Hi all, Sorry if this is in the wrong section. I’ve watched a ton of vids and tutorials and was off to a rough start with the hardware. I bought a Mixon 8, then a Beatpad 2. I tend to go full idiot with hobbies, hence the 2 controllers. I didn’t realize the Mixon 8 was so big and wanted something more portable, hence the Beatpad 2 purchase.
My intended desire is to become a master with the scratching. Having a musical background and being able to master instruments very quickly, I thought the same would be for scratching. Boy was I mistaken. I’ve never come across something more difficult in my life.
Now my question is this. I’m sort of going backwards here. I’ve never touched a turntable in my life. So am I doing myself a disservice by learning on a non motorized jog wheel unit? I understand the principles of scratching, but my hands wont do the patterns that are in my head. I’m only a month in so I’m trying not to have any over expectations of myself, but I’m wondering if I should have just got a motorized unit instead? Are there any DJ’s that just used non motorized units and can still rip as far as scratching? My goal eventually is to maybe get a mixer and two tables, but I don’t have the physical room right now where I’m at so this is why I went the route I did. I just don’t want to have to re-learn if someday I decide to go the analog route, if you will.
There are tons of people who use non motorized platters to scratch. Look up Carlo Atentido for instance on YouTube. He uses different equipment, but he has some good scratch videos on non moving platters.
Bear in mind that not all jogwheels are created equal.
The amount of resolution (and therefore accuracy) you get will usually be related to price, so the more expensive units have better resolution.
For beginners it might not be an issue right now, but could be a hurdle when you progress.
I’d suggest starting slowly (literally). Start at low tempos and work on timing accuracy with simple motions. Don’t dive in at the deep end. Paddle first!
While the equipment does have an impact, nothing will have a bigger impact than practice; as you well know.
Not sure what your practice routine is, but I would start with mastering baby scratches at varying tempos. I’d get a metronome/click track on one deck and a scratch sample (Ahhhh, Fresh) on the other. Slowly increase the tempo of the metronome track and practice your baby scratch (or whatever scratch you’re learning) in time with the click track.
A metronome track is great because it reduces distractions and allows you to focus purely on your scratch technique.
It can be done but it really depends on the jog wheel and your level of experience. I recently purchased a Denon LC6000 after having a bad experience with the Mixon 8. Even when the Mixon 8 was working ok, I still never really liked the feel of the jog wheel. I preferred the feel of my Rev1 jog wheels over the Mixon 8. Even though I liked the Rev1 jog wheels for scratching, I still felt that they were too small and lacked a display. This is what made me consider the Denon LC6000. It feels much better for scratching although it’s not the same as a real turntable in my opinion. The Denon could use a better feel on the surface of the jog wheel but that’s just my personal preference. One thing I will say however, is that the Denon responds much better for scratching when using Serato vs DJay Pro. I was surprised at first but there is a noticeable difference in the way the Denon performs between the two softwares.
That’s cool man. I had the Rane One for a couple weeks. Kind of wish I kept it, with the motorized wheels. I didn’t realize how big and heavy those things are, so I returned it. I have the Mixon 8 and the Beatpad 2. I’ve never used real tables as mentioned, but when I see what others are doing with just jog wheels, I figure it can’t be that bad. I mean right now I suck and the major problem for me is the damn fader. Just can’t seem to understand the right pressure of the thumb.
But eventually when I get good, I’ll get a traditional setup with a battle mixer. But I also enjoy the Mixon 8 just for screwing around the pretending I’m a real DJ on saturday night in my living room annoying the crap out of my family.
Personally, I’ve only scratched on non-motorized jogs. Vestax VCI-400, Traktor S4, Denon Prime 4, Reloop Ready and Reloop Mixon 8 Pro.
In my experience, scratching simply requires the right instruction and a LOT of practice. I highly recommend checking out the Scratching for Controller DJs course from Digital DJ Tips. Their teaching method is spot on IMO.
