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.
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.
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.
Prodigy Present: The Dirtchamber Sessions Volume One is a 1999 solo mix album by Liam Howlett of The Prodigy, initially produced for BBC Radio 1's mix show The Breezeblock.
Richard Quitevis known by his stage name DJ Qbert or Qbert, is an American turntablist and composer. 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.
The Invisibl Skratch Piklz are an American group of turntablists.
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.
The X-Ecutioners, originally known as X-Men, are a group of American hip hop DJs/turntablists from New York City, New York. The group formed in 1989 and currently consists of three DJs, including Total Eclipse, DJ Boogie Blind, and DJ Precision. Original members of the group included Mista Sinista, Rob Swift, and Roc Raida. Rob Swift and Total Eclipse formed a side project called Ill Insanity releasing one album together in 2008 entitled Ground Xero.
Michael Schwartz, better known by his stage name Mix Master Mike, is an American turntablist best known for his work with Beastie Boys.
A DJ mixer is a type of audio mixing console used by disc jockeys (DJs) to control and manipulate multiple audio signals. Some DJs use the mixer to make seamless transitions from one song to another when they are playing records at a dance club. Hip hop DJs and turntablists use the DJ mixer to play record players like a musical instrument and create new sounds. DJs in the disco, house music, electronic dance music and other dance-oriented genres use the mixer to make smooth transitions between different sound recordings as they are playing. The sources are typically record turntables, compact cassettes, CDJs, or DJ software on a laptop. DJ mixers allow the DJ to use headphones to preview the next song before playing it to the audience. Most low- to mid-priced DJ mixers can only accommodate two turntables or CD players, but some mixers can accommodate up to four turntables or CD players. DJs and turntablists in hip hop music and nu metal use DJ mixers to create beats, loops and so-called scratching sound effects.
Vestax Corporation was a Japanese musical instrument, turntable and audio equipment firm founded by Hidesato Shiino in 1977. The company started by designing and manufacturing electronic guitars. In the 1980s, Vestax produced multitrack recorders and later moved to making DJ mixers, professional turntables, CD players and signal processors. Debt troubles led to the company's bankruptcy at the end of 2014.
Stanton Magnetics, doing business as Stanton, is a business unit of inMusic Brands that designs and markets turntables, cartridges, DJ mixers, DJ media players, and DJ controllers.
Double Dee and Steinski is a duo of hip hop producers, composed of Doug "Double Dee" DiFranco and Steven "Steinski" Stein. They achieved notoriety in the early 1980s for a series of underground hip-hop sample-based collages known as the "Lessons".
"The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel" is a single released by American disc jockey Grandmaster Flash in 1981. It is a live DJ mix recording of Flash scratching and mixing records from various groups using three turntables. The musician employed several DJ techniques in the recording, including crossfading, cutting, rubbing and backspins.
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.
General Patton vs. The X-Ecutioners is a collaboration album released by Mike Patton and New York City's hip-hop DJ trio The X-Ecutioners. It was released on February 5, 2005 through Ipecac Recordings, and was entirely produced by Mike Patton.
John Francis Carluccio is an American filmmaker, artist, and inventor. Carluccio is a two-time Emmy-nominated filmmaker who is best known for documenting obscure pockets of urban society and the creative process.
Scratch is the soundtrack to the 2001 documentary Scratch directed by Doug Pray. Scratch examines cultural and historical perspectives on the birth and evolution of hip-hop disc jockeys (DJs), scratching and turntablism and includes interviews with some of hip-hop's most famous and respected DJs.
The San Francisco-based Bomb Hip-Hop Records has evolved since its humble beginnings in 1991 as a hip-hop publication to "one of the fifteen independent labels that matter" according to Rolling Stone. Bomb’s Return of the DJ series was ranked by Spin Magazine as #25 in their “The 90 Greatest Albums of the 90’s”. Having been credited with the revival of the D.J. as an artist in their own right for the Return of the DJ series, featured in the movie Scratch, the label is also known for spotlighting hip-hop from around the world. With a total of 77 releases to date, some of the artists that have appeared on releases from Bomb Hip-Hop include Dilated Peoples, Blackalicious, J-Live, Cut Chemist from Jurassic 5, Qbert, DJ Craze, Z-Trip, Rob Swift & Roc Raida from X-ecutioners, Noisy Stylus, Mr. Dibbs of Atmosphere, DJ Honda, DJ Format, Peanut Butter Wolf, Swollen Members, Defari, Paul Nice and AG of D.I.T.C., Jedi Mind Tricks, Mystik Journeymen, Kid Koala and Mixmaster Mike of the Beastie Boys.
Joshua Paul Davis, better known by his stage name DJ Shadow, is an American DJ and record producer. His debut studio album, Endtroducing....., was released in 1996.
