Scratching

Scratching is a DJ or turntablist technique used to produce distinctive sounds by moving a vinyl record back and forth on a turntable while optionally manipulating the crossfader on a DJ mixer. While scratching is most commonly associated with hip hop music, since the mid 1970s, it has been used in some styles of pop and nu metal. Within hip hop culture, scratching is one of the measures of a DJ's skills^{[citation needed]}, and there are many scratching competitions. In recorded hip-hop songs, scratched hooks often use portions of different rap songs.

History[link]

	DJ Q-Bert Hip Hop Scratching noicon Sample of DJ Q-Bert scratching live
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Scratching was developed by early hip hop DJs from new york such as Grand Wizard Theodore , who describes scratching as, "nothing but the back-cueing that you hear in your ear before you push it [the recorded sound] out to the crowd." (Toop, 1991). Jamaican-born DJ Kool Herc also influenced the early development of scratching. Kool Herc developed break-beat DJing, where the breaks of funk songs—being the most danceable part, often featuring percussion—were isolated and repeated for the purpose of all-night dance parties.^[1]

Although previous artists such as William S. Burroughs had experimented with the idea of manipulating a reel to reel tape manually for the sounds produced (such as with his 1950s recording, "Sound Piece"), vinyl scratching as an element of hip hop pioneered the idea of making the sound an integral and rhythmic part of music instead of uncontrolled noise.

	Where It All Started DJ Sample of the song "Where it All Started"
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Christian Marclay was one of the earliest musicians to scratch outside of hip hop. In the mid-1970s, Marclay used gramophone records and turntables as musical instruments to create sound collages. He developed his turntable sounds independently of hip hop DJs. Although he is little-known to mainstream audiences, Marclay has been described as "the most influential turntable figure outside hip hop." ^[2] and the "unwitting inventor of turntablism."^[3]

In the Mott The Hoople song Roll Away The Stone, released in 1973, there is a small scratching section between 2:06 and 2:10.

Grandmaster Flash was the first person to release a song, "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel", with scratching on it in 1981. In 1982, Malcolm McLaren & the World's Famous Supreme Team released a single "Buffalo Gals", juxtaposing extensive scratching with calls from square dancing, and, in 1983, the EP, D'ya Like Scratchin'?, which is entirely focused on scratching. The Streetsounds Electro compilation albums & Herbie Hancocks - Rockit. Also introduced scratching to a Uk & European audience in 1983.

Basic techniques[link]

Vinyl recordings[link]

Most scratches are produced by moving a vinyl record back and forth with the hand while it is playing on a turntable. This creates a distinctive sound that has come to be one of the most recognizable features of hip hop music.^{[citation needed]} Over time with excessive scratching the needle will cause what is referred to as record burn.^{[citation needed]}

	Freaky Flow - Drum N'Bass Jungle scratching noicon Sample of Drum N'Bass Jungle scratching
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The basic equipment setup for scratching includes two turntables, and a DJ mixer, which is a mixer that has a crossfader and "cue" buttons to allow the DJ to "cue up" new music without the audience hearing.^{[citation needed]} When scratching, this crossfader is utilized in conjunction with the "scratching hand" to cut in and out of the scratched record.^{[citation needed]}

Non-vinyl scratching[link]

• CDJs, devices that allow a DJ to manipulate a CD as if it were a vinyl record, have become widely available.
• Vinyl emulation software allows a DJ to manipulate the playback of digital music files on a computer using the turntables as an interface. This allows DJs to scratch, beatmatch, and perform other turntablist maneuvers that would be impossible with a conventional keyboard-and-mouse. Scratch software includes Traktor Scratch Pro, Final Scratch, Mixxx, Serato Scratch Live, Virtual DJ, M-Audio Torq, algoriddim djay, and Digital Scratch.
• More rarely, DJs do scratching with magnetic tape, sometimes by recording music onto magnetic stripes and disassembling a cassette tape recorder to play the magnetic stripes.^{[citation needed]} An example of tape-scratching can be viewed in this video of Mr. Tape, from Latvia

Sounds[link]

Sounds that are frequently scratched include but are not limited to drum beats, horn stabs, spoken word samples, and lines from other songs. Any sound recorded to vinyl can be used, and CD players providing a turntable-like interface allow DJs to scratch not only material that was never released on vinyl, but also field recordings and samples from television and movies that have been burned to CD-R. Some DJs and anonymous collectors release 12-inch singles called battle records that include trademark, novel or hard-to-find scratch fodder. The most recognizable samples used for scratching are the "Ahh" and "Fresh" samples, which originate from the song "Change the Beat" by Fab 5 Freddy.

