miggydb Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Im kinda new to scratching, i think about almost a year that is.. I feel like my scratch patterns just keep on repeating and it sounds pretty much the same.I'm not doing it on purpose i mean I just scratch what I feel like and it all sounds the sameit feels weird and i dont think im progressing any farther. What should I do? I mean, transformers, boomerangs, 2 click orbits, flares, baby scratches few tears are pretty good i think but it seems like its still not good.Thank you! peace out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rasteri Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Technique is way easier to learn than flow. I don't have much advice other than, shit takes time. Q&Aing with other people helps a lot though 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ Rock Well Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Do you live near Eric? He's quite useful. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miggydb Posted January 19, 2015 Author Share Posted January 19, 2015 oh man, i dont live no where UK bro haha. im here for the community and stuff and its pretty dope here.I dont know much people locally that really scratch as hard, im in the circle of people who just dj and im pretty much the only one who is scratch focused. @rasteri Definitely bro, ill try to get in qnas a little bit more. Thanks for that! what I feel is like when i freestyle scratch i just repeat the sequence of shit and all. Thanks so much! hoping for more answers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 I'd say most people who scratch have felt like that at some point. Sometimes you're your own worst critic, plus it can be hard to tell that you've improved simply because you hear your own cuts constantly and don't notice the gradual improvement. What you could do is start a thread on here where you post a new practice video every few months. Even if you just keep the audio/video to yourself, ideally you want to compare something you recorded today with something you'll record 3 or 6 months from now, because then you'll almost certainly hear improvement. Don't be shy about posting videos up on here though. Learning more techniques helps too, because even though "more techniques" doesn't guarantee "better flow", the two things are not mutually exclusive. Q&Aing with other DJs definitely helps. If you don't know anybody locally, do it online. I dunno if anyone still uses the DV Tinychat room, but people are still using the Turntablist World one. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Symatic Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 it sounds like you need a project.... after all what use are all those techniques if you dont use them? maybe try making a scratch track. or find someone looking for cuts on a track, flowing along with mc's is good for practicing flow, as well as being restrained so its not all about blasting through your whole repertoire in one go.... tinychat.com/turntablistworld and tinychat.com/digitalvertigo are good places to go if you wanna scratch with people and theres no one around in 3D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kut_class Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Another good place to look for qna to bounce off is the qbert DIY dvd(s) and the studioscratches website. Also check YouTube for rips of DIY if u don't have it, or some home made one. Regarding technique. Try picking something you really can't do at all and commit to learning it no matter how hard or shit it sounds. These kind of cuts tend to open up a while new branch of vocab. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
x2k Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 One cool tip I like (I think chile said this somewhere) is make your solo scratching like a Q&A with your self. Basically scratch the current bar (or whatever measure you like) like it's an answer to the previous one. It makes it more interesting imho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rasteri Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Qbert said an interesting thing in an interview once, about how you should make your scratches "rhyme" with each other. I took that to mean there should be some repetition towards the end of each bar. For example, if you end the first bar with a drag over the last beat, make sure the second bar has a drag on the last beat too. Perhaps do something different for the third bar, then bring the drag back for the fourth. Also crossrhythms are worth exploring, i.e. find a pattern that doesn't quite fit into a bar (e.g it takes 3 beats) then repeat it until it lines back up with the bar again (3 beats x 4 repetitions = 12 beats). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d00ban Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Try to think of your phrases like poems, in the sense that you can do an ABAB structure or AAAB structure or ABBA structure.... this will help give it form. Also, make sure you "swing" and accent you scratches, ie use your record hand and change the pitch of the scratch so that it sounds different.... ie you can make 2 click flares sound way different each time by the way you pitch it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miggydb Posted January 20, 2015 Author Share Posted January 20, 2015 Thanks so much for the answers guys! one thing I found useful is using different loopers, because I noticed I have been only using like 3 loopers for like the past year lol. ill post some videos soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HansFree Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 Just give it time, down your tools and come back a few weeks later. No doubt your opinion will change. I often have this feel and then start blending more. Two months down the line I have a scratch and I'm actually better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phology Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 it's all about practice, we've all been through phases of feeling like this (i can comment). it sounds to me like you're simply finding your own technique and style which takes a lot of practice. just keep at it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Symatic Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 Thanks so much for the answers guys! one thing I found useful is using different loopers, because I noticed I have been only using like 3 loopers for like the past year lol. ill post some videos soon. yes mate switch up beats and tempos for sure! also try different time signatures, like 3 time beats is a good one to practice.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoshi Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 This is how I practise my flow. I take any song with vocals on it.I try to copy exactly the rhythm and the pitch of the vocals.Then, I find the instrumentals for that song and try to scratch from memory. That's how I build up my flow. Nothing flows like the human voice, after all.Honestly, my flow is pretty much a collage of Organized Konfusion, Big L, Heltah Skeltah, and Redman. Copying exactly is bloody hard, though. Much, much harder than learning a particular scratch. P.S. not a fan of Tim Dog's flow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoshi Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dj justin time Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 Thanks so much for the answers guys! one thing I found useful is using different loopers, because I noticed I have been only using like 3 loopers for like the past year lol. ill post some videos soon. yes mate switch up beats and tempos for sure! also try different time signatures, like 3 time beats is a good one to practice....I love the little boost a new funky looper gives me. It wears off after a bit. I prefer iinstrumentals to loopers sometimes. The different elements can sometimes send me on a different path. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninjason Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 scratching over slow beats really improved my flow because it made me think more, rather than doing scratches out of repitition which is often the case when scratching to fast beats. sometimes i feel like i'm singing when i scratch and that might help with the "flow" aspect of it. there's some really good advice here. just try out different mentalities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HansFree Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 also scratch vocals, scratching stuff like arggh and fresh can get boring very quick. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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