The legend Shortkut!!! For those who don't know, this man was part of an influential group of Bay Area DJs in the 90s called the Invizibl Skratch Piklz, which included other legendary scratch DJs such as Q-Bert, Mix Master Mike, D-Styles, Yogafrog, Flare, and Disk. The level of influence these guys had on modern DJing cannot be understated. Couldn't have picked a better DJ to break down the theory of turntablism and scratching! Thank you Wired for this video!
Also Apollo who doesn't get enough credit. He invented band turntablism, founded the piklz and was responsible for a lot of the connections that made the bay the mecca of dj culture
Even at its peaks, it has always been hand-me-down underground, so passing on the history must be part of it. Torches must be passed with care when it comes to niche passions! Doesn't matter if it's turntablism or Noh mask carving, the people who are going to carry it forward are the people continuing the practice.
@@SomeIdiota one day it will be a sporting tradition like the Olympic torch, Except instead of stadium to stadium it will be club to club Sports or events include □gymnastics /breakdancing □fencing/Rap battling □technical skiing/turntablism □
This young man is legit! He is informative without displaying the slightest hint of an ego. The manner in which he explains everything that he is doing is indicative of the big person he is as Master Turntablist. This was certainly a pleasure to watch!
I agree this was a pretty good intro, but I think an even clearer approach wouldn't have been: 1. The sound of scratching forwards, then backwards, how moving the record faster or slower changes the pitch. 2. If you're careful you can ALMOST get the same sound forwards and backwards if doing short cuts (1:00 position), and longer drags change the sound (2:00 position). 3. You always hear the audio through the headphones, the fader just mutes what the audience hears. The baby scratch started as just queuing up a beat, except instead of only hearing it in your headphones you let the audience hear it too. 4. The next few scratches build on variations/combinations of these (stab, chirp) 5. Using multiple fader taps to add rhythms (tear, transformer) 6. Volume fades 7. Here we match up with hist Step 8 and follow the rest of what he did.
Me: I should go to bed early tonight and get a good night's sleep. Also me, not a DJ, no record player or records watching this at 12:40am: ah yes, the transformer scratch
Grew up hearing jokes and old memes saying “scratching records ain’t talent” but I’m so glad I grew up and opened my mind. These things definitely take a lot of skill and originality to pull off. This was sick
I'm a "traditional" musician, playing guitar and drums. This was so cool, though. I think a lot of people overlook the artistry involved in scratching at a high level. Awesome look and appreciation gained!
while they do for sure overlook it when it comes to DJ:ing people tend to generally overlook most technical skills involved in playing any instrument unless its super fast :p
I remember when I was 15 trying to learn this on my own alone in my bedroom in the 90s on two of the cheapest turn tables I could save up for. People today are blessed to have easy access to videos like this.
It should be noted that levels 8-11 the cross fader is in reverse mode. You can also see him switch the fader controls when he begins his freestyle in level 15 after the beat juggle intro. This greatly changes the way you manipulate the fader. Fantastic video. ✌🏽
^This ! This makes a huuuuuge difference. Noticed it too. I just wonder if it's standard practice to make the crab scratch easier. Never saw that before tbh. So much in a single short video, that's awesome, thanks so much Shortkut! I remember when Qbert won the DMC world championship for the first time. Good ol'times :) Keep it up!
Came looking for this comment! Thought something was off when I felt the xfader was open throughout. Can anyone explain the benefits of having it in reverse/hamster mode?
@@chiggz247 You usually pick this mode if you're bimanual or have some inclination towards it. For example, I'm right-handed but when I hold the guitar I do it Jimi Hendrix style with left hand on the box and right hand on the fretboard. I scratch with my left hand with turntable on the right, but since I'm not 100% left-handed I found the hamster scratch much easier. Or perhaps all I said is rubbish and it's because the crabs seem easier to perform hahaha
I was sitting here wondering if he mentioned that he put it in reverse. I recently saw another guy do that and he sounded really good. I’m going to have to try it
I’ve been cutting and scratching since the 80’s and this by far is the best tutorial. I’d recommend this video to anyone wanting to learn this art form. Big up Shortcut! 👊🏼
Dude who taught me to scratch made me learn beatmatching, flares and crab scratches straight off the bat. I can't dj, but I can do a bunch of difficult tricks. It's like how I used to fail all the easy parts of maths exams but i'd always get the complex reasoning part right. It's neat, but it doesn't help a lot.
I've always been amazed by the DJs making the cross-fader look like it's springloaded. Whenever I touch a cross-fader I get frustrated by it being static. It simply never 'feels' the way my brain tells me it should.😳 I stick with my amazement and enjoy the art, while i leave the turntables to the artists.🤗
Lol I know right! When I got my first used mixer(pawn shop buy) 35 years ago,I thought it was broke because I wasn't able to make it flick like the DJs I stood and watched at basement parties back in the 80s. Man was I wrong😂
When I was learning to DJ (not scratching, just regular mixing songs), I actually disabled the crossfade completely because it's really sensitive, and I'd accidentally bump it while moving between controls. Seeing Shortkut slap that thing around like nothing is amazing.
I made my brain think my thumb is part of the fader as a spring, and now whenever I want the fader on, my other fingers will just like pressing on a button instead of thinking when to snap the fader back.
Genius at what he does and good video but the levels are a bit wrong. Chirp is more difficult than tear imo. Transform and chirp is more difficult than a fade, a fade is probably a level above a baby scratch. Flare is easier than crab and arguably easier than transformer or chirp depending on which one you learned first.
