Scratching On DJ Controllers: 7 Myths Busted

As many readers will be only too aware, there’s a whole army of haters out there, continually bashing digital DJs and controller DJs because they don’t use vinyl or didn’t “come from” vinyl. And nowhere is this more true than among a certain section of “traditional”scratch DJs.

The standard advice we give our students is to try not to listen to them, that we know better and that we shouldn’t care what they think, blah blah. But actually I do care, and I’ll tell you why: Because as a scratch tutor, I know first-hand that the “hate talk” puts people off trying – and that can’t be left unchallenged.

Technology is a good thing, right?

As I learned to scratch in the late 1980s, on the one hand this talk doesn’t affect me as much as most, but on the other, it surprises me more than most! Sure, I earned my stripes in the vinyl days, and yeah it was cool – but you want to know something? It wasn’t cool because we used vinyl, it was cool in spite of the fact we had to use vinyl!

We had no choice other than to deal with ridiculous prices, warping, jumping, hissy sound, the weight, the size, the excess luggage costs, the risk of damage or loss. If it could have been as simple as digital “back in the day”, would we have wanted it? I would have – in a heartbeat.

But the tide is turning… Scratch legend DJ Craze recently hit out at this anti-digital snobbery in the scratch world, saying “Sync is your friend, embrace technology”. It’s what we at Digital DJ Tips have always believed: that far from holding you back as a DJ, digital can make it all more exciting, interesting, creative and fun for you.

But doesn’t scratching need to be done on vinyl?

But what about scratching? You have to learn to scratch with vinyl, surely? Wrong… as someone who’s taught thousands of DJs to scratch in our Scratching For Controller DJs course, I know this to be untrue, and this is what I want to tackle today.

Too many DJs feel restricted from getting started learning to scratch on DJ controllers because they think “you have to learn on vinyl first”. So, let’s deal with the most common misconceptions about scratching using DJ controllers right here, right now!

(By the way, if you remember seeing this post before, we updated it and brought it back to celebrate the launch of our All-New Scratching For Controller DJs online course. Check it out here…)

7 scratch myths busted

1. Scratching on a controller doesn’t sound the same as on vinyl

Actually, that’s correct to a certain extent, but not for the reasons the purists believe. When you scratch on a controller the sound doesn’t jump and, assuming your track sounds clean to begin with, there are no hisses or crackles. The sound you are scratching will not degrade in quality the more you scratch with it, and you don’t get any bass rumble or feedback through the system (all these issues are common with vinyl).

So yes, it’s true, digital scratching doesn’t sound the same as vinyl – for all the right reasons. So what do the naysayers mean when they say this? They’re referring to the “warm” vinyl sound as opposed to digital, about how the digital processing takes the analogue identity out of the sound. Well, if using digital source material is good enough for A-Trak, Qbert, Craze, DJ Angelo, Mix Master Mike, Shiftee and Jazzy Jeff, then this myth is most definitely busted.

Check out scratch legend D-Styles using the now classic Vestax Spin and Djay4 in a head-to-head battle with a vinyl DJ and see if you can hear any difference:

2. Latency means you can’t do really fast scratching

Digital latency can be an issue when you are using a controller that was not designed to be integrated with a particular software application, but if you’re using a controller / software combination that was designed to play nicely together, chances are this simply won’t be an issue for you.

For example the Traktor S4 Mk3 or S2 Mk2 paired with Traktor Pro 3 software has incredibly tight integration for super-fast scratches and cuts, same with the Pioneer DJ DDJ-400 and Rekordbox DJ software, or the Denon DJ MC7000 with Serato DJ Pro – you get the idea. Put bluntly if your scratches don’t sound right, it’s because you’ve either got the settings wrong or you need to practise! Check out this scratch DJ from the UK putting the Traktor Kontrol S4 Mk3 through its paces and ask yourself if you still believe this myth.

Also, check out Pri yon Joni on the Pioneer DJ DDJ-400 with Rekordbox DJ:

3. You can’t scratch on cheap gear and/or small jogwheels

This myth applies to DJing overall, that you won’t be a “good DJ” if you only have entry-level gear. The manufacturers are clearly not going to do anything to talk you out of this mindset, hoping you will continually upgrade in the quest to be taken more seriously. I have found some of the best controllers for scratching to be some of the least expensive, the Mixtrack Pro 3 comes to mind as does the Denon DJ MC2000 with its small jogwheels.

As we saw when we busted myth #2, small jogs, like those on the S2 and S4, are no barrier to being able to scratch like a demon. If you’ve got a controller with jogwheels, you can scratch with it – period.

Check out our friend Pri yon Joni again performing the famous DJ Jazzy Jeff “Peter Piper” scratch routine on the Pioneer DJ DDJ-200 controller. With its tiny jogwheels and $140 price tag you may not believe this is possible:

4. You can’t “beatjuggle” without spinning visual cues

Beatjuggling is tricky, whether it’s on vinyl or not, it takes incredible coordination, rhythm and practice. When DJs beat juggle on vinyl, they use marks on the record labels to be able to give themselves a visual cue of the position of the record. And those records are constantly spinning. In general this is not available to controller DJs, it’s replicated on some DJ controllers, like the LED lights on the rim of the jogwheels on the Traktor Kontrol S4 Mk3, the jogwheel displays on the Pioneer DJ DDJ-1000, and the spinning platters on the Numark NS7III, but is not the norm, and is mostly only available on more expensive units.

