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Turntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating new music,
sound effects A sound effect (or audio effect) is an artificially created or enhanced sound, or sound process used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media. Traditi ...
, mixes and other creative sounds and beats, typically by using two or more turntables and a
cross fader In audio engineering, a fade is a gradual increase or decrease in the level of an audio signal. The term can also be used for film cinematography or theatre lighting in much the same way (see fade (filmmaking) and fade (lighting)). A rec ...
-equipped DJ mixer. The mixer is plugged into a PA system (for live events) and/or broadcasting equipment (if the DJ is performing on radio, TV or
Internet radio Online radio (also web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio, IP radio, Internet radio) is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not transmitted ...
) so that a wider audience can hear the turntablist's music. Turntablists atypically manipulate records on a turntable by moving the record with their hand to cue the stylus to exact points on a record, and by touching or moving the platter or record to stop, slow down, speed up or, spin the record backwards, or moving the turntable platter back and forth (the popular rhythmic " scratching" effect which is a key part of hip hop music), all while using a DJ mixer's crossfader control and the mixer's gain and equalization controls to adjust the sound and level of each turntable. Turntablists typically use two or more turntables and headphones to cue up desired start points on different records (Greasley & Prior, 2013). Turntablists, who are often called DJs (or "deejays"), generally prefer direct-drive turntables over belt-driven or other types, because the belt can be stretched or damaged by "scratching" and other turntable manipulation such as slowing down a record, whereas a direct drive turntable can be stopped, slowed down, or spun backwards without damaging the electric motor. The word ''turntablist'' was originated by Luis " DJ Disk" Quintanilla ( Primus,
Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he hel ...
, Invisibl Skratch Piklz). After a phone conversation with Disk, it was later popularised in 1995 by DJ Babu to describe the difference between a DJ who simply plays and mixes records and one who performs by physically manipulating the records, stylus, turntables, turntable speed controls and mixer to produce new sounds. The new term coincided with the resurgence of hip-hop DJing in the 1990s. John Oswald described the art: "A phonograph in the hands of a 'hiphop/scratch' artist who plays a record like an electronic washboard with a phonographic needle as a
plectrum A plectrum is a small flat tool used for plucking or strumming of a stringed instrument. For hand-held instruments such as guitars and mandolins, the plectrum is often called a pick and is held as a separate tool in the player's hand. In har ...
, produces sounds which are unique and ''not'' reproduced—the record player becomes a musical instrument." Some turntablists use turntable techniques like beat mixing/matching, scratching, and beat juggling. Some turntablists seek to have themselves recognized as traditional musicians capable of interacting and
improvising Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...
with other performers. Depending on the records and tracks selected by the DJ and their turntablist style (e.g., hip hop music), a turntablist can create rhythmic accompaniment, percussion breaks,
bassline Bassline (also known as a bass line or bass part) is the term used in many styles of music, such as blues, jazz, funk, Dub music, dub and electronic music, electronic, traditional music, traditional, or classical music for the low-pitched Part ( ...
s or beat loops, atmospheric "pads", "stabs" of sudden chords or interwoven melodic lines. The underground movement of turntablism has also emerged to focus on the skills of the DJ. In the 2010s, there are turntablism competitions, where turntablists demonstrate advanced beat juggling and scratching skills.


History


Precursors

The use of the turntable as a
musical instrument A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...
has its roots dating back to the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s when
musique concrète Musique concrète (; ): " problem for any translator of an academic work in French is that the language is relatively abstract and theoretical compared to English; one might even say that the mode of thinking itself tends to be more schematic, wit ...
composers did experiments with audio equipment. Experimental composers (such as
John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading f ...
, Halim El-Dabh, and Pierre Schaeffer) used them to
sample Sample or samples may refer to: Base meaning * Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of ...
and create music that was entirely produced by the turntable. Cage's ''
Imaginary Landscape No. 1 ''Imaginary Landscape No. 1'' is a composition for records of constant and variable frequency, large chinese cymbal and string piano by American composer John Cage and the first in the series of Imaginary Landscapes. It was composed in 1939. Co ...
'' (1939) is composed for two variable speed turntables, frequency recordings, muted piano and
cymbal A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs soun ...
.
Edgard Varèse Edgard Victor Achille Charles Varèse (; also spelled Edgar; December 22, 1883 – November 6, 1965) was a French-born composer who spent the greater part of his career in the United States. Varèse's music emphasizes timbre and rhythm; he coine ...
experimented with turntables even earlier in 1930, though he never formally produced any works using them. Though this school of thought and practice is not directly linked to the 1970s-2010 definition of turntablism within hip hop and DJ culture, it has had an influence on modern experimental sonic/artists such as Christian Marclay,
Janek Schaefer Janek Schaefer (born 1970) is a British avant-garde artist, musician, composer, and entertainer, known for performing and exhibiting his work around the world with sound and installation art. Schaefer has released 36 albums, runs Lucky Dip Disco, ...
, Otomo Yoshihide, Philip Jeck, and
Maria Chavez Maria Chavez is an improviser, curator and sound artist from Lima, Peru. Her sound installations, visual objects and live turntable performances focus on the values of the accident and its unique, complicated possibilities with sound emitting machi ...
. Turntablism as it is known today, however, did not surface until the advent of hip hop in the 1970s. Examples of turntable effects can also be found on popular records produced in the 1960s and 1970s. This was most prominent in Jamaican
dub music Dub is an electronic musical style that grew out of reggae in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It is commonly considered a subgenre of reggae, though it has developed to extend beyond that style.Dub: soundscapes and shattered songs in Jamaican r ...
of the 1960s,Nicholas Collins, Julio d' Escrivan Rincón (2007)
''The Cambridge Companion to Electronic Music'', page 49
Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pr ...
among deejays in the Jamaican sound system culture. Dub music introduced the techniques of mixing and scratching vinyl, which Jamaican immigrants introduced to American hip hop culture in the early 1970s.Nicholas Collins, Margaret Schedel, Scott Wilson (2013)
''Electronic Music: Cambridge Introductions to Music'', page 105
Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pr ...
Beyond dub music,
Creedence Clearwater Revival Creedence Clearwater Revival, also referred to as Creedence and CCR, was an American rock band formed in El Cerrito, California. The band initially consisted of lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter John Fogerty; his brother, ...
's 1968 self-titled debut album features a backspin effect in the song "Walk on the Water."


