Derek Showard, better known by the stage name GrandMixer DXT, is an American musician, one of the earliest to use

turntables A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

as a musical instrument in the 1980s. Early in his career, he was known as Grand Mixer D.ST, a reference to

Delancey Street __NOTOC__ Delancey Street is one of the main thoroughfares of New York City's Lower East Side in Manhattan, running from the street's western terminus at the Bowery to its eastern end at FDR Drive, connecting to the Williamsburg Bridge and Broo ...

on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City. He was featured in the influential hip hop film '' Wild Style''. Widely recognized as a pioneer, Grand Mixer DXT is credited as being the first

turntablist Turntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating new music, sound effects, mixes and other creative sounds and beats, typically by using two or more turntables and a cross fader-equipped DJ mixer. The mixer is plugged into a PA sys ...

. He was the first person to establish the turntable as a fully performable and improvisational musical instrument (Alberts 2002). Especially important is his technique of altering the pitch of the

note Note, notes, or NOTE may refer to: Music and entertainment * Musical note, a pitched sound (or a symbol for a sound) in music * ''Notes'' (album), a 1987 album by Paul Bley and Paul Motian * ''Notes'', a common (yet unofficial) shortened version ...

or sound on the record. He is also credited with helping to popularize DJing through his

scratching Scratching, sometimes referred to as scrubbing, is a DJ and turntablist technique of moving a vinyl record back and forth on a turntable to produce percussive or rhythmic sounds. A crossfader on a DJ mixer may be used to fade between two record ...

on Herbie Hancock's single " Rockit", from the

Bill Laswell William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, ...

and

Material Material is a substance or mixture of substances that constitutes an object. Materials can be pure or impure, living or non-living matter. Materials can be classified on the basis of their physical and chemical properties, or on their geolo ...

produced album ''

Future Shock ''Future Shock'' is a 1970 book by American futurist Alvin Toffler, written together with his spouse Adelaide Farrell, in which the authors define the term "future shock" as a certain psychological state of individuals and entire societies. Th ...

''. He is featured in the 2001 documentary, '' Scratch''.

Discography

With

Ginger Baker Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker (19 August 1939 – 6 October 2019) was an English drummer. His work in the 1960s and 1970s earned him the reputation of "rock's first superstar drummer", for a style that melded jazz and African rhythms and pi ...

* ''

Horses & Trees ''Horses & Trees'' is an album by English drummer Ginger Baker, released in 1986. The album is entirely instrumental and contains six dance-oriented songs. Track listing # "Interlock" (Bill Laswell, Daniel Ponce, Nicky Skopelitis, Foday Mu ...

'' (Celluloid, 1986) With Herbie Hancock * ''

'' (Columbia, 1983) * '' Sound System'' (Columbia, 1984) * ''

Perfect Machine ''Perfect Machine'' is the thirty-seventh album by jazz pianist Herbie Hancock. It was the third and final album in Hancock’s series co-produced by Bill Laswell. Guests include bassist Bootsy Collins. Background The album was produced with ...

'' (Columbia, 1988) With

Jah Wobble John Joseph Wardle (born 11 August 1958), known by the stage name Jah Wobble, is an English bass guitarist and singer. He became known to a wider audience as the original bass player in Public Image Ltd (PiL) in the late 1970s and early 1980s; ...

* ''Heaven and Earth'' (Island Records, 1995) With

King T Roger McBride (born December 14, 1968), better known by his stage name King T (formerly known as King Tee), is an American West Coast Hip hop rapper from Compton, California. Emerging as one of Compton's earliest hip hop artists, he was signed ...

* ''

IV Life ''IV Life'' is the fourth studio album by American West Coast hip hop artist King Tee. It was released on March 28, 1995 via MCA Records, making it his first album on the label after his split with Capitol Records. Production was handled by sever ...

'' (MCA, 1994) With

* '' Akasha'' (Subharmonic, 1995) * ''

Jazzonia ''Jazzonia'' is a cover album by American composer Bill Laswell, released on August 25, 1998, by Douglas Music. Track listing Personnel Adapted from the ''Jazzonia'' liner notes. ;Musicians *Asante – vocals (1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8) *Karl ...

'' (Douglas, 1998) * ''

Aftermathematics ''Aftermathematics'' (styled ''AFTERMATHematics'') is a collaborative album by Grand Mixer DXT and Bill Laswell, released on December 5, 2003 by Sub Rosa. Track listing Personnel Adapted from the ''Aftermathematics'' liner notes. ;Musicia ...

'' (Subharmonic, 2003) With

Praxis Praxis may refer to: Philosophy and religion * Praxis (process), the process by which a theory, lesson, or skill is enacted, practised, embodied, or realised * Praxis model, a way of doing theology * Praxis (Byzantine Rite), the practice of fai ...

* '' Profanation (Preparation for a Coming Darkness)'' (NAGUAL, 2008) With Sly and Robbie * '' Rhythm Killers'' (Island Records, 1987)

References

External links

Grand Mixer DXT
discography at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the ...

*
DJ Grand Mixer DXT Interview - NAMM Oral History Library (2013)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grand Mixer Dxt American hip hop DJs Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Musicians from New York City