So can beatjuggling, and the more advanced techniques like “chasing” be done on a normal controller? You guessed it, absolutely yes, and DJ Wreckdown is going to bust this myth for us in the following video, with his awesome routine on the Denon MC3000 and Traktor (also proving that some non-Native controllers work great with Traktor too!):

5. Scratching on a controller is not like “performing” on turntables

The extent to which you are “performing” depends entirely on you… it doesn’t matter what set-up you’re using. One of the best party-rocking performance DJs out there is DJ Angelo, and as part of his role of brand ambassador and product designer for Reloop he has put together mind-blowing routines using controllers that showcase not only his own abilities, but the capability of the gear too.

This landmark demo he did for Reloop at Musikmesse is an absolute masterclass in music programming, scratching, beatjuggling, controllerism and DJ performance, not limited in any way by using a controller, or indeed limited in his mindset. His enthusiasm (even in the sterile environment of an exhibition hall during the day) is as infectious as his skills are impressive:

6. You can’t scratch with house or trance music

There’s no denying that scratching came from, and is still most widely used in, hip hop, but there seems to be an assumption that if you DJ with any other genre, then there’s no place for scratching. Well there are plenty of DJs who don’t agree.

James Zabiela has always pushed the boundaries of performance in his DJing, and scratching has always been a big part of it, and a massive contributory factor to his rise to fame. He understood very early on that you need to show that you’re in control at the decks. He says: “It’s important to give your audience something to look at as well. I always really enjoy looking at those DMC tapes where the DJs are like scratching with snooker cues. That’s totally out of my league but it’s great to watch. I think somewhere in between that and the sort of smooth Sasha mixing is somewhere where I’m heading. Somewhere in between.”

James is a true multi-genre DJ but plays mostly house / techno tempo, and uses scratching, combined with loops and FX to devastating effect in his sets, check out what he describes as a “mess about” here using Pioneer CDJs and the RMX1000:

Another house DJ who leverages the power of scratching is legend of the genre Terrence Parker. Inspired by Grandmaster Flash when he was young, he decided that scratching would always be a part of his DJ performances: “When I first stared DJing, and actually developing my style, it was very important for me to show people that I’m actually working.”

Here he is cutting, scratching and juggling his own house tunes in his “masterclass” video that truly busts this myth:

7. You’ll never be respected scratching on digital gear

As we said right at the start, there will always be haters, but the tide is turning. More and more “proper” scratch DJs are acknowledging that it doesn’t matter what gear you use, it’s the skills you display that count. Even the DMC World DJ championship is now getting respected entires from DJs using controllers – check out The Abbot from New Zealand rocking his Pioneer DDJ-SZ for his round six entry way back in 2015, even goading viewers in the comments under his own video saying: “Waiting for the controller haters…” 🙂

Busting the last of our myths is the incredible “Saturday Super Session” videos – put together by Dutch DJ TLM, where 56 DJs from over 30 countries all submitted a scratch session using the same beat and whatever gear they wanted… iPads, cheap controllers, expensive controllers, CDJs, turntables, DVS – the whole lot!

This acceptance of DJs into the scratch community no matter what gear they’re using is growing day by day, as DJ TLM says: “In this video everyone’s using they’re own thing to get the job done, and to me it’s pretty cool to see how everyone uses their equipment. I didn’t want this just to be a session with the top guys doing all kinds of intricate cuts and scratches on vinyl only. There’s DJs in there doing really basic scratches, but they’re doing them in a neat fashion and that’s all that counts.”

Check out the session here:

A word on DVS…

So what about DVS (digital vinyl systems), as demonstrated by Scratch Bastid in this clip? This is vinyl, right? Well yes, but with some significant differences that only digital can bring. Most of the top-flight scratch DJs use this system by default now, and why?

Because they only need carry maximum of four records (one timecode vinyl for each deck, and maybe two spares), and if the records get scratched, warped, broken or stolen, they are easily replaced while the music collection is not compromised in any way (always back up your music!)

DVS even deals with jumping needles – the needle can be jumping all over the place but the audio stays solidly locked in the groove, opening the artform up to faster and faster techniques.

Another reason DVS is so widely used is it means the DJ can continue to use the medium he or she learned on. Think about it, if you drive an automatic car all your life, you can’t just jump into a stick shift manual car and expect to nail it straight away. DVS is “digital in the comfort zone” for scratch DJs, but as DJ Angelo (who also uses DVS) proved earlier, the skills are totally transferrable to controllers.

Finally…

For those DJs who want to be vinyl-only, who love vinyl and all its history… If it feels more “real” to you, that’s cool, follow your heart and spread a positive message about the thing you’re passionate about. If people concentrated more on loving what they do, and less on hating what others do, then a common respect among DJs would exist that’s sadly sometimes lacking.

And if you want to learn to scratch, but can only get your hands on a $50 controller and some type of “intro” software, get started today… you have no excuse not to, especially now you know there’s nothing stopping you other than your own fears and the attitudes of a small number of “vinyl snobs” who will probably always be there. Why let such things hold you back?

Inspired?

Check out the All-New Scratching For Controller DJs course now!

Are you a controller DJ who’s learned to scratch having never touched vinyl? Or have you made the switch? Or, are you a vinyl DJ who never wants to stop using the “real thing”? Wherever you stand on the matter, let us know your thoughts in the comments below…