DV/DJ-TECH SCRATCH BATTLE RULES AND INFO

[Steve]

Hey folks. I have organised a scratch battle in association with DJ-Tech and the top prize is a swanky new DJ-Tech DIF-1S mixer: -

http://i.imgur.com/ruuWRdS.jpg

It's a 2 channel scratch mixer with a Mini Innofader for the crossfader with curve control and a hamster switch. You can also drop a full fat Innofader in there if you like. The mixer has a DVS mode, a booth output, and it has a 100-240 Volt universal power supply built in. Check out the product page on DJ-Tech's website, HERE.

Here's all the details. This post is quite long, but I wanted to make sure I included all of the info you need: -

Prizes: -

The overall winner will win the DJ-Tech DIF-1S mixer, doubles of Ritchie Ruftone's "Braveheart Breaks" battle record, a t-shirt and snapback courtesy of the good golks at AnyForty, and a t-shirt, mug and bag from the Super Scratch Sunday Shop.

The runner up will win a Pro X Fade courtesy of Mike from the UK chapter of the IDA and doubles of Ritchie's record.

The remaining 6 DJs from the top 8 will win doubles of Ritchie's record.

Further small prizes may be tossed into the prize pot as time goes on. Big thanks to DJ-Tech for being the main sponsor and to Ritchie, Jimmy, the AnyForty guys, and Mike from the IDA for donating some prizes!

The battle format: -

The battle is split into four rounds: -

Round 1 = Competitors cut for up to 60 seconds over a beat of their choosing. Judging is a combination of a peer judging system and a judging panel. The top 8 competitors will progress to the next round.

Round 2 = A random draw will be made to create 4 x 1 Vs. 1 match ups. The competitors will cut for up to 60 seconds over a beat that will be provided. Judging will be done by a judging panel. The 4 winning DJs will progress to round 3.

Round 3 = A random draw will be made to create 2 x 1 Vs. 1 match ups. The competitors will cut for up to 90 seconds over a beat that will be provided. Judging will be done by a judging panel. The 2 winning DJs will progress to the final round.

Round 4 = The final. This will take place over 3 rounds of 90 seconds per round. Beats will be provided for each round. If the same DJ wins the first 2 rounds, the battle is over. Judging will be done by a judging panel.

In all rounds, competitors can cut up any sample(s) of their choosing. In the rounds where a beat is provided, DJs must cut over the beat at its stock speed - so no pitching the beat up or down.

Video submission rules: -

Videos must be shot in one take and filmed from a single angle. While there is a maximum time limit for each round, there is no minimum.

Please host your videos on YouTube or Vimeo (YouTube if possible please!). Set your videos to "unlisted" so that nobody can find them before they are posted up on DV ready for judging. Please don't set them to "private" as then I can't view them. When uploading your videos, please include "DV/DJ-Tech Scratch Battle" in the video title along with your DJ name and the round number, so, for example, it might look like this: -

DV/DJ-Tech Scratch Battle - DJ Vekked - Round 1

Also, please put a link to DV or the battle section on DV in the video description.

If a DJ forgets to title their video properly or forgets to link to DV in the description, they will not be disqualified over that (we're not that cruel ). A disqualification will occur if a video has clearly been edited, or a video is not submitted in time. If a DJ is disqualified in round 2, the next highest scoring non-winning DJ from round 1 will be asked if they want to jump back into the battle and they will be given 7 days to submit a video.

Unless there is a technical issue with either DV or YouTube/Vimeo, no extensions will be given in rounds 1-3. An extension may be given in round 4, but only under exceptional circumstances and only if both DJs agree to it.

Video privacy settings: -

Just to clarify: -

YouTube - Set your video's privacy to "unlisted". Please do not set it to "private". The day the videos are posted on DV, you can change the privacy from "unlisted" to "public" if you want to.

Vimeo - I don't think there's an "unlisted" setting on Vimeo. If that is still the case and you have to use Vimeo over YouTube for some reason, wait until a day or two before the deadline and upload your video with the privacy set to "public".

Basically, if I can't watch your video as soon as I have the link, and I can't post your video up on DV without you changing the privacy settings - that is no good! Please stick to the above and we'll be fine. Thanks.

Use of effects etc.: -

Effects such as delay are allowed in this battle if you want to use them, although bear in mind that effects can sometimes make it harder to hear what's really going on and that may work against you when it comes to the judging. Using a loop pedal to layer scratches, however, is NOT allowed as this is a battle of straight up scratch freestyle skills.

How to submit your videos: -

You can submit your videos in one of 2 ways: -

1. PM me on DV with a link to the video.

2. Email me at battle@digitalvertigo.co.uk with a link to your video. Make sure you include your DJ name and DV username in the email along with the link.

In both cases, I will reply to confirm that I have received your entry. If you have any problems or you don't receive a reply from me, you can always contact me via DV. If your video is over the time limit, I will contact you to tell you that you will either have to record a new video, or chop the end off your existing one. While I will allow a second or two of leeway, videos must not go considerably over the time limit, because even if you say "the judges can just judge the first 60 seconds" or whatever, having a longer video may still affect the judges' decisions and it's unfair on the other competitors.

