John Carluccio

Last updated • 7 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
John Carluccio
Born
Teaneck, New Jersey
Alma materPratt Institute
Notable workBattle Sounds: Hip-Hop DJ Documentary, Maurice Hines: Bring Them Back
StyleDocumentary film
Website https://cinqua.com/

John Francis Carluccio (born May 14, 1969) is an American filmmaker, artist, and inventor. Carluccio is a two-time Emmy-nominated filmmaker [1] [2] who is best known for documenting obscure pockets of urban society and the creative process.

Contents

His documentary project Battle Sounds, [3] is considered to be the first film to document the Turntablism movement [4] [5] in the 1990s. He is the inventor and co-designer of TTM, Turntablist Transcription Methodology, a notation system for DJ scratching.

Carluccio's short films have aired nationally and internationally. In a 20-year span, John created over 500 short films as an on-staff producer/director for TV and digital networks, Current TV, BRIC TV, and Dubspot Music School, and for clients such as W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Native Instruments, and Sozo Artists via his production company, CINQUA.  

In 2019, he directed his first feature-length documentary, Maurice Hines: Bring Them Back [6] [7] [8] — Grand Jury Prize Winner (Metropolis) at DOC NYC 2019 and Grand Jury Prize Winner 'Best Documentary" at The American Black Film Festival 2020. [9]

He lives and works in Brooklyn, N.Y., and is married to writer/producer Tracy E. Hopkins.

Turntablism / Hip-Hop DJing

Battle Sounds: Hip-Hop DJ Documentary

While studying at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1988 Carluccio began frequenting underground DJ battles in New York City. An experimental art student at heart, Carluccio soon became immersed in record collecting, noise collage and scratching. In the summer of 1994, he rallied his friends Rio Valledor, Jon Mark Bagnall and brother Paul Carluccio to begin production on the Battle Sounds: Hip-Hop DJ Documentary. [10]  

Battle Sounds was a documentary project recorded primarily from 1994 to 1997. The project captured the grassroots DJ culture movement at a pivotal time in its evolution. Carluccio and his team recorded over 200 hours of material in New York City, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Francisco and London. He interviewed over 50 key contributors to the early turntablist scene, including well-known DJs and hip-hop producers DJ Premier, Kid Capri and Pete Rock;  underground DJ battle stars DJ QBert, DJ Mix Master Mike, DJ Rob Swift, DJ Roc Raida, DJ Babu, DJ Craze, DJ Quest and DJ 8-Ball; scratch pioneers DJ Grand Wizzard Theodore, DJ Grand Mixer DXT, DJ Jazzy Jeff and DJ Cash Money; and recording artists that many of these DJs sampled heavily, including jazz artist Bob James and rocker Billy Squier.

Pulling from his five-hour rough cut, Carluccio created a 60-minute excerpt reel for Battle Sounds' premiere at the Whitney Museum of American Art Biennial Exhibit. [11]  The Battles Sounds: 1997 Whitney Biennial Cut was later released on VHS and distributed at underground record stores. Over the next 20 years, the independent documentary took on a cult following, and was duplicated and shared internationally. Unfortunately, beyond the two versions, “The Whitney Cut” and an earlier VHS release titled X-ersize #1, a film about the X-Men DJ crew, audiences never had the chance to see the full scope of the project.[ citation needed ]

After Battle Sounds

Through the Battle Sounds project, Carluccio gained credibility in the DJ community and continued to collaborate with turntablists for many years to come. From 1996 to 2001, he produced The Battle Sounds Turntablist Festival, an open and non-competitive DJ event in New York City. While documenting X-Pressions , the X-Ecutioners’ first studio recording in 1997, Carluccio recognized the need for a musical arrangement and conduction tool. So he designed the first version of TTM, Turntablist Transcription Methodology, a notation system for DJ scratching. In 1998, he co-founded and produced Hop-Fu, a live turntablist scoring of a kung fu film. The project still tours today and has played at film festivals and cultural institutions around the world. In 2001, Carluccio appeared in and was the associate producer for the feature film Scratch. He has photographed the DJ and turntablism scene for magazines, including Vibe, The Fader and Wax Poetics. In more recent years, he has collaborated with DMC Champion DJ Shiftee on a series of videos for Native Instruments, and in 2013 he produced and co-hosted a livestreaming turntablist series titled Stylus Sessions for Dubspot Music School.

TTM Inventor

In 2001, Carluccio was named by Time Magazine one of the next 100 Innovators in music for his TTM, Turntablist Transcription Methodology. The TTM notation system has aided and elevated the communication and collaboration among DJs, turntablists, musicians and producers. It is the industry standard of musical notation for turntablists worldwide. The TTM booklet created by Carluccio, industrial designer Ethan Imboden and DJ Rae Dawn (Raymond Pirtle) continues to be downloaded and shared, and turntablist enthusiasts have translated versions of the booklet into Italian, French and Spanish.

