From Scratch

Hey I am just starting to get into the whole beat making thing and I am a huge fan of beats with a lot of scratching of samples(DJ Premier is my hero!). I want to learn how to scratch samples and incorporate vinyl into my beats. I have no problem doing the grunt work reading on it practicing etc and I am willing to put $ down to get the equipment right. Just wondering if you helpful folks could dispense advice or point me to another thread, tutorial video or site that can get me started? I am not clueless in the audio world but I am a blank slate in vinyl world so be gentle.

Thanks in advance!

go to youtube and search for dj qberts diy
some dude (skul i think??) has uploaded all the clips

for cutting in vocals, the easiest way to get it sounding good is to master the chirp scratch.
It just sounds tight, a little chirp then cut it in

or you could just buy the dvd: dj qberts diy vol.1 skratching

Checked it out it looks excellent but a bit too advanced I really need to start from the ground up I know nothing about a traditional dj setup/ or even how to play vinyl. I grew up with Ipods be easy on me lol...

Ok...do you have a turntable?

You might dismiss this advice, but I think the best way is to use your favorite musicians as teachers by listening to their stuff.

If you get the concept behind scratching (crossfader works as an ON/OFF switch for sound and you're manually rewinding and playing the sample on the TT, with the option to speed it up, slow it down, stutter it, etc...) and you know what sample (or have an idea of what it would sound like) Preemo or someone else is scratching, then you should be able to figure out what they're doing.

Find a record that someone you listened to used, listen to their version and see what they did. Once you figure it out, figure out another. Then you'll be able to tell without using your TT. Then you'll be able to try and One Up these guys.

thanks for the tips I have a M-audio Torq xponent for djing and a trigger finger connected to trigger samples. It is sort of a digital turntable probably not as good as vinyl for scratching(cant really stutter it I believe the term is, but I will try practicing on it.) Thanks for the help I didn't know about the cross fader stuff at all keep more of those tips coming

One of the first things you should do is get a Scratch record (i.e. Qbert's scratch seal) if you're using cd's to scratch you can probably get some ripped scratch records through Soulseek. Then watch one of Qbert' s instructional videos and practice as much as possible. There's no need for you to learn triple disk orbits and techniques like that. Just make sure you learn how to chirp, stab and transform real well and you should be ok for what you're looking for.
Last but not least, watch this movie: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 5841814301
It will help you take it all in to consideration and maybe take your craft to the next level.

My xponent what I use to DJ doesn't actually scratch anything physically like cd or vinyl. It has left and right jog wheels that are supposed to imitate vinyl.

heres a link to check it out what I am dealing with

http://www.catapult.co.uk/products/DJ%2 ... rq+Xponent

Does not look like I can really play around with viny on the xponent though, what would be a good entry level setup to get into the world of vinyl(Turntables and all needed to set up properly) Please don't omit anything remember Im new!

Are you only planning on scratching? Or mixing(mixing records together), backspinning(playing a break back to back on two turntables live) and maybe even juggling(juggling with two records so as to make a new beat live)?

Or would you want the best setup for sampling, incorporating a bit of scratching as well?

Guys I want any and all tips you can give me, I am trying to soak em up like a sponge post anything you think can help don't be gun shy. But to answer your question I am most interested in learning scratching a sample and incorporating it into beats.

Oh I have tried mixing a bit before here is a link. This is only my third mix but feel free to check it out and download it, if anything the music is good(mixing and scratching is sketchy near the end) and pretty ecclectic though I am sure all of you hip hop vets have heard of most of it before but what the hell

http://web.mac.com/five5home/Site/Music.html

As a beat maker I really enjoy the Premier style scratch efx on the hooks. That ish aint easy but can be accomplished.


Since you have exponent and use the jog wheels as the turntable you will need to load some scratch samples into Torq to scratch. You can go to:


www.Beatsource.com and go to DJ Toolz in the Genre section. Search for Scratching, a group of albums will come up previewing sound bites such as "Fresh, Argghhh, etc.." which you can manipulate as scratch efx like the Chirp, Transformer, etc..


Vocal scratching can be done in 2 ways. 1 you can find a piece of an accapella that is for a bar and add a scratch efx before that accapella or 2 you can scratch the actual accapella which Premier does.


Mastering the scratch is all about timing and rhythm. Start out slow and work your way up. 98% of scratching is done with the fader the other 2% on moving the record or scratch sound.



Here is a better video to explain what Qbert does:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwrP723ovz0


When you get ya skillz up watch this:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Taeuv9lnDk


Notice how fast Qbert's hand moves on that fader.. Unbelievable son!

[email protected] wrote:Guys I want any and all tips you can give me, I am trying to soak em up like a sponge post anything you think can help don't be gun shy. But to answer your question I am most interested in learning scratching a sample and incorporating it into beats.

Oh I have tried mixing a bit before here is a link. This is only my third mix but feel free to check it out and download it, if anything the music is good(mixing and scratching is sketchy near the end) and pretty ecclectic though I am sure all of you hip hop vets have heard of most of it before but what the hell

http://web.mac.com/five5home/Site/Music.html

Well, for starters, a lot of sampling (95%) isn't scratched in, a sample is chopped into pieces and rearranged on the pads. The most basic setup is a Technic (you don't need 2 turntables to accompany an MPC, but you will live if you want to be a 'DJ') turntable and a solid mixer. Just make sure it's able to change the crossfader envelope and it's solidly built. The crossfader, like I said is off/on but you can also make it a gradual climb. You want a solid direct drive turntable - they have different features. The most popular one is the classic Technic which is very limited on features but is a solid ass turntable. Just try to find the best mix of solidness and features for your buck and go for the features that work best for you.

Great Tips! Could someone explain the purpose of the mixer with the 2 turn tables. Pardon my ignorance in my xponent setup everything is built in so I don't know what the mixer accomplishes in a traditional one. Do I need software for this like I need torq for the xponent? Can the mixer run without software? Just trying to narrow my wish list down here.... Also What are these features you speak of are they effects like the flanger reverb etc that are like plug ins or is it something COMPLETELY different?

Can I buy one technic now and grab the other later? Sorry for the shitload of questions but ya'll have been excellent so far!

Hip hop existed before computers, a mixer needs no software, just one or two things that make sound to plug into it and...mix them. The crossfader chooses between which source to allow sound to come from, if you have 2 TTs plugged into it, the crossfader switches between the two, if you're just using one than it's on/off.

Other features on a TT could include digital pitch shift, reverse, ultra pitch shift, etc...

The chorus, reverb etc... could be put in in a computer but the traditional way is with hardware that has these same features, you have to decide if you want to go digital or hardware.