Who has real finesse?

[scottie(the)goonie]

Finally, a scratching question on a scratching forum.

I like to "chirp out" as a drill.  80bpm, 16th note chirps and just see how long I can do them clean.   Then I'll add accents on the 1 of each bar.  Then on the AND of each bar.  Then I'll try it on the E and A of each bar (One, E, AND, A pattern for a single note broken into 16ths).  Finally I'll try to randomize it.  If you listen to Beach Boys - Wipeout, the drum solo in the beginning would be one pattern you could do with this.

What I have found is that my record hand will obviously tense up the faster it moves.  The drummer technique is to loosen up and have less movement to be faster.  When I tighten up the scratches actually sound more intentional and have feeling.  It sounds good.  But I also think that having that careless smooth sound, where all the notes have an equal velocity, is sort of elite as a technique?

Does anyone practice that fast/smooth/even style of scratching?

[djdiggla]

No but it sounds like a good practice routine. 

[mfsop]

D-Styles, Fakser, Chile and IQ come to mind.

Regarding the drumming analogy: it's not just that the movements become smaller and stick heights decrease, but different parts are used to drive the stick (fingers, wrist, arm) - I guess some of that translates to scratching. The DJs listed above can get a nice sharp sound by flexing their fingers and relying less on wrist and arm movements. That should be valuable tool to get different sounds at different tempos.

 

[scottie(the)goonie]

@mfsop

You're right about it being in the fingers and not in the arms.

These guys all have "sock puppet" control of that hand.  They don't waste energy setting up each move with unnecessary movement.  I've tried and given up on this style many times over the years.

[mfsop]

Yeah, it's pretty awkward at first. I guess that the "Bumpy Knuckles" Tear technique where you hit your thumb against the center of your index and middle fingers is somewhat linked to Push-Pull on drums - splitting up the load between two different driving motors. I didn't venture too deeply into it, but saw some benefits from working the three different joints / knuckles / whatever you call them in English... 😄

Resting your fingertips on the record and bringing the hand down flat translates into a forward motion and seems to make the other knuckles more responsive. I used to have more of a stiff death grip before trying that stuff. Even if you don't really use them to move the record, smoother hands shouldn't hurt. Maybe look for warm up exercises by Conga players - they often have incredibly flexible and smooth hands.