Turntablism
From Mod Mania
Turntablism
( Above = Mix Master Mike - Beastie Boys DJ)
Traditional and even current Hip Hop Culture consists of four base elements which are graffiti (art), B-boying (break dancing), MCing (rapping) and Turntablism. Turntablism is best described as the art of real time sound and music manipulation, the terms Turntablism and Turntablist only being introduced in 1995 as an effort to help distinguish the line between a DJ (Disc Jockey) who would only mix and play songs as opposed to the Turntablist who would mix and completely rewrite the way in which music was played and preformed creating a visual and interactive experience. This idea of sound manipulation can be traced back as far as the 1930’s when it was used as a method of sampling music but took on an entire new audience when it boomed with what it is most famous for in the present day, scratching. Scratching is said to have been initiated by Grand Wizard Theodore in the late 1970’s to early 1980’s and then brought to the front line when it made its debut in the single “Rockit”, recorded by Herbie Hancock in 1983 with Grandmixer DST performing the scratch and other techniques. This is said to be the song that really pushed the idea of this particular style of DJing and drove and inspired the great Turntablists of today. Contrary to the name, scratching is actually the name for the sound produced by the shortened backward and forward motion of the vinyl record which does not actually scratch the vinyl but merely creates smaller sample sounds.
In a traditional scenario a Turntablist would use two phonograph turntables with a sound mixer. Using these pieces of equipment in conjunction with vinyl records and his or her own creativity to alter and manipulate music and sounds into some form of an orchestrated outcome. The turntables allow the user to literally grab and manipulate the sound sample in real time to create something completely original and even unrecognizable from what it originally was. With the development of the turntable and technology as well as the artists ingenuity using pitch adjustment and manual pushing and pulling of the vinyl is where it starts at its most basic form. The use of the needle on the turntable is also manipulated by the user either directly lifting and dropping it to create cut samples as well as placing the needle on the textured surface of most platters to create sounds without the use of the vinyl record at all. This all led to adjustments being made to the turntables by the user to better suit them and their more aggressive needs in relation to how the turntable was designed to be used. Turning the turntable vertical as opposed to horizontal allows for the user to freely move their hands around the vinyl without accidentally knocking the needle out of its place, adding coins as extra weight to the top of the needle to avoid skipping when aggressively moving the vinyl and using baking paper or vinyl insert cases underneath the vinyl being played to reduce friction are some of the methods adopted by Turntablists prior to the adaptation of turntables by the manufacturers themselves realizing there was a growing market for this type of equipment.
Sound mixers were traditionally used to do just that, allow for the user to mix using a cross fader (horizontal fader) between two different songs allowing for the music to play continuously. This, like the turntable, was utilized in ways not anticipated when the users began experimenting with the ability to basically turn on and off sounds from the turntable whilst scratching the vinyl which helped to lead to many of the techniques invented by Turntablists by using the cross fader and fast finger movement such as the “crab” scratch. Even the use of the volume faders (vertical faders) was adopted by Turntablists as a means of creating an echo effect with sound as well as being an alternative way for sound to be cut in and out without affecting what was being played on the other turntable. Turntablists would even resort to plugging in their equipment into the mixer back to front to better suit their particular style on which side of the mixer they preferred to work on in relation to the which side their particular turntable was located. The performance of Turntablists even ventured into new areas of being a stage act as body, arm and leg tricks were incorporated to the point of a Turntablist juggling balls as he juggled beats. Again many of these basic functions developed by the Turntablists to better suit themselves and their form of music composition were then adopted by manufacturers and introduced into their products to better suit the growing culture of Turntablism.
Due to this growing culture there has been a great shift in the idea that vinyl would become obsolete with the introduction of cassette tapes, compact discs and now digital media, but it seems that vinyl has continued to live on with many, most of this popularity being attributed to the DJ’s and Turntablists, weather they be professional or bedroom hobbyists. Much of the technology has also changed in regard to the way that turntables and mixers have been designed and manufactured ranging from shapes, sizes, orientations, features and accessories as well as the introduction of different sampling and effects units available separately or in built into the mixers or turntables themselves. But despite this shift in technology events such as the DMC Championships have restricted the equipment that can be used to traditional Technics SL1210 MK2 turntables and one mixer with no effects. This is something that many Turntablists are content to comply with as it means that they must rely heavily on their skills and not the advancements in technology which has also lead to the continuous loyalty that has been to Technics turntables. It is this loyalty throughout the Turntablist and DJ culture which has kept the turntables continuously popular and at a fixed price in the market for many years, even retaining their value when sold as second hand.
Cooperatively the concept of using turntables and mixers to create and re-arrange music in ways never intended has spawned an entire culture of people based around various styles, methods and terms all associated with the art of Turntablism, aspects of which are still used and heard in current popular music today. Championships based solely on the art of Turntablism have run for many years with single and team events and battles utilizing all aspects of the art including scratching, mixing, beat juggling and sampling to completely transform classical, contemporary, instrumental and vocal music as well as incorporating quotes and catchphrases from famous icons, movies and television shows. Up until recent years the core fundamental of Turntablism has been the use of only phonograph turntables, usually two, with a sound mixer in between. This culture and its relationship to the traditional phonograph has helped to dictate and pioneer the development of new technology in the field of Compact Disc (CD) Turntables, Digital Video Disc (DVD) Turntables and even MP3 and iPod capable methods of mixing, sampling and scratching which has reached and drawn in a new and large market of professional and bedroom type artist fascinated by what is an ever growing culture of sound mixing and manipulation.
Great Battle Routine by Dj Dexta of the Avalanches (AUS) (2nd place DMC 2000 Championships)
Dj Craze (USA) (1st place DMC 2000 Championships)
Q-Bert Crab Scratch
Sources: Turntablism.com.au 2009, Turntablism.com.au, accessed 22nd August 2009, <http://turntablism.com.au/>. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 2009 Turntablism, Wikimedia Foundation Inc, accessed 22nd August 2009, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turntablism>. DMC World DJ Camps 2009, DMC World, accessed 22nd August 2009, <http://www.dmcdjchamps.com/default.asp>. Scratch, 2001, DVD recording, Darkhorse Entertainment, 15th August.
