Flare (scratch)
Encyclopedia
Flare is a type of scratch
used by turntablists. It is made from a combination of moving the record
on the turntable
by hand and quick movement of the crossfader.
The flare was invented by its namesake, DJ Flare
, in 1991, but was further developed by DJ Q-Bert
.
in some ways, only instead of starting with the sound that you are cutting up off, you start with the sound on and concentrate on cutting the sound into pieces by bouncing the fader off the cut out side of the fader slot to make the sound cut out and then back in a split second. Each time the DJ bounces the fader off the side of the fader slot it makes a distinct clicking noise. For this reason, flares are named according to clicks. A simple one click forward flare would be a forward scratch starting with the sound on as you bounce/click the fader against the side once extremely quickly in the middle of the forward stroke creating two distinct sounds in one stroke of your record hand and ending with the fader open. In the same manner, 2 clicks, 3 clicks, and even more clicks (if you're fast enough) can be performed to do different types of flares. The discovery and development of the flare scratch was instrumental in elevating this art form to the level of speed and technical scratching that we are so used to seeing today.
Scratching
Scratching is a DJ or turntablist technique used to produce distinctive sounds by moving a vinyl record back and forth on a turntable while optionally manipulating the crossfader on a DJ mixer. While scratching is most commonly associated with hip hop music, since the late 1980s, it has been used...
used by turntablists. It is made from a combination of moving the record
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
on the turntable
Phonograph
The phonograph record player, or gramophone is a device introduced in 1877 that has had continued common use for reproducing sound recordings, although when first developed, the phonograph was used to both record and reproduce sounds...
by hand and quick movement of the crossfader.
The flare was invented by its namesake, DJ Flare
DJ Flare
DJ Flare is a scratch DJ with many vinyl releases. Flare was a member of the turntablist group the Invisibl Skratch Piklz, appearing in many of their Turntable TV videos. He releases battle records under the pseduonym "Butchwax" on the Thud Rumble and Dirtstyle Records labels. He also created...
, in 1991, but was further developed by DJ Q-Bert
DJ Q-bert
Richard Quitevis, born October 7, 1969, in San Francisco, California, known by his stage name DJ Qbert or Qbert , is a Filipino-American Turntablist and composer.- Early life :...
.
Technique
This scratch technique is much like the transformTransform (scratch)
A transform is a type of scratch used by turntablists. It is made from a combination of moving the record on the turntable by hand and repeated movement of the crossfader.- Creation :...
in some ways, only instead of starting with the sound that you are cutting up off, you start with the sound on and concentrate on cutting the sound into pieces by bouncing the fader off the cut out side of the fader slot to make the sound cut out and then back in a split second. Each time the DJ bounces the fader off the side of the fader slot it makes a distinct clicking noise. For this reason, flares are named according to clicks. A simple one click forward flare would be a forward scratch starting with the sound on as you bounce/click the fader against the side once extremely quickly in the middle of the forward stroke creating two distinct sounds in one stroke of your record hand and ending with the fader open. In the same manner, 2 clicks, 3 clicks, and even more clicks (if you're fast enough) can be performed to do different types of flares. The discovery and development of the flare scratch was instrumental in elevating this art form to the level of speed and technical scratching that we are so used to seeing today.