Direct-drive turntables

Turntablism has origins in the invention of direct-drive turntables. Early belt-drive turntables were unsuitable for turntablism, since they had a slow start-up time, and they were prone to wear-and-tear and breakage,Brian Coleman
The Technics 1200 — Hammer Of The Gods
Medium Medium may refer to: Science and technology Aviation * Medium bomber, a class of war plane * Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design Communication * Media (communication), tools used to store and deliver information or data * Medium ...
as the belt would break from backspinning or scratching. The first direct-drive turntable was invented by Shuichi Obata, an engineer at Matsushita (now
Panasonic formerly between 1935 and 2008 and the first incarnation of between 2008 and 2022, is a major Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka. It was founded by Kōnosuke Matsushita in 1918 as a lightbulb ...
), based in
Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...
,
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
. It eliminated belts, and instead employed a motor to directly drive a platter on which a vinyl record rests.Trevor Pinch, Karin Bijsterveld
''The Oxford Handbook of Sound Studies'', page 515
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...
In 1969, Matsushita released it as the SP-10, the first direct-drive turntable on the market, and the first in their influential Technics series of turntables. In 1971, Matsushita released the Technics SL-1100. Due to its strong motor, durability, and fidelity, it was adopted by early hip hop artists. A forefather of turntablism was DJ Kool Herc, an immigrant from
Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispa ...
to
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. He introduced turntable techniques from Jamaican dub music, while developing new techniques made possible by the direct-drive turntable technology of the Technics SL-1100, which he used for the first sound system he set up after emigrating to New York. The signature technique he developed was playing two copies of the same record on two turntables in alternation to extend the b-dancers' favorite section, switching back and forth between the two to
loop Loop or LOOP may refer to: Brands and enterprises * Loop (mobile), a Bulgarian virtual network operator and co-founder of Loop Live * Loop, clothing, a company founded by Carlos Vasquez in the 1990s and worn by Digable Planets * Loop Mobile, an ...
the breaks to a rhythmic beat. The most influential turntable was the Technics SL-1200,Six Machines That Changed The Music World
'' Wired'', May 2002
which was developed in 1971 by a team led by Shuichi Obata at Matsushita, which then released it onto the market in 1972. It was adopted by
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
hip hop DJs such as Grand Wizard Theodore and
Afrika Bambaataa Lance Taylor (born on April 17, 1957), also known as Afrika Bambaataa (), is an American DJ, rapper, and producer from the South Bronx, New York. He is notable for releasing a series of genre-defining electro tracks in the 1980s that influence ...
in the 1970s. As they experimented with the SL-1200 decks, they developed scratching techniques when they found that the motor would continue to spin at the correct RPM even if the DJ wiggled the record back and forth on the platter. Since then, turntablism spread widely in hip hop culture, and the SL-1200 remained the most widely used turntable in DJ culture for the next several decades.