CarLiiiitoooo 💪💪👍👍🙌🙌👌👌🔥🔥 PLEASE do some kind of routine like using some of Shortkut’s examples given here BUT, here is the twist… DO IT WITH THE REV 7!!!! That you recently got!!!! It would be so dope to challenge yourself with that and give us all of your followers something exquisite like that!! 🙏🙏🔥🔥
I like how Shortkut was thorough with each lesson. Definitely a true legend. This brings back memories watching shigger fragger show and all the videos they used to put out in the 90’s
I've been mixing for years but never felt comfortable trying to scratch. These guided steps are really helping me see how to get into it little by little. Guess it'll take some trial and error, but this tutorial was fantastic. Thank you
It takes months to elevate your skill level, but practice always gets it done. Keep working on it without over extending your practice sessions. Short sessions done with higher frequency tend to yield faster results when it comes to our neuroplasticity and ability to build the necessary muscle memory that will have you jumping up levels exponentially fast.
Yeah cool. Just don't jump any of these skratch technics like I did. I went straight into flares and now my stabs skratch and simple scratches has suffered. Having to go back to the beginning. It takes a long time to get good ish so just keep at it and you with notice your development over years
@@djbis I completely agree. I use the same muscle memory technique for skateboarding too. Stop practicing a technique once you're fatigued bc you'll end up practicing bad habits.
I am a big fan of hiphop and rap music, went to countless of concerts of many amazing crews/bands. One thing I never understood is how one actually did this scratching. I knew it sounds cool but that was it. Over the many years I learned how to play all kinds of instruments and even studied music composition and orchestration which is what I do for a living now. But... scratching was still a mystery until I found you/this video. I am not aspiring to be a scratcher/turntablist but to actually see how it's done is a different story. Enlightening too! Thank you for sharing this information. I know I could have found tips and tricks anywhere else, but today I stumbled across your video and it amazed me, realizing that this was a blind spot for me. Awesome 😃🤘🏾
I've been doing this since 1998. Much love to Wired for giving our artform some much needed attention. If there are any folks with questions about all this, please reply and I will answer!
Did you ever have a problem with being able to do some scratches with one hand and not the other and visa versa? I can scratch with both hands but I can only do certain scratches with my left and certain with my right.
@@SmoothBlendzTV You can cross your hands over and cut on the other side so there isn't a huge need to do it, but it's a huge flex if you can. It's, not easy though. My scratch vocabulary on my regular side is pretty high, I took a little time to learn some easier cuts with my other side, knowing the mechanics of the cuts is easy once you got them on one side, but getting your hands to do the motions is another story. There are a few ambidextrous scratchers out there, and it's very impressive to watch.
very, VERY new and was gonna pratice some baby scratches. wanted to use the "fresh" and "ahhh" any idea where i could get a sample of these sounds to practice with. sry for such weird question
@@snoopthagreat Welcome to the crew! I am also having a tough time finding digital copies of my old battle wax. I DID find that D-Styles has his STD breaks up on his bandcamp, which should include those sounds, but it isn't free. I will keep looking and if I find something I will reply.
I once heard DJ Skully say to be in scratch battle condition you have to practise 10 hours a day! Seriously, don't you get RSI/carpal tunnel syndrome? Kid Koala even had a record called that...
"Stay true to what you're doing. Stay true to the craft. Once you find something out the maybe no one knows. Share that with people because thats what makes this art form evolve and grow. -DJ Shortkut (Invisible Skratch Piklz, Beat Junkies, Triple Threat)
As a musician who has never got into turntablism or djing, this is mind blowing stuff. The precision, musicality, techniques are Olympic level. Compare this to modern edm where someone turns up with a usb stick and presses their space bar so we can all listen to their laptop. Artistry meets technique at its finest. Wow.
Respectfully, good EDM djs do a lot more than what you claim they do, and this comes off as a somewhat ignorant slight. While there are plenty of people who show up with pre made sets, creating a good mix is a lot more than just hitting space. You deal a lot with music phrasing, matching harmonics and keys, and reading the dance floor to know when to build tension and release. Based off your comment I'm sure you don't care but James Hype is a good example of creative EDM mixing. Ego and choices in style aside he is a very exaggerated version of what true EDM/club djing is.
@@ImTotallyTechy oh I know there is some really creative, amazing EDM musicians/producers out there. Sorry if I caused offence. My comment was a bit blunt and made a generalisation. I’ve watched a few documentaries on EDM and DJing and have extensive experience in the music industry for over 30 years and I realise there are ones that perform live and others that do fantastic production but turn up to a gig with a thumb drive. Hopefully it’s more of the former and less of the latter.
I was head over heels with turntablism recordings in high school 20ish years ago but never learned how it was done. So neat to finally get the master class
The legend himself, thank you Shortkut. I was lucky enough to see Q-Bert up close in Sacramento ~2003 in a room with 10-15 people. I’ll never forget what I saw and heard.
Vielen Dank an die Macher dieses Video und an alle DJ's, welche zu jener Zeit das Turntable zu dem gemacht haben, was es heutzutage ist. Das sind die wahren Pioniere des Turntable Vermächtnis. Grüße aus Berlin....✌️
Those technic turntables are gorgeous! I want to get into spinning on vinyl, not for turntablism and scratching, but learning how to spin club music on vinyl so I can start collecting old 90's and early 2000's techno, house, and drum and bass. Great video!
It made no sense until it got to beat juggling. And then it all made sense, forcing me to re-watch the video. Very interesting, and really hard to appreciate without knowing the complexity of it. Its a different kind of world if you think about how much skill and practice this would require, really would not have thought about it before. I'll certainly me seeing hiphop differently now.