Short films

Independent

In 2000, Carluccio directed The Price of Getting Up, [12] [13] a short film that documented the attempted police shutdown of “Street Market," a collaborative installation with graffiti artists Barry McGee, Todd James and Stephen Powers (ESPO) at Deitch Projects in New York City. The film was part of a DVD-zine project titled MOVE that he produced with fellow Brooklyn filmmakers Joey Garfield and Gabor Stibinger. MOVE documented fashion, art, politics and dance, including a rare interview with dance pioneer Don Campbell.

Carluccio has collaborated with artist/designer Ari Saal Forman multiple times, including an experimental sneaker talk-show pilot titled Sneaker Geeks (2003) — featuring Forman, Kenny Meez, ESPO and designers Dee and Ricky. Continuing his work with Forman, in 2010 he released the short film Cease & Desist, [14] aka Ari Can't Talk About It, which explored sneaker collector culture, color trends and copyright infringement when Forman transformed the lively branding of Newport cigarettes into a limited run Nike-like sneaker. The short film premiered at Slamdance in 2010.

Current TV, 2006-2009

Carluccio was a producer/editor/shooter for Current TV, [15] [16] a national cable television network and web platform. He licensed over 20 documentary shorts to the network in a three-year span. His films chronicled offbeat, under-recognized creative communities in New York City.

BRIC TV, 2009-2011

Carluccio was a staff editor and producer at Brooklyn Independent Television ( later rebranded as BRIC TV). He has produced and/or edited over 100 segments. In 2010, he earned the network its first ever New York Emmy® nomination. He directed a series of artist profile segments that appeared in the network’s Caught in the Act program. In 2016, Carluccio returned to BRIC [17] [18] to produce and direct the arts special All Together Now!, featuring Dan Zanes, Bomba Yo!, The Fillipino Youth Ensemble and Ganesha James. For the project, he earned his second New York Emmy® nomination.

Dubspot, 2011-2014

In 2011, Carluccio joined the staff of the electronic music school Dubspot. He served as the head of development and production. At Dubspot, he built and managed a small video team of producers and editors that created educational and inspirational branded content for Dubspot’s YouTube Channel. He executive produced over 400 videos, and co-founded the Dubspot Original Programming arm which created new web series and short documentaries. As the visionary behind Dubspot Original Programming, Carluccio also produced and created Stylus Sessions, [19] an open experimental lab for the new millennium turntablist.

Located in New York City, the school was a popular destination for top EDM producers and musicians, many of whom have appeared in the school’s educational tutorials, artist profiles and Dubspot original programming. Guests have included Nile Rodgers, Adrian Sherwood, Tunde Adebimpe, Mike Huckaby, Orbital, Carl Craig, Pete Tong, Mala, Morton Subotinick, Daddy Kev, Photek, Dubfire, Richie Hawtin, Oddisee, DJ Spinna, Black Coffee, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Steinski, DJ Muggs, RJD2, Beat Junkies, Spectre, Soul Clap, Robert Heneke, Goth-Trad, Salva, Shlohmo, Ital Tek, Nick Francis, Mark De Clive Lowe, King Brit, Jonwayne, High Priest, Naut Humon, Giles Peterrson, Seth Troxler, Ferry Corsten, Chris Liebing, Scientist, Mad Professor, Lee Scratch Perry, A Tribe Called Red, Daedelus, Laura Escudé, and Brandt Brauer Frick.

CINQUA | Creative Documentary Agency, 2014-Current

In 2014, Carluccio founded CINQUA, a creative documentary company. He has produced and directed projects for W.K. Kellogg Foundation, NYC DOT Art, Smack Mellon Gallery,  BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn!, Ableton, Native Instruments, Serato, Roland Corp. Sozo Artists, Pier 36/Basketball City NYC, The Young Vic (UK), and Grammy-winning contemporary gospel artist BeBe Winans. [20]

Feature Film

Maurice Hines: Bring Them Back, 2019

In 2019, Carluccio directed the award-winning documentary feature film, Maurice Hines: Bring Them Back, [21] [22] an intimate portrait of overlooked elder song-and-dance man Maurice Hines. At the prestigious DOC NYC film festival in 2019, the film won the Metropolis competition Grand Jury Prize for outstanding New York City stories, and received a glowing review in The Hollywood Reporter [23] . In 2020, the film was the Grand Jury Prize Winner 'Best Documentary" at The American Black Film Festival 2020. [9]

Awards and honors

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disc jockey</span> Person who plays recorded music for an audience

