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maximising practise time for best improvement


MadAbbott

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hey all,

 

Just wondered if anyone had any tips they wanted to share for how they get the best out of the time they put into practising their scratches. I'm only really thinking about scratching but it would also be interesting to hear about any other techniques you practise a lot/drill daily too (drumming, juggling, even mixing).

 

I get less and less time now to really devote to scratching, and ideally (as we all do) I'd like to get the most out of that as possible.

 

Really keen to find what's worked well for people and what they'd recommend to avoid. I remember watching Vekked's workshop for Pyramind that was really good, https://www.pyramind.com/events/2016/5/18/elite-session-with-dj-vekked-5-time-dmc-world-champion

 

I guess some of the obvious ones would be -

  • keep drilling the basics (stabs, chirps, transforming) to keep the speed up.
  • Starting slow and speeding up to increase speed.
  • practise over a variety of tempos (I used to scratch over 90bpm hip hop only. Now there's so many alternatives, I found I lost my way over what should be my breadn'butter tempos!)
  • try/experiment new things
  • train towards your ultimate goal - If you only play Hip Hop in clubs, there's not much point scratching over EDM at home,or if you have no intention of making a routine showing off what an allround tablist you are there's not much point practising weak hand cuts etc.

Any tips appreciated!

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I notice a big one for me is practicing over a variety of tempos and beat types. Aside from it making me flexible when bpms change it just seems to make my scratching more on time in general.
+1 on on Chile's heuristic method too!

Recording yourself is also invaluable for seeing your progress. Many times I don't critique myself nearly as hard unless I've recorded and taken a look/listen.

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I notice a big one for me is practicing over a variety of tempos and beat types. Aside from it making me flexible when bpms change it just seems to make my scratching more on time in general.

+1 on on Chile's heuristic method too!

 

Recording yourself is also invaluable for seeing your progress. Many times I don't critique myself nearly as hard unless I've recorded and taken a look/listen.

you're right, forgot to mention recording yourself, and performing with the headphones really makes you focus on the sound you're making too...

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Yeah, recording yourself is huge. I thought I was the boss, till I recorded myself and listened the next day whilst sober. Fuck, serious confidence killer; made me not want to skratch for awhile, but persevered with recordings and eventually improved.

 

One of the main things that really helped was leaving my decks and mixer on, with the needle in the groove. Consistently. It just made it ultra easy to start practicing, on the daily. Now I use a Traktor Z2 mixer, and while I love it, it's a total process starting it up (e.g. updating Windows, security, Flash and of course Traktor, otherwise it's problematic). As such, my gear is always turned off, so I seldom practice now, which irks me. Ugh. I can simply use analog mode with my mixer and thus utilize real records, but damn, I really like skratching in Traktor now. Prolly just need to get some new battle/skratch wax to rekindle my analog interests.

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Ya having my decks set up and easy to jump on at any time helps me practice more too. I noticed they have to be somewhere private too though, like if they're in the living room I feel self conscious practicing coz there could be people there.

 

I've noticed I always scratch best after I've been practicing prizms. I think it's coz they're so tear heavy and you have to be coordinated with your clicks that they make other scratches seem easier. So I guess in a nutshell, practicing more complex scratches can have a knock on effect helping more basic ones?

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My new favourite thing is to take my handytrax on the couch and cut it up with headphones while we watch tv. Especially helpful when the missus decides to watch something of mediocre interest. I am sure I am annoying her with the clickity clack but at least we sit next to each other instead of me being in my room :d

@Rob: get on the portablism bandwagon! I even have one on my desk in the office for some cuts during lunch break XD

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@Rob: get on the portablism bandwagon! I even have one on my desk in the office for some cuts during lunch break XD

 

I had one since before there was a bandwagon to get on ;-) sound like shit though and cables everywhere so I rarely use it. That's unfortunately not something I leave set up around the house but my decks are always ready to go.

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