Hip-hop

Turntablism as a modern art form and musical practice has its roots within African-American inner city hip-hop of the late 1970s.
Kool Herc Clive Campbell (born April 16, 1955), better known by his stage name DJ Kool Herc, is a Jamaican-American DJ who is credited with contributing to the development of hip hop music in the Bronx, New York City, in the 1970s through his "Back t ...
(a Jamaican DJ who immigrated to New York City),
Afrika Bambaataa Lance Taylor (born on April 17, 1957), also known as Afrika Bambaataa (), is an American DJ, rapper, and producer from the South Bronx, New York. He is notable for releasing a series of genre-defining electro tracks in the 1980s that influence ...
and
Grandmaster Flash Joseph Saddler (born January 1, 1958), popularly known by his stage name Grandmaster Flash, is an American DJ and rapper. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of Hip Hop DJing, cutting, scratching and mixing. Grandmaster Flash and the ...
are widely credited for having cemented the now established role of DJ as hip hop's foremost instrumentalist.Hansen, Kjetil Falkenberg (2000)
''Turntable Music''
Norway: NTNU and Sweden: KTH, p. 4
Kool Herc's invention of
break-beat Breakbeat is a broad type of electronic music that tends to use drum breaks sampled from early recordings of funk, jazz, and R&B. Breakbeats have been used in styles such as hip hop, jungle, drum and bass, big beat, breakbeat hardcore, and UK g ...
DJing is generally regarded as the foundational development in hip hop history, as it gave rise to all other elements of the genre. His influence on the concept of "DJ as turntablist" is equally profound. To understand the significance of this achievement, it is important to first define the "
break Break or Breaks or The Break may refer to: Time off from duties * Recess (break), time in which a group of people is temporarily dismissed from its duties * Break (work), time off during a shift/recess ** Coffee break, a short mid-morning rest ...
." Briefly, the "break" of a song is a musical fragment only seconds in length, which typically takes the form of an "interlude" in which all or most of the music stops except for the percussion. Kool Herc introduced the break-beat technique as a way of extending the break indefinitely. This is done by buying two of the same record, finding the break on each record, and switching from one to the other using the DJ mixer: e.g., as record ''A'' plays, the DJ quickly backtracks to the same break on record ''B'', which will again take the place of ''A'' at a specific moment where the audience will not notice that the DJ has switched records. Using that idea, Grandmaster Flash elaborated on Kool Herc's invention of break-beat DJing and came up with the quick-mix theory, in which Flash sectioned off a part of the record like a
clock A clock or a timepiece is a device used to measure and indicate time. The clock is one of the oldest human inventions, meeting the need to measure intervals of time shorter than the natural units such as the day, the lunar month and ...
.Chang, Jeff. ''Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation''. Picador, 2005, p 113. He described it as being "...like cutting, the backspin, and the double-back." Kool Herc's revolutionary techniques set the course for the development of turntablism as an art form in significant ways. Most important, however, he developed a new form of DJing that did not consist of just playing and mixing records one after the other. The type of DJ that specializes in mixing a set is well respected for his/her own set of unique skills, but playlist mixing is still DJing in the traditional sense. Kool Herc instead originated the idea of ''creating'' a sequence for his own purposes, introducing the idea of the DJ as the "feature" of parties, whose performance on any given night would be different than on another night, because the music would be created by the DJ, mixing a bassline from one song with a beat from another song (Greasley & Prior, 2013). The DJ would be examined critically by the crowd on both a technical and entertainment level.
Grand Wizzard Theodore Theodore Livingston (born March 5, 1963), better known as Grand Wizzard Theodore, is an American hip hop DJ. He is widely credited as the inventor of the scratching technique. In addition to scratching, he gained credibility for his mastery of ...
, an apprentice of Flash, who accidentally isolated the most recognizable technique of turntablism: scratching. He put his hand on a record one day, to silence the music on the turntable while his mother was calling out to him and thus accidentally discovered the sound of scratching by moving the record back and forth under the
stylus A stylus (plural styli or styluses) is a writing utensil or a small tool for some other form of marking or shaping, for example, in pottery. It can also be a computer accessory that is used to assist in navigating or providing more precision ...
. Though Theodore discovered scratching, it was Flash who helped push the early concept and showcase it to the public, in his live shows and on recordings. DJ Grand Mixer DXT is also credited with furthering the concept of scratching by practicing the rhythmic scratching of a record on one or more turntables (often two), using different velocities to alter the pitch of the note or sound on the recording (Alberts 2002). DXT appeared (as DST) on
Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he hel ...
's hit song " Rockit." These early pioneers cemented the fundamental practice that would later become the emerging turntablist art form. Scratching would during the 1980s become a staple of hip hop music, being used by producers and DJs on records and in live shows. By the end of the 1980s it was very common to hear scratching on a record, generally as part of the chorus of a track or within its production. On stage the DJ would provide the music for the MCs to rhyme and rap to, scratching records during the performance and showcasing his or her skills alongside the verbal skills of the MC. The most well known example of this 'equation' of MCs and DJ is probably
Run-D.M.C. Run-DMC (also spelled Run-D.M.C.) was an American hip hop group from Hollis, Queens, New York City, founded in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history of ...
who were composed of two MCs and one DJ. The DJ, Jam Master Jay, was an integral part of the group since his turntablism was critical to Run DMC's productions and performances. While Flash and Bambaataa were using the turntable to explore repetition, alter rhythm and create the instrumental stabs and punch phrasing that would come to characterize the sound of hip hop, Grandmaster DST was busy cutting "real" musicians on their own turf. His scratching on Herbie Hancock's 1983 single, "Rockit," makes it perhaps the most influential DJ track of them all – even more than (Grandmaster Flash's) " Wheels of Steel," it established the DJ as the star of the record, even if he wasn't the frontman. Compared to "Rockit," West Street Mob's "Break Dancin' – Electric Boogie" (1983) was punk negation. As great as "Break Dancin'" was, though, it highlighted the limited tonal range of scratching, which was in danger of becoming a short-lived fad like human beat-boxing until the emergence of Code Money's DJ Brethren from Philadelphia in the mid-1980s. Despite New York's continued pre-eminence in the hip-hop world, scratch DJing was modernized less than 100 miles down the road in
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...
, where the climate for the return of the DJ was created by inventing transformer scratching. Developed by
DJ Spinbad Chris Sullivan (October 23, 1974 – November 10, 2020), known professionally as DJ Spinbad, was a DJ, producer, and remixer on New York City's radio station WHTZ. Career DJ Spinbad was a guest on the syndicated radio show ''Live In Tha Den Wit ...
,
DJ Cash Money Jerome Hewlett (born August 9, 1964), better known by his moniker DJ Cash Money is a Philadelphia-based American turntablist, hip-hop artist, and record producer. He was the first inductee into the DJ Hall of Fame. Career Hewlett studied engine ...
and DJ Jazzy Jeff, transforming was basically clicking the fader on and off while moving a block of sound (a riff or a short verbal phrase) across the stylus. Expanding the tonal as well as rhythmic possibilities of scratching, the transformer scratch epitomized the chopped-up aesthetic of hip hop culture. Hip hop was starting to become big money and the cult of personality started to take over. Hip hop became very much at the service of the rapper and Cash Money and DJ Jazzy Jeff were accorded maybe one track on an album – for example, DJ Jazzy Jeff's " A Touch of Jazz" (1987) and " Jazzy's in the House" (1988) and Cash Money's "The Music Maker" (1988). Other crucial DJ tracks from this period include
Tuff Crew Tuff Crew is a hip hop group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, dubbed "Philly's first Rap Supergroup". Members include Ice Dog, L. A. Kid, Tone Love, Monty G, and DJ Too Tuff. Career They released four albums. Their joint debut LP with The Krow ...
's DJ Too Tuff's "Behold the Detonator" "Soul Food" (both 1989)," and Gang Starr's " DJ Premier in Deep Concentration" (1989).


