If you don’t own a turntable, buying your first can be an intimidating proposition, not to mention that to really be a turntablist, you’ll need two. You can technically “scratch” with a single turntable, but it won’t be making music. As long as you’ve got a direct-drive model, it should be fine for scratching. Don’t break the bank.

If you have a cheaper set of turntables you may need to cut additional pieces of plastic, wax or parchment paper. Plastic carrier bags from the supermarket work really well. You can buy a product called “magic carpet” that will help reduce friction. If you want to use your own slipmats or have a problem with stoppage or you can pick up a product called “butter rugs” and just use those as your permanent slipmat. They are the slickest slipmats available. You may still need to reduce the friction further but it depends on your taste and equipment.

Most scratch records have a series of samples, alternating break-beats and sound effects. Don’t just buy any record you find online, it’s best to listen to the records to make sure they have something on it that is usable in your practice/performance. For DJs, non-skippable records have been designed to repeat the samples in a way that if your needle skips (as it will) you will remain on the sounds you are trying to use. If you don’t have regular records, then try to wear in the record a little by finding the samples that you like and then pushing the record back and forth to get the needle and the groove. You can use a capella records or records that you already have and try to find a sample to use, but most DJs normally end up picking up a few scratch records to use in practice and battles.

Listen closely to records and stop the record when you hear something you might like to use. Go back and try to find the exact moment that sound begins.

Some DJs prefer not to put stickers on the vinyl itself, though it’s the classic way of doing it. You can also try to mark the groove however works best for you, if you’re going to tape your beats or mix them on the fly. [1] X Research source

Start with a slower beat and then get faster and faster as you go along. When you are able to do them at a good speed, try to vary the rhythms by throwing in rests to the beats you develop.

RZA pioneered the lo-fi use of classic soul and samurai film samples, incorporating a few elements into unforgettable beats for the early run of Wu-Tang albums and solo projects from the individual members. Check out Raekwon’s “Ice Cream,” which features a sped-up easy-listening guitar sample, a beat, and nothing else. Madlib’s use of jazz records and 80’s ephemera makes him one of the most sought-out modern producers, fusing old and new in surprisingly fresh ways. Check out Madvillainy, his project with MF Doom, and his record with Freddie Gibbs for great examples of turntablist technique.

Many DJs will mark the BPMs on the record sleeves themselves, making it easy to quickly build beats and songs while you’re working.

Turntablist rule of thumb: Combined with a drum track by the Meters, almost anything sounds cool.

Most hip-hop and dance music is in 4/4. That means for each bar of music there are 4 beats to the bar. Each beat can be subdivided in only a finite amount of ways. Count these out loud while you listen to music. Each beat will be place between [brackets]: [1] [2] [3] [4] [1 and] [2 and] [3 and] [4 and] [1 e and a] [2 e and a] [3 e and a] [4 e and a] [1 trip let] [2 trip let] [3 trip let] [4 trip let] [1 trip let and trip let] [2 trip let and trip let] [3 trip let and trip let] [ 4 trip let and trip let]

A good way to introduce yourself to beats is to play the snare drum. You can go to the Vic Firth website listed below to get a feel for how beats are subdivided, and how the subdivisions that include rests sound. [2] X Research source Once you can sing these rhythms or at least some of them out loud, you can start using these as a foundation for the scratches you develop.