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Sun 28 May 06 @ 4:53 pm

The Definition of Turntablism

The term "Turntablism" was first coined in 1995 by DJ Babu (Beat Junkies) to describe a form of advanced turntable music stemming from Hip-Hop DJ'ing. As Babu stated in a brief 1996 interview :
"My definition of a Turntablist is a person who uses the turntables not to play music, but to manipulate sound and create music." (Interview with Christo Macias, Palo Alto, CA, May 1996.)
The International Turntablism Federation (ITF), a collective of the World's best Turntablists offers a similar description:
"Turntablist: One who uses the phonograph turntable as a component to make music as well as an instrument to literally play music."

(Official ITF Newsletter, 1996.)


The Elements of Turntablism

SCRATCHING:
In turntablism, there are currently two main styles of musical expression. The first and foremost is scratching (also known as cutting). Scratching is a technique by which the performer uses vinyl and moves the record back and forth against the needle to produce sounds of varying degree. The performer can push the record forward or backward (denoted as forward stroke and backward strokes). In some cases, creating a stroke isn't necessary. Simply playing the record for a short duration is sufficient.

BEAT JUGGLING:
The second common style of turntablism is beat-juggling. This technique is performed by using two records and manipulating the arrangement of the elements (drum sounds, headnotes, etc.) from both to create a new rhythmical composition


Turntablists Are the True Visionaries

At the annual conference of the National Campus/Community Radio Association in Halifax this past June, a motion was passed commiting the organizaton to establishing turntablism as a unique musical genre recognized by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, and a form of Canadian content. Reporting on a workshop about "urban" music programming at the conference, Meril Rasmussen wrote: "It is obvious that the way some artists work a turntable and other sound equipment that it is a tool -- an instrument, if you will."

The desire for recognition of this artform pre-dates its current relative popularity; Zorlon Vode, writing for turntablism.com, says, "[Reknown avant garde composer] John Cage presented his ideas to the Seattle Arts Society in 1937 with the hope of getting some type of recognition for the turntable."

DJs who manipulate pre-recorded sounds using turntables to a degree that the original material is obscured or unrecognizable are creating new works, according to practitioners and supporters. The term "turntablism" was first used in 1995 by DJ Babu of the Beat Junkies, who states, "My defnition of a Turntablist is a person who uses the turntables not to play music, but to manipulate sound and create music." (interview with Christo Macias, quoted on turntablism.com) Turntablists who perform on the radio are the producers, artists and composers of the newly-created music, qualifying the material as Canadian content in accordance with the CRTC's Radio Regulations MAPL System Fact Sheet, argues the NCRA. Gaining Can-con status for turntablists will facilitate "urban" music programming on campus radio stations, which need to meet a minimum percentage of Canadian material.

The definition of turntablism, as stated in the NCRA's submisison to the CRTC's review of campus radio policy, is: "manipulation of previously recorded track(s) to the extent that they are substantially altered from their original format, and that the continuous or consistent alteration of the previously existing tracks(s) continues for one minute or more." This can be done by, "scratching back and forth on the turntables or beat mixing in another selection within 30 seconds of the original piece," says hip hop promotor Alok Sharma (DJ Kola).

The CRTC-commissioned Music Availability Study describes what turntablism is NOT: "Whereas turntablism modifies existing vinyl recordings sufficiently to be able to speak of the creation of new works of music, DJ mixing is the presentation of existing recorded material in a creative and musically sensitive way. Contrary to turntablists, DJs who practice DJ mixing cannot be said to be composing music or performing material of their own composition".

France is now, reportedly, the first country in the world to have succeeded in having turntablism recognized officially by their communications and broadcasting governmental body. Doing the same here "would revolutionize the way the CRTC and the Canadian public view turntablism," says DJ Kola.
At the 1998 conference of the National Campus/Community Radio Association, in Victoria, The Turnstylez performed for representatives of the CRTC. They demonstrated their skills manipulating sounds with turntables to re-create "traditional" instruments.

In 1998, The Turnstylez won the ITF (International Turntable Federation) North American "Team" category in New York City and continued to the World Finals in Amsterdam. The ITF is one of two major competitions which help to legitimize and advance turntablism worldwide. The 1998 DMC (Disco Mix club) World Champion is A-Trak, a high school student from Montreal. Mark Miller, writing in the Globe and Mail, reviewed an A-Trak performance at the 1999 Montreal Jazz Festival. "If A-Trak and Kid Koala were pianists, there would be every reason to paise their soft hands and nimble fingers, their imagination and their rhythmic conception. The fact that they each manipulate two turntables, rather than a keyboard and three pedals, shouldn't really change the assessment, should it?"

CKDU programmer Jesus Murphy concludes, "Recognizing turntablism as Cancon will not only help tremendously in filling our requirements, it will also lend legitimacy to an artform that has struggled for recognition and respect for two decades now. This will be a victory for radio and for hip-hop as a whole."


Wheels of Steel

I suppose it was just a matter of time before someone added the dreaded "ism" suffix after the word "turntable". After all, members of the music community’s elite have been routinely dismissing the skills of turntable artists for years now, so maybe the respectable ending will lend it a bit of credence in those circles. "Are they actually creating music," they snort. ""If they are simply playing other people’s records?"

Good question. Were the Rolling Stones actually creating new music by ripping off old howling wolf songs? Is Puff Daddy making any headway by reworking virtually every top 10 hit from the 80’s? I guess it depends on your perspective.