Decline in role of DJ in hip hop

The appearance of turntablists and the birth of turntablism was prompted by one major factor – the disappearance or downplaying of the role of the DJ in hip-hop groups, on records and in live shows at the turn of the 1990s. This disappearance has been widely documented in books and documentaries (among them '' Black Noise'' and '' Scratch: The Movie''), and was linked to the increased use of DAT tapes and other studio techniques that would ultimately push the DJ further away from the original hip-hop equation of the MC as the vocalist and the DJ as the music provider alongside the producer. This push and disappearance of the DJ meant that the practices of the DJ, such as scratching, went back underground and were cultivated and built upon by a generation of people who grew up with hip hop, DJs and scratching. By the mid-90s the disappearance of the DJ in hip hop had created a sub-culture which would come to be known as turntablism and which focused entirely on the DJ utilizing his turntables and a mixer to manipulate sounds and create music. By pushing the practice of DJing away, hip hop created the grounds for this sub-culture to evolve (Greasley & Prior, 2013).


Coining of terms

The origin of the terms turntablist and turntablism are widely contested and argued about, but over the years some facts have been established by various documentaries (''Battlesounds'', Doug Pray's '' Scratch''), books (DJ Culture), conferences (Skratchcon 2000) and interviews in online and printed magazines. These facts are that the origins of the words most likely lay with practitioners on the US West Coast, centered on the
San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area G ...
. Some claim that DJ Disk, a member of the Invisibl Skratch Piklz, was the first to coin the term, others claim that DJ Babu, a member of the Beat Junkies, was responsible for coining and spreading the term turntablist after inscribing it on his mixtapes and passing them around. Another claim credits DJ Supreme, 1991 World Supremacy Champion and DJ for Lauryn Hill. The truth most likely lies somewhere in between all these facts. In an interview with the ''Spin Science'' online resource in 2005, DJ Babu added the following comments about the birth and spread of the term:


Mid- to late 1990s

By the mid- to late 1990s the terms "turntablism" and "turntablist" had become established and accepted to define the practice and practitioner of using turntables and a mixer to create or manipulate sounds and music. This could be done by scratching a record or manipulating the rhythms on the record either by drumming, looping or beat juggling. The decade of the 1990s is also important in shaping the turntablist art form and culture as it saw the emergence of pioneering artists ( Mix Master Mike, DJ Qbert, DJ Quest, DJ Krush, A-Trak, Ricci Rucker, Mike Boo, Pumpin' Pete, Prime Cuts) and crews (Invisibl Skratch Piklz, Beat Junkies, The Allies, X-Ecutioners), record labels ( Asphodel), DJ Battles ( DMC) and the evolution of scratching and other turntablism practices such as Beat Juggling which are viewable in the IDA (International DJ Association/ITF) World Finals.


