Turntables

[declassified]

Does anybody know about those new digital turntables?

I want to do some overdub scratches on my songs and don't have any vinyl. So i consider one of these new CD decks.

The Technics SLDZ1200 or the Numark CDX for example...

If i don't actually DJ in a club, do i need the high-end ones or is a slightly cheaper one sufficient?

And please don't start discussing if vinyl is dead or not

[[decipher]]

been skratching for like 8-9 years now. never touched one of those cd player thingies myself but i heard some good reactions from the german dmc/itf champs lords of fitness. they tested the technics player at the last musikmesse in frankfurt and where positively suprised by the precision of this thing. seems that it allows you to really do vinyl like skratching. but i thing its a bit expensive
you _could_ think about making a single vinyl record with all the stuff you wanna skratch. there is a rising number of sites on the net, that allow you to get your own made vinyl record with custom samples on it. for a reasonable price... you just have to check how they produce it and on what kind of material. some are pretty "weak" and will wear out after few minutes of skratching. others are as long lasting as original vinyl.

[declassified]

I think the better ones (Technics, Numark) are at about 700?.

If i pressed my samples on vinyl i'd still need a turntable. And the better vinyl ones aren't very cheap as well...

The cheapest CD turntable i've found is the Pioneer CDJ-800. It costs about 450?. But i don't know if it's reliable...

[[decipher]]

the two cd turntables are both around 1000 euros each. (habs mal grad auf elevator.de nachgeschaut )

hmm. you can get good quality custom vinyl with own samples / music for under 100 euro i guess. a friend of mine did that somewhere. but if you dont have a turntable.. you also need a proper mixer to really skratch. at best with a controllable crossfader curve. (with a cd turntable too!) as skratching not only consists of the proper record back and forth movement but also the correct sound on off manipulation through the crossfader

hmm. for basic skratching a cheaper cd turntable would maybe be okay. but compare it to playing piano on a toy piano

i could do some skratching maybe?

well. sorry i cant help further. if you have any questions regarding skratching and stuff. message me!

(ruhig auf deutsch... vorhin erst gesehen )

[epic]

ive had the pioneer cdj800 for about 8 months now and all i can say is that yes it is slightly different from using vinyl BUT!! once you get over it you will be very impressed btw i know what im talking about ive been scratching for many a year now (lets just say i bought my first turntables back when it was still called "electro"...lol 1984 !! yikes !! ) since ive had it the old vinyl is just collecting dust in the corner somewhere. i also tried the new technics ( drool drool ..... damn i need some extra cash ) and if you got that much money to spare just buy it...trust me

[anoke]

Or then you could install Linux/BSD (or maybe some live distribution would do the task) and try http://www.terminatorx.cx/

Check the pages Scratches and Turntables.

(no - i don't know how authentic the sound is..)

[declassified]

the two cd turntables are both around 1000 euros each.

Depends on where you want to buy them...I saw the technics SLDZ1200 for 700euro at ebay...

I'm not experienced with turntablism, but the SLDZ1200 seems to have a crossfader.

I had linux installed and also checked out all those audio apps. TerminatorX is nice, but (as far as mouse-scratching is concerned) doesn't sound quite realistic.

I had another idea: One could build a Tape-Scratcher.The idea is to use a electric motor (Lego for example) to spin an axis. This axis turns a vinyl record around and replaces the motor of a tapedeck. There should be some transmission to keep the tape and vinyl speed parallel, so the pitch stays normal.
When you scratch the vinyl, the axis will also scratch the tape.
The advantage of the whole thing is that you can easily record tapes

Do you think this would work?

[[decipher]]

I'm not experienced with turntablism, but the SLDZ1200 seems to have a crossfader.

the fader you might be refering to is the pitch fader. there once was a limited special edition of a round vestax turntable with built-in fader but only 500 where made afair

I had another idea: One could build a Tape-Scratcher.The idea is to use a electric motor (Lego for example) to spin an axis. This axis turns a vinyl record around and replaces the motor of a tapedeck. There should be some transmission to keep the tape and vinyl speed parallel, so the pitch stays normal.
When you scratch the vinyl, the axis will also scratch the tape.
The advantage of the whole thing is that you can easily record tapes

Do you think this would work?

uh. eh. hm.

hehe. dont get it ;D

[declassified]

Ok, i'll explain it in german:

Ich hatte die Idee eines Tape-Scratchers.
Man nimmt einen alten kaputten Plattenspieler und ein heiles Tapedeck (oder einen Walkman).
Man pflückt aus beiden den Motor raus (der die Platte bzw. das Band dreht).
Man baut ein Getriebe aus z.B. Lego (falls man noch welches hat).
Ein Lego-Motor dreht eine Achse, die den Plattenteller UND das Band dreht.
Man nimmt ein Sample auf Tape auf und packt es in den Walkman. Dann drückt man auf Play. Der Tonkopf geht zum Band, aber da der Motor rausgerissen ist, dreht sich nichts.
Nun macht man den Legomotor an und scratcht die Platte.
Wenn der Motor läuft, wird sich die Platte ganz brav drehen. Wenn man die Platte scratcht, werden die Bewegungen auf das Tape übertragen.

Ich hoffe das war verständlich

[[decipher]]

Or then you could install Linux/BSD (or maybe some live distribution would do the task) and try http://www.terminatorx.cx/

Check the pages Scratches and Turntables.

(no - i don't know how authentic the sound is..)

hihihihi. crazy stuff! when i first started to get in touch with music making with the computer i had kind of the same idea like those guys. attaching my mouse to the turntable to apply that movement to wave files

another posibility would be stantons final skratch (with the native instruments software <- ontopic curve ) but that would be probably the most expensive solution because you need final skratch itself (around 600-700?) at least one decent turntable (200-400?) and of course still a mixer with a crossfader.

[declassified]

For me, FinalScratch is no real option. Sooner or later i'd like to work without a PC (except burning samples on CD).

Another possibility would be (even though it's damn childish) getting a yamaha SU-10 sampler for around 100euro. It has a ribbon controller which could do the job...

[[decipher]]

Ok, i'll explain it in german:

(...)

Ich hoffe das war verständlich

hihi. ja. okay. jetzt hab ich es verstanden. also als bastelprojekt durchaus interessant, aber fuer gut klingende skratches (fuer mich ist mein plattenspieler in verbindung mit meinem mixer tatsaechlich ein musikinstrument, deswegn bin ich da etwas eigen, wenn es um skratchen geht, die meisten sehen das ja nur als stoerende geraeusche ) wohl eher nicht zu gebrauchen. beim normalen skratchen ist es ja so, das man mit einer slipmat (aus filz), die zwischen plattenteller und platte liegt, verhindern will, das der plattenteller und somit der motor stehenbleibt, beim skratchen, fuer schnellere und gezieltere manipulation des geraeusches, was man nun skratcht. hmm.

for a small example of an complete skratched music piece:
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/6/deciphermusic.htm <- the sin ... drums, melody and words skratched just a small stupid example.

[[decipher]]

For me, FinalScratch is no real option. Sooner or later i'd like to work without a PC (except burning samples on CD).

Another possibility would be (even though it's damn childish) getting a yamaha SU-10 sampler for around 100euro. It has a ribbon controller which could do the job...

hmm. then a skratchable cd player and a small 2 channel mixer with crossfader would be the best solution i guess.

[declassified]

Would this one be sufficient?

I think i'll get the Devon DN-S1000. It's small, cheap and has MP3 support.

[[decipher]]

Would this one be sufficient?

um that link just shows a crossfader (btw. the exact crossfader that is in my mixer ) you will need a mixer around that fader, i guess