Respect to Shortkut! You legend! I've been a musician since I was 8, and now I've been DJing for 10 years, it's so much fun. Shortkut, Craze, Mat The Alien, and Scratch Bastid were big inspirations to start learning Turntablism
This was a totally awesome episode, I love this person, as much as I love the whole concept of turntablism. I just went and checked wikipedia, and I was disappointed that there was no entry for shortkut. His knowledge and skill was demonstrated amply in this video.
Google Invisibl Skratch Piklz and Triple Threat DJs. He also is on Twitch and regularly streams live mixes. I’ve had the privilege of growing up going to his parties and club gigs and in general catching him around the city (San Francisco). I once saw him at a 24hr Starbucks at like 3am when I was in grad school studying. I was like huh? Guess he just got out a gig or something lol. Very chill dude.
Love watching the beauty of the “hand and platter dancing” we get to see in the top down view. Anyone know if that top down view was/is ever projected on a screen during performances? Deep respect to DJ Shortkut, for his skill obviously, but especially his ending statement. So humble and nurturing.
At this years NAMM convention Shortkut and all The Beatjunkies held down the Jetpack Bags booth. They had a mini stage and huge screen above them, which would switch between frontal views of tbe performance and the top down view.
Yeah not every show out their features top down views of the turntable, but its more common than it ever was before thats for sure. lol Mainly find it at concerts where the Actual Headline is the DJ Performing his own show, but not unheard of to do in Main Stream Artist shows at times these days as well. (^,..,^)
The French turntablism group "C2C" has their setup slightly tilted forwards, towards the audience, so you can see a little bit what they're doing :) I always thought that was a nice touch of them.
This video is so dope. He's a great teacher. I always had an interest in scratching but never knew the amount of technique and intention that goes into it. So much more respect for all the masters out there now.
if ya'll haven't seen this man in action on twitch u don't know what u are missing. He be turnt! All kinds of jams going off, keeps the party/vibe going for hrs. You will not be disappointed if u tune in.
The Legend has spoken. By far the best and one of the easiest tutorials to follow. I'm proud to say that I'm at level 8 and I'm working on level 9 and 10.
@@SmoothBlendzTV maybe try keeping time a different way. It took me literally counting 1, 2, 3, 4 to get better at the drums. Keep grinding though, you'll get it!
The drum scratch using the volume control instead of the crossfader definitely gives it a unique sound. The crossfader gives it a more halted sound where the crossfader sounds a bit more fluid.
The volume control is an upward/downward curve. The xfader can perform this function, but many mixers have a rotary xfader curve control button that the DJ can asign between flat (0 - instant max output) and curved (0 - incremental max output)
This is the best video for learning how to do all the techniques of turntable links. I've looked up mini videos, and they are just fractions of what this video is taught in one easy go.
Scratching Crazy ! Learning scratches is difficult learning how to scratch on beat on time is rough too ! Beautiful video shout out to the scratch deejays out there that actually know what they’re doing . This is not learned over night ! Takes years of nerding out I can do all these scratches but timing on beat whole different story✌🏽scratch Deejays
What i love about the hip hop culture is the level upping, just as a bboy there were easy moves progressing to harder and the transitioning of the move turntablisn has unique "moves" and they can be used to the turntablists whim And competiting... Its like a layer within a layer of hip hop
At this point, it would be more apt to call this straight up turntablism, as DJing can be done with quite a bit less skill. Simply mixing two records is DJing, where manipulating sounds at this level is purely turntablism.
incredible skillz and a fountain of information. This guy is the real deal, clearly hear the professionalism in his MASTER skillz. Most DJ's mix but not all DJ's are mix masters
Wow never knew shortcut was such a good teacher. Never heard him communicate in old vids. He’s extremely articulate and great at communicating details. A lot better than other famous dj. I took qberts skratch university and short cut explains a lot more effectively. Love it appreciate it bro. Fellow 415er. Daily city!!
Anyone inside the DJ community knows that Shortkut is one of the greatest turntablists of all time! You couldn't have picked anyone better to perform this masterclass session. BIG UP, SHORT!
🤣 These are extremely basic scratches. Takes very little skill. It's not even 0.01% of how complex turntablist skills can get. Check out 1998 Craze DMC USA or Clamz Uv Death ISP team routine for reference.
Definitely not a music making genre that I know well, but I can instantly tell this guy is a legend. Big ups would love to see him back again for a diff vid
If God's a DJ, Jesus would be a turntablist, the ISP would be like his disciples and this video by shortkut would be for the world to bear witness to the true gospel of scratching and turntalism ! Explained and performed perfectly and professionally. This is pure gold right here. Thank you for educating those who don't know or need to know the science behind the art of turntablism. 🎉
One of the best to ever do it. The legendary DJ Shortkut of the Invisibl Skratch Piklz, Beat Junkies & Triple Threat DJs dropping knowledge. Salute to Wired for this.
I find it really weird how people will go see DJ's but have no clue what the DJ is actually doing, or why it's good, bad, difficult, etc. I've been at multiple shows where someone starts beat juggling or doing some other really complex skill, and people just stop because they don't understand what's going on, or how crazy difficult it is. Anyway great job ShortKut!
This guy has some *AMAZING* skills, turntablism is as much as an art form as playing keyboards, guitar, singing or mixing down a tune. 💯 respect for this guy. 🙏👍
This is so cool to see explained! This has always been somewhat of a mystery to me. Very interesting that the crossfader basically acts like the guitar pick of a guitarist, or the fingers of a bassist. Now I want to try it!
Cool stuff, one of my buddies was into turntableism when I was younger, it looked real easy until I tried to make some of the sounds he was making. It's not as easy as it looks. This video explains very well how difficult it is.
This was a lot better DJ’ing than what I’m used to hearing on the radio. A lot of it is just playing back certain part of the song same tone, same scratch, like 5 times.