Techniques

More sophisticated methods of scratching were developed during that decade, with crews and individual DJs concentrating on the manipulation of the record in time with the manipulation of the cross fader on the mixer to create new rhythms and sonic artifacts with a variety of sounds. The evolution of scratching from a fairly simple sound and simple rhythmic cadences to more complicated sounds and more intricate rhythmical patterns allowed the practitioners to further evolve what could be done with scratching musically. These new ways of scratching were all given names, from flare to
crab Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" (abdomen) ( el, βραχύς , translit=brachys = short, / = tail), usually hidden entirely under the thorax. They live in all th ...
or
orbit In celestial mechanics, an orbit is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an object or position in space such as ...
, and spread as DJs taught each other, practiced together or just showed off their new techniques to other DJs. Alongside the evolution of scratching, other practices such as drumming (or scratch drumming) and beat juggling were also evolved significantly during the 1990s. Beat juggling was invented by Steve Dee, a member of the X-Men (later renamed X-Ecutioners) crew. Beat juggling essentially involves the manipulation of two identical or different drum patterns on two different turntables via the mixer to create a new pattern. A simple example would be to use two copies of the same drum pattern to evolve the pattern by doubling the snares, syncopating the drum kick, adding rhythm and variation to the existing pattern. From this concept, which Steve Dee showcased in the early 1990s at DJ battles, Beat Juggling evolved throughout the decade to the point where by the end of it, it had become an intricate technique to create entirely new "beats" and rhythms out of existing, pre-recorded ones (van Veen & Attias, 2012). These were now not just limited to using drum patterns, but could also consist of other sounds – the ultimate aim being to create a new rhythm out of the pre-recorded existing ones. While beat juggling is not as popular as scratching due to the more demanding rhythmical knowledge it requires, it has proved popular within DJ battles and in certain compositional situations (van Veen & Attias, 2012).


Studies

One of the earliest academic studies of turntablism (White 1996) argued for its designation as a legitimate electronic musical instrument—a manual analog sampler—and described turntable techniques such as backspinning, cutting, scratching and blending as basic tools for most hip hop DJs. White's study suggests the proficient hip-hop DJ must possess similar kinds of skills as those required by trained musicians, not limited to a sense of timing, hand–eye coordination, technical competence and musical creativity. By the year 2000, turntablism and turntablists had become widely publicized and accepted in the mainstream and within hip hop as valid artists. Through this recognition came further evolution.


Evolution

This evolution took many shapes and forms: some continued to concentrate on the foundations of the art form and its original links to hip hop culture, some became producers utilizing the skills they'd learnt as turntablists and incorporating those into their productions, some concentrated more on the DJing aspect of the art form by combining turntablist skills with the trademark skills of club DJs, while others explored alternative routes in utilizing the turntable as an instrument or production tool solely for the purpose of making music – either by using solely the turntable or by incorporating it into the production process alongside tools such as drum machines, samplers, computer software, and so on. Digital turntablism techniques later was coined into a term called controllerism, which inspired a movement of new digital DJs such as DJ Buddy Holly and Moldover. DJ Buddy and Moldover went on to create a song called "Controllerism" that pays homage to the sound of digitally emulated turntablism. New DJs, turntablists and crews owe a distinct debt to pioneer old-school DJs like Kool DJ Herc, Grand Wizard Theodore, Grandmixer DST,
Grandmaster Flash Joseph Saddler (born January 1, 1958), popularly known by his stage name Grandmaster Flash, is an American DJ and rapper. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of Hip Hop DJing, cutting, scratching and mixing. Grandmaster Flash and the ...
, and
Afrika Bambaataa Lance Taylor (born on April 17, 1957), also known as Afrika Bambaataa (), is an American DJ, rapper, and producer from the South Bronx, New York. He is notable for releasing a series of genre-defining electro tracks in the 1980s that influence ...
, also DJ Jazzy Jeff,
DJ Cash Money Jerome Hewlett (born August 9, 1964), better known by his moniker DJ Cash Money is a Philadelphia-based American turntablist, hip-hop artist, and record producer. He was the first inductee into the DJ Hall of Fame. Career Hewlett studied engine ...
, DJ Scratch, DJ Clark Kent, and other DJs of
the golden age of hip hop Golden age hip hop is a name given to mainstream hip hop music created from the mid-1980s to early-mid 1990s, particularly by artists and musicians originating from the New York metropolitan area. An outgrowth of the new school hip hop movement, ...
, who originally developed many of the concepts and techniques that evolved into modern turntablism. Within the realm of hip hop, notable modern turntablists are the cinematic
DJ Shadow Joshua Paul Davis (born June 29, 1972), better known by his stage name DJ Shadow, is an American DJ, songwriter and record producer. His debut studio album, '' Endtroducing.....'' was released in 1996. Biography Early years (1989–1995) DJ Sha ...
, who influenced
Diplo Thomas Wesley Pentz (born November 10, 1978), known professionally as Diplo, is an American DJ and music producer. He is the co-creator and lead member of the electronic dancehall music project Major Lazer, a member of the supergroup LSD wit ...
and RJD2, among others, and the experimental DJ Spooky, whose ''Optometry'' albums showed that the turntablist can perfectly fit within a jazz setting. Mix Master Mike was a founding member of the influential turntablist group Invisibl Skratch Piklz (begun in 1989 as Shadow of the Prophet) and later DJ for the
Beastie Boys Beastie Boys were an American rap rock group from New York City, formed in 1978. The group was composed of Michael "Mike D" Diamond (vocals, drums), Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar, programming) ...
. Cut Chemist, DJ Nu-Mark, and
Kid Koala Eric San (born December 5, 1974), aka Kid Koala, is a Canadian scratch DJ, music producer, theatre producer, film composer, multimedia-performer and visual artist. His career began as a scratch DJ in 1994. Kid Koala works with genres as eclectic ...
are also known as virtuosi of the turntables.