"The turntable can adapt or mimic the violin, the drum, the guitar, the bass, and any other type of instrument. What you are using is records and records contain all these different instruments. The turntable can almost morph into any instrument" - DJ Ro Swift
Despite the fact that the turntable has been in common public use since the 1920’s, its acceptance as an actual instrument instead of merely a playback device has been fairly recent. as early as 1939, American avant garde composer John Cage was writing compositions that included turntables bearing test-tone records being manipulated, but it wasn’t until the late 70’s, as the influx of Jamaican culture began permeating the boroughs of New York that the concept of the disc jockey as artist began to even be considered.

All it really took was someone with the bright idea of plugging a set of speakers, a mixer, and a couple of turntables into a Bronx lamp pole to create the instant street party. The man was Kool Herc, a Kingston immigrant to the United States and although he was probably just trying to infuse a bit of the culture he grew up with in his new home, he set the standard for hip hop culture that continues and thrives some two decades later.

While most of the innovations in turntablism have occurred within the hip hop community, one cannot ignore the contributions of avant gardists like Otomo Yoshihido or Christian Marclay... the latter of which took the concept of "cutting and scratching" tthe (il)logical extreme by actually sawing several records to pieces and then gluing the bits together to form entirely new pieces of music.

In the mid to late nineties, innovations in turntablism are most commonly found in DJ crews like New York’s X-Ecutioners, the Bay Area’s invisible Skratch Piklz or Toronto’s Turnstylez. These groups (almost always trios or quartets) create entire scores o f music beats, rhythms, melodies, and often three or four part harmonies completely from the sounds of vinyl being manipulated, torn apart , and reorganized.
In 1999 the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission, as a part of its proposed new policy for campus radio, is looking at turntablism as a distinct musical genre. The implication is that any DJ on campus/community radio in Canada who creates brand new music by significantly altering existing vinyl sources may be considered Canadian Content. this is a welcome step and puts the CRTC at the forefront of recognizing new music.

Russell Gragg !earshot April 1999


The Turning Tables of Life in the Poor City

by Meril Rasmussen

I went to Mopa Dean's and Alok Sharma's workshop on Urban Music but I didn't make it to the following discussion of Turntablism, although I talked to people who did. The discussion of Urban Music was informative and demystifying. Urban music is a catch-all phrase used by the industry to include hip hop, R&B and - especially in Canada - soca, reggae, calypso...Alok suggests that the word has classist, racist undertones but Mopa pointed out that music pundit Chuck D has no problem with the term.
With the possible exception of Virgin, Urban music is under-acknowledged by the big record companies even though it accounts for a hefty percentage of sales. There were various ideas about the reasons for this. Much Music seems to be another ally to Canadian Urban.

Canadian history seems tied in with Maestro Fresh Wes who self-produced and self-videoed his way to stardom a decade ago but didn't succeed then in busting open the Canadian market. The industry at that point was confused about how to market Canadian Urban Music and when Maestro's third album flopped, the door closed behind him. Now the Underground has developed in Maestro's vein. Once artists have proved themselves in the DIY Underground they might get picked up. It looks like Cho Clair is now once again poised to open up doors fro Canadian artists with a much stronger foundation in place.

As for Turntabilism: It is obvious that the way some artists work a turntable and other sound equipment that it is a tool - an instrument, if you will. It is only a matter of time before this contribution is recognized and considereed CanCon and the copyright issue sounds like a nightmare. hopefully the CRTC is making open ended policy and the powers that be will not try to impeded or under appreciate these contributions. That's the best I can do but talk to Mopa or Alok. They know.



The History of Turntablism


Grandmaster Flash on the "Wheels of Steel."


The history of turntablism spans nearly 65 years. Like any other instrument, the turntable went through many stages and variations as an instrument.

Two musicians constitute the prehistory of turntable music. As early as 1937 American avante-garde composer John Cage had ideas for using records to create music, which he describes in his book, "The Future of Music: Credo." By 1948 a French avante-garde composer, Pierre Schaeffer, used multiple turntables to cue desired sounds from existing recordings and altered the music through changing the speed, adjusting the volume and playing the sounds backwards.

Nothing revolutionary occurred in the history of turntablism until 1973 when Bronx DJs like Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Flash and Kool Herc showed what could be done with turntables. Kool Herc invented what is called "breakbeats," which is when a DJ fuses together different parts of songs into a musical collage. Grandmaster Flash is known as the DJ who expanded the most upon Kool Herc's breakbeats discovery to invent more turntablist techniques.

In 1977 an entertaining piece of turntablism history took place when Grand Wizard Theodore invented the "scratch." 14-year-old Theodore was messing around with his record player when his mom walked in his room. As she walked in, Grand Wizard stopped the record with his fingers to listen to her while unconsciously moving the record back and forth over the same drumbeat, creating a scratch. The "scratch" has been a major component of turntablism ever since.

From 1979 through the early 80s, DJs drifted out of the spotlight as commercial hip-hop musicians chose to use live funk bands on their recordings instead of DJs. Turntablism reached the mainstream in 1983 when jazz musician Herbie Hancock performed the song, "Rockit," with Grandmaster D.S.T. Kids across the world were captivated by Grandmaster D.S.T. as he scratched a record to the beat of the song.
The next step in the evolution of turntablism took place throughout the 1980s as turntablists showed off their skills at DJ battles. At these battles, extremely competitive DJs showed how fast and creative they could DJ while maintaining the rhythm.

