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Scratching with Trance
Ok, let's look at this in a bit more detail.
First up, you can scratch with trance, but the point is that you have to be real careful with the types of tunes you do this with.
A lot of the top DJs will do it if they are brave enough, the ones that are good at it you will probably not notice that they are doing it. The times it will be blatantly be obvious is when the DJ is pants.
A couple of points on scratching.
1. Remember less is more, you are enhancing the music, not using the music as a background to your Turn table skills. A Hip Hop DJ thinks more like a drummer as the bassis for what he is doing, but a trance DJ has to be aware of other things too.
2. Pick the right bits in the music, a full on 4/4 beat is harder to find a groove in but if you are good you can actually create one. Some trance tunes actually have a more electro sounding break in the middle (Matt Darey - Electro Buzz for example) where you get a change in tempo. This is ideal as they usually match the same rythms as traditional Funk and Hip Hop. These segments allow you a little more freedom.
3. Don't scratch in the middle of a melodic build up unless you happen to be an expert beat juggler (Beat Juggling = The creation of a rythm track using 1 or more individual drum sounds on 1 or more records... very hard to do well).
4. Make sure the sounds you use are relevant to the music. Although the record (Please forgive my poor french spelling) 'Un Salle Histoire' by B-Side may have given us the most well known samples ever i.e. "Aaaaaaaaaaaarrrrgh... this stuff is really Freeeesh", it may not suite trance music.
5. Because Trance music tends to have a lot going on, the scratches that sound effective are usually the simpler ones. Straight forward cuts and echo effects sounds really nice if done right. You might want to avoid techniques like the 4 finger crab, chirps and such like as they can sound messy if not done right, not to mention that you would have to be world class fast to do this at 140ish bpm.
6. Avoid scratching over a vocal, it doesn't sound good in most cases.
7. As a trance DJ, try and avoid using sounds that aren't in key as this could still make it sounds rough even if your technique was spot on.
Hard House, Techno and Drum and Bass DJs have been doing it for years so don't be put off by people who say no. If you feel it's right, go for it. The only thing it could ever do is make you a better DJ, whether you decide to do it in your sets or not is a different matter. Along the way you may even discover some other things.
Get a DMC World Championship tape and see how they do it. One of them (and I forget which one 'Turn Tablist Tips and Trix' I think) has Black Sun doing this really wild tune with a high pitched squeek over the top of a pitched to the max 'Robert Miles' - Children and it just sounds insane. Perhaps not dance floor material but has to be seen.
Don't try to do too much too quickly. Be patient and have fun with it.
Good luck
Nem
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https://www.mixcloud.com/Calvin_Karass/
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