On The Record: The Scratch DJ Academy Guide

Pg 22 In 1935, American newspaper and radio commentator Walt Winchell coined the term Disc Jockey….The moniker seemed to suggest that the announcers passively “rode” the discs.

Pg 28 DJ Herc realized that the crowd danced most excitedly when the instruments climaxed and the vocal faded out (known musically as the break).

Pg 32 In 1975, a young Grand Wizard Theodore was practicing with his brothers turntables when his mother shouted something to him from another part of the house, the 13yr old put his hand down to stop the record so he could hear what she was saying, and accidentally moved the vinyl back n forth slightly against the needle, making a scratching sound.

Pg 95 Never say no to a gig, DJ AM advises, if its a chance to practice in front of people, you have to do it. It took yrs until i could pick and choose where I played”

Pg 98 For a warmup set, you quickly realize that you cant just go out and play all the big tracks, or imitate what you think the headlining DJ will play, or hes gonna come on and be pissed off with you, and youll have lost the chance of making a connection

Pg 205 If youre a hip hop DJ, youre going to want to plan on playing just part of each record, as the typical crowd is not as patient as a house audience. Youre going to be expected to play a lot of the current jams

Pg 208 Being a good DJ is about balancing what your ego wants with what the audience youre playing to wants

Pg 210 I always have 20 tracks with me that I love but which may be too cutting edge for most crowds. If the opening of my set goes well, ill pull out a few of those tracks and just hit them with it

Pg 234 You dont have to become a mash-up DJ, but occasionally dropping a song from a different genre into your sets or playlist will help you create a connection with a crowd and keep your interest

Let’s get 1% better every day