DJ Cynsere, a Lawrence turntablist, said in the 1980s DJs were the spotlight of hip-hop and MCs (rappers) were in the background. He said nowadays this has unfortunately reversed to the point that the DJs are on the backburner while the rappers reach fame. Cynsere said DJs have been able to get a little more exposure over the last few years.

In the late 1980s popular culture lost interest in turntablism, and it went back underground where it continued to thrive with its truly devoted fans and musicians.

Throughout the 1990s turntablists continued to expand the vocabulary of the instrument by inventing new techniques. According to Kembrew McLeod, a turntablism historian, the amount of full-length turntablist albums by individual artists has grown exponentially since 1996. Presently turntablists like DJ Q-bert, Rob Swift, DJ Shadow, Mix Master Mike, DJ Spooky and Cut Chemist experiment with their turntables and demonstrate the dynamic range of the unique instrument.

Turntablism's history continues to sculpt itself. Without a doubt, turntablism has much room to expand into the future, and it will be interesting to see how it continues to evolve.


Mixmaster Mike- photo by Chris Taylor

Musical revolutions are often the result of the most mundane circumstances.
Sometime in the late-'70s at a housing project in the Bronx, a teen-ager was in his room playing records a bit too loudly. As most parents are wont to do, his mom started banging on his door, telling him to turn his music down. When she walked in, he stopped the record with his fingers, listening partially to what she was telling him while unconsciously moving the record back and forth over the same drumbeat.
A few years down the line, that teenager morphed into Grand Wizard Theodore.

"I wanted to get that same groove I was on," the veteran DJ explained to director John Carluccio in his film, "Battle Sounds," a soon-to-be released documentary on turntablists that was recently screened at the Whitney Museum in New York. "So I was, like, back and forth and I said to myself, 'Hey, this sounds pretty good!' Ya know?"

"So I started practicing it and it became a scratch," he said.
Whether this story is a fanciful bit of myth-making or straight-up fact, it is nonetheless a good illustration of turntablism's haphazard evolution -- a series of events built around mistakes that sounded good and so were further developed.

When hip-hop emerged in the Bronx during the early-to-mid-'70s, DJs were central figures in its evolution. The DJs who inspired Grand Wizard Theodore - - Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash -- often plugged their massive sound systems into street-lamp outlets in local parks, dug deep into their crates full of records and, quite literally, kept the party rocking till the cops came a-knocking.
At these house and block parties, it was the DJ's job to spin popular records that kept the party alive and people dancing. It was this push to keep everybody dancing that led to the development of techniques that became staples of turntablism.

The most popular of these early Bronx DJs was Jamaican immigrant Kool Herc, whose name is certainly not as recognizable as Bambaataa's and Flash's, but who is credited with one innovation that laid an essential blueprint for hip-hop. With two turntables, Herc fused together the chunks of songs that were the most popular with dancers, segueing them into one long musical collage.

These fragments were composed of the percussion breaks within the songs and came to be known as "breakbeats," the percussive foundation for virtually all hip-hop songs (some of the better known breaks are the Incredible Bongo Band's "Apache," James Brown's "Give It Up or Turn It Loose" and even Aerosmith's "Walk This Way").

Other DJs took this concept and began expanding on the possibilities that two turntables could offer. One of the first DJs to pick up on the breakbeat technique was Grandmaster Flash, who went further than Kool Herc in his turntable wizardry.

With a couple of turntables Flash was able to take two copies of the same record and keep the beat going by playing a short percussion break on one turntable while he alternately moved the needle back to the beginning of that break on the other, a technique called "needle dropping." Flash also claims that he first developed "scratching," as well as "punch phasing," in which he added percussive bursts of noise from one turntable on top of what was playing on the other turntable.

Herc, Flash and Bambaataa inspired a number of up-and-coming Bronx DJs during the late-'70s, including Grand Wizard Theodore, Grandmaster D.S.T., DJ Afrika Islam, DJ Charlie Chase and DJ Breakout. In the early days of hip-hop, it was the DJ who was the focus of a hip-hop crew, and many group names reflected that (Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Grand Wizard Theodore and the Fantastic Five, etc.).

But one event changed hip-hop and altered the DJ's role for years to come: the release of the Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight" in 1979, which defined the sound of commercial hip-hop during the early-'80s. This song, and virtually all recorded raps that immediately followed, used a live funk band as the instrumental track, eliminating the role of the DJ altogether. Even subsequent records by Grandmaster Flash ("The Birthday Party") and Grand Wizard Theodore ("Can I Get a Soul Clap") contained little or no actual turntablism.

A few documents of turntablism from this period survived, most notably Afrika Bambaataa's "Death Mix" (essentially a bootleg of a live Bambaataa turntable jam) and Grandmaster Flash's "Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel."

Released in 1981, this seven-minute song captures Grandmaster Flash cutting it up on the turntable with songs by Blondie, Chic, Queen, Spoonie Gee, Sequence, the Sugarhill Gang and his own Furious Five. While it sounds relatively primitive compared to the lightning-fast dexterity of Mix Master Mike or the multilayered density of Cut Chemist, "Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel" demonstrated the turntablist technique for record- buyers and aspiring DJs outside New York.
Other records -- such as Davy DMX's "One For the Treble," released in 1984; and Grandmaster D.S.T.'s "Megamix," released in 1983 -- were instrumental jams popular with breakdancers that showed off those artists' turntablist skills.