There are many scratching techniques, which differ in how the movements of the record is combined with opening and closing the crossfader (or another fader or switch, where "open" means that the signal is audible, and "closed" means that the signal is inaudible). This terminology is not unique; the following discussion, however, is consistent with the terminology used by DJ Q-Bert on his Do It Yourself Scratching DVD.

Sophisticated techniques[link]

• Baby scratch - The simplest scratch form, it is performed with the scratching hand only, moving the record back and forth in continuous movements while the crossfader is in the open position.
• Forward and backward scratch - The forward scratch, also referred to as "cutting", is a baby scratch where the crossfader is closed during the backwards movement of the record. If the record is let go instead of being pushed forward it is also called "release scratch". Cutting out the forward part of the record movement instead of the backward part gives a "backward scratch".
• Tear Scratch - Tear scratches are scratches where the record is moved in a staggered fashion, dividing the forward and backward movement into two or more movements. This allows creating sounds similar to "flare scratches" without use of the crossfader and it allows for more complex rhythmic patterns. The term can also refer to a simpler, slower version of the chirp.
• Scribble scratch - The scribble scratch is performed without the crossfader, and is performed by tensing the forearm muscles of the scratching hand and rapidly jiggling the record back and forth.
• Chirp scratch - The chirp scratch involves closing the fader just after playing the start of a sound .. and as you shut the sound off you should also stop the record moving at that point too , then reverse manouvre the record while opening the fader to get a kinda " chir-pa " pattern simply from one baby scratch and a cut in the centre . When performed using a recording of drums this allows creating the illusion of doubled scratching speed, due to the attack created by cutting in the crossfader on the backward movement.
• Hydrophonic Scratch - is a baby scratch with a "tear scratch" sound produced by your thumb running the opposite direction as your scratch fingers. This rubbing of the thumb adds a vibrating effect or reverberation to forward movements on the turntable.
• Transformer scratch - with the crossfader closed, the record is moved with the scratching hand while periodically "tapping" the crossfader open and immediately closing it again.
• Flare scratch - it begins with the crossfader open, and then the record is moved while briefly closing the fader one or more times to cut the sound out. This produces a staggering sound which can make a single "flare" sound like a very fast series of "chirps" or "tears." The number of times the fader is closed ("clicks") during the record's movement is usually used as a prefix to distinguish the variations. The flare allows a DJ to scratch continuously with less hand fatigue than transforming. The flare can be combined with the crab for an extremely rapid continuous series of scratches.
• Crab scratch - it consists of moving the record while quickly tapping the crossfader open with each finger of the crossfader hand. In this way, DJs are able to perform transforms or flares much faster than they could by manipulating the crossfader with the whole hand. It produces a fading/increasing transforming sound.
• Twiddle scratch - consists of a two finger Crab Scratch using your index and middle fingers
• Orbit scratch - this term describes any scratch (most commonly flares) that are repeated during the forward and backward movement of the record. Orbit is also used as a shorthand for 2-click flares.
• Tweak scratch - it is performed with the turntable's motor off. The record platter is set in motion manually, then "tweaked" faster and slower to create a songlike scratch. This scratch form is best performed with long, sustained sounds.
• Euro scratch - a variation of the "flare scratch" in which two faders are used simultaneously with one hand to cut the sound much faster. The euro scratch can also be done by using only the up fader and the phono line switch to cut the sound.

Scratching culture[link]

While scratching is becoming more and more popular within pop music, sophisticated scratching is still predominantly an underground style. The Invisibl Skratch Piklz from San Francisco focuses on scratching. In 1994, the group was formed by DJs Q-Bert, Disk & Shortkut and later Mix Master Mike. In July 2000, San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts held Skratchcon2000, the first DJ Skratch forum that provided “the education and development of skratch music literacy”. In 2001,Thud Rumble became an independent company that works with DJ artists to produce and distribute scratch records.

