spinning drum blog

In the world of scratching just like in almost everything else, less is more. When you begin to learn to scratch there is the drive to do precisely just that, scratch and scratch and scratch through every track. Once warmed up and in the groove, loose and limber fingers are all too eager to layer sound over sound. The end result is more often than not an overly busy sonic assault where the audience can barely make out the basic rhythm let alone hear individual contributions to the overall piece. What one of the most difficult things to learn to appreciate for almost any musician is the power of silence.

Exercising restraint is what makes whatever you do do, when you do it, effective. It is the pause, the rest, the musical space between notes carried on the musician’s control and ability to breathe within a piece that creates a tight and well-defined audio aesthetic. Sure to most scratch musicians every beat sounds better ridden by some sort of turntable action, but the truth be known, nobody likes a sonic bully, and to play effectively within more musical phrases, one must make use of less.

It can be agreed that the bedroom is not the same as the stage. During practice there are countless hours of nonstop vinyl action, which hopefully will reflect in mastered scratches during performances. However in performance when working with other musicians or even during your own set scratching over multilayered “finished tracks,” you have to leave room for the song itself. There is a trade off with other musicians and/or sounds.

It’s about timing and control. Sure you can spend a whole musical set cramming in every stuttered and twisted sound you can think of, or perhaps wait for a scratch solo when you can cut loose with needle badness on wax. More often than not, however, too much scratching too soon can have a wham bam thank you mam effect that detracts from the turntable’s versatility and musicality, invariably undermining your effectiveness as a musician.

Some tips on scratching cooperatively:

When working with other musicians most important skill is listening.

Enjoy other people’s talent

When working with finished tracks especially those with a strong melodic components, if you do decide to dominate a piece, make sure you are better sounding than the lead instrument. Don’t do half-assed fresh samples over a Hendrix guitar riff for instance. If you are going to sonically trample something, make sure what you are offering is superior to what is already there.

If there is other scratching in the song, especially if it’s good, don’t scratch over it.

Don’t scratch over vocals,

Don’t scratch over your friend’s scratching unless agreed. Trade bars – 8 to 16 bar exchange if jamming.

When scratching together use the same or similiar sound in a Q and A type musical dialogue or find sounds that are of different audio frequencies. Contrasts in tone and pitch following the same rhythms are pretty impressive.

Most importantly don’t blow your entire wad in one set, always, always leave’em wanting more.

The turntablist’s ability like that of any musician rests in their relationship with their body. A musician can be called a small muscle athlete, within whom the alchemy of speed, endurance and motor control underlie a skilled performance.

In the morning when I step behind the decks to beat juggle or scratch, the image of a race car sometimes comes to mind. Funnily enough, I don’t actually drive, but I can appreciate the the level of strength, fine motor skill and endurance required to compete in the Formula One. Some of the most highly conditioned athletes on earth are race car drivers, whose bodies must react with lightening quick reflexes unimpeded by high velocity.

On the wheels of steel, a turntablist drives rhythms. In juggles, layers and cuts, quick but steady motions match tempos and bars at any bpm. Skill is a product of fine motor control at any and all speeds. To achieve the level of mastery found in the hands of Qbert is something which has to be built over time, day by day, through repetition and repetition at both slow and high speeds. At reduced bpms, your hands become conditioned to the right movements the instrument demands. As your ability to sustain the control and exactitude through out the piece grows so can the speed. Sometimes, however, it is advantages to simply play quickly in order to begin conditioning the fingers to move at this speed. You prepare them for day when precision and timing can meet fast speeds, and you can execute passages with a skill beyond which the mind can calculate, but only by what can be sunk into muscle memory.

In the marathon running world building of endurance and speed is called doing fartleks, which means speed play. It has you intersperse intense sprints through out your run, which is mostly kept at an overall moderate aerobic pace. Not a bad way to approach learning a new scratch or routine.

I recall when I started juggling. It took quite a good deal of effort to swing back and forth even 16 bars of 4 beat loops, especially while trying to keep each exchange steady and consistent. When I began, I recall the hand fatigue after scratching a 6 minute piece. I built up endurance and honed my motor skill by practicing scratches both slow and fast. The faster I could scratch also meant the more relaxed and steady my hands were when they returned to slower speeds, and the interplay between fast and slow allowed my endurance to grow as well as kept my interest through daily drills. Today I don’t have to think about spending an hour or two doing either. Speed play is still part of my practice.

One exercise I use juggling is to work from 4 beats to 2 beats each side, reducing it to quickly volleyed 1 beat a side until I can no longer sustain it. I then add beats, returning to 4 beats aside. While it is important to strive for a concentrated even rhythm at high speeds the emphasis here is more on getting the body accustomed to high speed movement. With this as a daily practice one improves very quickly. When returning to a slower juggle or scratching, it is impressive at how relaxed the muscles are at less demanding speeds. Cap your juggling session with an ease up into some languid scratching over rootsy hip hop or dub, you’ll be surprised how loose yet exact your scratches are.

More thoughts on practice, check out musician skill building online http://www.ibreathemusic.com/