Scratching - A lost art ?

It seem to me the scratching has no place in modern dance music, is that a good thing or a bad thing ? i used to love a bit of scratching back in the day when i was big on Hardcore & it's sub gener's but then you'd get dj's who'd do a bit over the top of styles like trance which imo didn't work at all.

Now theirs obviously some styles that still embrace the art (of which i'm not to familier with) so what are those ?. & generally are you a fan of scatching or not ?

Thoughts & discusions please :)

i think it works sometimes. its not really all that good sounding in techno.. although there are a few that do it well (sterling moss).. but then there are some that do it dreadfully..

i was at the irish round of the dmc thingy a few years back.. farkin awesome.. but thats turntablism really more than music

i used to be into scratching, but not over dance music, for some reason, i never thought it really worked, i left it for the hip hop dj's where beat juggling and scratching were meant for the music

I think it's good at times...even with techno...but you just have to be selective about when and how much. The main reason it sounds bad is when people over do it.

like dj bam bam......

Marc Smith is good at scratching, he does it when playing hardcore and in force 9 sets :cool:

I think the same goes for turntable tricks in general lately. Not enough people really get down on popping the faders, playing double beats of the same record to juggle and so on. It's easy to do with Techno and it's something really interesting for the crowd to enjoy.

I always liked scratching,Gang Starrs Premier or PE`s Terminator X and off course Eric B! For scratching in Techno Murphy and Pest do a good job

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Originally Posted by messanger

I think the same goes for turntable tricks in general lately.

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Completly agree, where's all the originalty gone, my gran could beat match but that doesn't mean she was a dj

dodgyedgy is a sublime turntablist

i can sracth my arse

there is a party tomorrow with Christian Fisher and dj Murphy. I think there will be loot of scratching in their set.. so I am quite curios.. but scratching in techno doesnt make that impact like scratching in hiphop, imo. Hopefully one day I will see ISP crew in action,. my dream.

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Originally Posted by Aratron

dodgyedgy is a sublime turntablist

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Really ?

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Originally Posted by DJsmallpaul

It seem to me the scratching has no place in modern dance music, is that a good thing or a bad thing ? i used to love a bit of scratching back in the day when i was big on Hardcore & it's sub gener's but then you'd get dj's who'd do a bit over the top of styles like trance which imo didn't work at all.

Now theirs obviously some styles that still embrace the art (of which i'm not to familier with) so what are those ?. & generally are you a fan of scatching or not ?

Thoughts & discusions please :)

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Obviously you get lots of scratching in Hip Hop, and a fair bit in Breaks and Electro.

I've heard quite a few D&B DJs scratch.

It's rarer in Techno, but there are still some people who do it well.

Space DJz, DJ Bam Bam and Jerome Hill come to mind.

I definitely think there's a place for it in modern dance music, for sure.

So long as there are turntables (vinyl or otherwise) there will be scratching.

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Originally Posted by DJsmallpaul

Really ?

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yes

Oh right cool, wonder if he has any videos on the net

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Originally Posted by DJsmallpaul

Oh right cool, wonder if he has any videos on the net

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doubt he's that pretentious

I wasn't implying he was Calvin i was hoping i could see him in action

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Originally Posted by DJsmallpaul

I wasn't implying he was Calvin i was hoping i could see him in action

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just get in touch with him init

cant wish to meet a nicer bloke than dodgyedgy im sure he cud show u a thing or two

Indeed

Hmmm

i dont really know what to say TBH

thanks for the props calvin, its very kind of you.

Yes its true, i can scratch, but in terms of who the rude boys are, i aint one of them. How ever i can do the following:

Clickflare
baby
scribble
uzi
chirp
crab
orbit
Beat Juggle (badly)

And i do scratch in techno sets and breakbeat sets.

It depends on the scratching you want to do, there are somethings that are NOT acceptable depending on what you are scratching to.

Scratching depends entirely on the scratcher (obviously dodgy.. haha)

I would recommend scratching to EVERY DJ it is one of the corner stones of making your turntable skills ill. If you can scratch it really does give you abilities that very few DJs have, esp techno ones.

I personally dont see how people can call themselves DJs without having even the most basic ability to do this. it means that you can have complete and total mastery over the vinyl (CDs still dont cut it *YET*)

As the saying goes "What is a DJ if he cant scratch"

This is not to say i think the other skills are not worth anything, they are all equal but what is one without the other.

It amazes me that in this day and age and after all this time people still regard scratching as an esoteric skill, in part i blame the turbtablists for making the art some kind of 'black art' purely so that they can differentiate and legitimise what they do. and i suspect its put people off.

I LOVE djing and the buzz of DJing to a crowd cannot compare.

there are somethings that annoy me about DJing, the use of FX instead of the use of ones mind and skills. I makes me so angry that people use technology as a substitute for their own skills rather than using it to increase their skills.

As a group we could be SO much more respected as DJs instead of being the butt of jokes we could be the ones getting hired.

A sad state of affairs.

Aside from the negatives, there are MANy positives, but its up to us to demonstrate them, get out ther and start scratching, cutting, rewinding, juggling, sampling, effecting and BEING the best DJ you can be.

*phew* /rant

i hate scratching in Techno unless its done really well. Ben Long is the best exponent of the scratch as it were that ive seen Techno wise, but you gotta look outside of "modern dance music" to see the really skilled artists.

Wait till you've seen Scratch Perverts or Dj Cash Money live, then you'l understand what scratching is really about

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Originally Posted by eyeswithoutaface

i hate scratching in Techno unless its done really well. Ben Long is the best exponent of the scratch as it were that ive seen Techno wise, but you gotta look outside of "modern dance music" to see the really skilled artists.

Wait till you've seen Scratch Perverts or Dj Cash Money live, then you'l understand what scratching is really about

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+1

But as an aside do you think that scratching sounds bad in techno because people are not used to it, or because techno DJs as a general rule cannot scratch properly. or because those who CAN scratch properly prefer not to do it because they dont have the balls?

Personally i dont believe in boundaries and have a real dislike of preconcieved ideas about 'HOW TECHNO SHOULD BE DJ'D'.

(im talking generally scott, not at you mate)

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Originally Posted by eyeswithoutaface

Wait till you've seen Scratch Perverts or Dj Cash Money live, then you'l understand what scratching is really about

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Scratching in Techno... DJ Kentaro, end of story.

Bad Boy Bill does it well. I think if you do it right it soudns good in techno, breaks, dnb, house...i guess pretty much everything as long as its no longer than a min or two =)

not rely a huge fan.. but it does seem lost tho..

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Originally Posted by TechMouse

Scratching in Techno... DJ Kentaro, end of story.

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wow id forgot about Kentaro. Have an excellent vid on my computer upstairs from a festival, he's amazing.

but i think as a rule, the reason why scratching isnt as popular in techno is because it's just not one of those techniques that lends itself to the music as well as it does other genres. There is certainly a place for it, but if you notice it does always tend to be incorporated into techno with djs who have that very old skool, hip hop style, fast and choppy, loose (in the good sense), willing to risk things for the mix etc etc

Organ donors are wicked for scratching too....