But it was the Grammy-winning Herbie Hancock/Grandmaster D.S.T. collaboration, "Rockit," that brought turntablism to a much wider audience in 1983, with its orchestrated turntable scratches cut up over an electro beat.

"That record changed everything for me," said Q-bert, co-founder of the San Francisco turntablist crew Invisibl Skratch Piklz, which also includes current Beastie Boy DJ Mix Master Mike, along with Shortcut and D-Styles. "That song is still hella fresh. It's one of the things that inspired me to be a turntablist."
As far back as 1985, the seeds were planted for the future renaissance of turntablism in the mid- to late-'90s. In San Francisco, Q-bert, Mix Master Mike, DJ Apollo and other DJs battled each other. Said Mike: "DJ Apollo and I created the first orchestrated scratch band with our 'Peter Piper' routine back in 1985."

"Peter Piper," by RUN-DMC, is important in its own right because it was one of the first recorded hip-hop songs to heavily feature the crackles and pops of vinyl as part of the song, thus focusing the spotlight on the turntable as an instrument.

Throughout the second half of the '80s, full-length hip-hop albums often contained "DJ tracks," instrumental songs that showcased the DJ's skills, such as Public Enemy's "Terminator X Speaks With His Hands" and "Terminator X To the Edge of Panic"; Gang Starr's "DJ Premier in Deep Concentration"; and Cash Money & Marvelous' "The Music Maker."

Occasionally a DJ-produced single such as Mark the 45 King's "The 900 Number" and Original Concept's "Can You Feel It?" broke through. But, for the most part, the DJ was increasingly pushed further into the background.

"Rappers stopped having DJs in their shows and on their albums, and labels didn't want to clear samples from DJ tracks for tracks on rap albums," said Dave Paul, the owner of Bomb Hip-hop, the label that has put out the acclaimed Return of the DJ series. But DJing and turntablism didn't die, Paul said. It just went underground and thrived, especially in places like San Francisco.

Turntablism flourished despite the lack of commercial support and artists were driven by good-natured competition and a desire to advance the art. DJ battles, like Clark Kent's DJ Battle for World Supremacy, continued to grow during the '80s and into the '90s. And in 1987, the DMC (Disco Mix Club) held the first in an annual series of popular DJ competitions.

The DMC is also significant for introducing the world to what would later become the Invisibl Skratch Piklz, known in 1992 as Rocksteady DJs (comprised of Q-bert, Mike and Apollo). Many other turntablist crews followed the Piklz path, including BulletProof Scratch Hamsters, The Fifth Platoon, The Beat Junkies, Space Travelers, STA, The 1200 Hobos and the X-Men (now the X-ecutioners for copyright reasons).
The DMC, the largest competition of its kind, has since spawned a successful rival, the International Turntablist Federation (ITF), which held its first world championship battle in 1996.

For various reasons -- including hip-hop's historical pattern of sexism -- female DJs are rarer than female MCs. Baby D of the Bronx-based, late-'70s, all- female hip-hop crew Mercedes Ladies (which included Sha-Rock, later of the Funky Four + One), was one of the first female DJs.

Other female DJs -- such as Kim B, MK, Spinderella, Coco Chanel and Jazzy Joyce -- followed Baby D's lead, but few female DJs of the '80s got much respect or were allowed entry into the boys' club of DJ battles, such as the DMC or ITF.

There are exceptions, and in the late-'90s more female turntablists are making waves, such as DJ Snowhite and Kuttin Kandi, who is a member of both the 5th Platoon and the all-female crew, Anomalies. Kuttin Kandi is one of the few female turntablists who has entered and placed in both the ITF and DMC competitions.

In 1993, DJ Shadow released a single, "In/Flux," that would slowly reverberate throughout the music scene and, in retrospect, can be seen as a harbinger of the turntablist renaissance of the late-'90s. "In/Flux" was unique in a number of ways. It's subtle sonic layers were drawn from Shadow's record collection, and, most importantly, the album was all-instrumental.

Last year, numerous turntablist compilation records were released, and many more have been released this year. Among them are Axiom's Altered Beats, Bomb Hip-hop's Return of the DJ volumes, Bill Laswell's Vallis compilations, OM's Deep Concentration series, and Wordsound's Subterranean Hitz series.
Also, the number of full-length turntablist albums by individual artists has grown exponentially since 1996. In addition to a handful of albums by DJ Spooky, DJ Cam, DJ Krush and Rob Swift in 1996 and 1997, there have been a number of these releases in 1998, including the X-ecutioners' X-pressions, DJ Faust's Man or Myth?, Mix Master Mike's Anti-Theft Device and DJ Spooky's second album, Riddim Warfare, among others. With sales of the Techniques 1200 (the turntable of choice for DJs) skyrocketing, it appears that the momentum that turntablism has gained throughout the decade will not subside but, rather, increase exponentially.


The Hip-Hop DJ

by DXT formerly known as Grandmixer D.ST



Like the Jedi in Star Wars fighting against evil, enduring strenuous training, accepting a life-long commitment to obtaining the knowledge of the universe and being heard but never seen, the hip-hop DJ has very much the same destiny. The hip-hop DJ has to endure the process of obtaining a vast knowledge of music and rhythm (the force), be able to synchronize the grooves and beats, and continually search for new sounds to maintain his status in the culture. Much as the Jedi is rumored to be the ultimate warrior of the universe, the hip-hop DJ has become just that, a rumor. Nevertheless, the DJ will always play a major role in hip-hop culture despite its ever-changing nature.