Strong teacher vibes man. Like that cool music teacher that let's you eat in class but also tells his story so compellingly that you didn't even notice you were paying attention for an hour.
His DJ crew, The Beat Junkies, does have a school where they teach people how to DJ. The Beat Junkies Institute of Sound in Glendale, CA (Los Angeles). They truly are teachers of the artform.
Beat juggling was the first thing someone taught me. And something I found a lot easier than scratching of any kind. So I was surprised to see this as number 14!
Growing up in the Bay we used to go to dance parties in Daly City and Q-Bert and them would be rocking three sets of decks. Shortkut is the drum scratch master.
The explanations are spot on and done by a legend. But since this is targeted towards rookies, i feel that some words about how he uses his crossfader and especially him using it in hamster mode would have been pretty much beneficial to say the least...
@@TheGoodChap You can mod any mixer to have the same cut in time for scratching like an s11 or an rane72... all it take are two small metal plates (in my case, I would use old box cutter blades back in the 90s) and of course 4 drops of super glue. Remove the faceplate, shorten the crossfader travel distance on both sides to the cut in time of your liking, glue the plates in place and put the faceplate back on. Thats it^^
@@Presbiter you should totally make a video about this like 12 years ago and kept up with content creation like that and you'd be a millionaire right now.
learning these isn't hard per se, however the combination (step 8) after learning all these muscle memories and linking them together is really hard. The pickelz should be communication teachers... they explain all things turntable with such a level of clarity... I've been djing for over 21 years and the beat juggling thing just set a light bulb off... ty ISP!!
You should watch this routline then: ua-cam.com/video/tr3ftsCVXhc/v-deo.html Easy to follow even for the untrained viewer and uses a lot of the techniques shown here.
Takes me back to an afternoon in the summer sometime in 97. Smokin it up in my mates yard and him letting me loose on his technics. Safe to say that afternoon ended any dreams I had of being a DJ. And for the old skool UK scratchin fans DJ hype hype DJ hype! Amazing video thank you.
The legend Shortkut!!! For those who don't know, this man was part of an influential group of Bay Area DJs in the 90s called the Invizibl Skratch Piklz, which included other legendary scratch DJs such as Q-Bert, Mix Master Mike, D-Styles, Yogafrog, Flare, and Disk. The level of influence these guys had on modern DJing cannot be understated. Couldn't have picked a better DJ to break down the theory of turntablism and scratching! Thank you Wired for this video!
Also Apollo who doesn't get enough credit. He invented band turntablism, founded the piklz and was responsible for a lot of the connections that made the bay the mecca of dj culture
@@diskfunkshun ah man, of course! Apollo deserves just as much praise!
Also the Master of Stabs 🔪🔪🔥🔥
Thank you for that nugget of history!
💯🔥
I love how he intersperses a little bit of hip-hop history, crediting the creators of various techniques.
@@defcreator187 Dj Flare (Flare Scratch) too but ShortKut’s teaching style is so calming👊🏾
Even at its peaks, it has always been hand-me-down underground, so passing on the history must be part of it. Torches must be passed with care when it comes to niche passions! Doesn't matter if it's turntablism or Noh mask carving, the people who are going to carry it forward are the people continuing the practice.
@@SomeIdiota one day it will be a sporting tradition like the Olympic torch,
Except instead of stadium to stadium it will be club to club
Sports or events include
□gymnastics /breakdancing
□fencing/Rap battling
□technical skiing/turntablism
□
If you thought this was impressive, wait until you retards learn about music.
This is legitimately better than most turntablism focused channels. Huge ups dude
Its an og !✌️
real fuckin talk, was gunna say exact same thing
This young man is legit! He is informative without displaying the slightest hint of an ego. The manner in which he explains everything that he is doing is indicative of the big person he is as Master Turntablist. This was certainly a pleasure to watch!
I agree this was a pretty good intro, but I think an even clearer approach wouldn't have been:
1. The sound of scratching forwards, then backwards, how moving the record faster or slower changes the pitch.
2. If you're careful you can ALMOST get the same sound forwards and backwards if doing short cuts (1:00 position), and longer drags change the sound (2:00 position).
3. You always hear the audio through the headphones, the fader just mutes what the audience hears. The baby scratch started as just queuing up a beat, except instead of only hearing it in your headphones you let the audience hear it too.
4. The next few scratches build on variations/combinations of these (stab, chirp)
5. Using multiple fader taps to add rhythms (tear, transformer)
6. Volume fades
7. Here we match up with hist Step 8 and follow the rest of what he did.
I mean you do have Shortkut explaining things, a living legend of the turntable scene.
Me: I should go to bed early tonight and get a good night's sleep.
Also me, not a DJ, no record player or records watching this at 12:40am: ah yes, the transformer scratch
AHHAHAHAHAHAHA
😆
2:30am here, Bro 😎
yep, 3:13am here. xD
00:02
Grew up hearing jokes and old memes saying “scratching records ain’t talent” but I’m so glad I grew up and opened my mind. These things definitely take a lot of skill and originality to pull off. This was sick
Memes are putting things down but the truest stand tall and break the mold cast over it
The best way to think of it is it is a percussive instrument, but with the ability to accentuate sounds like a rapper. It’s really magnificent.
I absolutely agree. Trying to learn this myself and it ain't easy.
And lots and lots of practice.
Never realized DJ Jazzy Jeff was such a pioneer. He really invented a lot of techniques.
I thought he was a fictional character lmao. Who'd pop in to visit Will sometimes.
@@JD_tcband get thrown out by Uncle Phil
wow 😮
Yall can't be serious.. Smart phones and yet....
PIONEER haha get it?
