven't practiced the basic faderless baby scratch, then you won't have a nice consistent motion so your advanced scratches will sound sloppy. If you practice all the basic techniques above, then when you move on to flares, 2-clicks, orbits etc. you'll have a head start over people who jumped straight in trying to do them, plus your scratching will sound clean and precise. Even if you only get a few of the basics down, you can use these techniques when you're doing a set to add an extra dimension to your mixing. A few simple scratches here and there sound a lot better than sloppy attempts at complex ones.
What are some good practice tips?
Start off slow. Don't get frustrated if you don't sound good to begin with. That happens to everyone. Keep working on the basics and you'll soon improve. Practice as often as you can and for as long as you can.
Recording your practices is a great idea. Listen back to them and you'll hear where you're good and where you're not so good. That way you can work on the techniques where you might be falling behind. I've got practices from a couple of years ago on tape. When I'm feeling like I'm not progressing and I want to give up, I listen to those and I can hear how much better I've got. It's a bit of an ego boost you might say. Hehe.
Practice with other DJs if possible. If you can hook up in person with another DJ and scratch together in what's called a Q&A session, then you'll pick tips up off each other. You'll also be more inspired to practice and it's a lot more fun than learning alone.
Once you start to get certain scratches down and you can do them consistently, speed things up by increasing the pitch of the record you're scratching over. At first you might not be able to keep up, but keep at it and your arms and hands will soon get used to it.
Finally, remember that there is no right and wrong. If you do a scratch slightly differently to someone else, then so what? Everyone develops their own way of doing techniques, which is why watching DVD's may give you the false impression that a certain scratch has to be done a certain way. Originality is extremely important. You can start out by copying other people, because that's a good way to learn, but you'll eventually reach the stage where you have a style of your own and that's what sets you apart from everyone else.
I hope this helps the people who want to get started. It's a lengthy read, but I've tried to make the tutorial easy to understand. Remember, this is a beginners guide for those just starting out, or those that want to build a strong foundation for their more advanced scratches. More of the mix as the record spins!