In Star Wars, becoming a Jedi meant that a warrior had to feel the "force," know it and always recognize it. The hip-hop DJ has to do the same. As a DJ, a person has to feel the rhythms and identify them as being a natural part of their existence. Either the force is with you or it isn't. Feeling rhythm is a skill that cannot be taught. This was a sign of a true beat hunter - someone who could instantly feel the rhythms. DJs listened to all genres of music from rock, Latin, country, opera … whatever, but their main inspiration came from funk and R&B.



Funk/R&B music is the closest source of music that resembles the original drum sounds from Africa. No matter what, funk always moved a crowd. Somehow, after 400 years of displacement out of Africa, the true hip-hop DJ can still feel the rhythm of the drums of Africa. Once you've established a vast music collection, now you have to know how to work it! Not only does a DJ have to know the music on the record; a DJ must also know exactly where the rhythm is on the record. Developing DJ skills requires hours of practice and listening. Techniques such as needle dropping, cueing records, backspinning, scratching and the like are skills that have evolved out of pure hard work and creativity. Developing your own style is key in making your mark in the culture.



The Tri-Force Kool DJ Herc had a style of playing oldies but goodies and only playing the dopest part of the records. He also traveled with a massive sound system that was impressive in its own right. Grandmaster Flash was a technician about his work. He went against the rules of the disco DJs and left behind smooth mixes. He went straight to the cut. However, despite the equipment and technique, a DJ has to be in total harmony with the rhythms. That means being at one with the force (the rhythms of Africa), and the one who understood that overall was Afrika Bambaataa. He played rhythms that would penetrate your soul and make you move. In the old African tribes he would have been known as the medicine man!

Other DJs during that time (early 1970s) were Kool DJ Dee, DJ Smoke and the Smokatrons, Mean Jean, Disco King Mario (Chuck Chuck City), Pete DJ Jones, Grand Master Flowers and DJ Hollywood, just to name a few. However, Herc, Flash and Bambaataa had the most profound influence on the development of hip-hop culture. These three men represent the Tri-Force of the hip-hop DJ: Kool DJ Herc (presence), Afrika Bambaataa (energy) and Grandmaster Flash (technique). Their examples inspired young teenagers from all over the Bronx to become hip-hop DJs.

Out of the hundreds of DJs spawned from the spirit of the Tri-Force, sweeping through the parks and clubs of the Bronx, only a few stood out, for they had truly harnessed the power: DJ Jazzy Jay, DJ Charlie Chase, Tony Tone, DJ Lil Quick, Imperial Jay Cee, Whiz Kid, DJ Breakout & DJ Baron, DJ Tyrone, Grand Wizard Theodore (inventor of record scratching), DJ Africa Islam (the son of Bambaattaa) and Grandmixer D.ST. whose turntable skills mutated the turntable into a musical instrument. These young men along with Herc, Bam, Flash (the Tri-Force) and their MCs are the Jedi Knights of hip-hop culture. From them you have all the DJs and MCs you see and hear today. In fact, hip-hop culture has disseminated the force from the ghettos of the Bronx, New York to almost every culture in the world.

Looking for the Perfect Beat

The hip-hop DJ's original mission overall was rocking the house, and to do this he or she needed an arsenal of beats (records). The DJ's ability to keep a dance floor packed relied on his selection of records. Not only did he have to have radio favorites, he also had to keep up with the latest beats the other DJs had. In addition, he had to have his own collection of obscure beats and this wasn't an easy task. It was only a matter of time before the other DJs would find out the names of your beats. So, to keep your uniqueness, you had to constantly search for new beats. Thus begun, "The Quest for Beats!"

Other than the development of the MCs, the "quest" was one of the most important events in hip-hop culture because of the demands of maintaining the codes of discipline. First, you had to develop a vast understanding of music - this required much research. You had to listen to all forms of music, no album or album cover was too serious or silly. Nothing was excluded. If it was on vinyl, it had potential. So the more you researched, the more your knowledge of music grew along with your record collection. Second, always travel alone - and if you were with someone, they had to be part of your crew. Any rare recording found was declared top secret and no one outside of your crew could know its name.

Everyday, DJs would head out into the streets of New York to find beats. They would look for thrift shops with large collections of used records. The major record stores were next, to find the latest radio hits. However, the best stores were the small mom and pop record shops throughout the five boroughs of the city. Unlike the bigger commercial stores, the mom and pop record shops would have the old and the new. There wasn't any place that the hip-hop DJ wouldn't dig for beats. It could be mom's, dad's, aunt's, uncle's, cousin's, neighbor's or friend's. No one's record collection was excluded. If there were mountains with caves full of vinyl, you would find a DJ mining for hip-hop gold.

Once you collected enough beats, sometimes just hours before your next party, you had to remove any part of the record label that revealed the artist or the name of the song. Then, you had to subconsciously find where the new beats would fit in your set. Next was practicing - the new beats had to be played in a way that wouldn't give away the artist. If it was just a drumbeat, it was hard for other DJs to know who made the record. So cutting the beat before the other instruments or singers came in was critical. This meant that you had to be fast and precise, and the fastest way to go from one part of a song to another is needle dropping (placing the needle in the same groove at will). This was the ultimate hip-hop DJ skill and was truly mastered by only a few.



