How many Turntables are needed to use strictly as an instrument to scratch with?
As a hip-hop engineer, I'd like to do my own scratching as far as the turntables are concerned. With that being said, how many turntables do I need? I'm not going to be a deejay so is having two turntables necessary? Influenced by DJ Abilities, I'd like to practice and get good enough to something similar to what he's done on the Eyedea and Abilities albums.
you're going to need at least 3 - one for percussive sounds (kicks/snares), one for vocal samples/sound effects, etc., and another for switching between the two. if you think you'd like to transform or crab that'll be another 2.
I don't want to scratch using any time code and I never scratched using real vinyl before. I know you said straight into the DAW but I wonder if it's better to chain it to a phono preamp befor it goes into the interface?..
^^^^ yes your going to need a turntable plus a dj mixer with a butter fader and that will provide the phono preamp. if you dont and you get a phono preamp instead you wont be able to do the kind of cuts you want becaue you will need to be "muting" the signal with the fader.
you wont need a dj mixer and a phono preamp, that would be redundant. the mixer will provide that for you. go strait from there into the interface.
I'm not trying to crush it for you op, but you should consider hooking up with a DJ. Scratch DJing is an art form in it's own right, takes many hours of dedicated practice, even simple sounding stuff.
You could get the gear and do some long takes and cut some mmmmokayish bits out of those, but it will sound like a guy who doesn't DJ spamming some cuts and slicing them up in a track, unless you put in long hours of dedicated practice, in which case you might as well become an expert scratch DJ on two tables.
There are guys on here who do cuts for reasonable fees.
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I don't want to scratch using any time code and I never scratched using real vinyl before. I know you said straight into the DAW but I wonder if it's better to chain it to a phono preamp befor it goes into the interface?..
If you dont know how to scratch, dont record it yet. Practice for a while...
Qbert and Vestax made a scratch turntable with a fader on it. Your going to have fun. Now for the vinyl....
I'm not trying to crush it for you op, but you should consider hooking up with a DJ. Scratch DJing is an art form in it's own right, takes many hours of dedicated practice, even simple sounding stuff.
You could get the gear and do some long takes and cut some mmmmokayish bits out of those, but it will sound like a guy who doesn't DJ spamming some cuts and slicing them up in a track, unless you put in long hours of dedicated practice, in which case you might as well become an expert scratch DJ on two tables.
There are guys on here who do cuts for reasonable fees.
So +1....it's not a case of "buy the turntable and hit record". What do you want to do? I've seen so many posts from the OP asking about different approaches..."jack of all trades" doesn't even come close!
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So +1....it's not a case of "buy the turntable and hit record". What do you want to do? I've seen so many posts from the OP asking about different approaches..."jack of all trades" doesn't even come close!
Anybody familiar with Korg's Kaoss Mixer? I was taking a look at it the other day. I think it's kinda with the touch pad and all. However, I also read that the art of scratching the mixer plays an important role (i.e. personal preference). The Korg Kaoss Mixer kinda strikes me as either one of two things. Either it's just a really cool toy to play with and would be better if applied to a live dj set OR it's a serious piece of equipment capable of taking a scratch dj's art to the next level.. Your thoughts? The Korg Kaoss Mixer is or isn't ideal for a scratch dj set up?
I don't like the sound of that time code digital shit. I'm either deaf or crazy but scratching real vinyl just sounds fatter to me. I have an NS7 and honestly, I don't really like it.
Many jedi master professional DJ's are quite happy with that vinyl timecode shit.
Before this thread you didn't know that you would need a crossfader for cuts.
I would not overthink the whole process. Just buy a simple but reliable battle mixer and a pretty good turntable with a nice system and start scratching. That´s it. And a bunch of records of course. After that practise, practice, practise...
You won´t scratch like Mixmaster Mike or QBert or DJ Faust in the begining. And probably you won´t never reach their skills but if you get the scratch sound you need on your own and it sounds cool nobody cares if you get it on your first try or after the 20th. And if you need 20 different takes just for one scratch that´s fine. Just comp the shit out of it until it sounds fine.
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i agree, just cause you have a mixer and a turntable doesnt mean you can scratch, i bought one for sampling, but got a direct drive one to scratch on as well. i tried scratching a hook for a track and it didnt sound good at all, not to mention comping scratch tracks is really tedious and time consuming if you dont know what your doing.
i would never again seriously consider trying to add cuts to my beats myself, that being said, it is still fun to scratch around on.
i would recomend a numark tt500 or tt200 to start off with, they have good torque and imo kill on any other "cheap" direct drive turntables.
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Practice for a while...
