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The History of
Turntablism
As the art form grows
so will this history. Submit your facts and additions here. We appreciate
your contributions
and remain open minded to your suggestions or corrections. There is a
famous qoute: "those who don't know the past are doomed to repeat
it" for that reason we want to help educate the world about turntablism
by helping to chronical the evolving artform. Special thanks to all the
sources who have helped in chronicaling our artform. Special thanks to
www.scratch-dj.com for the analog historical facts.
(History items of intrest to digital turntablists
are blue in color)
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 - 45
RPM, 7 inch records are invented.
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 - The
E-Piano is invented.
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 invents 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.
The compact disc is coinvented by Philips Electronics
N.V. and Sony Corporation as a digital means of storing audio recordings
and data.
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. Davy DMX's "One For the Treble" is released.
The compact disc is commercially released for audio
and data storage.
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.
January - Numark electronics introduces the 6020,
the first professional DJ dual CD player.
1991 - Scratch
DJ Innovator/Perfectionist DJ QBert gains worldwide attention in the Technics
DMC DJ Championships.
The MP3 (short for Motion Picture Expert Group-1/level-3)
format was invented at the Fraunhofer Institute, a German audio research
lab. MP3 is a computer based compression technology that makes files of
CD-quality sound.
1992 - DJ Flare
introduces the "Flare" skratch
QBert, Mix Master Mike, and Apollo dubbed as the "Rocksteady DJ's"
by Crazy Legs.
Sony Corp introduces the Minidisc.
February- Roland corp intoduces the DJ-70 workstation/keyboard.
This sampling workstation included a jog wheel that allowed for scratching
of sampled sounds. Unfortunatley the high cost of this unit prevented
it from gaining wide spread acceptance and it was eventually discontinued.
It represented the first sample based scratching unit.
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.
Denon Electronics releases the DN-2000F, dual rack
mount CD player updating on it previous CD player. The 2000 becomes the
CD player of choice for night clubs and DJs for the next 5 years.
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
Pioneer releases the CDJ-500G CD/ CD+G player, the
first table top CD player or digital turntable, features included seamless
looping an a large wheel for manipulating pitch and tempo.
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.
Philips and Sony introduced a new type of disc,
known as a digital video disc (DVD), which was able to store up to 4.7
gigabytes of data, such as high-definition digital video files. A DVD
has the same dimensions as a standard CD but cannot be read by a standard
CD player, although a DVD player can read standard CDs. DVD players use
a higher-power red laser (0.65 micrometre) that enables smaller pits (0.4
micrometre) and separation tracks (0.74 micrometre) to be used. A DVD
audio standard is later developed.
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.
Pioneer introduces the DJM500 mixer that includes
an effects processor. It also adds the fader start feature allowing their
CD players to be started via the mixers cross fader and channel sliders.
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.
Pioneer introduces the CDJ500 II with several improvements
further refining the digital turntable.
August- Pioneer sponsors the first international
CD spin off is held at the International DJ Expo in Atlantic City, DJ
2nd Nature of Atlanta takes top honors.
DJ Gerald' World Wide' Webb begins working with
Pioneer Pro DJ to promote digital turntablism.
1997 - Turntable
T.V. was born on March 23rd (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 www.tracoman.com). In this video, skratches were
more publicly defined and given names so that turntablists may now share
a mutual "skratch language".
Pioneer introduces the CDJ 700s CD player, further
improving the digital turntable. The jog wheel allows for pitch bending,
but scratching is still not possible.
Pioneer holds its 2nd International CD spinoff held at DJ Times Magazine's
International DJ Expo, DJ Neil Christian takes top honors.
August- DJ Gerald 'World Wide' Webb, aka DJ WWW,
creates the G-spin, the first CD based beat juggling techique utilizing
the CDJ 700s. He also vows not to spin vinyl again until CDs can be manipulated
just like vinyl. He is also briefly featured on New York's WWOR, channnel
9 news, performing on the digital turntables, in a story on the Vibe music
seminar. Making him the first digital turntablist to appear on a major
market television show.
1998 - Yogafrog
creates and gives away the first ISP music grant to aspiring artists in
the Bay Area.
Tascam introduces the CD 302, the first CD player
with a real time scratch feature.
August- Pioneer introduces the CDJ100, the first
pro CD player with built in effects in a demonstration by DJ Todd 'Hot
Toddy' Payson at the International CD spinoff.
DJ Roonie G unveils his CD "snapping" or "snaps" technique
at the 3rd International CD spinoff. The Atlantic City Press does a story
on the event becoming the first major newspaper to cover digital turntablism.
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
Pioneer releases the EFX-500 Effector, an board
effects processor for DJs.
1999- January
- Gerald 'World Wide' Webb (DJ WWW) creates the
zip scratch, the first real time CD based scratch technique utilizing
Pioneer's EFX-500 effector. He is named the world's first digital turntablist
for his contributions to the digital artform, but still regularly encounters
vinyl enthusiats who want to discount and discourage the digital extension
of the art form.
September- Tascam introduces the CD302, the first
CD player with a real time scratch feature. The scratch feature function
is very rudimentary and the small wheel for manipulation makes scratching
difficult. However, the unit is a definite step in the right direction
and dramatically improves over time due to several firmware upgrades.
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.
CD recorders become affordable and accessible for
pro DJ and consumer use. Companies like Marantz, HHB, Philips, and Plextor
make both stand alone and PC based units available to consumers. The price
of CDRs drop considerably during this time period from as high as $20
each to less than $1 each.