The next best thing was Grandmaster Flash's "Clock Theory" which later became known as backspinning. This technique proved to be very useful and allowed DJs to create more new tricks. However, there is a down side to this technique: the more you backspin the more you destroy that part of the record, and some records are too rare to be used like that. As time went on, hip-hop DJs began to incorporate other instruments (for example, Flash's beat box and D.ST.'s synthesizer) into their sets. Always finding something new to mesmerize the crowd. This competition was key to the growth of hip-hop culture, as each DJ's skills increased, the threshold of hip-hop perfection was raised.

The Empire Strikes Back

The hip-hop DJ now had power throughout the city. People would come from miles around just to see Bronx DJs git down. More people became interested in the culture, because they recognized the true spirit in the expression of hip-hop and its magnetizing effect on people. Some hated it because of its universal potential and some only saw one thing: MONEY. Unfortunately, they all played a part in the decay of the culture and the DJ's transition into the shadows.

First, the DJs themselves made a critical mistake. They allowed non-DJs to learn the names of songs that were secret. People from outside hip-hop culture would come to parties to meet DJs so they could discuss records. Sometimes DJs would need new copies of some of their rare beats, and these men would provide them. In return they would ask for the name of a beat that you played. At the same time they'd offer the name of a beat that they got from your competition that you did not have. By doing this, the hip-hop DJ was breaking his own code of secrecy, unaware that their sacred collection of records (their energy) was being consolidated into what we now know as Super Disco Breaks and Break Beat records. So now without the knowledge that could only be acquired through research and hard work, anyone who wanted to be a DJ had access to the sacred beats. This caused a great disturbance in the Tri-Force, and was the beginning of the hip-hop DJ's transition to obscurity.

Second, record companies began signing hip-hop groups with no true interest in the culture to record deals. The DJ and his MC were the two components of one unit, each complimenting the other. Their presence on stage would create energy levels that would leave crowds in awe. However, this was not important to record executives; they only cared about record sales and the MCs were all they needed to sell records. Record companies began to push the MCs into the spotlight, pulling them away from their DJs (the foundation of hip-hop) and pushing the DJs further out of the picture.

Third, the MC now had his own power, but this power was false because he received it from record company executives through their perversion of hip-hop culture and not from the Tri-Force. (And this is still the problem today.) In this perversion, the MC could easily be programmed to think that he or she was still representing hip-hop, even if he or she replaced a DJ with a DAT tape.

Return of the Jedi (The DJ)

We now see a new genre of music: A distorted by-product of true hip-hop culture called rap music (really rap-u-sic) where the MC has been transformed into something called a "rapper." Where money is energy, jewelry and expensive cars are his presence and he possesses no technique at all. For in his blindness he has been used to destroy everything hip-hop culture stands for. Within this madness, the DJ, who has become nothing more than a sidekick to the rapper, continues to struggle, doing everything he can to bring hip-hop from the underground to the service where it belongs.

The hip-hop DJ now spends more time with samplers, computers, synthesizers and drum machines than with turntables. Now some DJs just call themselves producers and the rap artist depends on them to make up beats with the new technology. So it seems that everything happens for a reason, because now that sampling is the main process of rap music, the producer has to find new sounds to sample. He must educate himself like the original hip-hop DJs did because the only way to compete is to practice hard and research (the new "Quest for Beats"). In this quest/search you will find hip-hop culture; it's there, it's always been there, and it will always be here. For it is truly the cosmic rhythm of the universe and its beacon on this planet is … AFRICA THE ORIGIN OF ALL HUMANITY.

This article was commissioned for the Rock-N-Roll Hall of Fame and appeared on their website in 1999: rockhall.com


