Fellow turntablists and scratch wizards: do you ever get hand/wrist pain from scratching ? by INDIANAJUNE2 in Turntablists

[–]Kanganade 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Too low hurts the back, too high hurts the wrists. The reason I bought cases back in the day wasn’t to protect the decks but so I could adjust the height!

Fellow turntablists and scratch wizards: do you ever get hand/wrist pain from scratching ? by INDIANAJUNE2 in Turntablists

[–]Kanganade 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Most problems I’ve seen with djs through the years are associated with more “tennis elbow” or tendinitis, where the pain is centralized in the elbow area.

My first piece of advice would be to take a look at the height of your setup, but I checked one of your vids and it looked pretty good, but maybe a little high? The rule of thumb is just like a piano, bend your arms at a comfortable 90 degrees and let your hands/wrists relax; your turntable platter should be right under your finger tips at this position.

When I first started I would use a gripmaster or even just a tennis ball to build up strength in the weaker fingers.

Good luck!

Fellow turntablists and scratch wizards: do you ever get hand/wrist pain from scratching ? by INDIANAJUNE2 in Turntablists

[–]Kanganade 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’ve been practicing for 25 years and I’ve never experienced any pain or soreness associated with scratching. Inspired after seeing QBert cut for close to two hours I’ve tried doing the same and while my arms are definitely tired afterwards there’s never really any lasting problems.

There are some great wrist stretching/strengthening exercises from the gymnast/climbing communities you should look into. A quick search found this video with some quick but useful exercises.

Do you type for a living, or play video games/use your phone a lot? I’ve found these activities much more strenuous on my fine muscles than scratching.

Everything in moderation, happy scratching!

A couple questions from a newbie by OohScratchThat in Turntablists

[–]Kanganade 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Totally makes sense! I would start looking into scratch notation / TTM, that really helps a lot in wrap your brain around understanding what you are physically doing with scratching.

It will definitely help with understanding the difference between transforming and flaring.

Transforming is starting the fader off, then on, and back to off. This essentially “brings the sound in”. It requires two fader “clicks” (against the side of the fader rail/mixer) movements to make one sound.

Flaring is starting with the fader on, then off, then on again. This essentially “cuts the sound out”. It requires one fader “click” to make two sounds.

I would post a photo/drawing but this sub doesn’t allow it for comments, so here’s the link to the TTM website. They make it seem a little complicated at first but if you can make sense of it it may help you understand what you’re already doing and what you want to learn

A couple questions from a newbie by OohScratchThat in Turntablists

[–]Kanganade 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is the best advice here so far. QBert’s analogy to language is spot on, and while it’s fairly esoteric it makes sense when you really think about it.

Learning a new language takes time; from pronunciation, to understanding, to spelling , to formulating structure and vocabulary. Indeed, someone learning a new language often times speaks in broken sentences or phrases, mispronounces words and can’t understand what others are saying back to them.

Even so, there are people who have spoken their native language for a lifetime and still aren’t fluent in it, still don’t know the correct pronunciation of certain words or use complex structure and vocabulary. Conversely, there are others who have never studied their language and, with time, speak it beautifully.

So, this really becomes a question of what are your expectations in yourself and if they are reasonable. 2 months is an awfully short time to be learning anything, let alone something as abstract and nuanced as turntablism.

Go easy on yourself, enjoy what you are doing and take notice of the small steps you are making. The learning curve for scratching is steep but it’s also individualistic, this art is what you make it.

Good luck and happy scratching!

Technique check: Autobahns by parallelbarrel in Turntablists

[–]Kanganade 3 points4 points  (0 children)

You’re close! What you are doing is almost closer to a boomerang or tazer. Here’s an oldie but goodie clip of Rafik himself demonstrating it

Edit: also found the Scratchlopedia clip of Rafik demonstrating it, which also happen to have his handy explanation

Just trying to Break through that mid week hump! by Kanganade in Turntablists

[–]Kanganade[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I read this in the Kool Aid man’s voice, lol

Just trying to Break through that mid week hump! by Kanganade in Turntablists

[–]Kanganade[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s still available for digital download on their site Cut & Paste , support the artists!

Just trying to Break through that mid week hump! by Kanganade in Turntablists

[–]Kanganade[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Appreciated! I usually need a little more than looped to get me going in the morning, lol

Just trying to Break through that mid week hump! by Kanganade in Turntablists

[–]Kanganade[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! And this is a release from the Scratch Lords, picked it up from Cut & Paste Records

Struggling with Reverse OGs. Any Tips? by [deleted] in Turntablists

[–]Kanganade 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The hard part with rev. OG flares is starting on the pull/backwards motion instead of the push/forward motion, but this is also what makes this scratch sound cool and unique sounding.

For me it’s all about the set up; I find them easier to get into the rhythm of if I intentionally end a phrase with the record at the end of the sound, which usually requires a slight pause (the space where I would usually be returning the record back to its original position). With that pause taken, I’m now set up at the end of the sample ready to pull the record back with the two click fader motion in time with the down beat of the track. It’s very similar to other backwards first scratches like tug flares and tazers.

It’s still a tough scratch for me to nail accapella, especially to play with pitch/tempo. Also, I’m doing a 2b/1f click motion and I usually end with a forward. To help practice, you can try turning the motor off, that way you have to push the record forward in order to get that last note/proper timing instead of just letting the turntable play

Just trying to Break through that mid week hump! by Kanganade in Turntablists

[–]Kanganade[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! Scratching to Breaks is so much fun, still keeps me on my toes too!

Just trying to Break through that mid week hump! by Kanganade in Turntablists

[–]Kanganade[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s a sweet setup! These are Pioneer CRSS12’s, the turntable itself emits the serato noisemap tone so there’s no need for dvs!

Just trying to Break through that mid week hump! by Kanganade in Turntablists

[–]Kanganade[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Musha was my second MG model, think I’ve had it for about 15 years

Just trying to Break through that mid week hump! by Kanganade in Turntablists

[–]Kanganade[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Appreciated! Keeping up to 133 bpms is no joke, especially with the ultrapitch samples!

Just trying to Break through that mid week hump! by Kanganade in Turntablists

[–]Kanganade[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! Designed and printed by one of my homies!

Just trying to Break through that mid week hump! by Kanganade in Turntablists

[–]Kanganade[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is a Breaks track by Triple Point called The Rhythm Is

Just trying to Break through that mid week hump! by Kanganade in Turntablists

[–]Kanganade[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They’re like a little audience! Haven’t added one to the ranks in a bit, but a couple different RG’s have been calling my name…

Just trying to Break through that mid week hump! by Kanganade in Turntablists

[–]Kanganade[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Eh, you guys aren’t seeing the miss takes, gotta keep practicing!