scratch

.forum - week ten.

“Scratch” is a great documentary, which outlines the short history of Turntablism. It interviewed a number of key artists in the field, including Grand Wizard Theodore, Grand Mixer QBert, DJ Shadow, DJ Krush, Mix Master Mike and many others.



Scratching is such an impressive looking skill and certainly an area where technology and improvisation meet in an effective way. The use of ‘sampling’ by these artists, particularly in the highly instrumental music of DJ Shadow, is a significant part of their artform. Some musicians have a difficult time accepting this – the art of ‘digging’ as they describe it, can appear to be stifling on their creativity. Coming from a classically trained background, I must admit that ‘digging’ was idea I that I was slow to grow upon. However, since my naïve childhood days I have done a complete back flip on the idea – to the point where I have even sampled at times in my own music. In the grand scheme of music in this day and age, sampling is a really practical way of making music. Recycling the enormous amount of material that exists out-there is not only a viable way of making art, but a necessity of the twenty-first century world.

.sources.

Whittington, Stephen 22.05.08, "Turntablism," Lecture of EMU, University of Adelaide.

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