DJ QBERT


1850's - The phonoautograph is developed by French Researchers. The device records sound waves on a rotating cylinder
1870's - Thomas Edison begins to develop a tinfoil phonograph or speaking machine. The machine included a cardboard cylinder wrapped in tinfoil on a threaded axle. A mouthpiece and diaphragm were connected to a stylus that embossed the sound waves on the tinfoil. To play back the recording, a reproducer replaced the mouthpiece. To test the invention for the first time, Edison recited "Mary Had a Little Lamb" into the mouthpiece.
1876 - Elisha Gray invents the Musical Telegraph. Alexander Graham Bell beats him to the patent office and patents the technology, calling it a graphophone.
1877 - Edison unveils the first hand-cranked phonograph.
1878 - Edison patents the phonograph and intends it to be an office machine.
1887 - Bell's graphophone used wax cylinders and included a floating stylus for clearer sound. Edison improves the phonograph by using a solid wax cylinder and a battery-driven motor to replace the original hand crank.
1890 - Musicians begin recording their music. The cylinders of the phonograph had the ability to record 2-4 minutes of audio. Around 1890, musicians began to record their sessions by setting up several phonographs to record at the same time.
1892 - Flat recording discs are invented; the first of which is called the gramophone disc.
1895 - Edison begins mass production of the phonograph and continues to improve the original design by adding a large horn to amplify the sound.
1901 - The Victor Talking Machine Company of New Jersey is incorporated, and the first Victor gramophones is introduced.
1906 - A new Victor gramaphone was introduced, which featured a concealed (inside) horn. It was dubbed the Victrola.
1919 - Invention of the Theremin, by Leon Theremin (Lev Sergeivitch Termen).
The Theremin is considered the predecessor to the Moog Synthesizer. It is unique in that it is the first musical instrument that can be played without being touched.
1920's - The first electronic instruments appear. Theremin, Ondes Martenot and Trautonium
1925 - Electrical amplification (the microphone) was introduced. This invention forced engineers to re-design reproducers.
The Victor Company's answer to this revolution in sound was the Orthophonic Sound Box, which was very sensitive to high and low frequencies.
1931 - EMI researcher Alan Dower Blumlein invents stereophonic sound for recording.
1939 - Invention of the magnetic tape.
John Cage composes imaginary Landscape #1: the first piece to use electronic reproduction. The piece was performed on variable-speed turntables with RCA test tones and other sounds.
1940s - The first DJs emerge as entertainers for troops overseas.
During WWII, persons armed with a turntable, an armful of records, and a basic amplifier would entertain troops in mess halls, spinning Glen Miller, the Andrews sisters, and Benny Goodman. It was much easier than sending an entire band overseas.
1950s - Invention of the 45 RPM 7 inch records.
45 RPM records were cheaper to make and easier for American youths to carry to parties.
In Jamaica, as popularity of Jazz and R'n B increases, sound systems are used to promote the music. Sound systems developed from enterprising record shop disc jockeys with reliable American connections for 45s. They would load a pair of hefty PA speakers into a pickup truck and tour the island from hilltop to savannah, spinning the latest hits.
1951 - John Cage composes imaginary Landscape #4: the first piece to use radios as instruments.
1956 - Ska develops in Jamaica, which makes the sound system explode in popularity.
Karlheinz Stockhausen's 'Gesang der Junglinge' uses both natural sounds and electronically generated noises.
Duke Reid and Clement Dodd emerge as sound system operators in Jamaica.
1958 - Invention of the E-Piano
1959 - Artist begin conducting recording sessions that center on sound systems.
Duke Reid held his first recording session. This included the duo Chuck and Dobby, and the Jiving Juniors. He also recorded Derrick Morgan and Eric Morris for sound system play. Clement Dodd also held his first recording session recording over a dozen tracks with artists like Alton (Ellis) and Eddie (Perkins), Theophilius Beckford, Beresford Ricketts and Lascelles Perkins.
1960's - During the 1960's, modern electronics enters the music domain.
The first Moog Synthesizer hits the market created by Robert Moog.
New concepts and sounds begin to be used in music composition, such as mathematically based compositions by Arnold Schonberg and Erik Satie and "machine" sound by Luigi Russolo.
The late 1960's brought the birth of Dub music and the first remixes pioneered by King Tubby.
1960 - The "afterbeat" and "syncopation" concepts are born.
Prince Buster and Voice of the People begin to emphasize the afterbeat, which became the essence of Jamaican syncopation.
1966 - Rocksteady comes onto the scene in Jamaica.
1967 - Stockhausen Telemusik uses shortwave radio as instruments to create a "world music."
Late 60's - reggae takes over Rock Steady
Foundations for remix and rap music emerge.
Lee "Scratch" Perry, Edward "Bunny" Lee and Osbourne Ruddock (King Tubby) begin operating multi-track studios; they become major reggae producers.
1968 - King Tubby develops cutting
In his position as master cutter for Duke Reid, King Tubby regularly cut acetates (soft wax discs) that were designed exclusively for his own, and a few other, sound systems. When he left out portions of the vocal on a 'dub plate', (the local term for the acetate disc) he effectively created a new 'version' of a song.
1969 - Kool Herc, considered to be the first hip-hop DJ develops "Cutting Breaks." Kool Herc adapted his style by chanting over the instrumental or percussion sections of the day's popular songs. Because these breaks were relatively short, he learned to extend them indefinitely by using an audio mixer and two identical records in which he continuously replaced the desired segment. His particular skill, later copied by many others, was to meld the percussion breaks from two identical records by playing the break over and over switching from one deck to the other. Hip hop derived from "hip hoppin" on the turntable.
"Toasting" begins in dance halls - considered to be a direct link to rap music.
Technics introduced the Direct Drive System, SP-10
Early 70's - Technics released the original SL-1200 as a hi-fi turntable.
Giorgio Moroder is considered to be the pioneer of pro-synthesizer electronic disco music.
1971 - Ralf Hutter, Florian Schneider & Co. form Kraftwerk - the first electronic band.
1975 - Grand Wizard Theodore discovers the scratch.
1979 - Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight" is released. While they didn't really utilize the skills of a DJ, this song had a profound influence on the sound of commercial hip-hop during the early 1980's.
