Pich Posted August 1, 2013 Share Posted August 1, 2013 I've been practising a lot over the past year maybe not as hardcore tho over the summer but I'm looking forward to getting into it hard again once this suns gone, ive learnt and been practicing a few scratches which I feel quite comfortable with but I always just seem to do the same thing whilst freestyling or it feels like a row of the same scratches, I know I need to practise and there isn't a easy answer but I'm just looking for some direction, I watch your guys posts on here like erik and others and you guys just seem to flow really nice into different scratches, is it that your doing the scratches I can do but double time or just linking and flowing the scratches I can do really well or are they just scratches I can do lol, I can do some combos but that's it I just do a combo then another combo and it dosent have much flow, it would be good if there was a mini freestyle vid then they broke down what they were actually doing I'm not on about tutorial vids just one showing the different scratches they were doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pub Tropicana Posted August 1, 2013 Share Posted August 1, 2013 hi Pich, Pub here. Stop taking coke man. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djdiggla Posted August 1, 2013 Share Posted August 1, 2013 I'm not the one to ask but interested in what other say since it would probably be helpful advice for me too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ Rock Well Posted August 1, 2013 Share Posted August 1, 2013 What you need is your own pet Eric... not the cheapest pet to keep, you understand, but they sure do know a lot of scratches. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericuk Posted August 1, 2013 Share Posted August 1, 2013 Sup pich. I will do a video when I get a chance. Maybe a q&a to practice to. I don't know what level you are at, but the best sounding cuts usually come from being creative with simple techniques. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pich Posted August 1, 2013 Author Share Posted August 1, 2013 Thanks for the replies peeps, yo erik that sounds really good mate thanks a lot but I'm pretty crap and dout I could pull off the more advanced fast moves, i think I just need a answer to the thing that will help me move to the next stage but I know it won't come easy, ive got some techniques down I just gotta figure out what to do with them, ill maybe put a vid up once I've got back to practising for awhile.Thanks again !!gone fishing!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kian Posted August 2, 2013 Share Posted August 2, 2013 you next begin hitting on chicks, sleeping with them, throwing them out, find new chicks, and start the process all over Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted August 2, 2013 Share Posted August 2, 2013 I found trying to emulate a melody on a song I knew really well help me develop my flow a bit. Try humming scratching to yourself without touching your decks and that should give you ideas for your flow. Or if you like hip hop try to copy a rapper's flow with cuts, record it, then listen back and disect what you're doing and that should give you ideas for how to link your cuts together.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d00ban Posted August 2, 2013 Share Posted August 2, 2013 Try: - Doing the techniques you have at different speeds (half time, double time, triplets etc)- Focusing on changing the pitch up a lot. ie use the same techniques but makes them "talk" more.- Swinging the same scratches a bit so they're a bit off beat and funky.- Just making crazy noises with your cuts, and then copy what you did (even if it's not a combo you've sat down and learnt) and make the whole thing in to a phrase ie learn to turn your fuckups in to not fuck ups.- Just take any 2 random cuts that you can do and practice transitioning between them (chirps and stabs are good transition cuts) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motek Posted August 3, 2013 Share Posted August 3, 2013 Try: - Doing the techniques you have at different speeds (half time, double time, triplets etc)- Focusing on changing the pitch up a lot. ie use the same techniques but makes them "talk" more.- Swinging the same scratches a bit so they're a bit off beat and funky.- Just making crazy noises with your cuts, and then copy what you did (even if it's not a combo you've sat down and learnt) and make the whole thing in to a phrase ie learn to turn your fuckups in to not fuck ups.- Just take any 2 random cuts that you can do and practice transitioning between them (chirps and stabs are good transition cuts) All good advice from the doobmeister but man the last one is especially on the money. Transition practice between different base cuts is critical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pich Posted August 4, 2013 Author Share Posted August 4, 2013 Nice, thanks a lot for your advice everyone I really appreciate it and it's given me some things to work on, I'll get on this today and get some hours in. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motek Posted August 4, 2013 Share Posted August 4, 2013 ps always worth checking out the tiny chat room http://tinychat.com/digitalvertigo usually gets goiing after 9pm uk time, some amazing cutters and usually happy to advise / help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericuk Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 poast a phile pich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kut_class Posted August 8, 2013 Share Posted August 8, 2013 If its any help. .. when im freestyling I tend to think about groups of cuts and what I can do e.g. basic, advanced, open or closed fader, faderless, things I can nail well, new cuts im working on, triplet cuts, syncopated cuts, etc. Then I think about the beat and what groups go with that. From that I kinda have an idea of what from my scratch vocab goes with the beat, then flow to the beat thinking about what I could repete or link in next from the group of cuts. Tbh tho i think i get more funky when I get into the beat and dont over think it and kinda do the above naturally but a bit more creatively. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfsop Posted August 8, 2013 Share Posted August 8, 2013 One way I find useful to link scratches to combos is combining them to groups of 6 or 8 equal notes. Say, you want 8 notes, so you can cut them in eight 16th-notes, you could do two OG-Flares with clicks on the backward motion (so you already have 6 notes) and then you could one chirp for the missing two notes. That could also be gotten from X_ _ X _ _ X X (the accents/higher pitch notes) which I tried to explain in this thread: http://www.digitalvertigo.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=34731 Generally, I'd say that freestyling is at least as important as trying to copy something specific but I feel that I can pretty much always make up a combo I don't normally do with these methods if I want to try something new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pich Posted August 8, 2013 Author Share Posted August 8, 2013 (edited) Thanks again guys for your input, ive been working on my tears a lot atm and have really progressed which gives me a boost, ive been playing with scratches I could do with them and it's given me a lot more to think about and some where sounding ok lol, yo erik I will do a vid soon but I want to be on it a lot more Coz im still rusty from not practacing as much recently. Thanks again everyone :-) Edited August 8, 2013 by Pich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericuk Posted November 18, 2013 Share Posted November 18, 2013 where the video pich? hows practice and progression? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest petesasqwax Posted November 18, 2013 Share Posted November 18, 2013 I think the one thing everybody I've ever cut with would acknowledge but it's almost taboo to mention is: biting. the fact is, I learned how to make beats by copying my favourite producers and in doing so getting an understanding of how they do what they do. I did that with a bunch of different producers, combined it with things I picked up from trial and error, from studying other different forms of music, from reading a bunch of articles about all different things (engineering, mixing, mastering etc.) and eventually found my own style of beat making.I would say the exact same thing is how I learned scratching. coming from the pre-internet era, I picked up cutting by practice solos on things like "Rockit" etc. getting gradually more advanced with it as my skills improved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericuk Posted November 18, 2013 Share Posted November 18, 2013 yeah biting ftw Just don't perform bitten stuff. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest petesasqwax Posted November 18, 2013 Share Posted November 18, 2013 Yeah - bite to learn. Bite from lots of sources. Q bit MMM and openly admits to that, but he also bit Miles' solo phrasing etc. Gradually you develop your own style that sounds like you 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pich Posted November 26, 2013 Author Share Posted November 26, 2013 thanks for your comments again guys i take everything on board and try and put it into practice, sometimes watching videos of q bert and alike drive me crazy because i don't actually know what scratches their doing sometimes lol, so i cant really learn much from them but that's my fault i think i need it broken down a bit more, i enjoy watching non pros a lot more and its good to see there progression, erik you've probely already seen my vid it was the not so good scratch vid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ Rock Well Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 Sometimes Pich, I look to those around me who are better than me and I try to identify a scratch or combo that that I keep hearing them do, which I both like and feel there's hope of me understanding. Then I try to add that one extra thing to what I do already. I agree that watching some DJs can just be totally overwhelming as they throw style after style at you. So yeah, I try to pick things up one at a time, particularly simple moves that stand out in a whole freestyle that I think I could actually learn one day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericuk Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 what Rocky said - I usually figure out a technique and then think ".... does that!" but if you can figure out what they're doing, take one focus point and practice that; like stab patterns or transform patterns Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pich Posted November 27, 2013 Author Share Posted November 27, 2013 I know what you mean I'd love to have a practice with someone coz I've only ever done it on my own, learning I person wild be alot better as you could ask about the different scratches, ive tried to get my mate into it but I think its an acquired love coz after a few hours of doing baby's he had enough lol I realised tho that I am actually learning something seeing him struggle with the baby scratch lol, that tac tac mans videos are prett good as he breaks it down a lot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest petesasqwax Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 Pich - I found that stuff tricky for a while too, but there are a lot of resources out there that can help you identify cuts - Q-Bert has done a few, but the comprehensive of them is his Scratchlopedia Breaktannica. There may be other (free) resources though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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