I'm a "traditional" musician, playing guitar and drums. This was so cool, though. I think a lot of people overlook the artistry involved in scratching at a high level. Awesome look and appreciation gained!
if you haven't already do check out Wavetwisters - an animation done to music by Qbert. it even has some Buckethead for them guitar nerds.
while they do for sure overlook it when it comes to DJ:ing people tend to generally overlook most technical skills involved in playing any instrument unless its super fast :p
Watch “scratch” Rob Swift did scratch notations, sheet music
Watch Ned Hoddings.
also know that not all DJS are scratchers, we take on many forms!
I remember when I was 15 trying to learn this on my own alone in my bedroom in the 90s on two of the cheapest turn tables I could save up for. People today are blessed to have easy access to videos like this.
Love it how they just let him get on with it and explain / demo his craft. Brilliant.
It should be noted that levels 8-11 the cross fader is in reverse mode. You can also see him switch the fader controls when he begins his freestyle in level 15 after the beat juggle intro. This greatly changes the way you manipulate the fader. Fantastic video. ✌🏽
^This !
This makes a huuuuuge difference. Noticed it too. I just wonder if it's standard practice to make the crab scratch easier. Never saw that before tbh.
So much in a single short video, that's awesome, thanks so much Shortkut! I remember when Qbert won the DMC world championship for the first time. Good ol'times :)
Keep it up!
Was just about to ask
Came looking for this comment! Thought something was off when I felt the xfader was open throughout.
Can anyone explain the benefits of having it in reverse/hamster mode?
@@chiggz247 You usually pick this mode if you're bimanual or have some inclination towards it. For example, I'm right-handed but when I hold the guitar I do it Jimi Hendrix style with left hand on the box and right hand on the fretboard. I scratch with my left hand with turntable on the right, but since I'm not 100% left-handed I found the hamster scratch much easier. Or perhaps all I said is rubbish and it's because the crabs seem easier to perform hahaha
I was sitting here wondering if he mentioned that he put it in reverse.
I recently saw another guy do that and he sounded really good. I’m going to have to try it
I’ve been cutting and scratching since the 80’s and this by far is the best tutorial. I’d recommend this video to anyone wanting to learn this art form. Big up Shortcut! 👊🏼
I really miss turntable in modern music.
This needs to comeback
Dude who taught me to scratch made me learn beatmatching, flares and crab scratches straight off the bat. I can't dj, but I can do a bunch of difficult tricks. It's like how I used to fail all the easy parts of maths exams but i'd always get the complex reasoning part right. It's neat, but it doesn't help a lot.
Crab scratches are really satisfying when you do them right
how long did it take you to learn crab scratch?
I've always been amazed by the DJs making the cross-fader look like it's springloaded. Whenever I touch a cross-fader I get frustrated by it being static. It simply never 'feels' the way my brain tells me it should.😳
I stick with my amazement and enjoy the art, while i leave the turntables to the artists.🤗
Lol I know right! When I got my first used mixer(pawn shop buy) 35 years ago,I thought it was broke because I wasn't able to make it flick like the DJs I stood and watched at basement parties back in the 80s. Man was I wrong😂
Same 100p
When I was learning to DJ (not scratching, just regular mixing songs), I actually disabled the crossfade completely because it's really sensitive, and I'd accidentally bump it while moving between controls. Seeing Shortkut slap that thing around like nothing is amazing.
I made my brain think my thumb is part of the fader as a spring, and now whenever I want the fader on, my other fingers will just like pressing on a button instead of thinking when to snap the fader back.
your thumb has to be mostly limp
This is so awesome! Kudos to Shortkut and the team!
Hi
Hi
Yoo dj carlo!
Genius at what he does and good video but the levels are a bit wrong. Chirp is more difficult than tear imo. Transform and chirp is more difficult than a fade, a fade is probably a level above a baby scratch. Flare is easier than crab and arguably easier than transformer or chirp depending on which one you learned first.
CarLiiiitoooo 💪💪👍👍🙌🙌👌👌🔥🔥 PLEASE do some kind of routine like using some of Shortkut’s examples given here BUT, here is the twist… DO IT WITH THE REV 7!!!! That you recently got!!!! It would be so dope to challenge yourself with that and give us all of your followers something exquisite like that!! 🙏🙏🔥🔥
I like how Shortkut was thorough with each lesson. Definitely a true legend. This brings back memories watching shigger fragger show and all the videos they used to put out in the 90’s
I was lucky enough to see him live a few times. The guy is a legend! Thank you wired for this video
Oddly enough the thot bots are copying your comment. I knew I've read this comment as tip comments but they just want you to click on the profile.
I've been mixing for years but never felt comfortable trying to scratch. These guided steps are really helping me see how to get into it little by little. Guess it'll take some trial and error, but this tutorial was fantastic. Thank you
Same here!
It takes months to elevate your skill level, but practice always gets it done. Keep working on it without over extending your practice sessions. Short sessions done with higher frequency tend to yield faster results when it comes to our neuroplasticity and ability to build the necessary muscle memory that will have you jumping up levels exponentially fast.
Yeah cool. Just don't jump any of these skratch technics like I did. I went straight into flares and now my stabs skratch and simple scratches has suffered. Having to go back to the beginning. It takes a long time to get good ish so just keep at it and you with notice your development over years
@@djbis Same goes for any skill
@@djbis I completely agree. I use the same muscle memory technique for skateboarding too. Stop practicing a technique once you're fatigued bc you'll end up practicing bad habits.
I am a big fan of hiphop and rap music, went to countless of concerts of many amazing crews/bands.
One thing I never understood is how one actually did this scratching. I knew it sounds cool but that was it.
Over the many years I learned how to play all kinds of instruments and even studied music composition and orchestration which is what I do for a living now.