Once a DJ has submitted a video, that's it - they cannot change their mind and ask to use a different video. Make sure you are happy with your video before you email/PM the link to me.

Judging criteria: -

This battle is largely about technical skills and flow, so the judging will be broken down something like this: -

Technicality/flow = 70%
Originality = 20%
Musicality = 10%

So technical, funky cuts with a touch of originality is what you're aiming for if you want to impress the judges, rather than going for something musical that's much less technical.

Round 1 judging: -

Round 1 will be judged using a mix of peer judging and a judging panel. It will work like this: -

Each judge will choose their top 8. The person they place first gets 8 points, second gets 7 points and so on. There are 5 judges in total.

Each competitor will also do the same. The competitor's scores will then be averaged out and multiplied by 3, so all of the competitors combined effectively count as 3 judges.

The judges and competitor scores will be totalled up, giving us a top 8.

We realise that a competitor may have a friend that has also entered and they may decide to vote for their friend just to help them get through to round 2, but we have designed the weighting of the competitor votes so that if a handful of people do this, it will have no real effect on the outcome. We want the most deserving DJs to win the prizes!

Rounds 2-4 judging: -

Rounds 2 and 3 will be judged by the 5 person judging panel. Round 4 will be judged by the 5 person judging panel, but there will also be some extra guest judges.

The judging panel: -

This is the judging panel that will be judging throughout the battle: -

Mista Ed - Renowned UK producer and scratch DJ.
DJ Vekked - 2012 DMC Supremacy World Champion and IDA World Champion.
Ritchie Ruftone - Multiple battle winner, the current DMC UK Champion, and a veteran of the battle scene.
DJ Muzzell - 2005 DMC UK Champion, 2010 WTK Champion and music producer.
DJ Chile - 2011 WTK Champion and one of DV's finest scratchers.

 

And here are the extra judges who will be judging the final rounds: -

DJ Shortkut - Legendary member of the Invisibl Skratch Piklz, Beat Junkies and Triple Threat DJs.
Sparky T - Multiple DMC battle winner, and another veteran of the battle scene.
Chris Karns - 2011 DMC World Champion, 2002 WSTC champ and winner of many regional battles.
DJ Woody - Winner of many a battle, including the ITF and Vestax World Championships, and one of the most innovative DJs in the scene.
DJ Precision - Member of the X-Ecutioners and multiple battle winner.
DJ Flip - The 2003 ITF world scratching champion.

I've kept the descriptions above brief, so they obviously don't cover all of the 9 judges' achievements, but let's face it - you know who these guys are, haha.

Deadlines: -

The deadline for submission of round 1 videos is Thursday, September 12th at 11 PM UK time.

Further deadlines will be posted as the battle progresses, but we intend to give people plenty of time. In rounds 2-4, if all of the DJs have submitted their videos before the deadline, we may post the videos up early. Also, in rounds 2-4 we will take into account feedback from the competitors on the deadlines, so we will try and set deadlines that suit all competitors. For example, if all 4 competitors in round 3 agree that 1 week is enough for them to record their vids, then we'll set the deadline at 1 week, but we will make sure that every competing DJ is happy with the deadlines in rounds 2-4.

Winners: -

Winners of each round will be posted on DV and I will email each of you to let you know. Once the battle is over, I will contact every prize winner to get your details so we can get the prizes to you.

While it's not a requirement, it would be nice if the winning DJ could make a video of them using the DJ-Tech mixer - whether it's a straight up scratch video or a routine. This would be good promo both for the winning DJ and for DJ-Tech and it will help us with securing prizes for future battles. If this battle goes well, we hope to make it an annual thing.

Questions?

If you have any questions, please ask them in this thread. Hopefully everything is clear though!

Changes to this post: -

I have made several edits to this post to add info on extra prizes and judges and I will continue to do so where necessary, but obviously the main rules have not changed since this post first went up - and they won't change, so don't worry about that.

DV hosting issues: -

Unfortunately, DV has been suffering from hosting issues in the last few days and the site can be slow and unresponsive at times. Please bear with us with this - I know how annoying it can be, cos it annoys me too! I have reported this to our web host and I'm trying to get things resolved.

When the first round videos go up, obviously we expect to see an increase in traffic on DV as people will be watching the vids, commenting on them, competitors and judges will be voting and what have you. If, during that time, DV has hosting issues that make the site unusable or incredibly slow, I will extend the voting deadline and make alternative arrangements. Whatever happens, this battle will not be ruined or cancelled because of hosting issues! Be assured of that. There's a good chance that the issues will be resolved anyway, but I thought I'd better address it now.

Thanks!

Big thanks to Alessio at DJ-Tech, Chris, Gizmo, Rock Well, Vekked, Loop, Ritchie Ruftone, Jimmy, Mike from the IDA and to all of the other judges. Also, thanks to those that have helped spread the word on social networks. Let the battle commence.....