In 2004, Scratch Magazine, one of the first publications about hip-hop DJs and producers, released its debut issue, following in the footsteps of the lesser-known Tablist magazine. Pedestrian is a UK arts organisation that runs Urban Music Mentors workshops for youth in which DJs tell youth how to create beats, use turntables, MC, and perform.

Use outside of hip hop[link]

Scratching has been incorporated into a number of other musical genres, including pop, rock, jazz, heavy metal and classical music performances. For recording use, samplers are often used instead of physically scratching a vinyl record. Rage Against the Machine (and former Audioslave) guitarist Tom Morello performs scratching-inspired guitar solos. In the song "Bulls on Parade", and many other songs in which he solos, he creates scratch-like rhythmic sounds by rubbing the strings over the pick-ups while using the pick-up selector switch as a cross-fader.

Since the 1990s, scratching has begun being used in a variety of popular music genres, such as nu metal acts (like Linkin Park, Slipknot and Limp Bizkit) and in some types of pop music (e.g. Nelly Furtado), and in some types of alternative rock (e.g. Incubus).. Scratching is also popular in various electronic music styles, most particularly in hard-groove techno.

See also[link]

• Tape-bow Violin
• Vinyl Emulation Software
  • VirtualDJ
  • Final Scratch
  • Serato Scratch Live
• List of Turntablists

Sources[link]

• Allmusic's Grand Wizard Theodore biography^{[dead link]} (also at Artist Direct)
• DJ Grandmaster Flash quoted in Toop, David (1991). Rap Attack 2, 65. New York: Serpent's Tail. ISBN 1-85242-243-2.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Scratching

• Scratching at the DJ Techniques wiki
• Official DMC championships
• Scratch Magazine
• 'A comprehensive Guide To Turntablism - 10.000+ words on turntablism!'
• Turntablism: Beat Juggling and Scratching Videos

DJ Craze
Background information
Birth name	Aristh Delgado
Born	(1977-11-19) November 19, 1977 (age 34) Managua, Nicaragua
Origin	Miami, Florida, United States
Genres	Hip hop, Miami bass, Dubstep, drum n bass
Occupations	Record producer, DJ
Instruments	Sampler Turntable
Years active	1997 – present
Labels	Slumerican Records, Cartel Records, Slow Roast Records
Associated acts	Yelawolf, A-Trak, DJ Shiftee
Website	Craze

DJ Craze (November 19, 1977-), born Aristh Delgado, is a Nicaraguan American DJ who plays hip hop, Miami bass, breaks, Dubstep, drum n bass, and practices turntablism.^[1] He is the only solo DJ in history to claim the DMC World DJ Championships trophy three times consecutively (1998–2000).^[2]

Biography[link]

DJ Craze was born in Managua, Nicaragua. At the age of 3, in 1980,^[1] he fled the country with his family during the war which lasted throughout the 1980s.^[2] Craze and his family moved to San Francisco, California, where they lived for a short while, before moving to Miami, Florida, where he currently resides.^[3]

The style of his music carries many of his past musical influences. Initially influenced by the Miami Bass movement when he was younger, Craze has gone on to incorporate elements of hip-hop, drum n bass, and breaks in his turntable routines. Recently, Craze has shifted his emphasis to DJ'ing and producing drum n bass with his own record label "Cartel".

Craze released his first album in 1999, Crazee Musick, and a second in 2002, Scratch nerds. He also released an album called D-Day in 2002 with his turntable crew, The Allies.^[4]

Craze has released two of the most popular battle records ever, "Bully Breaks" and "Bully Breaks 2".

Craze was Kanye West's DJ for his Glow in the Dark tour in 2008 while A-Trak worked on his Fool's Gold record label and tour.

Craze was featured on the Native-Instruments website demonstrating the Traktor X1 Controller.

Recently, Craze created his own record label with fellow DJ & friend Kill The Noise, Slow Roast Records. Slow Roast is distributed by Fool's Gold, the record label shared by A-Trak and Nick Catchdubs. Other than Craze and Kill The Noise, Klever and Senor Stereo also release material under the Slow Roast label.^[5]

In February 2011 DJ Craze and DJ Shiftee worked together, spinning on-stage with controllerist and Traktor S4 consultant Ean Golden at Club EVE in downtown Miami for the Midi Fight Club event. Between the two of them, DJ Craze and DJ Shiftee had 7 DMC world championships behind them. The event highlighted the use of Native Instruments controllers, such as the X1, S4 and Maschine.^[6]

In September 2011, DJ Craze became Yelawolf's DJ, and signed a deal to his label Slumerican Records. He was featured on Yelawolf "Hard White Tour", along with Rittz.