Techniques


Chopped and screwed

Starting in the 1990s in the Southern United States and burgeoning in the 2000s, a meta-genre of hip hop called " chopped and screwed" became a significant and popular form of turntablism. Often utilizing a greater variety of
vinyl emulation software A close-up of a time-coded vinyl record Vinyl emulation allows a user to physically manipulate the playback of digital audio files on a computer using the turntables as an interface, thus preserving the hands-on control and feel of DJing with vi ...
rather than normal turntables, "chopped and screwed" stood out from previous standards of turntablism in its slowing of the pitch and tempo ("screwing") and syncopated beat skipping ("chopping"), among other added effects of sound manipulation.
DJ Screw Robert Earl Davis Jr. (July 20, 1971 – November 16, 2000), better known by his stage name DJ Screw, was an American hip hop DJ based in Houston, Texas, and best known as the creator of the now-famous chopped and screwed DJ technique. He ...
of Texas, innovated the art of chopping and screwing coining the phrase "chopped n screwed," taking original contemporary hit records and replaying them in the "chopped n screwed" art form. This gained a very large following finally paving the way for small, independent rap labels to turn a decent profit. However, it is thought by many that DJ Michael Price started slowing down vinyl recordings before the era of DJ Screw. This form of turntablism, which is usually applied to prior studio recordings (in the form of custom mixtapes) and is not prominent as a feature of live performances, de-emphasizes the role of the rapper, singer or other vocalist by distorting the vocalist's voice along with the rest of the recording (van Veen & Attias, 2012). Arguably, this combination of distortion and audial effects against the original recording grants greater freedom of improvisation to the DJ than did the previous forms of turntablism. Via the ChopNotSlop movement, "Chopped and screwed" has also been applied to other genres of music such as R&B and rock music, thus transcending its roots within the hip-hop genre.


Transform

A transform is a type of scratch used by turntablists. It is made from a combination of moving the record on the turntable by hand and repeated movement of the
crossfader In audio engineering, a fade is a gradual increase or decrease in the level of an audio signal. The term can also be used for film cinematography or theatre lighting in much the same way (see fade (filmmaking) and fade (lighting)). A rec ...
. The name, which has been associated with
DJ Cash Money Jerome Hewlett (born August 9, 1964), better known by his moniker DJ Cash Money is a Philadelphia-based American turntablist, hip-hop artist, and record producer. He was the first inductee into the DJ Hall of Fame. Career Hewlett studied engine ...
and DJ Jazzy Jeff, comes from its similarity to the sound made by the
robot A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may be ...
s in the 1980s
cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of imag ...
, '' The Transformers''.


Tear

A tear is a type of scratch used by turntablists. It is made from moving the record on the turntable by hand. The tear is much like a baby scratch in that one does not need the fader to perform it, but unlike a baby scratch, when the DJ pulls the record back he or she pauses his or her hand for a split second in the middle of the stroke. The result is one forward sound and two distinct backward sounds. This scratch can also be performed by doing the opposite and placing the pause on the forward stroke instead. A basic tear is usually performed with the crossfader open the entire time, but it can also be combined with other scratches such as
flares A flare, also sometimes called a fusée, fusee, or bengala in some Latin-speaking countries, is a type of pyrotechnic that produces a bright light or intense heat without an explosion. Flares are used for distress signaling, illumination, ...
for example by doing tears with the record hand and cutting the sound in and out with the fader hand.


Orbit

An orbit is a type of scratch used by turntablists. It is generally any scratch that incorporates both a forward and backward movement, or vice versa, of the record in sequence. The orbit was developed by DJ Disk who incorporated the flare after being shown by DJ Qbert. Usually when someone is referring to an orbit, they are most likely talking about flare orbits. For example, A 1 click forward flare and a 1 click backward flare in quick succession (altogether creating 4 very quick distinct sounds) would be a 1 click orbit. A 2 click forward flare and a 2 click backward flare in quick succession (altogether creating 6 very distinct sounds) would be a 2 click orbit, etc. Orbits can be performed once as a single orbit move, or sequenced to produce a
cyclical Cycle, cycles, or cyclic may refer to: Anthropology and social sciences * Cyclic history, a theory of history * Cyclical theory, a theory of American political history associated with Arthur Schlesinger, Sr. * Social cycle, various cycles in soc ...
never ending type of orbit sound.


