Record specially made for scratching

[lloyd]

http://www.skratchworx.com/news/comments.php4?id=301

A record specially made for turntablists.
quote:
It's a scratch tool based on a simple, but smart concept. In april 2004 Sjam told Kypski about his idea of pressing notes, ascending notescales to be exact, on a vinyl record. But not just that, the octaves of the scales had to be divided exactly between one rotation of a record. This way you’d remember the position of every note. You could play melodies while scratching, scratch while playing melodies... scratch melodies...well basically play melodies using your turntable.

Sounds like a good idea, or not?

[Eikman]

good turntableists (sp?) don't need that

[lukeyd]

thats a similar idea to a dj swamp record one of my mates has, where the entire vinyl is a guitar chord, and the tone raises with each track.

im never sure how useful something like that would be, and ideas like this always have to work against some turntable purists who don't like "made for djs" vinyl.

i cant scratch for shit, so im quite happy without it :p

[Forgotten Sanity]

I don't think that's a bad idea, I've seen other vinyls out and about with guide arrows on them, for sake of ease.

I can't imagine why seasoned turntablists would have a problem with this, everyone has to start somewhere. Just as long as you graduate past those records, I'd assume...

[lloyd]

Well I think that it is good to have some sounds in different keys. Most remixers don't have the first understanding of music theory and mix out of key. That is why I don't like a lot of remixes. Besides that, this is a basis for making a turntable into a musical intestrument, more then it already was.

[adam]

It's not a new idea. And it does serve a purpose beyond Eikman's dismissal. Good turntable skills don't really provide you with a record with 12 semitones recorded of the same sound, or several octaves worth, either. Sure, some people can scratch to controlled pitches (see Kid Koala's Drunken Trumpet), but there's going to be a limit to what they can do, that this record would help them bypass.

I've seen video footage of a group of turntablists doing a performance with a similar record, where they each played specific notes to form chords for the composition. I think that might be in the film "Scratch", which is well over a year old. Sounds to me like someone is trying to pass off someone else's idea as their own.

Regardless, I think it's kind of a gimmicky thing, which sort of brings it back to Eik's comment. That is, I don't think a good turntablist would use it; it's more of a gimmicky look-what-I-can-do thing, at least as much as I can think of uses for it. That is, a regular record would provide less possibilities for pitch, but a carefully dropped sample is probably going to sound better in most situations than whatever is on this thing.

[adam]

And most "remixers" do understand music theory and do mix in key, I would say. Are you talking about production remixing, or turntable mixing? Any DJ or remixer who is producing stuff that is audibly off-key is a poor DJ (which I am). DJ Shadow named a DVD In Tune and On Time, and he talks about how everything is in key like it's some sort of novel idea...it's not.

Turntables already are a musical instrument. They can't be made into any more of one.

Listen to Drunken Trumpet by Kid Koala. Or Skanky Panky. Or go see RJD2 play. DJ /rupture just played with an orchestra. DJ Spooky did an album with Dave Lombardo. Mike Patton with the X-ecutioners. Do you think these are musicians working with non-musicians?

[Eikman]

DJ /rupture just played with an orchestra.

and i missed it although i had a ticket.....don't remind me!

[Tyler]

Maybe you guys should meet some turntablists before you dismiss stuff like this. "Good turntablists" are the ones who came up with this idea anyway, why wouldn't they use it?

[adam]

What I said was, I think it's sort of gimmicky, "at least as much as I can think of uses for it." That is, the footage I've seen wasn't particularly interesting, and I can't think of anything much more exciting to do with it myself.

[stimpee]

I would say any of today's chart music is good for scratching. Preferably with a large sharp knife.