But... scratching was still a mystery until I found you/this video.
I am not aspiring to be a scratcher/turntablist but to actually see how it's done is a different story. Enlightening too!
Thank you for sharing this information. I know I could have found tips and tricks anywhere else, but today I stumbled across your video and it amazed me, realizing that this was a blind spot for me.
Awesome 😃🤘🏾
While this doesn't look like something I'd like to get into, this video definitely gave me a lot more respect for DJ's
This isn't even 0.0001% of how complex and difficult turntablist skills can get. This is the extreme basics.
I've been doing this since 1998. Much love to Wired for giving our artform some much needed attention. If there are any folks with questions about all this, please reply and I will answer!
Did you ever have a problem with being able to do some scratches with one hand and not the other and visa versa? I can scratch with both hands but I can only do certain scratches with my left and certain with my right.
@@SmoothBlendzTV You can cross your hands over and cut on the other side so there isn't a huge need to do it, but it's a huge flex if you can. It's, not easy though. My scratch vocabulary on my regular side is pretty high, I took a little time to learn some easier cuts with my other side, knowing the mechanics of the cuts is easy once you got them on one side, but getting your hands to do the motions is another story. There are a few ambidextrous scratchers out there, and it's very impressive to watch.
very, VERY new and was gonna pratice some baby scratches. wanted to use the "fresh" and "ahhh" any idea where i could get a sample of these sounds to practice with. sry for such weird question
@@snoopthagreat Welcome to the crew! I am also having a tough time finding digital copies of my old battle wax. I DID find that D-Styles has his STD breaks up on his bandcamp, which should include those sounds, but it isn't free. I will keep looking and if I find something I will reply.
I once heard DJ Skully say to be in scratch battle condition you have to practise 10 hours a day! Seriously, don't you get RSI/carpal tunnel syndrome? Kid Koala even had a record called that...
"Stay true to what you're doing. Stay true to the craft. Once you find something out the maybe no one knows. Share that with people because thats what makes this art form evolve and grow. -DJ Shortkut (Invisible Skratch Piklz, Beat Junkies, Triple Threat)
As a musician who has never got into turntablism or djing, this is mind blowing stuff.
The precision, musicality, techniques are Olympic level.
Compare this to modern edm where someone turns up with a usb stick and presses their space bar so we can all listen to their laptop.
Artistry meets technique at its finest. Wow.
Respectfully, good EDM djs do a lot more than what you claim they do, and this comes off as a somewhat ignorant slight. While there are plenty of people who show up with pre made sets, creating a good mix is a lot more than just hitting space. You deal a lot with music phrasing, matching harmonics and keys, and reading the dance floor to know when to build tension and release. Based off your comment I'm sure you don't care but James Hype is a good example of creative EDM mixing. Ego and choices in style aside he is a very exaggerated version of what true EDM/club djing is.
@@ImTotallyTechy oh I know there is some really creative, amazing EDM musicians/producers out there. Sorry if I caused offence. My comment was a bit blunt and made a generalisation.
I’ve watched a few documentaries on EDM and DJing and have extensive experience in the music industry for over 30 years and I realise there are ones that perform live and others that do fantastic production but turn up to a gig with a thumb drive. Hopefully it’s more of the former and less of the latter.
Shortkut is one of the most inspiring and really musical DJs (not just technical weirdos out there), much respect and admiration!
Yeah he actually can rock basically any event.
I was head over heels with turntablism recordings in high school 20ish years ago but never learned how it was done. So neat to finally get the master class
The legend himself, thank you Shortkut. I was lucky enough to see Q-Bert up close in Sacramento ~2003 in a room with 10-15 people. I’ll never forget what I saw and heard.
Vielen Dank an die Macher dieses Video und an alle DJ's, welche zu jener Zeit das Turntable zu dem gemacht haben, was es heutzutage ist.
Das sind die wahren Pioniere des Turntable Vermächtnis.
Grüße aus Berlin....✌️
Those technic turntables are gorgeous! I want to get into spinning on vinyl, not for turntablism and scratching, but learning how to spin club music on vinyl so I can start collecting old 90's and early 2000's techno, house, and drum and bass. Great video!
Um I don't think you need to do any of this to collect old music.
@@looksirdroids9134 I know, but I want to DJ it haha.
@@looksirdroids9134i mean, i would be fye being able to DJ your old collection vinyls
You won't regret that decision but it might be difficult to explain to your significant other that you will never afford to pay off a mortgage. 😁
lmaooooo true @@andypae
It made no sense until it got to beat juggling. And then it all made sense, forcing me to re-watch the video. Very interesting, and really hard to appreciate without knowing the complexity of it. Its a different kind of world if you think about how much skill and practice this would require, really would not have thought about it before. I'll certainly me seeing hiphop differently now.
Respect to Shortkut! You legend! I've been a musician since I was 8, and now I've been DJing for 10 years, it's so much fun. Shortkut, Craze, Mat The Alien, and Scratch Bastid were big inspirations to start learning Turntablism
I keep coming back to this video every practice day, and scratch each element pausing video, its just too good to just watch it once
This was a totally awesome episode, I love this person, as much as I love the whole concept of turntablism. I just went and checked wikipedia, and I was disappointed that there was no entry for shortkut. His knowledge and skill was demonstrated amply in this video.
Wiki Beat Junkies. That’s the crew shortkut is in. The whole crew are legends
I'll have to check that out. Short is in 2 of the most influential crews in tablism. It'd be wack if people are getting glossed over but it's Wiki...