Flare

Flare is a type of scratch used by turntablists. It is made from a combination of moving the record on the turntable by hand and quick movement of the crossfader. The flare was invented by its namesake, DJ Flare in 1987. This scratch technique is much like the "transform" in some ways, only instead of starting with the sound that is cutting up off, one starts with the sound on and concentrate on cutting the sound into pieces by bouncing the fader off the cut out side of the fader slot to make the sound cut out and then back in a split second. Each time the DJ bounces the fader off the side of the fader slot it makes a distinct clicking noise. For this reason, flares are named according to clicks. A simple one click forward flare would be a forward scratch starting with the sound on as the DJ bounces/clicks the fader against the side once extremely quickly in the middle of the forward stroke creating two distinct sounds in one stroke of your record hand and ending with the fader open. In the same manner, 2 clicks, 3 clicks, and even more clicks (if a DJ is fast enough) can be performed to do different types of flares. The discovery and development of the flare scratch was instrumental in elevating this art form to the level of speed and technical scratching that is seen in the 2010s.


Chirp

A "chirp" is a type of scratch used by turntablists. It is made with a mix of moving the record and incorporating movement with the crossfade mixer. It was invented by DJ Jazzy Jeff. The scratch is somewhat difficult to perform because it takes a good amount of coordination. The scratch starts out with the
cross-fader In audio engineering, a fade is a gradual increase or decrease in the level of an audio signal. The term can also be used for film cinematography or theatre lighting in much the same way (see fade (filmmaking) and fade (lighting)). A rec ...
open. The DJ then moves the record forward while simultaneously closing the previously opened channel ending the first
sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by ...
. Then, in a reverse fashion, the DJ opens the channel while moving the record backwards creating a more controlled sounding "baby scratch". Done in quick succession it sounds as though a chirp sound is being produced.


Stab

A "stab" is quite similar to the chirp technique but requires the crossfade mixer to be "closed". The stab requires the user to push the record forward and back quickly and moving the crossfade mixer with a thumb pressed against it, which results in minimal sound coming out, producing a sharp "stabbing" noise".


Crab

A "crab" is a type of scratch used by turntablists and originally developed by DJ Qbert. It is one of the most difficult scratch techniques to master. The crab is done by pushing the record forward and back while pushing the crossfader mixer open or closed through a quick succession of 4 movements with the fingers. Variations can also include 3 or 2 fingers, and generally it is recommended for beginners to start with 2 fingers and work their way to 4. It is a difficult move to master but also versatile and quite rewarding if done right.


Visual elements

Visual elements may be linked to turntable movement, incorporating digital media including photographs, graphic stills, film, video, and computer-generated effects into live performance. A separate video mixer is used in combination with the turntable. In 2005 the International Turntablist Federation World final introduced the 'Experimental' category to recognise visual artistry.


Contests

Like many other musical instrumentalists, turntablists compete to see who can develop the fastest, most innovative and most creative approaches to their instrument. The selection of a champion comes from the culmination of battles between turntablists. Battling involves each turntablist performing a routine (A combination of various technical scratches, beat juggles, and other elements, including body tricks) within a limited time period, after which the routine is judged by a panel of experts. The winner is selected based upon score. These organized competitions evolved from actual old school "battles" where DJs challenged each other at parties, and the "judge" was usually the audience, who would indicate their collective will by cheering louder for the DJ they thought performed better. The DMC World DJ Championships has been hosted since 1985. There are separate competitions for solo DJs and DJ teams, the title of World Champion being bestowed on the winners of each. They also maintain a turntablism hall of fame.