A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs, club DJs, mobile DJs, and turntablists. Originally, the "disc" in "disc jockey" referred to shellac and later vinyl records, but nowadays DJ is used as an all-encompassing term to also describe persons who mix music from other recording media such as cassettes, CDs or digital audio files on a CDJ, controller, or even a laptop. DJs may adopt the title "DJ" in front of their real names, adopted pseudonyms, or stage names.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scratching</span> Turntablism technique

Scratching, sometimes referred to as scrubbing, is a DJ and turntablist technique of moving a vinyl record back and forth on a turntable to produce percussive or rhythmic sounds. A crossfader on a DJ mixer may be used to fade between two records simultaneously.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turntablism</span> Art of manipulating sound using turntables

Turntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating new music, sound effects, mixes and other creative sounds and beats, typically by using two or more turntables and a cross fader-equipped DJ mixer. The mixer is plugged into a PA system and/or broadcasting equipment so that a wider audience can hear the turntablist's music. Turntablists typically manipulate records on a turntable by moving the record with their hand to cue the stylus to exact points on a record, and by touching or moving the platter or record to stop, slow down, speed up or, spin the record backwards, or moving the turntable platter back and forth, all while using a DJ mixer's crossfader control and the mixer's gain and equalization controls to adjust the sound and level of each turntable. Turntablists typically use two or more turntables and headphones to cue up desired start points on different records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gregory Hines</span> American dancer, actor, and singer (1946–2003)

Gregory Oliver Hines was an American dancer, actor, choreographer, and singer. He is one of the most celebrated tap dancers of all time. As an actor, he is best known for Wolfen (1981), The Cotton Club (1984), White Nights (1985), Running Scared (1986), The Gregory Hines Show (1997–1998), playing Ben on Will & Grace (1999–2000), and for voicing Big Bill on the Nick Jr. Channel animated children's television program Little Bill (1999–2004).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DJ Qbert</span> American DJ

Richard Quitevis known by his stage name DJ Qbert or Qbert, is an American turntablist and composer who has heavily influenced the History of DJing. He was awarded America's Best DJ in 2010, was DMC USA Champion 1991 (solo) and achieved titles as DMC World Champion in 1992 and 1993.

<i>Scratch</i> (2001 film) 2001 documentary film directed by Doug Pray

Scratch is a 2001 documentary film, directed and edited by Doug Pray. The film explores the world of the hip-hop DJ from the birth of hip-hop when pioneering DJs began extending breaks on records, to the invention of scratching and beat juggling, to the more recent explosion of turntablism. Throughout the documentary, many artists explain how they were introduced to hip-hop while providing stories of their personal experiences.

The Invisibl Skratch Piklz are an American group of turntablists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Mixer DXT</span> Musical artist

Derek Showard, better known by the stage name GrandMixer DXT, is an American musician, and the first DJ to use the turntable as a musical instrument.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rob Swift</span> Musical artist

Rob Swift is an American hip hop DJ and turntablist. He was an original member of the turntablist group The X-Ecutioners until 2004. He has also released numerous solo albums and collaborated with various artists, including Mike Patton, Patton's project Peeping Tom, Dan the Automator and Handsome Boy Modeling School, Lords of Acid, Portugal. The Man, and Herbie Hancock.

DJ Flare is an American turntablist. He has been a scratch DJ since 1983 with many vinyl releases and was a member of the turntablist group the Invisibl Skratch Piklz, appearing in many of their Turntable TV videos and DJ Qbert's animated film Wave Twisters. He released battle records under the pseudonym "DJ Butchwax" on the Thud Rumble and Dirtstyle Records labels. He also created the Flare Scratch, a scratching technique in which a sound is split in two parts leaving limitless sound possibilities to be created. He released a Scratch DVD called Magnifrying Glass. He is also credited for creating the modern day style of Scratch Flare Scratching. Notable mentions, Flare was also a member of Sound Odyssey, Bullet Proof Scratch Hamsters and N.C.A "no clickers allowed" DJ crew and has worked with such music artists as Run-DMC, Third Eye Blind, El' Stew, Buckethead, Moonraker, MCM & The Monster and singer Mike Patton from Faith No More amongst others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A-Trak</span> Musical artist

Alain Macklovitch, known by his stage name A-Trak, is a Canadian DJ, record producer, and record executive. He came to prominence in the late 2000s as an international club DJ and remix artist, known for incorporating highly technical turntable skills and scratching into his genre-spanning work. He is also president of the record label Fool's Gold, which was founded in 2007, and is credited for developing the careers of artists such as Kid Cudi, Danny Brown, and Flosstradamus. Among other collaborative projects, he is part of the DJ duo Duck Sauce with Armand Van Helden and was nominated for a Grammy in 2012 for their song "Barbra Streisand".

Doug Pray is an American documentary film director, producer, editor, and cinematographer who often explores unique subcultures in his films.

Thomas Furneaux Lennon is a documentary filmmaker. He was born in Washington, D.C., graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1968 and Yale University in 1973.

