Nailing the Technique Of Scratching

 

 

 

Find a sample or sound on your record to practice scratching on. Listen to records with an ear for little moments around which you might build a whole song. Break-beats, the moments during which all the instruments drop out and the drums remain, are commonly isolated for use as the beats in hip-hop tracks, while instrumental tracks often make good melody lines to pair them with.

• Listen closely to records and stop the record when you hear something you might like to use. Go back and try to find the exact moment that sound begins.

 

 Mark the groove. In the old days, DJs would take small, round stickers that teachers would use on essay papers and place the sticker directly on the record, next to the groove, just beyond the sample. This provides both a visual cue to where the sample starts, and will bump the stylus back into the groove to re-bump the sample. Some DJs prefer not to put stickers on the vinyl itself, though it's the classic way of doing it. You can also try to mark the groove however works best for you, if you're going to tape your beats or mix them on the fly.


 

 

Stop the record with your fingertips. After the sound finishes playing and then slowly bring the record backwards at close to the same speed as it played forward. It should sound like you just hit reverse on your turntable. The classic "scratch" sound comes from picking an appropriate blank beat, like a trumpet blast or some other long sound effect, and rocking the platter back and forth over that sound, producing the distinctive "scratch" sound. 

 

 

 

 

Put on another song and do this to the beat. A scratch by itself would be like a movie made entirely of explosions. Cool at first? Sure. Boring after a couple minutes? You bet. To scratch properly, you've got to pair your samples and your manipulations of the record with a beat. Find an appropriate beat on which to build your music. Look for the break-beats in songs that you like, especially old soul and R&B samples make for good break-beats from which you might build music. 

 

 

 

 

 

Push the record forward over the sample instead of allowing the sound to play at regular speed or slowing it down. You will get a high pitched sound. Do the same for the reverse, pull it back at a similar speed. Then, do this to music. This is sometimes known as the baby scratch.

• Start with a slower beat and then get faster and faster as you go along. When you are able to do them at a good speed, try to vary the rhythms by throwing in rests to the beats you develop.