Scratching

Scratching to me, is the most impressive of all DJing Techniques. It a blend of accuracy, timing, co-ordination, flare and skill all rolled into one. It is seen by some DJs an art form in itself, whereby it can totally replaces the need for beatmixing.

Scratching is manipulating a sound on the vinyl, (whether it be a kick, snare, effect or speech), by shoving or dragging it backwards and forwards. In addition, the sample is cut into sections in certain cases by the use of the crossfader, volume sliders/upfaders or any other feature that can cut the sound in and out. You are only limited by the equipment you use and how quick and good your co-ordination is. If beatmixing took you a year to master you can guarantee that to get the basic scratches down could take you he same time. Beat matching is not exactly a science. There is a process to follow but it doesn't change every time. The basics remain the same, every time. With scratching the variety is added by the combination of both hands doing different things. The techniques can be applied to a single sample/noise or to to a variety of sounds found closely located on the vinyl itself, lyrics or spoken voice for example.

Adding some scratching to your repertoire is a sure-fire way of distinguishing yourself from other DJ's of the same musical style.  You can make the record you are scratching over sound unique by adding that extra dimension.

This tutorial I hope will help you understand and get your foot onto the scratching ladder.

Equipment

Decks
You need directs. The better the pick up and stability the better. To do scratching properly you are talking top end specification decks like Vestax and Technics. You can do it to an extent on budgets but they are unlikely to be stable enough. You will just have to stick to simple record movement nd concentrate on fader techniques to create the scratch. If you have belt drives you are reading this for information purposes only. Fact.

Mixer
Secondly you are ideally going to need a loose X-fade preferably with an adjustable curve so you can sharpen the cut in point. For more information on this check the Mixer Functionspage. My first mixer's fader was nowhere near as slippy as it needed to be to make scratching on the fader a reality. I found using Punch-in buttons was the best option when I started as it was the only function that will make a clean cut-in and always at the same volume. This allowed me to tap the punch in button to create an audible scratch rhythm. I would then move the record back and forth to get my variety of sound and tap the rhythm I wanted onto the punch button.

Other Mixer Functions
Its not just a fader you can use to scratch the sound in and out. You can also use the line/phono switches to punch in or out the sound. Should you be playing a record normally on channel 2 you would put the vinyl on Channel 1, cue your sample and then flick Channel 1 line switch to CD, thus temporarily cutting the sound to the deck. Pop the fader in the middle as this will allow the sound to be heard by your audience once you get going. Move your left hand back and forth on the vinyl and then cut the sound in and out flicking the Line switch from CD (closed) to Deck (open) using your fader hand back to closed in one simple flick.
You may find that if your mixer is designed for this you may be extra noise (like a very bassy electrical click) added by the switch which can ruin the effect.

Stylus (if scratching from Vinyl)
You will need the needle to be stable and not skipping every time you move or touch the vinyl. To ensure you have correctly calibrated your decks see here. For further information on the types of stylus and cartridge see here.

CDJs
Although scratching has been predominantly a vinyl orientated pass-time, manufacturers are keen to introduce the possibility of using CDJs and digital equipment into the mix. Although there are options available, most current CD decks (especially the cheaper models) suffer from digital distortion and can't play the sample as accurately as a stylus. Check forums boards etc. for the latest and best CDJ for scratching. At the time of writing the Numark CDX appears to be wining the votes. If you can use CDs you will find it much easier to create and compile your own scratch CD. However you have more control over a piece of vinyl and not limited by a small jog wheel to try and be accurate with.

Sample
To start with you are going to need a sample to scratch with. There are increasing more and more records now tailored purely to help the budding scratcher. In days gone by a DJ would use a specific groove on a specific record as a scratch sample. Producers now save the modern DJ having to locate the samples ourselves and trying to locate certain records that you only want for a 1 second snippet. Instead they do all the digging for you by collecting a whole host of them together and putting them on one record. These are known as scratch records or more commonly battle records. Battle records may also contain rhythms, breaks and collections of beats rather than just sampled noises and speech. Scratching can be applied to anything, not just a whoooosh sample. As long as you can play it, you can scratch with it. If you don't have any specific battle records yet any sample can be used from any record. A quick poke about on your tunes may reveal one somewhere. Try and use noises that don't fade in but have a specific and definite start. A snare drum is a good example.

Overall
Even without any of the above, you will be able to form some simple scratches. Depending on your exact setup and how it calibrates will determine how much you can do. Trial and error and varying the pressure and tension you have in your hands (the looser the better) with reduce the amount of movement you are transferring in one hit to the vinyl. Gentle handling and letting the deck do the work is the key - the smoother and lighter your hand control the better.

When scratching as a guide you only need to use a couple of inches of vinyl. Surprisingly little in fact. Massive record movement doesn't mean longer sounding scratches necessarily.

Set-up
You may find that if you plan to heavily incorporate scratching as a feature or mixing tool, you will need to reduce and prevent the needle from skipping. You can aid this by opening up the amount of vinyl available to your vinyl hand. Physically turning your decks through 90 degrees anti clockwise to traditional battle set-up will move the in battle setup so the tonearm and pitch are at the back of the deck.

Choice of hands

There is no set way and which hand you have on the vinyl and which on the fader is totally but should and will be whichever you feel most comfortable. I scratch using my left hand holding the vinyl on Channel 1 and my right on the fader on channel 2. It will soon become apparent after a few practice attempts which you will use. By now you will know how and where you hold the record.  In my experience, your scratching style will be heavily influenced by the hand position you use whilst you are cueing the records up normally. Where you hold it (near the edge or centre or somewhere in the middle. That will already feel natural to you and a good starting point.

Understanding Clicks

As I progressed I realised that punching in was only half of what scratching is about. There is a physical limit to how fast you can cut in and out the sound using a fader. There is a way to reduce the speed of you hand, but get a quicker sounding more split sample for less work.

Say you have one sample that you want to make sound like its in two half's.

Option 1

You could start with the fader closed on Channel 2.
You would allow the record in your left hand to slowly travel forwards to move forward a few inches whilst at the the same time tap the fader in, take it out, push it in, return it closed. To do the same with punch buttons, as you push forward you tap the button twice. You are making two punch in movements.

Option 2

To get the same effect with half the fader movement, instead of bringing the sound in twice, you cut it out once. This cutting out of sound is called one Click. Here's why

You start with the fader open and hold the sample in your hand at the very beginning of it as you did above. Just after you start pushing the record forward, you tap the fader from open to closed and return it to open in one quick move. It is exactly the same as when you punch in but you're doing it in reverse. Because the movement s done in a fraction of a second and you are flicking it, the fader will make a click noise as it hits the end of the fader runners before returning to open.

Faderless clicks are possible also. They are done by quickly changing the direction of the record or by moving your arm in the same direction but it two moves. Tense your forearm then push forward, pause then push again. A rather jerky movement. Either way the result is the same. Starting a sample at the end with the fader open and dragging it back just past the beginning will mean you hit the silence before the sample. Pushing forward again will covert the silence back to sound as you catch the very start of the sample. You have a two noise scratch (one move back then one forward) with a "click" being added used as the silence before the sample starts . No fader used. If that doesn't make sense just now, read on.

Types of Scratch

There are two categories of scratch. Those that use vinyl alone with the fader open and those which use a combination of vinyl and fader. Now we understand (all being well) what clicks are about we can move on and tackle the techniques and combinations to create the scratches in the next section.