François Verster is an independent South African film director and documentary maker.

Turntablist Transcription Methodology, or TTM, is a notation system for scratching and turntablism. The system was founded by John Carluccio in 1997. A seminal booklet detailing the system was written and published by John Carluccio, industrial designer Ethan Imboden and DJ Raedawn in 2000. It is an intuitive graphical representation of the movement of a record whilst performing with a turntable, and was originally documented in a booklet form for distribution used by turntablists around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roc Raida</span> Musical artist

Anthony Williams, better known as Roc Raida or Grandmaster Roc Raida, was an American DJ, turntablist and producer. He was also a member of the DJ group the X-Ecutioners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maurice Hines</span> American actor, singer and dancer (1943–2023)

Maurice Robert Hines Jr. was an American actor, director, singer, and choreographer. He was the older brother of dancer Gregory Hines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DJ Honda</span> Japanese DJ and music producer

Katsuhiro Honda, better known as DJ Honda, is a Japanese record producer and DJ best known for his 1995 self-titled eponymous debut, DJ Honda.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Controllerism</span> Art of using musical software controllers

Controllerism is the art and practice of using musical software controllers, e.g. MIDI, Open Sound Control (OSC), joystick, etc., to build upon, mix, scratch, remix, effect, modify, or otherwise create music, usually by a Digital DJ or Live PA performer, often called a controllerist. Controllerism is also a nod to traditional musicianship and instrumental-ism paired with modern computer sequencing software such as Ableton Live and Native Instruments Traktor. However a working knowledge of scales and chords is not necessarily required as the performers typically focus their efforts more on sequencing events, software effect and instrument manipulations using buttons, knobs, faders, keys, foot switches and pedals than on instrumental notes played in real time. With recent developments in music technology, particularly in software instruments, a USB MIDI controller enables musicians almost unlimited possibilities to control a wide variety of sound types.

Samuel Morris Zornow, better known as DJ Shiftee, is a New York City based DJ and turntablist.

References

  1. "BRIC TV Show Gets Emmy Nomination (Brooklyn Eagle, published online 03-03-2010)".
  2. Alease (2017-02-23). "BRIC Receives 19 New York Emmy Award Nominations". BRIC. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
  3. Archive-Jeffrey-Golick. "DJ Quest And More Fire Away In 'Battle Sounds'". MTV News. Archived from the original on April 27, 2017. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
  4. "Scratch, Rattle And Roll: The Evolving Spin Of 'Turntablism' | The Seattle Times". archive.seattletimes.com. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
  5. Tyrangiel, Josh (2001-05-28). "Music: TURNTABLIST EXPERT: Now Every Night He Saves a DJ's Life". Time. ISSN   0040-781X . Retrieved 2020-04-14.
  6. "DOC NYC Film Festival Review: "Maurice Hines: Bring Them Back" Was Such A Joy To Watch Such Legendary Talent And Hear His Story". Irish Film Critic. 2019-11-11. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
  7. "'Maurice Hines: Bring Them Back': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
  8. "The Legendary Maurice Hines and two-time Emmy nominated Filmmaker John Carluccio – Turn Out Radio" . Retrieved 2020-04-14.
  9. 1 2 GANS, ANDREW (September 1, 2020). "In the News: Maurice Hines Doc Honored at American Black Film Festival". Playbill.com.
  10. "Battle Sounds". battlesounds.vhx.tv. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
  11. Tyrangiel, Josh (28 May 2001). "Music: TURNTABLIST EXPERT: Now Every Night He Saves a DJ's Life". TIME. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  12. "Street Market: October 5–December 2, 2000".
  13. "THE PRICE OF GETTING UP". CINQUA. 2002-04-01. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
  14. "ARI CAN'T TALK ABOUT IT". CINQUA. 2010-01-03. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
  15. "NEWS | CURRENT TV". CINQUA. 2010-01-31. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
  16. "ART | CURRENT TV". CINQUA. 2010-12-27. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
  17. "NEWS | BIT". CINQUA. 2009-11-01. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
  18. "ART | BIT". CINQUA. 2010-01-02. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
  19. "NYC's Ultimate DJ Battle Weekend: DMC US Finals, Roc Raida Memorial Gong Battle, & Stylus Sessions". Amoeblog. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
  20. "BeBe Winans". GRAMMY.com. 2020-05-19. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
  21. "DOC NYC Award Winners 2019". DOCNYC. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
  22. "Maurice Hines: Bring Them Back – Documentary Film" . Retrieved 2020-05-21.
  23. "'Maurice Hines: Bring Them Back': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
  24. ""BRIC TV Show Gets Emmy Nomination"".
  25. Alease (2017-02-23). "BRIC Receives 19 New York Emmy Award Nominations". BRIC. Retrieved 2020-05-21.