Championship titles and recognition[link]

Albums[link]

• Crazee Musick (1999)
• United DJs of America, Vol. 16: The Nexxsound (2000)
• Scratch Nerds (2002)
• D-Day (with The Allies) (2002)
• Adam F: Drum and Bass Warfare (CD2 mixed by DJ Craze) (2002)^[8]
• Live in Puerto Rico: Hip Hop Drum N Bass Turntablism (2003)
• Rugged Radio Saturday (2003)
• Miami Heat (2005)^[9]
• FabricLive.38 (February 2008)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Interview with DJ Times, 2000
• Official Site
• DJ Craze interview with HHC Digital

Videos

• DJ Craze - Murder @ Butterfactory - Kanye West Concert Afterparty ~ Bring it Back
• DJ Craze - Murder @ Butterfactory - Kanye West Concert Afterparty - That Gal is Poison
• DJ Craze - Murder @ Butterfactory - Kanye West Concert Afterparty - Annie Lennox
• DJ Craze - Murder @ Butterfactory - Kanye West Concert Afterparty ~ Hold It

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (October 2010)

DJ Spinbad (born Chris Sullivan in 1974) is a radio and club DJ, who formerly mixed on WWPR and WHTZ in New York City.

Career[link]

DJ Spinbad was formerly heard on WHTZ in twenty-minute sets at 7:00 p.m. and 12:00 a.m. on weekdays, Fridays at 5:00 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays at 7:00 p.m. He was also heard on WWPR at 10:00 p.m.-12:00 a.m. on Fridays. Recent recession cutbacks, according to his MySpace page, forced WHTZ to cut him from their lineup. He was also heard on WHTZ on Saturdays from 11:00 p.m.–2:00 a.m. live from Webster Hall in New York City. Spinbad was also a guest on the syndicated radio show Live In Tha Den With Big Tigger.^[1]

In 2011, Spinbad returned to WHTZ as apart of the Saturday Night Online staff.

DJ Spinbad has toured with electronic artist Moby,^[2] and has produced one of the albums in the Fabric Live series, described by Allmusic as "literally a party in a can",^[3] while Resident Advisor stated that it was "mixed extremely well".^[4] Spinbad also mixed the 2001 collection Underground Airplay Version 1.0.^[5] He also is credited with having the most bootlegged mix CD titled Rocks the Casbah (The '80s Megamix).

Spinbad has deejayed for Russell Peters' comedy tours.

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• 2001: Underground Airplay Version 1.0, MIC Media
• 2004: FabricLive.14, Fabric

[edit] Mixtapes^[6]

• 1995: Rock the Cashbah (The '80s Megamix)
• 1997: Clueless? (With DJ Slynkee)
• 1998: Needle to the Groove
• 2000: Cold Cutz Remixes (With DJ JS-1)
• 2000: The '80s Megamix, Vol. 2
• 2001: You Know My Steez: '90s Hip-Hop
• 2001: Break Yo' Neck
• 2002: Spinbad's Alturnatives
• 2003: '90s Hip-Hop Megamix
• 2003: Powermix
• 2003: The Problem Solver (Hosted By: Big Tigger)
• 2004: No More Bullsh*t Blends
• 2004: Powermix, Vol. 2 (Hosted By: Tony Touch)
• 2005: Powermix, Vol. 3 (Hosted By: LL Cool J)
• 2007: Murphy's Law (With DJ Whoo Kid)
• 2007: The Best Of Murda Mixtape (With DJ Whoo Kid)
• 2009: The '90s Megamix
• 2009: Live in Japan
• 2010: Reggae Classics: Lover's Rock, Vol. 1
• 2010: Needle to the Groove 2
• 2011: Live in Japan 2011
• 2012: Live in South Africa

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Website
• DJ Spinbad on Myspace
• DJ Spinbad on Twitter
• DJ Spinbad at Discogs
• DJ Spinbad at the Internet Movie Database

DJ Qbert
At the Nuits Sonores festival in Lyon, France, May 2006
Background information
Birth name	Richard Quitevis
Born	(1969-10-07) October 7, 1969 (age 42) San Francisco, California, U.S.
Genres	Hip hop
Occupations	Disc jockey
Website	http://www.djqbert.com

Richard Quitevis (born October 7, 1969) known by his stage name DJ Qbert or Qbert, is a Filipino-American Turntablist and composer.