Google Invisibl Skratch Piklz and Triple Threat DJs. He also is on Twitch and regularly streams live mixes. I’ve had the privilege of growing up going to his parties and club gigs and in general catching him around the city (San Francisco). I once saw him at a 24hr Starbucks at like 3am when I was in grad school studying. I was like huh? Guess he just got out a gig or something lol. Very chill dude.
The way he explains everything is exceptional.
Love watching the beauty of the “hand and platter dancing” we get to see in the top down view. Anyone know if that top down view was/is ever projected on a screen during performances?
Deep respect to DJ Shortkut, for his skill obviously, but especially his ending statement. So humble and nurturing.
At this years NAMM convention Shortkut and all The Beatjunkies held down the Jetpack Bags booth. They had a mini stage and huge screen above them, which would switch between frontal views of tbe performance and the top down view.
most DJs just fake pushing buttons and doing stuff so showing that on screen libe is a problem
@@bobbydonatoni6268 oh cool! Thank you for sharing!
Yeah not every show out their features top down views of the turntable, but its more common than it ever was before thats for sure. lol Mainly find it at concerts where the Actual Headline is the DJ Performing his own show, but not unheard of to do in Main Stream Artist shows at times these days as well. (^,..,^)
The French turntablism group "C2C" has their setup slightly tilted forwards, towards the audience, so you can see a little bit what they're doing :) I always thought that was a nice touch of them.
This video is so dope. He's a great teacher. I always had an interest in scratching but never knew the amount of technique and intention that goes into it. So much more respect for all the masters out there now.
if ya'll haven't seen this man in action on twitch u don't know what u are missing. He be turnt! All kinds of jams going off, keeps the party/vibe going for hrs. You will not be disappointed if u tune in.
This guy played every show at the music festival I worked at. Great guy!!
The Legend has spoken. By far the best and one of the easiest tutorials to follow. I'm proud to say that I'm at level 8 and I'm working on level 9 and 10.
It's been a year. Where ya at?
@@Bennycanofbeans Still at level 8. Just can't get those more complicated scratches on beat
@@SmoothBlendzTV maybe try keeping time a different way. It took me literally counting 1, 2, 3, 4 to get better at the drums. Keep grinding though, you'll get it!
Thanks bro I'll give that a try
@@Bennycanofbeans
turntablism has a few gods and shortkut is definitely one of them. someone at WIRED knows their stuff!
The drum scratch using the volume control instead of the crossfader definitely gives it a unique sound. The crossfader gives it a more halted sound where the crossfader sounds a bit more fluid.
The volume control is an upward/downward curve. The xfader can perform this function, but many mixers have a rotary xfader curve control button that the DJ can asign between flat (0 - instant max output) and curved (0 - incremental max output)
This is the best video for learning how to do all the techniques of turntable links. I've looked up mini videos, and they are just fractions of what this video is taught in one easy go.
Scratching Crazy ! Learning scratches is difficult learning how to scratch on beat on time is rough too ! Beautiful video shout out to the scratch deejays out there that actually know what they’re doing . This is not learned over night ! Takes years of nerding out I can do all these scratches but timing on beat whole different story✌🏽scratch Deejays
What i love about the hip hop culture is the level upping, just as a bboy there were easy moves progressing to harder and the transitioning of the move turntablisn has unique "moves" and they can be used to the turntablists whim
And competiting... Its like a layer within a layer of hip hop
You wanna learn how to scratch? THIS is the ultimate video to start with for knowing about the basics at all...
Now this man, is what I call a teacher. Gave a precise and brief explanation of techniques even a complete beginner would understand.
By far the best tutorial i have seen on scratching. Easy to follow and the explanations are spot on! Thank you so much!!!!
This is dope, I knew DJ-ing was hard but it’s actually pretty technical.
At this point, it would be more apt to call this straight up turntablism, as DJing can be done with quite a bit less skill. Simply mixing two records is DJing, where manipulating sounds at this level is purely turntablism.
I think everybody has their own levels, but this is definitely a good example of what you should go for.👏
incredible skillz and a fountain of information. This guy is the real deal, clearly hear the professionalism in his MASTER skillz. Most DJ's mix but not all DJ's are mix masters
Although I don’t know anything about this, it seems more difficult than one would think. This fella makes it look real easy..
wow amazing, i mean i'll never bother but the beat juggling that's where he really plays with the rhythm
Thank you DJ Shortkut at WIRED for putting this out! :)
Wow never knew shortcut was such a good teacher. Never heard him communicate in old vids. He’s extremely articulate and great at communicating details. A lot better than other famous dj. I took qberts skratch university and short cut explains a lot more effectively. Love it appreciate it bro. Fellow 415er. Daily city!!
This has to be the best tutorial I have seen recently (on any topic)!
Anyone inside the DJ community knows that Shortkut is one of the greatest turntablists of all time! You couldn't have picked anyone better to perform this masterclass session. BIG UP, SHORT!
Never knew it's this complex, and by looking at the comments this guy is one of the legends, RESPECT
🤣 These are extremely basic scratches. Takes very little skill. It's not even 0.01% of how complex turntablist skills can get. Check out 1998 Craze DMC USA or Clamz Uv Death ISP team routine for reference.
Definitely not a music making genre that I know well, but I can instantly tell this guy is a legend. Big ups would love to see him back again for a diff vid
Salute to the legend Shortkut! Great video Wired👍🏾👍🏾
If God's a DJ, Jesus would be a turntablist, the ISP would be like his disciples and this video by shortkut would be for the world to bear witness to the true gospel of scratching and turntalism ! Explained and performed perfectly and professionally. This is pure gold right here. Thank you for educating those who don't know or need to know the science behind the art of turntablism. 🎉
One of the best to ever do it. The legendary DJ Shortkut of the Invisibl Skratch Piklz, Beat Junkies & Triple Threat DJs dropping knowledge. Salute to Wired for this.
