Karol Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 Hi, what's up scratch community? I have seen lots of scratch practice videos lately and I have noticed a bunch of beginner dudes who do some simple cuts like stabs tears babies and forwards but who cares. They do crabs! I ve also seen a qouple of tutorials which presented crabs as "fundamentals". Is this a joke? For me crabs are so difficult to perform especially because of my weaker hand on the crossfader. After many hours and mounths of training I mastered them but, hello! What is the whole point of learning crabs if you can't do proper stabs or even tears? Maybe it's something wrong with me but I hardly ever do crabs. This type of scratch is not as appliable as open fader scratches like flare and all "slice based" scratches like boomerangs and autobans. I treat crabs just as minor addition to my scratch vocabulary. And here's a tip for those less advanced. Maybe instead of learning autoflares delayed reverse hyper-echo prisms explore your tears chirps and stabs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djdiggla Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 Welcome to my life. I spent all my time working on crabs like an idiot. Thinking they were important. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Symatic Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 i never understood how people did it because of my shitty gemini mixer but when i got a mixer with a cut in, the hours spent trying to crab on a normal fader meant it was easier to get it on a nice short cut in. i spent a long time practicing the movement just against my thumb, you look like a weirdo doing it but there you go Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djdiggla Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 Same here. I also thought that people I was watching in videos were crabbing when they were really flaring. But nobody was very open about it and so me and my friend thought they were crabbing and if we just got good enough at it we would sound like them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rasteri Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 Man when I was first learning everyone was obsessed with crabs, then everyone was doing 2 and 3-click combos and crabbing became a bit unfashionable. Yeah I'd say they're a pretty basic scratch overall but obviously learn transforms/chirps/flares/tears first 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike-L Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 Conceptually crabs are simple but getting them sound right & consistent can take years. The key thing with crabs is they sound way better as parts of other combos - hence why learning all the other stuff is more important (especially as other techniques can sound good on their own even as a beginner). Also: "This type of scratch is not as appliable as open fader scratches" . im not sure if i understand you, but you can start crabs from an open fader postion. A commonly used crab technique is very similar to a triple click flare: fader opencrab 3 fingers across faderleave fader openstart to pull backcrab 3 fingers across faderrepeat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chile Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 They're fundamental in the sense that they are a root pattern that leads to a bunch of other combos (california rolls etc). I don't use them that much because they hurt my hand, but check out fakser for some cray crab combos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 Id learn then after cutting, stabs, chirps and transforms. I found flares very difficult so focused on closed fader techniques for a long time and crabbed a lot. I think they're great as part of combos and a good transition technique for getting to the start/ end of a sample for the start of your next pattern /technique Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jam Burglar Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 Ha, all this time I thought I was the only one! The timing was always tough for me. They can sound VERY dope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djdiggla Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 A commonly used crab technique is very similar to a triple click flare: fader opencrab 3 fingers across faderleave fader openstart to pull backcrab 3 fingers across faderrepeat I been trying to get that down. Hard for me to do unless it's hamster style but I don't normally scratch hamster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MysteryV Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 I've always been a fan of crabs as I love how they sound, particularly as a 3 click flare. That said, I've also tried (and continue to try) not to over use them as I always felt like there was a stigma around them as being "too easy" or "cheating". I still find myself cringing a bit internally when I do them, but really enjoying how they sound when listening to a recording later on. Self hating crabber ftl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karol Posted June 10, 2016 Author Share Posted June 10, 2016 Id learn then after cutting, stabs, chirps and transforms. I found flares very difficult so focused on closed fader techniques for a long time and crabbed a lot. I think they're great as part of combos and a good transition technique for getting to the start/ end of a sample for the start of your next pattern /techniqueRight, Overall I prefer using transforms to using crabs as a form of transition between techniques. Basically, you achieve 2,3 or 4 very sharp sounds but I have to switch my hand position to do so. Doing transforms your set of clicks ranges from 1 to 7(8)(9)? depending on the sample's length and your speed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfsop Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 I always felt like there was a stigma around them as being "too easy" or "cheating".Yeah, I felt the same way until I tried to use the crab finger movement with Swing Flares. I'm still not good at them but practicing those really helped making the clicks more precise. Before that I was always likea) move record forwardb) just throw the clicks in somewherec) voilà, CrabI guess I regarded it more as an "effect scratch" than a way to strike the cross fader with a different finger movement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MysteryV Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 Heh, its funny as I alway felt the same way about twiddling 2click orbits that I did about crabs - even though I really liked how my buddy's twiddled 2 clickers sounded. Now I have an overly steep learning curve when trying to learn to twiddle autobahns and boomerangs (and will likely never learn them as there's so much other stuff to catch up on). At the end of the day, I support anything that people enjoy doing that sounds good to them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike-L Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 Twiddles & Crabs aren't cheating as they give you a slightly different sound. It's good to be able do both & choose what feel you're after. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottie(the)goonie Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 Crabs sound good when they are used infrequently and phased in an unexpected way ... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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