Turntable TV Presents DJ QBERT LIVE Australia-Asia Tour DVD. The greatest DJ in the World on his first documented tour throughout the amazing cities of Australia and Asia. DJ QBert performs with only a Turntable/Mixer hybrid- the QFO.
Officially licensed VCI-300 shaped flash drive from the guys at STOKYO! This little drive is the perfect thing for swapping files and music and comes looking like a mini replica of the popular Vestax DJ controller with the VFX-1 effects controller acting as the cap for the drive...
We took the record player "out of the box". Crosley's Revolution turntabletruly fits the word in every way. Where other turntables take up space, thisone dances around a desk without ado. Where other record players must bekept in their designated place, the Crosley Revolution practically begs to joinyou on every journey...
The long selling all-in-one portable turntable, handy trax, has been upgraded with a USB connection and now enables listeners to transfer vinyl to your computer. Recapturing the freedom of music, the handy trax USB, with its anytime, anywhere portability allows vinyl enthusiasts to leisurely pursue their interest in analog purity with the confidence of Vestax quality...
Fader Hand Tension - Why Less Equals More
By Kwote
http://kwotemusic.com
Have you ever felt like you were putting way too much effort into scratching? You push and push and yet your results seem to be pretty stagnant. Well there are several symptoms that could be at the root of your suffering. In this article I plan to focus in on one of them.
This issue typically plagues the beginner worse than anyone, but make no mistake, this can and will affect anyone. I'm talking about unnecessary tension in the fader hand. I want to share with you some ways you can begin to alleviate this problem so you can focus on your development as a scratch dj more freely.
Taking An Assessment
First let's take a look at your average beginner scratch dj so we can get a better understanding of what I'm addressing. You begin scratching and the fader is all over the place. You just can't seem to control it. You're having trouble getting together any proper technique. You're probably strong arming the fader way too much and straying way too far from the cut off point.
Does Equipment And It's Settings Play A Role?
Now two things have to be made clear before I go any further. If you want to get the most out of your scratching in the short and long term you need to have your cutoff point set as close to instant as possible. Also it's ideal to have a very loose fader. I personally love the fader of the Rane 56, but regardless of what mixer you have, nowadays there are options for using scratch friendly faders regardless of what type of mixer you're using.
No Fader Control, No Dice
Obviously if you have a hard time controlling the fader you will have basically no hope of getting any decent scratches pulled off. The solution to this may seem as obvious as taking the power you're exerting back a few notches and in a way it is. In fact the solution is actually not much more complex than that.
What you need to realize is that although this will help, you are not through correcting this problem. Ultimately you need to discover with experimentation what the least amount of power is needed to control the fader and only use that. Simple right? Well not so fast. Understand that this is not a fix and forget issue. Only through consistent, highly concentrated awareness can you really reap the benefits of focusing on this method.
Why All DJ's Will Benefit
This is truly a lesson for scratch dj's at any level. No matter how well you grasp the concept of minimum power you can always improve your current technique. I personally can attest to this as I've gone through many stages of this issue.
Sometimes you may be taking on a new technique and have yet to really gauge what is needed to pull it off. You may be starting off slow and not ready to put a lot of speed into it. You may be doing one technique that requires more energy and power than another technique. Not to mention all the combinations of things you already know. As you can see it begins to become somewhat intricate.
Narrowing Down The Process
What we need to do right now is take things down a notch. Several notches in fact. Take the most simplest fader based scratch possible. We'll use a forward 2 click transform for this exercise.
Execute a simple forward transform over and over at a low tempo such as 60 beats per minute and pay close attention to how much power you're exerting. Is your forearm, wrist or hand getting sore? Are you pushing the fader too far away from the cut off point? Is the sound of the record running out before you have a chance to finish? These are things you should be asking yourself as you're performing the transform scratch. If the answer is yes to any of these, try relaxing and releasing as much power as you can while still maintaining control.
Is Doing Nothing A Solution?
Well yes, it can actually be a highly effective solution. However you would not simply be doing nothing and stopping there. You would be resting between each repetition. This is one of the easiest ways to avoid unnecessary tension. So always make sure you bear that in mind.
While it is typical while learning new scratches that there will be some forearm burn, you can usually reduce it substantially by following the advice outlined in this article, especially this particular point. In fact it really doesn't matter what technique or combinations of techniques you do. Resting between every transition will make a HUGE difference.
What Else Is Choking The Life Out Of Your Potential?
There is another culprit that creates unnecessary tension and that is unnecessary tension in the body. While it may seem obvious by now that you need to have just the right amount of tension in your hand, wrist and arm, it's important to note that holding extra tension in other parts of your body can be detrimental as well.
The biggest key here is awareness. You have to pay attention to how you're feeling while you're scratching. If you notice that you're tightening up in your neck, back or another area you'll need to consider changing your posture and sending a message to your brain to relax. This is a process that will require consistent, focused monitoring so keep alert.
Keeping Things At The Forefront Of Your Mind
One final point I'd like to mention is that you shouldn't just read this article and then let it leave to memory. Use this information to your advantage on a regular basis. You can potentially shave off years of frustration by following this advice. Stay aware, focused and above all else have fun!
If you'd like to know more about this topic there's an excellent video by my music mentor Tom Hess. While he's primarily focused on guitar you can easily apply the concepts he's teaching to scratching as this article has demonstrated. Enjoy: Finger Tension
If you are interested in more information on how to further improve your scratch technique, go to http://kwotemusic.com and sign up to my newsletter where I feature free lessons monthly.
Kwote is a professional turntablist, composer and scratch dj instructor living in the San Francisco, Bay Area, CA. He is known for creating music by melding the unconventional with the conventional in a convincing manner. Currently he is featured with multiple artists throughout the world on a Guitar based compilation entitled ‘Shrouded In Sound'.