Role of women

In Western
popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fu ...
, women musicians have achieved great success in singing and songwriting roles, with top examples being
Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...
,
Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...
and
Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to th ...
. However, there are relatively few women DJs or turntablists. Part of this may stem from a general low percentage of women in audio technology-related jobs. In a 2013 ''
Sound on Sound ''Sound on Sound'' is an independently owned monthly music technology magazine published by SOS Publications Group, based in Cambridge, United Kingdom. The magazine includes product tests of electronic musical performance and recording devices, ...
'' article Rosina Ncube attested that few women work in the
record production A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...
and sound engineering industry. Ncube claimed that " nety-five percent of music producers are male" and that female producers are less well-known than their male counterparts despite accomplishing great feats within the music industry. The vast majority of students in music technology programs are male. In hip hop music, the low percentage of women DJs and turntablists may stem from the overall male domination of the entire hip hop music industry. Most of the top rappers, MCs, DJs, record producers and music executives are men. There are a small number of high-profile women, but they are rare. In 2007,
University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC S ...
music professor Mark Katz's article stated that it is rare for women to compete in turntable battles and that this gender disparity has become a topic of conversation among the hip-hop DJ community. In 2010, Rebekah Farrugia stated that in the EDM sphere, a male-centric culture has contributed to the marginalisation of women who seek to engage and contribute. Whilst turntablism and broader DJ practices should not be conflated, Katz suggests that the broad use, or lack of use, of the turntable by women across genres and disciplines is impacted by "male technophilia." Historian Ruth Oldenziel concurs in her writing on female engagment with engineering technology. Oldenziel argues that socialization is a central factor in the lack of female engagement with technology, insisting that the historical socialisation of boys as technophiles has contributed to the prevalence of men who enage with technology. Lucy Green, professor of music at the
University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...
, focused on gender in relation to musical performers and creators, and specifically on educational frameworks as they relate to both. She suggests that women's alienation from fields with strong technical aspects such as DJing, sound engineering and music producing should not only be attributed to a feminine dislike towards these instruments. Instead she argues that women entering these fields are forced to complete the difficult task of disrupting a dominant masculine sphere. Despite this, women and girls do increasingly engage in turntable and DJ practices, individually and collectively, and "carve out spaces for themselves in EDM and DJ Culture". There are various projects dedicated to the promotion and support of these practices such as Female DJs London. Some artists and collectives go beyond these practices to be more gender inclusive. For example,
Discwoman Discwoman is a New York based collective, booking agency, and event platform representing and showcasing women and non-binary artists in the electronic music community. It was founded in 2014 by Frankie Decaiza Hutchinson, Emma Burgess-Olson ( Umf ...
, a New York-based collective and booking agency, describe themselves as "representing and showcasing cis women, trans women and genderqueer talent."


Some pioneers of turntablism

DJ Babu 2010.jpg, DJ Babu Afrika Bambaataa and DJ Yutaka (2004).jpg,
Afrika Bambaataa Lance Taylor (born on April 17, 1957), also known as Afrika Bambaataa (), is an American DJ, rapper, and producer from the South Bronx, New York. He is notable for releasing a series of genre-defining electro tracks in the 1980s that influence ...
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Grandmaster Flash Joseph Saddler (born January 1, 1958), popularly known by his stage name Grandmaster Flash, is an American DJ and rapper. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of Hip Hop DJing, cutting, scratching and mixing. Grandmaster Flash and the ...
Jazzyjeff 061111.jpg, DJ Jazzy Jeff Herc on the Wheels of Steel (cropped).JPG, DJ Kool Herc Michael Schwartz, Mix Master Mike.jpg, Mix Master Mike The X-Ecutioners.jpg, The X-Ecutioners


See also

*
Audio signal processing Audio signal processing is a subfield of signal processing that is concerned with the electronic manipulation of audio signals. Audio signals are electronic representations of sound waves— longitudinal waves which travel through air, consist ...
* Battle records *
Beatmatching Beatmatching or pitch cue is a disc jockey technique of pitch shifting or timestretching an upcoming track to match its tempo to that of the currently playing track, and to adjust them such that the beats (and, usually, the bars) are synchron ...
*
Controllerism Controllerism is the art and practice of using musical software controllers, e.g. MIDI, Open Sound Control (OSC), joystick, etc., to build upon, mix, scratch, remix, effect, modify, or otherwise create music, usually by a Digital DJ or Live PA ...
*
List of turntablists 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 ...
* Plunderphonics *
Sampling (music) In sound and music, sampling is the reuse of a portion (or sample) of a sound recording in another recording. Samples may comprise elements such as rhythm, melody, speech, sounds or entire bars of music, and may be layered, equalized, sped up ...
* Scratching * Vinyl emulation *'' Wave Twisters''


References

*Alberts, Randy.
Scratch and the Hip-Hop Book of Grand Mixer DXT
" ''DigiZine'' 1/7 (October 2002). *Shapiro, Peter. ''Rough Guide to Hip-Hop''. Rough Guides, 2001, p. 96. *White, Miles.
The Phonograph Turntable and Performance Practice in Hip Hop Music
" ''Ethnomusicology OnLine'' 2 (1996) Retrieved February 4, 2013]


Further reading

*Eshun, Kodwo. ''More Brilliant than the Sun. Adventures in Sonic Fiction''. London: Quartet Books, 1998. *Katz, Mark. "The Turntable as Weapon: Understanding the DJ Battle." ''Capturing Sound: How Technology has Changed Music''. Rev. ed. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2010, pp. 124–45. *Katz, Mark
''Groove Music: The Art and Culture of the Hip Hop DJ.''
New York: Oxford University Press, 2012. . *Poschardt, Ulf: ''DJ Culture''. London: Quartet Books, 1998. *Pray, Doug (Dir.). Scratch (2001 film), ''Scratch''. 2001. A documentary about the History and Culture of Turntablism. *Schloss, Joseph G. ''Making Beats: The Art of Sample-based Hip-hop''. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan UP, 2004.


External links


What is New York Rap?
Australian Broadcasting Corporation. A 1979 radio report on the "new" phenomenon of turntablism. {{Authority control DJing Experimental music Musical techniques Turntables Hip hop production Hip hop genres