Anomaly_

(There was a thread similar to this but it degraded into equipment discussion and didn't go into much detail, hence this thread.)

I'm interested in what TFPers (especially classically trained musicians) think of scratching/turntablism. Do you think it's a novelty that isn't true music? What constitutes simply playing music and creating? And if you do see it as a real musical artform, where do you see it going?

Personally I think there is fine line between playback and creation and a lot of DJs move back and forth whether they'd like to admit it or not. For example, if a sample is cut up into a new pattern with record and crossfader movement I think that it's clearly creation. Occasionally though, a DJ will let the entire sample play after it's been thoroughly cut up into something new. Is that just an extension of the pattern or is it only playing music?

In my eyes it is not a novelty. There have been a number of transcription methods developed so that scratching can be read and recreated as an instrument like the piano would. Artists like the former Invisibl Skratch Piklz have put out full length scratch albums that exhibit how far things can be pushed. Technology is also responding in the form of magnetic crossfaders, "skip-proof" vinyl, and straight tone-armed turntables. However, I'm not sure where it is headed. With the advent of pitch controls with wide variation I could see the melodic element of turntable music being more accessible (i.e. not limited to "Mary Had a Little Lamb"). As for scratching itself, I see increasing complexity in techniques (obviously) and experimentation outside of 4/4 beats.