Scratch Breakthrough!!

So this is the mixer I had...the Realistic joint made by Radio Shack, as mentioned in the earlier post

as I also mentioned, or maybe I didnt, the crossfaders back in this day were STIFF, and this one in particular had a little notch in the middle of it so you knew that you had the fader exactly in the center.

Above the 2 phono channels, there are SUPER little switches for Phono / Line inputs that I could only grab with my fingertips...more on this in a sec.

Tom Bustos, my OG DJ partner came up DJ'ing with me and had gotten his own set of gear...if memory serves me correct, he had Realistic turntables, but he had a GLI PMX 5000 mixer, which wasnt TOP level, but it was up there...the only picture I could find is a PMX 9000 mixer which i think was GLI's top of the line.

Now, with the GLI mixers, their Line / Phono switches were more like todays...an actual "pole" type switch thats easy to handle.

So one day Tom and I were having our usual DJ session at his house...I would play a tune, then he would mix, like, 4 or 5, then I would get to mix 1...then he would mix 4 or 5...he was a bit of a hog.

I dont remember why, but I started cutting the sound out...like...a "pause" kind of....with the Line switch while a song would play (just cutting out, say, a snare here and there), but then a lightbulb went off about trying to scratch using that switch.

(little did I know, that alot of DJ's were already on to this...i had no idea)

So before I could try this on his GLI, it was time for me to go home..

I must have worked at scratching with my tiny switches for HOURS, because, when I finally figured out the hand / fader (well...switch) coordination, it was 10:30 at night, and I think I got home that day at 4 or 5.

I HAD to call Tom and report my breakthrough...he was sleeping when I called, but I told his mom to wake him up.

"ugherhghem....whats up?"
"DUDE...I LEARNED HOW TO HICCUP!!!"

("hiccup" is what we called Transforming...we thought it sounded like hiccupping)
"cool..show me tomorrow"

So the next day, I grabbed some records and rode my bike to his house and showed him the switches on his mixer.

"youre not supposed to use those for scratching...youre only supposed to use the fader" (this from a guy I had to almost FORCE to use the pitch control...he thought that shouldnt have been messed with either...true story)

"oh yeah? watch this"

diggadiggadigga

"WOAH!! LET ME TRY!!"

and the rest, as they say, is history...I wore my little Realistic switches OUT over the years I had that mixer...I need to find one on ebay with another set of Belt Drive turntables to put in my collection.

Next time, I go into the spots for records.

What did I get myself into?

so...DJ gear (i guess...) obtained...we get the stuff home, I unbox it all and clear off the dresser in my bedroom to set it all up...one problem...the stereo system i have isnt going to work....shit.

in the living room, my parents have a stereo system that WILL work....so I convince my parents into doing a swap. done.

now, in my record collection, i only have probably 10 records AT BEST...and theyre either hip hop (UTFO and Whodini) or house (Steve Silk Hurley and Chip E)...and they cant all be mixed together...so I start trying to mix the house records together.

so while I was at the Kristof's teen nights watching the DJ that was there, I would eventually start to ask question about how he did things...one of them was about the Pitch Control, which, as he explained to me, was a way to adjust the speed of the music to match what was being played....+ meant that the music would be playing faster than normal, and - would mean slower, so as soon as I started trying this at home, I already had a very basic understanding on HOW to mix...now, it just comes down to making it happen.

the first few months into it were really a bit frustrating, because, essentially, I was sort of teaching myself how to do everything, so I stopped...for probably a month.

I remember waking up one morning after my "hiatus", sitting up in my bed and looking at my equipment thinking "what did I get myself into? what am I going to do with this stuff?"

then something just came over me after sitting there for a few minutes...like a feeling of rejuvenation and enthusiasm...like a feeling of someone telling me that THIS is what im meant to do with my life....SOMETHING musically....and from that moment on, without any embellishment of the truth, I decided to dedicate the majority of my life to music....its not a hobby for me...its a SEVERE passion.