Late 70's - Technics does some work on 1200s turntables by improving the motor, redesigning the casing, and adding a separate ground wire and pitch control. It releases it as the sl-1200.
1980's - While playing at a club called the Warehouse, DJ Frankie Knuckles lays down drum machine-generated 4/4 beats on top of soul and disco tunes.
Marshall Jefferson develops a deep, melodic sound that relied on big strings and pounding piano. The result was 'Move Your Body' which became the house record of 1986.
12" disco records that included long percussion breaks (ideal for mixing) contribute to the emergence of House Music.
Grandmaster Flash is one of the first DJs to utilize the "breaks" of certain songs which when looped in a table to table fashion created the "breakbeat".
1980 - Roland introduces the TB-303 bassline machine and the TR-808 drum machine.
1981 - Grandmaster Flash's 1981 single "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel" was Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five's first record to demonstrate hip-hop deejaying skills
1982 - Afrika Bambaata's "Planet Rock" samples Kraftwerk and creates electro.
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five's "The Message" becomes a hit. "The Message" is seen by many as the first serious rap record.
1982 - Davy DMX's "One For the Treble" is released
1983 - Grandmaster D.S.T.'s "Megamix" is released
Herbie Hancock's "Rockit" featuring cuts and scratches by Grandmaster D.S.T. brings turntablism to a much wider audience
mid 80s - First affordable samplers (Akai s900) hit the market, which enable musicians to capture and manipulate existing sounds.
Other Hip-hop DJs in New York begin to use the spinback capabilities of the Technics 1200 turntable for "scratching", and to extend grooves and "breaks" by cutting back and forth between 2 copies of the same record as first exhibited by Grandmaster Flash.
1987 - The DMC (Disco Mix Club) holds its first annual DJ Competition
1989 - The rave scene develops.
The rave scene came out of Acid House and became so big that promoters came up with the idea of putting on huge events in the countryside outside London - events that held thousands of people and went on all night.
early 90s - Breakbeat emerges and produces Drum 'n Bass and Trip Hop.
Breakbeat, a descendent of Techno, has origins of Hip-Hop frenetic beats and high pitch samples. There are many variations of breakbeats: Darkside, Jungle and the most popular, Drum 'n Bass.
Trip Hop has roots in breakbeat and ambient and is a montage of beats, vocals, guitar & bass strings, and jazzy elements.
Steve Dee, strongly influenced by DJ Barry B. "The Cut Professor" from the Get Fresh Crew begins experimenting with "The Funk" which further develops and comes to be know as "beat juggling", or "remixing right before your eyes." He later founds the X-men who begin utilizing the style and take beat juggling to a higher level.
1990 - Mix Master Mike, and DJ Apollo form the first all turntable skratch band called "Shadow of the Prophet". They were the DJs for a rap group named F.M.2.0. and performed at various, radio shows and venues in the Bay Area.
1991 - Scratch DJ Innovator/Perfectionist DJ QBert gains worldwide attention in the Technics DMC DJ Championships
1992 - DJ Flare introduces the "Flare" skratch
QBert, Mix Master Mike, and Apollo dubbed as the "Rocksteady DJ's" by Crazy Legs.
92' also marks the year of the first skratch / battle record that was designed for ease of kutting and tricks because of the samples being on beat one after the other with no pause or lag time. It was called "Battlebreaks". The idea was then given to Darth Fader and the rest is history.
1994 - Shortkut, Disk, and QBert form the band, "Tern Tabel Dragunz" and perform at local Hip-Hop events around the Bay during 94'.
Shortkut Wins the Rap Pages DJ Battle in L.A. Strongly influenced by Steve Dee and the X-men, he also introduces his patented "Strobe" juggling technique and later in 94', wins the Technics DMC west coast championships.
Qbert's mixtape "Demolition Pumpkin Squeeze Musik" (dubbed by Rap Pages as the greatest Mixtape of all time) ignites the fire of the experimental skratch / mixtape revolution.
DJ Shadow releases "In/Flux" further fueling the movement towards a more sampler oriented movement in turntablism
1995 - Perhaps the winningest competition DJs ever, Qbert and Mix Master Mike retire from the DMC to become judges and enter a new challenge, the creation of music with turntables.
Mix Master Mike and Disk unknowingly create the name "Invisibl Skratch Piklz" for the crew by jokingly throwing out hundreds of goofy names for bands.
1995 also marked the birth of the first "all samples skratched song" by QBert entitled, "Invasion of the Octopus People" which starts another phase in turntablist culture.
With the help of Shortkut's initial introduction to them in 95', ISP became the first DJ band to be sponsored by, then a small manufacturer of DJ products, "Vestax". With the help of ISP's designs like the PMC 05 pro, 06 pro, 07 Pro and 05 Pro ltd., Vestax has now captured first place as the world's leader in sales of mixers and become the biggest DJ product company.
1996 - The I.T.F. (International Turntablist Federation) holds it's first world champioinship competitions
Showcasing the new era of turntablism, the historic battle at the Rocksteady Reunion between ISP and the X-Men (now called the X-Ececutioners) took place.
QBert gets filmed as a starring role in the movie, "Hang the DJ", which gets picked up by Miramax and plays in theatres in Europe, Canada, and the U.S.
ISP recorded the classic turntable orchestrated piece, "Invisibl Skratch Piklz Vs. Da Klamz uv Deth", on Vinyl.
1997 - Turntable T.V. was born on March 23, 1997 (the day of the Lunar Eclipse) and has now turned into an international turntablist video magazine featuring the Piklz practicing and hanging out with DJs from all over the world showing off their talents, skills, tips, tricks, and other turntable entertainment.
ISP filmed the educational and hilarious "Turntable Mechanics Workshop" for Vestax (check out tracoman.com). In this video, skratches were more publicly defined and given names so that turntablists may now share a mutual "skratch Language".
1998 - Yogafrog creates and gives away the first ISP music grant to aspiring artists in the Bay Area.
Mix Master Mike Joins the "Beastie Boys" in 98' and brings skratching to the eyes of the mainstream.
QBert Receives a lifetime acheivement award from the DMC
mid to late 90s - Individual DJs and crews such as the Invisibl Skratch Piklz, BulletProof Scratch Hamsters/Space Travelers, Allies, Supernatural Turntable Artists, Fifth Platoon, Beat Junkies, 1200 Hobos, Scratch Perverts, X-Men/X-Ecutioners, Cosmic Crew, and many others continue to expand on the frontiers of turntablism as an artform.