Stevie E Skratch Freestyle

[stevie e]

Sup everyone? I'm not so active on here but that's going to change. For those who don't know i'm stevie e aka steve skratch. Im 27 from New York but currently living in Florida (us). Here's a little skratch vid I uploaded the other day. Feedback/criticism is welcome

 

 

[Steve]

Alright man. Welcome to the forum.

 

I thought the video was pretty good - a bit repetitive though. Looking at your fader hand it looks almost is if you should be cutting regular, even though you cut hamster, if you know what I mean, haha.

 

How long have you been scratching?

[stevie e]

Alright man. Welcome to the forum.I thought the video was pretty good - a bit repetitive though. Looking at your fader hand it looks almost is if you should be cutting regular, even though you cut hamster, if you know what I mean, haha.How long have you been scratching?

Thanks man. Yea its a bit repetitive. Transitioning my cuts is probably one of my bigger weaknesses. I started skratching in 2000 but took a few years off between now and then. Collectively around 7 or 8 years I'd say. (I think im back into it for 3 or 4 years now)

[Vekked]

your flares/open fader cuts are on point, I think the 2 reasons it sounds repetitive are:

 

-using a lot of open fader cuts, even though you're varying it quite a bit between original flares, 1 click, 2 clicks, and I think 3 clicks, they all have a certain sound that's somewhat similar. Break up those cuts with some simpler stuff; stabs, chirps etc. I think given your fader speed that you should be able to do some nice transforms too, but didn't see any here really.

 

-your record hand seems a fair bit weaker than your fader. You're releasing a lot and not really controlling pitch much. Pitch is pretty much #1 in making your cuts sound less repetitive. You could literally do the same technique over and over but if you change the pitch you won't sound repetitive. On the flip side you can do a variety of techniques but keep them all the same pitch and it will sound repetitive. Work on consciously choosing the pitch you want to hit with a certain scratch rather than always releasing the record and allowing the record speed to dictate your pitch.

 

A good exercise that helped me a lot is just pretending your record hand it glued to the record. If you feel like you wanna release the sample, instead try to push it forward at the exact speed that it would be.

[stevie e]

your flares/open fader cuts are on point, I think the 2 reasons it sounds repetitive are:-using a lot of open fader cuts, even though you're varying it quite a bit between original flares, 1 click, 2 clicks, and I think 3 clicks, they all have a certain sound that's somewhat similar. Break up those cuts with some simpler stuff; stabs, chirps etc. I think given your fader speed that you should be able to do some nice transforms too, but didn't see any here really.-your record hand seems a fair bit weaker than your fader. You're releasing a lot and not really controlling pitch much. Pitch is pretty much #1 in making your cuts sound less repetitive. You could literally do the same technique over and over but if you change the pitch you won't sound repetitive. On the flip side you can do a variety of techniques but keep them all the same pitch and it will sound repetitive. Work on consciously choosing the pitch you want to hit with a certain scratch rather than always releasing the record and allowing the record speed to dictate your pitch.A good exercise that helped me a lot is just pretending your record hand it glued to the record. If you feel like you wanna release the sample, instead try to push it forward at the exact speed that it would be.

Thanks a lot vek. That advice on the pitch may be the best I have received in a long time. People alway tell me learn different combos, turn arounds, syncopated notes and all that (wich do all work and have helped) to help switch things up but no one ever really pointed me in that direction. Thanks. Something I'll start working on today. Greatly appreciated homie

[d00ban]

Yeah Ryan gave me that advice "always be affecting the record with your hand" or something like that... Probably more Irish.

[Vekked]

pretty sure I got that advice from Ryan too LOL

[kut_class]

pretty much agree with whats been said .. try have a look for EricUK's thread about "bumpy knuckles" and using your thunb for a good tearing technique.