DJ Beatmasta

96 BPM · needle up

Hip-hop DJ & turntablist · Amsterdam

Two turntables. One crossfader. Oldskool rules.

Get on the decks

Side A · Track 2

The decks

Grab either record and drag

Z X scratch back and forward · C cut

Side A · Track 3

The cuts

The basic vocabulary of the scratch. Each diagram plots the record's position over time: the solid line is where you hear it, the dotted line is where the crossfader has shut it off. Press play and the deck performs it over the beat.

Baby

Where everybody starts. Push the record forward, pull it back, and leave the fader open. Every other cut is built on this hand movement.

Scribble

A tense forearm and a tiny, fast shake of the record. The sound comes out as one continuous buzz.

Chirp

The fader closes as the record reaches the end of the push, then opens again on the way back. Two hands, one short bird-like sound.

Transformer

A slow push with the fader tapped open in a steady rhythm, chopping one long sound into pulses. It was named for the robot sound it makes.

Flare

Start with the fader open and click it shut for an instant mid-push. One click turns one sound into two, with no need to chase the fader.

Orbit

A flare going forward and a flare coming back, so the same click happens in both directions. Keep it going and it loops without a break.

Crab

Fingers roll off the fader one at a time against the thumb, firing off a burst of clicks far faster than a wrist can move.

Side B · Track 1

Roots

None of this was invented on a laptop. It started with records, hands, and a room full of people waiting for the break.

  1. 1972

    The Technics SL-1200

    A direct-drive turntable arrives. Its motor is built for hi-fi listening, but its torque and its stability end up making it the instrument.

  2. 1973

    Sedgwick Avenue

    DJ Kool Herc plays a back-to-school party at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx. He runs two copies of a record to stretch out the break, the part the dancers wait for.

  3. 1970s

    Quick Mix Theory

    Grandmaster Flash works out how to cue and repeat breaks by eye and hand, marking his records so that he always knows where the drums are.

  4. 1975

    The scratch

    Grand Wizzard Theodore, still a teenager, holds a record still under his hand and hears what it does. He turns that accident into a technique.

  5. 1983

    Rockit

    Grand Mixer DST scratches on Herbie Hancock's "Rockit". The turntable reaches television screens, and the 1984 Grammys, as a lead instrument.

  6. 1985

    DMC battles

    The DMC World DJ Championships begin. Routines become competitive, and the battle pushes the technique forward year after year.

  7. 1990s

    Turntablism

    DJ Babu coins the word "turntablist" in the mid-nineties. Crews like Invisibl Skratch Piklz treat the decks as a band.

Side B · Track 2

The selector

Based in Amsterdam. DJing and turntablism sit alongside music production, piano and guitar.

The decks on this page are code. The beat, the stabs and the crackle are all synthesized in your browser, so there isn't a single sample here to clear.