Early life[link]

Growing up in San Francisco's Excelsior District on Moscow Street, he graduated from Luther Burbank Middle School and in 1987 from Balboa High School.^[1][2] Qbert started playing with records at the age of 15, although he got his first Fisher-Price turntable as a toddler. He was influenced by the street performers and graffiti artists of the local hip hop community in the mid 1980s. It was at Balboa's school cafeteria that he went up against Mix Master Mike. The two are good friends.^[3]

Career[link]

Qbert started his musical career in a group called FM20 with Mix Master Mike and DJ Apollo in 1990. In New York when playing a show, Crazy Legs saw them and invited them to join the Rock Steady Crew. They accepted the offer to join the crew. Going by the name Rock Steady DJs they then proceeded to take the 1992 Disco Mix Club World DJ Championships (DMC) world title.^[4] Qbert was also one of the founding members of the band Invisibl Skratch Piklz. Although there were other turntablist crews before the Invisibl Skratch Piklz, the Skratch Piklz were the first to apply the band concept to turntablism, layering drums, basslines, and scratch solos on top of each other.

QBert, along with other Skratch Piklz, created a series of videos entitled Turntable TV. Now out of print, the first 5 episodes were released on VHS and contained demonstrations, showcases, skits, and other DJ related content.

QBert's solo efforts include 1994's Demolition Pumpkin Squeeze Musik, and 1998's Wave Twisters. The latter album was created mainly with samplers and beat machines versus the turntable, and later turned into an animated feature of the same title. Wave Twisters (2001) the movie was somewhat unusual in that the animators and digital artists had to invent images and movements to the pre-recorded music, as opposed to the other way around (although not unprecedented; Disney's Fantasia was made the same way).

More recently he has worked with Vestax to develop the QFO, an all-in-one scratching instrument. The QFO combines a turntable with a mixer's crossfader.[1] In 2006 he introduced the QBert turntable cartridge, a model put out by Ortofon.[2]

Performing at a gig in Berlin, February 2008

In 2009, Qbert launched the Qbert Skratch University, an online school and community for DJ's.

Personal life[link]

In a 2011 interview with the website WeBeVegan.org, Qbert stated that he is a vegan.^[5]

Media appearances[link]

His music was also featured in the video game Tony Hawk's Underground. He has also appeared himself in DJ Hero 2.

Awards and credentials[link]

• America's Best DJ 2010
• DMC USA Champion 1991 (Solo)
• DMC World Champion 1992 - Rock Steady DJs (Qbert, Mixmaster Mike & Apollo)
• DMC World Champion 1993 - Dreamteam (Qbert & Mixmaster Mike)
• DMC World Champion 1994 - Dreamteam (Qbert & Mixmaster Mike) ***
• DMC Judge 2012 (what you heard?)
• DMC DJ Hall of Fame (along with Mix Master Mike)
• Featured in Hang the DJ by Marco & Mauro La Villa
  • Cannes Film Festival, France
• Appears in the documentary film Modulations
  • Sundance Festival, Utah
• Appears in the documentary Scratch
  • Sundance Festival, Utah
• Appears in his own animated/live action movie "Wave Twisters

See also[link]

• Filipino hip hop

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: DJ Q-bert

• Djqbert.com
• ThudRumble.com
• QbertSkratchUniversity.com
• Q-bert on IMDb
• Full Discography
• Video of Q-Bert Live Set in UK

Interviews[link]

• Interview with DJ Times, 2001
• The Career Cookbook Interview with Qbert
• Radio Feature The Some Assembly Required Interview with DJ Qbert (2008).
• HHC Digital interview about his DMC legacy
• Conspiracy Worldwide Radio October 2010 Uncensored Interview
• Interview with We Be Vegan