turntablism thesis | Hypebeast Forums

October 27, 2008 @ 09:13 AM

Vermont

Post: 88

Join Date: Sep 2008

so i am writing a 15 page paper + 20 minute presentation on turntablism. So i have a few sources on turntablism and djing and have a genrel idea of all of it. but i need a thesis for the paper and presentation. i dont know much about turntablism so it is hard for me to create a thesis on turntablism that there is enough information to support o. so i was wondering if anyone who knew anything about turntablism and/or djing would have an idea of a good thesis i could use. thanks

October 27, 2008 @ 09:47 AM

AMuells

Post: 1030

Join Date: Nov 2007

Location: Chicago

Thats a cool topic. Last year I had to do a research paper on the history of rap music. The best part about that is that i drew it outta a hat and all the other topics were really gay. Your thesis really depends on what your take on the paper is. You can try something like turntablism and the affect it has on our music today or you can go into the histroy of it.

October 27, 2008 @ 11:24 AM

dabears

Post: 16

Join Date: Oct 2008

the scene has really changed over the past several years, primarily after the advent of serato. the heyday of the turntablism scene, especially the competitive aspect, was like 96-2003. you should watch battle videos, from DMC and ITF. watch Doug Pray's "Scratch." watch "Battle Sounds." that will help you get an idea. you should watch qbert's DIY dvd series so you can understand the technical aspects of skratching and juggling.

if you don't have an adequate understanding of the fundamental aspects of it all...including the technical aspects (what a flare is, why it matters, how it's accomplished...what strobing is, why it matters, how it's accomplished)...you won't be able to talk about turntablism intelligibly for 20 minutes. from a historical perspective, you also need to look at coastal influences, as the styles in the bay were radically different from those in new york during the time when the scene was beginning to develop. read up on the invisibl skratch piklz, beat junkies, x-ecutioners/x-men, and the bullet proof skratch hamsters.

the idea of the turntable being a musical instrument has been written about and talked about to death. i think a much more interesting topic regarding turntablism is a critical look at the causation of stylistic changes in the scene. watch battles from 97 and study techniques and listen to the types of records people were using compared to a battle from 2005, for instance. it's radically different. to look into that, you'll also need to understand how musical trends have changed over time as well.

if we're talking about strict turntablism, not just djing in general, it's important to also study a series of routines to get an idea of how things have progressed. watch the rocksteady dj's routine from 92 dmc finals. watch steve dee from 1990 dmc. atrak from 1997 worlds. craze from 98 usa dmc. ptrix 99 usa dmc. teeko 2003 usa dmc. look at some of kentaro's routines as well as those from rafik and netik. listen to the x-excutioner's first album "xpressions," qbert's Wave Twisters, DStyles' Phantazmagorea, the first volume of Return of the DJ. try to get ahold of qbert's Demolition Pumpkin Squeezemusik, too.

October 27, 2008 @ 03:58 PM

Vermont

Post: 88

Join Date: Sep 2008

the scene has really changed over the past several years, primarily after the advent of serato. the heyday of the turntablism scene, especially the competitive aspect, was like 96-2003. you should watch battle videos, from DMC and ITF. watch Doug Pray's "Scratch." watch "Battle Sounds." that will help you get an idea. you should watch qbert's DIY dvd series so you can understand the technical aspects of skratching and juggling.

if you don't have an adequate understanding of the fundamental aspects of it all...including the technical aspects (what a flare is, why it matters, how it's accomplished...what strobing is, why it matters, how it's accomplished)...you won't be able to talk about turntablism intelligibly for 20 minutes. from a historical perspective, you also need to look at coastal influences, as the styles in the bay were radically different from those in new york during the time when the scene was beginning to develop. read up on the invisibl skratch piklz, beat junkies, x-ecutioners/x-men, and the bullet proof skratch hamsters.

the idea of the turntable being a musical instrument has been written about and talked about to death. i think a much more interesting topic regarding turntablism is a critical look at the causation of stylistic changes in the scene. watch battles from 97 and study techniques and listen to the types of records people were using compared to a battle from 2005, for instance. it's radically different. to look into that, you'll also need to understand how musical trends have changed over time as well.

if we're talking about strict turntablism, not just djing in general, it's important to also study a series of routines to get an idea of how things have progressed. watch the rocksteady dj's routine from 92 dmc finals. watch steve dee from 1990 dmc. atrak from 1997 worlds. craze from 98 usa dmc. ptrix 99 usa dmc. teeko 2003 usa dmc. look at some of kentaro's routines as well as those from rafik and netik. listen to the x-excutioner's first album "xpressions," qbert's Wave Twisters, DStyles' Phantazmagorea, the first volume of Return of the DJ. try to get ahold of qbert's Demolition Pumpkin Squeezemusik, too.

thanks man. very helpfull post. i really apriceit the time to put your imput. so you think wirtting a research paper on the question of "is the turntable in turntablism a musical insturment and is it an art form?" boring?. see the thing is i dont think there is enough information to create a 15 page paper on turntablism and a 20 minute presentation if i was to do something on thecausation of stylistic changes in the scene. unless you have some sources and a idea of how i would aproch that topic. please let me know and thanks for your help

October 28, 2008 @ 10:34 AM

dabears

Post: 16

Join Date: Oct 2008

i think the idea of the turntable being a musical instrument isn't novel anymore. it's just not a revolutionary concept like it was in the 90's. to a college professor who has no idea about it at all, i'm sure it would be interesting...but personally i don't think that it's thesis level material at all because it has already been studied so closely and it's time has already passed. (i've also been djing for 12 years, so i'm kinda biased.)

the turntablism scene and djing in general has changed dramatically since serato was introduced. it arrived at the same time as the ipod, and as i'm sure you know, the way that people (and djs) listened to music changed, and the value that they placed on music and creativity and artistry changed.

because a lot of the hype behind the turntablist scene died off, there isn't much attention paid to the creative energy involved anymore. now anyone can buy a mixer with a built in ipod dock and make mixes, and people can hear any song they want at any time they want...so the idea of a dj being someone who brings that new or obscure shit to the forefront just vanished.

the playing field was leveled largely because of technology, and the game completely changed.

you can see that same trend on a number of levels throughout our culture, from turbulence in the media industry - everyone and their mom has a blog, CNN does "ireporting," etc, look at the steep decline on print ad sales - to changes in fashion - half of the people on this site want to start the next stussy, and photoshop is giving them advantages that were impossible a decade ago. you can probably rattle off 15 t-shirt "brands" that silkscreen adobe cs graphics on american apparel blanks without even having to think about it.

i think that the idea within djing itself is totally interesting, and if you are able to put enough work in it to get a solid grasp of what the culture was and what it is, and you can relate the changes it has gone through to changes that we are experiencing culturally on a greater level...that's a thesis.

if you want to expand the idea out further, i think that an examination of a perceived or real change in value of creative product because of technology...would be real interesting.

turntable as a musical instrument though? you can do that for sure. you'd probably think it would be exciting too, since it sounds like you are newly exposed to the scene. you'll need to do interviews with folks though, cuz it's not like a lot of documentation has been done in academic journals (that I know of.) DJ Rob Swift, DJ Qbert, and Christie Z Pabon are 3 extremely important people to speak to. if that's what you're set on writing about, they will be able to guide you and give you good insight.