Turntablism

Turntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating music using turntables and a DJ mixer. Turntablists generally prefer direct-drive turntables over belt-driven or other types. The word turntablist was originated / developed by Luis "DJ Disk" Quintanilla (Primus, Herbie Hancock, Invisibl Skratch Piklz). After a phone conversation with Disk, it was later "coined" and used in 1995 by DJ Babu to describe the difference between a DJ who simply plays records and one who performs by physically manipulating the records, stylus, and mixer to produce sounds. The new term coincided with the resurgence of hip-hop DJing in the 1990s.

John Oswald described the art: "A phonograph in the hands of a 'hiphop/scratch' artist who plays a record like an electronic washboard with a phonographic needle as a plectrum, produces sounds which are unique and not reproduced—the record player becomes a musical instrument."

Some turntablists use turntable techniques like beat mixing/matching, scratching, and beat juggling. Some turntablists seek to have themselves recognized as traditional musicians capable of interacting and improvising with other performers.

The use of the turntable as a musical instrument has its roots dating back to the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s when musique concrète and other experimental composers (such as John Cage, Halim El-Dabh, and Pierre Schaeffer) used them to sample and create music that was entirely produced by the turntable. Cage's Imaginary Landscape No. 1 (1939) is composed for two variable speed turntables, frequency recordings, muted piano and cymbal. Edgard Varèse experimented with turntables even earlier in 1930, though he never formally produced any works using them.

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