Scratch Video a mutant hybrid of scratch DJ music and guerrilla TV

scratchvideo/evolution/hiphop_and_electronicmusic/mixing

Countless events shaped the histories of both hip hop and electronic music, but both were strongly influenced by one specific practice: using two turntables to seamlessly blend and cue different records. This first happened on American broadcast radio during the late 1960s, and when it was incorporated by dance clubs, mixing the end of one song into the start of another created a spell of non-stop music. (Collin 11)

Club DJs in New York city were looking for ways to add even more energy to the dance floor. At first they cut up sections of albums using reel-to-reel tape machines, editing together rhythmic sections to eventually mix with music for an extra boost. Then DJs like Frankie Knuckles, performing at a Chicago club, added a drum machine into the mix. Roland's 909, originally sold as an aid to practice playing guitar, became a do it yourself music studio. Patched into a club's sound system, the pounding bass and synth sounds took non-stop music to a new extreme.

"Using drum computers once marketed by Roland of Japan in the early eighties which by this time were obsolete, discontinued and available cheaply on the secondhand market, Chicago's young hustlers wrenched out possibilities that the manufacturers had never envisioned." (Collin 21)

Knuckles and other DJs were using drum machines to super charge disco into a new kind of music that could keep a crowd dancing for days. Named for the Warehouse club where Knuckles performed, the music simply became known as house. The driving beat they had been looking for finally came from applying a consumer technology in a new way.

Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson were also using drum machines, but seeking an entirely different sound. Living in Detroit, where robots were replacing factory workers in the automotive industry, Atkins, May and Saunderson were creating a soundtrack to this new future. Influenced by the music of Kraftwerk and science fiction, they created a post-apocalyptic sound called techno.

Technology was opening music production to artists who knew the sound they wanted to make, and no longer needed expensive studios to create. After recording techno, house and other genres of electronic music for release on vinyl, two (or more) albums could now always be playing at the same time on turntables. Matching the beats per minute, DJ's mix by adding and removing layers from each to create their own unique sound.

Copyright 2000© Hart Snider