I Started Out Deejaying As A Young Man
That is a line from a song that I wrote a few years ago. I can remember seeing a video by Hurbie Handcock, in the 1980s, called 'Rockit'. The DJ, Grandmixer D.ST, moved his hand rapidly back and forth on a turntable and it produced a very unique sound. This is one my earliest memories of seeing someone scratch. I would try and mimic the same on my Aunt's record player. From that moment I knew I wanted to become a DJ.
Fast forward a few years and I was able to purchase two Technics 1210s turntables and a Numark mixer. I practiced almost daily for a few years. I gained enough skill to start deejaying professionally. While in college, my roommate and I started a mobile DJ business and we performed for many sororities and fraternities and civic organizations.
In 1993, I stopped deejaying to focus on my studies. I graduated college and didn't DJ again. Ten years later, while pursuing an interested in music production and composition, I learned about audio equipment and MIDI gear. One day on a trip to Guitar Center, I went to DJ section and saw some MIDI controllers that functioned like turntables. I played around with the Numark NS7, which has two motorized platters and a built in mixer. This visit led to a renewed interest and I realized that had been bit by the DJ bug again.
Over the next several years, I'd visit Guitar Center and practice for several hours at a time. Finally in 2010, I purchased a Numark NS7 of my own and started to learn more advanced scratch patterns. Deejaying had really evolved in the past 20 years and particularly scratching. The technical difficulty, creativity, speed and dexterity was vastly superior to what I was accustomed to performing. However, I was determined to learn how to perform new scratches. Having prior DJ experience aided me because I already possessed timing and coordination between the record and crossfader hands.
YouTube Was My School
YouTube became my primary source to learn new scratches. DJ Angelo, DJ QBert, and DJ Short-E served as my remote instructors. I watched their videos and learned the technical aspects of several scratch patterns. I could perform a Baby Scratch and the Joe Cooley (Bobcat Scratch) easily. They were two of my favorites that learned in my early years. I liked the crisp sound of the Chirp Scratch so I focused on learning this pattern. I practiced for several months until I almost got it. Next I moved on to learn the Transformer Scratch. Initially I could perform this scratch pattern, however, my technique was not as good as it should be and therefore my speed suffered. As a result, I changed that way in which I tapped the crossfader with my left hand, specifically, I now use my index and middle fingers. This new method took some getting use to and I continued for many months until I increased my speed. I was excited to share my new skills with others.
Ole School (Analog) vs Digital
I'd like to point out that the principles of scratching applies to both real turntables and some digital controllers. Having experience in both the analog and digital deejaying worlds, I don't criticize or elevate one over the other. My only preference is that a prefer motorized platters, like the NS7, if I use a MIDI turntable controller. I encourage all beginners to use whatever equipment they can get their hands on.
Sharing With Others
Every since I was a kid, I always wanted to understand why. Why something worked or how it worked always intrigued me. Once I learned something then I wanted to share my new found knowledge. So after years of scratching and perfecting my craft, I decided to create YouTube videos to teach others How To DJ.
My tutorials are specifically geared to teach people how to scratch. I assume the viewer has no DJ or scratching experience. First I start off with the basics and move on to more advanced patterns. My first tutorial teaches one how to perform The Baby Scratch and Drop. These two scratches are the elementary building blocks on which many advanced scratches are built.
I hope you enjoy... Happy Scratching!