True Films 3.0 - Kevin Kelly

Scratch
It ain’t news that kids play the turntable as if it were a musical instrument
but this fast-paced history of how DJ scratching was invented is pretty
cool. Profiles of four famous “turntable-ists” give a clear picture of how
remarkable their scratching skill is; they can essentially sing by deftly
oscillating appropriate portions of several records. With fine detail the
film reveals the scratchers extreme dedication to innovation, constant
practice, and an obsessive knowledge of records. It’s quite a trip, very
geeky in many ways, but it increased my respect and admiration for this
weird little achievement 1000%.
By Doug Pray
2001, 92 min.
Available from Amazon
Rent from Netflix
The sliding knobs that
scratchers twiddle to
create their voices. In
his basement, one
scratcher (middle) and
his buddies practice
on a mutli-turntable
setup. Endless stacks
of old vinyl in a used
record store (below) is
the nirvana for many
scratchers.
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