I started practicing dam near ALL day....EVERY day on mixing only stopping to eat or go to the bathroom.

phone call? take a message, ill call them back...friends come over? cool...hang out in my bedroom and watch me practice.

to this day I STILL practice (more like keeping sharp and brushing the rust off...)

moral of this post?
if you truly love something, dedicate yourself, and dont let anyone or anything stand in the way.

next post, I realize a trick to scratching thanks to my friends GLI mixer.

The Graduate - 1986

So, just to backtrack a tad...

Those teen night parties I was attending at Kristof's in my previous post...every once in a while, they would have an "all nighter"...which meant, you got to the club, they locked everyone in, and you couldnt leave (except for an emergency of course) until the next morning...now the club also had a bowling alley, so during these all nighters, there would be free food...drinks...free bowling etc etc etc....and at one particular all nighter, they were having a DJ battle.

This had to be late 85...early 86, so I wasnt even technically a DJ yet, and I only had a small armful of records....but hey....fuck it...im in!!

I remember bits and pieces of my.....uh....set. which was......lets say....god awful...i had no idea how to beatmatch...no idea on how to scratch, but i tried both!!!

"Disaster" is being polite.

So that brings us to 1986...8th grade...the end of my crews B Boy era, but supposedly the beginning of our Hip Hop group era!

I was so hellbent on this actually happening, that I would look thru catalogs from department stores...in their "stereo" sections, looking for turntables....then I learned of the Technics SL-1200.

Nearing the big day..Graduation....my parents asked me what I would like for a graduation gift.
Natrually, "DJ equipment" was the ONLY option.

Since my parents were down with music, they were down with me getting gear....so they asked me what kind of equipment I wanted.
"SL-1200 turntables with Shure SC-35 cartridges, and a Numark mixer" (standard gear for the pro DJ back then)

"Ok...on sunday after graduation we'll go get what you want"

oh holy shit....its SO on right now.

Sunday rolls around, and we head out for Soundz Music that was in Wheeling, IL....thats where they had the good stuff.....we pull up to the building...my heart is beating out of my chest....I look in the window...there it is (cue the angels singing)...2 1200's with Shure carts...19" Numark mixer, all neatly tucked away in a coffin ready to go....my dad says "come on...lets do it"...I go to open the door...nothing....I pull harder...nothing....I look at the hours posted...."CLOSED SUNDAYS"

YES.

De. va. sta. ted.

So, whats the logical thing I thought of? Waited a day?

Fuck no....Sunday was equipment day, and by God....IM GETTING EQUIPMENT ON SUNDAY!!!!!!!!!
 So we roll to the mall....yes...THE MALL.

Back in the 80's when people would actually venture out of their houses to go shopping (before Amazon, Zappos, Peapod and all of that) we went to shopping malls.....alot......and in most shopping malls, there were Audio / Video stores that sold home audio gear, TV's, and so on and so forth.

So we trot in to Alan's Stereo.

"im looking for a pair of turntables that have a pitch control on them"
"two?'
"yeah...im starting to DJ, and I need two with needles...and a mixer"
"well, we have the turntables and needles, but we dont sell mixers...youll have to go to Radio Shack for that"
"fine...let me see what you have for turntables"

then we go to the turntable section of the store....and theyre all kind of cheap...just for home use...not intended for DJing..

"do you guys sell 1200's?"
"oh...you mean the Technics ones? no...we dont carry those"
perfect.

so my stubborn impatient ass picked the only turntables they had with a pitch control on them.

the belt driven Vector-Research VT240, with Audio Technica P-Mount cartridges.
(in case you dont know, belt drive turntables are basically a small little motor with a rubberband around it, and the platter....SUPER hi tech...pfft.)

fine. done....lets get the mixer.
I was already checking Radio Shack for stuff, and I knew the mixer I needed...

Headphone Level, check.
Crossfader, check.
Headphone Cue, check.

done....now, I need to learn how to use this crap.

Just Imagine

just imagine learning how to DJ on a pair of these....more on this in a couple of days.