2000- February-
Gerald Webb's skills on the digital turntable catch
the eye of legendary hip hop DJ, Jam Master Jay of Run DMC. Jay becomes
the first DJ of stature to support the digitalscratch movement and begins
to help bring it to the attention of the DJ and hip hop industries.
July- www.digitalscratch.com is launched by it's
founder, DJ Gerald 'World Wide' Webb, as the world wide center of the
digital form of turntablism.
August- Gerald 'World Wide' Webb (DJ WWW) moderates
and performs at the world's first digital scratch clinic at the International
DJ Expo. Gerald teams up with Tascam's DJ Davey Dave as the world's first
digitalscratch or CD based turntable crew for an exhibition at the showcase.
DJ Times sponsores the event making it the first major magazine to cover
digital turntablism.
Under Pressure Productions releases the world's first digital battle break
CD specifically designed for Digital turntablists, "Digital Scratch
Tools Volume 1" by DJ Gerald 'World Wide' Webb. The CD is immediatley
embraced by digital turntablists like DJ Davey Dave (Tascam), DJ Skillz
(American DJ), DJ Knappyhead Lovebones, DJ H-bomb, DJ Hot Toddy (Pioneer)
and legendary hip hop DJ Jam Master Jay.
OTS Jukebox software introduces the first MP3 scratch feature, allowing
real time scratching of MP3s on a computer.
October - American DJ releases the Pro-scratch 1,
a table top CD player with real time scratch effect. The scratch effect
is very realistic, but there is still a slight delay in responsiveness.
The large, motion sensative manipulation wheel gives it a familiarlarity
with vinyl, but the delay, though slight, still leaves a gap between vinyl
and digital turntablism, though it is a big step in the right direction
for digital turntablism.
Numark introduces the CDN-88, a dual CD player with real time scratch
feature, the most responsive and true sounding CD scratch player to date,
however the rack mount interface and small scratch wheel make manipulation
very difficult.
DJ Craze wins an unprecedented third solo DMC Championship, he also wins
the team championship teaming up with A-Trak.
www.digitalscratch.com publishes the first tips
and tricks list for digital turntablists.
2001- January-
The National Association of Music Merchandisers (Namm) officially recognizes
the turntable as an instrument. It outsells guitars at a 2 -1 ratio making
it the most popular instrument.
February- Grandwizzard Theodore calls for turntablists to boycott Heineken
Beer after the company releases a television add which distorted the true
history of turntablism. The add spoofs scratching's invention as happening
when a dj, in 1982, accidently spills his beeer on the turntable and while
wipping it off creates the scratch, giving no credit to the actual inventor
of the scratch. Grandwizzard theodore actually created the scratch in
the summer of 1975. Many of turntablism's elite have spoken out in outrage
and in support of the boycott.
Former DMC champion Qbert squares off with the world's
first digital turntablist, Gerald 'World Wide' Webb (DJ WWW), in the world's
first CD versus vinyl scratch off at DJ Times magazine's DJ Expo West
in San Francisco (the mecca of turntablism). The event is moderated by
Yoga Frog (Invisible Skratch Piklz). It is very well recieved and attended
by some of turntablism's biggest players like DJ Relm (former ITF champion),
the Asiphonics, and Alex Hazzard of Vestax America. Digital turntablism
takes a giant leap grabbing the attention of DJs world wide. Footage from
the event is later released on the Turntable TV series of videos.
Gerald (DJ WWW) also hosts the second in his series of digital scratch
clinics at the expo teaming up with Davey Dave and DJ Skillz for a three
member digital scratch crew showcase.
Jam Master Jay of Run DMC asks Gerald (DJ WWW) to exhibit digital scratching
in his "How To Be a DJ" video series, a Warner Bros Home Video
release, giving digital turntablism mass distribution and more recognition.
April- Gerald (DJ WWW) is interviewed and
performs alongside of highly respected vinyl turntablists Kuttin Kandi
(5th Platoon), Rolirho (5th Platoon), Super Dave, and Mista Sinister (X-ecutioners)
in a documentary dedicated to educating society about turntablism, directed
by Rob Pricipe and moderated by Tony award winning writer and poet Reg
E. Gaines (Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk).
May- Digitalscratch.com launches it's internet
discussion board for digital turntablists.
Pioneer introduces its newest CD player the CDJ1000 DVT (digital vinyl
turntable), the first touch sensative CD player that duplicates the functionality
of the vinyl turntable almost exactly, shattering the barrier seperating
vinyl and digital turntablism.
Digitalscratch.com's predictions for the future:
2002- Digital turntables become wildly popular eclipsing analog
turntables in sales and popularity.
2003- A digital turntablist wins the DMC or ITF competitions.
MP3 and DVD audio based turntablism begin to catch on.
2005- The Grammy awards add a DJ of the year category.
Grade and high school music programs begin to offer DJing as a class and
turntables as instruments.
2008-Qbert is named to the Rock&Roll Hall of Fame as the best
turntablist of all time. Yoga Frog, Cash Money, Craze and several others
soon follow.
2010- The turntablist Hall of Fame is established in the San Francisco
Bay Area.
3000 and beyond-Turntablism both vinyl and digital endure forever.
A very special thanks to all of our credits and sources including:
www.digitalscratch.com
www.scratch-dj.com
www.grandmasterflash.com
www.skratchpiklz.com
www.sony.com
Rob Principe
Underpressure Productions- www.undapressure.com
Jim Tremayne of DJ Times Magazine- www.djtimes.com
Grover Knight of Numark- www.numark.com
DJ Davey Dave of Tascam- www.tascam.com
Silvio Zettieri of Denon- www.denon.com
Jim Norman of Roland- www.rolandus.com
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