[Vekked]

looks great, I'm excited to see some head to head scratch action

[Steve]

I've just posted about this on Facebook. If any DV heads that are on my friends list can share my post, or just repost the image yourself or whatever, that would be great. We need to spread the word about this to try and make it as successful as possible so we can run more battles like this in the future.

 

Cheers gents.

[chile]

whos the other tbc judge? i dont know if im going to enter so if you need another judge i'll fill in

[savwar]

whos the other tbc judge? i dont know if im going to enter so if you need another judge i'll fill in

NO. None of this....

don't fall for it Steve...

[Steve]

Loop is now the other judge, although we can have more than 5 as long as it's an odd number to prevent there from being any ties.

 

But you should enter man! We already have some heavy hitter DV scratch DJs on the judging panel, which rules them out from entering. Plus you'd be in with a top chance of winning it too. All of the rounds will be nicely spread out, so having time to record the vids won't be an issue. So yeah, I've decided for you - you're entering.

[Steve]

Thanks very much to the folks that have shared the info about this battle on Facebook BTW! If you're a member of any scratch/turntablism groups on Facebook, please share the info on this battle in there too. It would be great to have a wicked turnout for this so we can turn it into an annual event, rather than just a one off.

[chile]

at what date will the last round be?

[Steve]

I can't really say mate. Once the first round videos are in and posted up and this section starts to get busy, I want to get some feedback from the competitors on how slow/fast they want this to move. Are you off on holiday at some point in the next couple of months?

[chile]

i just wanna keep time free for ida in october

[jam1chicago]

any rules aside the video rules? are FX (delay, flange, etc) ruled out?

[Steve]

I think the final rounds will almost certainly not start until after October.

 

Round 1 vids have to be in by September 12th, but the judging process will be longer because all of the competitors and judges have to post up their top 8.

 

Then I was thinking that we'd give the competitors 3 weeks in rounds 2 and 3, just because if someone is going on holiday, that should still leave them time to record their vid. The judging shouldn't take too long.

 

With the final rounds, I'll ask the 2 competitors to agree on the deadlines, because they might both only want a week per round or whatever.

 

So yeah, I would say that you're looking at mid-November for the start of the final rounds, as an estimate.

[Steve]

any rules aside the video rules? are FX (delay, flange, etc) ruled out?

Good point! I thought about this the other day, but then it completely slipped my mind.

 

I would say that FX of the type you mentioned are fine, but using a loop pedal to layer scratches is not allowed. But, I will wait to see if any of the judges have any input on that. Give it 24 hours and if nobody has raised any objections to what I've just said, then it will stand and I'll add it into the first post. Either way, this will be clarified by this time tomorrow.

 

Oh yeah, welcome to the forum man.

[Frost]

I might enter if I get the free time, I'll be fucked if it's one of those mad 30bpm beats though. haha.

[Guest Symatic]

nice work guys this looks dope!

[Steve]

If anyone is here because they saw this battle posted on DJ-Tech's Facebook page, please note that the deadline for round 1 entries is September 12th. DJ-Tech accidentally posted up a work in progress version of the flyer that had a much earlier date on it. So don't worry - you have several weeks to get your entries in!

[Steve]

I've added some info to the first post about the use of effects, and I have also clarified the judging criteria.

[d00ban]

I really, really, REALLY hope one of the other special judges is Flare.... And the other is Q-bert for good measure.

[Steve]

Just maybe that wish will come true.

[Ryan]

Might get on this for the craic. Gonna get a scratch record this weekend and see if i can still cut

[Steve]

Ritchie Ruftone has very kindly offered up 16 copies of his battle record, Braveheart Breaks, as extra prizes. Those who make it through to the top 8 will win doubles of the record.

[jam1chicago]

 

any rules aside the video rules? are FX (delay, flange, etc) ruled out?

Good point! I thought about this the other day, but then it completely slipped my mind.

 

I would say that FX of the type you mentioned are fine, but using a loop pedal to layer scratches is not allowed. But, I will wait to see if any of the judges have any input on that. Give it 24 hours and if nobody has raised any objections to what I've just said, then it will stand and I'll add it into the first post. Either way, this will be clarified by this time tomorrow.

 

Oh yeah, welcome to the forum man.

 

 

 

Thanks for the clarification and thanks for the warm invite, always been a reader but first time post haha

[Steve]

I'm disappointed that someone could lurk for so long without wanting to jump into a thread and say "Steve, you're talking shit!". I need to step my trolling game up a gear.

 

BTW, your signature was too big so I've shrunk it down a bit. If you want to show off your DJ gear, post a pic of it here: -

 

http://www.digitalvertigo.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=4092

[Steve]

Dittly-dicka-DJ ShoooooortKUT (DPSM throwback for those who know, lol) is on board as one of the final round judges.

[savwar]

Dittly-dicka-DJ ShoooooortKUT (DPSM throwback for those who know, lol) is on board as one of the final round judges.

 

sweet i'm gonna enter a juggle...