I find it really weird how people will go see DJ's but have no clue what the DJ is actually doing, or why it's good, bad, difficult, etc. I've been at multiple shows where someone starts beat juggling or doing some other really complex skill, and people just stop because they don't understand what's going on, or how crazy difficult it is. Anyway great job ShortKut!
What a great guide to scratching. You just gave me hours of techniques to practice and I got scratch DJ history lesson simultaneously.
This guy has some *AMAZING* skills, turntablism is as much as an art form as playing keyboards, guitar, singing or mixing down a tune. 💯 respect for this guy. 🙏👍
I am 1 minute in And i am already amazed by the level of complexity here. 😮
Now I understand more of scratching but almost scared on the amount of finesse and technique you must have to be a Dj/turntable scratching artist
At 1 through 7 I'm thinking "This all sound the same". Then Level 8 comes in and it all made sense!
This is so cool to see explained! This has always been somewhat of a mystery to me. Very interesting that the crossfader basically acts like the guitar pick of a guitarist, or the fingers of a bassist. Now I want to try it!
This is one of the most beautiful things I’ve watched on YT
Cool stuff, one of my buddies was into turntableism when I was younger, it looked real easy until I tried to make some of the sounds he was making. It's not as easy as it looks. This video explains very well how difficult it is.
Wow! I never knew that DJing can be so complex. Thanks Wired! Also thanks DJ Shortkut for the detailed explanation.
This was a lot better DJ’ing than what I’m used to hearing on the radio. A lot of it is just playing back certain part of the song same tone, same scratch, like 5 times.
Out of everything the beat juggling seems insane and no see why it’s the last one 😂💪🏾💯 salute to this tutorial!
There's so much nuance in every art form. Nice editing with the text too.
That’s cool he went in and added overdubs to the speaking to help flesh out the info
Not my kind of music, but now I appreciate the expertise in the art.
Hands Down, The Best Scratch Tutorial on The Internet!
Strong teacher vibes man. Like that cool music teacher that let's you eat in class but also tells his story so compellingly that you didn't even notice you were paying attention for an hour.
His DJ crew, The Beat Junkies, does have a school where they teach people how to DJ. The Beat Junkies Institute of Sound in Glendale, CA (Los Angeles). They truly are teachers of the artform.
Beat juggling was the first thing someone taught me. And something I found a lot easier than scratching of any kind. So I was surprised to see this as number 14!
Because you need hands control on the record with your left and right hands also for the cross fader.
Beat juggling is arguably the hardest thing to learn, few DJs can do it properly or well
Never knew i needed this until i watched this
lol same
This was really good because it showed me that turntabling is basically drumming but with pre existing music
I love the scratching in Public Enemy - Bring The Noise, Terminator X is my favorite
Growing up in the Bay we used to go to dance parties in Daly City and Q-Bert and them would be rocking three sets of decks. Shortkut is the drum scratch master.
Bravo! I love how its broken down so concisely!
When you only handle your LP'S by the edge, and fear scratching your LP, there is this beautiful thing.
I’ve always wanted to know more about this and Shortkut is so good at explaining it!
Shortkut & ISP awesome for over 25 years now hahah! Thanks for making this y’all!
The explanations are spot on and done by a legend. But since this is targeted towards rookies, i feel that some words about how he uses his crossfader and especially him using it in hamster mode would have been pretty much beneficial to say the least...
Yea if you get a cheap mixer without the ability to adjust the cross fade to extremes to make it a switch you basically just can't scratch at all
@@TheGoodChap You can mod any mixer to have the same cut in time for scratching like an s11 or an rane72...
all it take are two small metal plates (in my case, I would use old box cutter blades back in the 90s) and of course 4 drops of super glue.
Remove the faceplate, shorten the crossfader travel distance on both sides to the cut in time of your liking, glue the plates in place and put the faceplate back on. Thats it^^
@@Presbiter you should totally make a video about this like 12 years ago and kept up with content creation like that and you'd be a millionaire right now.
Shortkut baby! I remember watching Skratch Piklz and X-Men DJ videos in my youth. Man....miss those days AND my 1200's! Keep living the dream homie!
Love the lesson and history. Thanks for doing this!
learning these isn't hard per se, however the combination (step 8) after learning all these muscle memories and linking them together is really hard. The pickelz should be communication teachers... they explain all things turntable with such a level of clarity... I've been djing for over 21 years and the beat juggling thing just set a light bulb off... ty ISP!!
It's like an episode of 'how it's made'. Knowing very little about DJs , this was fun to watch. Good explanations
You should watch this routline then: ua-cam.com/video/tr3ftsCVXhc/v-deo.html
Easy to follow even for the untrained viewer and uses a lot of the techniques shown here.
Dj Flare and D Styles pharaohs of funk and the ISP records back in the day really inspired me. Thanks Shortkutt
By far he can teach us everything so good on how to explain amd detailed everything 🙏
Takes me back to an afternoon in the summer sometime in 97. Smokin it up in my mates yard and him letting me loose on his technics. Safe to say that afternoon ended any dreams I had of being a DJ. And for the old skool UK scratchin fans DJ hype hype DJ hype! Amazing video thank you.
Best educational video I’ve seen in a long time!
A superb review of essential of turntable and scratch skills and techniques.... Shortkut's presentation was flawless
Amazing vid. My friends and i used to try and be DJs, but i could never figure out scratching. After watching this vid, i finally know why 😂
Notice that fader configuration is reversed when demonstrating the crab
17:04 this part was amazing 🤯
I always say that television is long dead thanks (ETERNAL THANKS) to UA-cam and it's videos like these that make that possible.