How to Become a Turntablist

Find a sample or sound on your disc to practice scrubbing. Listen carefully to the records for a period of time so that you can build up the whole song. Rest accompaniments – moments when other instruments stop playing and only the drums are left are often taken out for background music in hip-hop songs, while instrumental-only songs often have Very interesting tunes to mix together.

• Listen to the discs carefully and stop when you hear a sound you want to use. Go back and find the exact moment that sound started.

Mark the disc slot. In the past, DJs would use small circular sticky notes that teachers used to grade and stick those pieces of paper on top of the disc, next to the track and just above the sample piece. This action provides a visual cue so DJs know when the sample piece begins, and it pushes the needle back into the track to play the sample again.

• Some DJs don’t like sticking pieces of paper on top of a disc even though it’s a classic practice. You can also mark tracks in whatever way works best for you if you’re planning to re-record your accompaniments or remix them quickly. ^[1]

Use your fingertips to stop the disc. After the sound stops, slowly rotate the disc backwards at a speed close to when it was played forward. It should sound like you just pressed the reverse button on a turntable. The sound of scrubbing comes from choosing a suitable accompaniment, like a trumpet or other long sound effect, and then turning the table over and over against the sound to create a real strum sound. special.

Play another song and do the same with the accompaniment. A scrubbing sound in itself would sound like an explosion-only movie. Was it good at first? Sure. But will get bored after just a few minutes? Also definitely. To scrub the disc properly, you need to combine the samples and your actions on the disc with an accompaniment. Find a suitable accompaniment to build your music. Look for great breaks in your favorite songs, especially classic soul songs, and the R&B samples will have great breaks for you to build on your music. myself on it.

Speed up the disc faster than the sample piece instead of playing the audio at normal speed or slowing it down. You will get a high-pitched sound. Do the same when reversing, adjust for the same speed. Then do this with music. This technique is sometimes called “baby scratch”.

• Start with a slower accompaniment and then continue to play faster throughout the song. Once you are able to play at high speed, try to diversify the rhythms by adding in the accompaniments that you have developed.

Listen to the accompanists carefully. Do a little research on accompaniment and discover how your favorite DJs and producers create accompaniments, adding sounds and textures from a variety of sources. Whether your ultimate goal is to compete or just create great analog songs, you need to learn from the masters.

• RZA pioneered the use of lo-fi (a method of producing sound that contained technical flaws) with samples from classic soul songs and samurai films, incorporating some elements. The accompaniment element was used in the early Wu-Tang albums as well as the members’ individual projects. Check out Raekwon’s “Ice Cream,” which features just a quick-paced sample guitar that’s easy to listen to with accompaniment.
• Madlib’s use of jazz records and hit songs from the 80s has made him one of the most sought-after producers. He combines classic and modern in amazingly fresh styles. Listen to Madvillainy, his project with MF Doom and his recordings with Freddie Gibbs to learn more great examples of the technique of a turntable artist.

Learn how to combine musical accompaniments quickly. It’s very important to combine the accompaniment of one sample piece with the accompaniment of another, otherwise your music will sound very chaotic and frankly terrible. You can use a metronome as you sit and play to find out the beats per minute of the different samples you want to use and combine. Make music by combining musical accompaniments.

• Many DJs will manually mark the number of beats per minute on the record case. That will make it quick and easy for them to build accompaniments and songs as they work.

Arrange different sounds to make music. Experiment and play with a variety of sounds and textures to create great pieces of music. For some DJs, the ultimate goal is to get little samples of music from the least likely sources: latin jazz, vocal recordings or easy-to-listen music. Let’s turn it into unique music that makes people keep dancing along!

• Principles inferred from the experience of turntable artists: When combined with a piece of drums from the Meters group, almost all pieces of music will turn out great.

Play discs at different speeds. Don’t limit yourself to just playing a piece of music at the same speed to keep up with the accompaniment. RZA sampled a sentimental piece of Earl Klugh’s guitar, speeding it up and increasing the pitch to create a distinctive sample track that runs throughout “Ice Cream.” The only limit in music production is your imagination.

Do not rub the plate too much. No one wants to listen to a DJ who just makes scraping sounds during a gig. Think of it as a “spice” for the song, not the main technique to make music. Usually, there are only a few guitar solos in a rock track, and there should only be 1-2 hours of scrubbing in a DJ accompaniment.

Learn some basic music knowledge. A turntable is a percussionist, and that means you need a deep understanding of rhythm. You will have to practice your scrubbing technique to suit the music and eventually make music using the records. When you rub the disc to an accompaniment, you are creating a rhythm. If you have a deep understanding of rhythms, you can develop your skills to reproduce those rhythms properly.

• Most hip-hop songs and dance music are 4/4 time. That means for each span tile, there are 4 spans in each span. Each beat can be broken down in certain ways. Count these beats out loud as you listen to music. Each span will have a position between [square brackets]:
• [1] [2] [3] [4]
• [1 and] [2 and] [3 and] [4 and]
• [1 e and a] [2 e and a] [3 e and a] [4 e and a]
• [1 triplet] [2 triplet] [3 triplet] [4 triplet] (Triple: group of three equal notes performed in the interval (usually) used to represent two notes of the same type).
• [1 triple and triple] [2 triple and triple] [3 triple and triple] [ 4 triple and triple]