Steve Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 I much prefer Q's scratching from 10-15 years ago to his scratching now. It just seemed so much more funky and when I listen to it, it still gives me that feeling of "I wanna get on my decks and have a cut". His current level of scratching is a lot more technically advanced, but it does nothing for me, whereas D-Styles has advanced technically, but I still love listening to his scratching now. What say you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wax On Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 Its got to a point where I draw parallels with guitarists - Qbert is like Joe Satriani or someone - incredible technique, tight as fuck, and pulls off crazy moves at a million miles an hour, whereas D Styles is like Carlos Santana or Jimi Hendrix or someone - technically solid, but more emphasis on phrasing/melody, and can carry a piece of music with his playing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tbtf Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 I agree, D-styles scratches just have so much damn flavor. Have you seen the video where he is cuttin with Kentaro? His cuts just flow together so well. And wax what do you mean by phrasing and melody? I been trying to get my cuts to the next level and I think knowing what this is might help out. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djfoly Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 I agree steve...if you listen to bobsled camel race or bear witness one you think this guys the best of all time....he needs to slow down or something. The thing is all those cats can do it all...if they all wanted to change into each other they could do it easily! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wax On Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 And wax what do you mean by phrasing and melody?  Can't believe you've called me out on this, people will realise i know nothing!!! Phrasing is just like with rapping really - its about how you deliver - ie you get people who just do furious power scratching a million miles an hour with no breaks, and then you get stuff where the scratching is carefully placed, and has pauses in between and variation in rhythms/intensities of the scratches. when there is phrasing, this gives more impact to the scratching IMO, and it can carry a track more, rather than just being scratches over a track. With melody, i guess what i mean is like with guitar, how you get guitar solo's which are someone going mental over a section of a tune, but if the tune was them going mental over the rest of the music for 5 minutes, it wouldn't hold your attention. Whereas if you listen to some Santana tunes, the guitar carries the song and adds to the rest of the sound rather than sitting on top of the sound.  horrendous explanations really, if you want i'll try and do a couple of little files to explain a bit better - but listen to this tune and notice how well chosen his phrasing and rhythm are, and notice how he picks the times to put in fast licks and such. He goes a bit mental towards the end, but thats to be expected.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weoGpyvIqP8 sorry if i've just wasted 10 minutes of your time. Its one of those times where you type what you're thinking but don't really know if it makes sense. I'm not going to re-read it cos i'll just get confused Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doppelkorn Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 Man you've got me going looking at guitarist vids on YouTube now! Anyway to back up Wax, take a look at this Eric Clapton vid. It's kind of spoilt cos it gives the title but I watched this on DVD a few years ago and he's just dicking about, you think doing a tune-up, then he hammers into Layla when no-one expects it. Layla is not a difficult song to play and is probably his biggest hit but it's the way he does it. It kind of goes beyond technical prowess into just having a feeling for the instrument. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fX5USg8_1gA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solemn Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 technically q-bert is probably the best, but i don't really like his style. so for me it's toad and d.   (today i woke up and it's 2002 again...crazy! must be because of the earthquake in haiti i guess ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djdiggla Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 Qbert makes me literally sick and never want to scratch again. D I really enjoy even tho he is so sickeningly good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 I am in awe of Qbert's techincal ability but I can't listen to him in most cases (there's sections from wave twisters i do really like though!). Dstyles on the other hand does it for me every time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savwar Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 yeah i feel i'm not really interested in q's cuts these days. part of it is that these days its usually over beats i'm not into with terribly eq'd aah samples on those fuckin white vinyls he insists on using...i think qbert made a mistake of not progressing how he presents his cuts, and hasn't followed wave twisters with anythin worth talkin about. like q may be the most technically gifted, but it just doesn't cut it these days, pun intended. he's never put together a dope live set, you know with a concept or anything... never made a routine that people recognise and hope to hear... its just cuts over an ipod. ie, surely q could kill any elaborate serato set that anyone else has put together..... but then again maybe its not what he wants, or else its the stress of living up to being the best. but then again who the fuck am i... fuck it i love him either way, he's a legend, he's invented a million cuts, and done more good than anyone for the scene. D in a minor way has it easier in a way that he doesn't have the limelight (and the money unfortunately), and is the cult hero for the whole scene, i mean there are people out there that hate q..is there anyone that doesn't like D??? either way they're both 2 of the most gifted and soundest people i've had the oppurtunity to hang with & be influenced by. this is one of my favourite ever vids. (how the fuck do you embed these days??)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6xBu6oAkrI oh yeah and to anwser your question, yeah maybe he has lost a bit of the funk... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010  i think qbert made a mistake of not progressing how he presents his cuts, and hasn't followed wave twisters with anythin worth talkin about. like q may be the most technically gifted, but it just doesn't cut it these days, pun intended. he's never put together a dope live set, you know with a concept or anything... never made a routine that people recognise and hope to hear... its just cuts over an ipod. Couldn't have put it better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NozL Posted January 18, 2010 Share Posted January 18, 2010 he's never put together a dope live set, you know with a concept or anything... never made a routine that people recognise and hope to hear... Â Rock the Bells? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savwar Posted January 18, 2010 Share Posted January 18, 2010 he's never put together a dope live set, you know with a concept or anything... never made a routine that people recognise and hope to hear...  Rock the Bells?  yeah i know rock the bells and the makin me itch routines fair enough, but i was kinda talkin about the post wave twisters era moreso..but yeah i guess we all waited for the skipless drum bit and the no fader routine at the time, but ya know what i mean...everyone shits themselves when d does razorblade... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tbtf Posted January 19, 2010 Share Posted January 19, 2010 Thanks for the info wax, i think i understand it. Applying it to my scratches is another thing though. Also is it easier to phrase scratches to slower beats? I noticed when I practice my cuts over beats around 120 bpm i just naturally go crazy over the beat . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wax On Posted January 19, 2010 Share Posted January 19, 2010 I think the thing about cutting over slower beats is that you give yourself more time think a bit about your phrasing. Something that could be good to do is to practice a bit over a 60bpm beat if you've got one, or something similarly slow, then go over a 120ish bpm beat. you should theoretically be able to do more or less the same cuts/phrasing over the double speed beat. Listen to how people like Qbert and D cut over old stuff like Planet Rock which is about 120bpm i think. at times they cut over it like they'd cut over a half time beat, with some nice slow cuts complimenting the fast stuff. Another thing i like doing, or used to like doing when i scratched more, was putting on a beat and scratching the rhythm of a rap tune, but then adding bits to it - something like Straight Outta Compton or Paid In Full. It shows you a bit about phrasing and how you can use the gaps. I'd advise doing that over a beat similar to that of the track (in my case 90ish bpm)  When i watch/listen to people scratching i'm a big fan of the bits when they don't scratch. Its like how some people say jazz is about the notes you DON'T play... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vet Posted January 19, 2010 Share Posted January 19, 2010 Talking to my boy Ski a while ago who has been dj'ing/mc'ing since the mid 80's said it best. "I don't give a shit WHAT you say, just SAY IT FRESH!" Q is probably best compared to nerd rap...cause I don't feel any funk from him at all...and haven't for years. D on the other hand...phrasing...phrasing...phrasing. Tech alone does not = style...=) - V Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mista_Ed Posted January 19, 2010 Share Posted January 19, 2010 eyyy....i dunno.... however good they are - ive never listened to Qbert or Dstyles, if im honest... i think i must be the only cutter in the world who doesnt listen to cuttin....never have...been scratchin since 91.  (the cuts on back by dope demand are probably the most listened to for me...lol) i much prefer to listen to hip hop scratchin (done well) than any technical scratch material, in the truest sense...i find it pretty boring...sorta 'grating' somehow?  dj noize always killed it for me tho! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mista_Ed Posted January 19, 2010 Share Posted January 19, 2010 When i watch/listen to people scratching i'm a big fan of the bits when they don't scratch. Its like how some people say jazz is about the notes you DON'T play... hey dude - if youre into that sorta stuff... ill upload a tune ive made for you....its full of cuts ive not done....called "a whole load of nothing" its pretty cool man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wax On Posted January 19, 2010 Share Posted January 19, 2010 I'll check that for sure. You need to get back on the cut, you're sick! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juse box Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 i'll agree too and say q is probably the best technically but d just got that clean ass funky flow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyline Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 I'll stick up for new school Q Bert, I'd say that he's done stuff which is technically awesome but has that funk as well.  This is one, done 2008:  Also I saw him at the DMC worlds last year and his drumming routine at the end where he kept getting faster and faster was ace! Both Q and D are just amazing cutters, I've posted up my fave D clip somewhere else but here it is again:  Just lovely funk and flow. What has happened to D Styles btw? The last year he seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth. Maybe dreaming up some C1 routines? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solemn Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 q-bert is like one of those circus guys. on the one hand it's fascinating what he does, but then again he's kind of creepy.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pokemon skunk face melt Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 Even tho I got a ISP tatoo, Qbert is whatever... Ruck is where it's at... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted February 10, 2010 Author Share Posted February 10, 2010 Reezy? http://homepage.ntlworld.com/stevebluck/images/breezy1.gif Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d00ban Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 I'll stick up for new school Q Bert, I'd say that he's done stuff which is technically awesome but has that funk as well.  This is one, done 2008:  Also I saw him at the DMC worlds last year and his drumming routine at the end where he kept getting faster and faster was ace! Both Q and D are just amazing cutters, I've posted up my fave D clip somewhere else but here it is again:  Just lovely funk and flow. What has happened to D Styles btw? The last year he seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth. Maybe dreaming up some C1 routines?  Yeah man I'll stick up for Q too. You gotta remember he can be as flow as he chooses, he just prefers to scrath in the technical way which he does. May be not quite the same way as D styles but he comes out with some crazy assed funky shit. I noticed that in his demo vids on the QSU when demonstrating more simple scratches that thats when the super, dope, funky, old school Q comes out - im watching like wHat?!?1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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