Just starting..

[verbal]

i've had my tables for almost three years now. I mix techno/house. But I wouldn't mind learning the scratch a little bit. I just have no idea where to start. What did you guys start with?

[dJ sHoE]

Hey,
I was in the same situation in the beginning of the summer when I decided to really get into scratching. I think even before I started it, I listened to a lot of scratching. I browsed some other forums and listened to people's sound files and also downloaded some qbert, kid koala, stuff like that. Not to bite their styles but just to get a sense of sounds. I bought some battle records and got to it. At first I wasn't too sure whether I should be just practicing basic techniques over and over again until I got them right, or if I should just throw down two records and start scratching and doing what comes to you. I've since found that a combination of the two works best because after you practice basic techniquse repeatedly to get them proficient, you start to unconsciously use them when you're just jamming and they start to incorporate themselves into your scratching. I also recorded myself, starting from the beginning, just to see how I was progressing. I still sound horrible but I can see at least some sort of improvement. Also, check out the scratching tutorials on www.asisphonics.net and www.flaredycats.com and if it floats your boat, buy the upcoming DIY 2 dvd. But the key is once you start to keep practicing it, otherwise you'll just lose it.

[Chime]

I started with the basics: baby, forward, transform, flare, chirp, tears. Most other scratches seem to be variations of those anyway. One thing I found that helped me with creativity and staying on beat later is to always play a beat to scratch along with even if you're just learning the basics and repeating them over and over.