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School of Scratch

Learn how to Scratch DJ

About Emma

Hi, my name is Emma. Welcome to School of Scratch!

I am in the process of updating this page which will share more about me and my scratch story. Stay tuned.

Until then, you might like to check out what my students are saying about School of Scratch on the Testimonials page.

Thanks for visiting.

Timeline – Work in Progress

Here is a rough timeline of my journey with music, DJing and Scratching. Some things may not be in an exact order.

Pre 1996

I grew up listening to a wide variety of music from all genres. The earliest hip hop I listened to was De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest and The Beastie Boys.

1996 – age 18

  • Summer – my friends were going clubbing and telling me about DJ sets and I learned what mixing was and it fascinated me, that a DJ could keep music playing all night seamlessly and shape the vibe and create something amazing for the crowd. At this time, top DJs were people like Carl Cox, Pete Tong, Paul Oakenfold, Sasha, Danny Rampling etc. I wasn’t really into house music and I had a deep appreciation for all music genres.
  • Occasionally I would have a go at mixing on my House DJ friend’s turntables in a short time window before we would head out for the evening. I remember using Stardust Music sounds better with you and Daft punk around the world. Sometimes it would go well and sound something like this, other times, not so much.

1997 / 1998

  • Visited Amsterdam and went to my first proper club, The Melkweg, watching Kemistry and Storm.

1998 / 1999

  • Started getting into Drum and Bass
  • Club Night: Bar Rhumba – Grooverider and Mickey Finn.
  • I was really into MetalHeadz, Goldie, Grooverider, Aphrodite.

 1999

  • Bought a pair of SoundLab (I think they were direct drive DLP3R) turntables and a SoundLab DSM-15 mixer.
  • Initially I taught myself to beat match using my housemates house / US Garage records.
  • Bought my first Drum and Bass vinyl which was the music I was really loving at that time – Roni Size – Brown Paper Bag, EZ Rollers.
  • Club night: Legends of the Dark Black, Plymouth – Aphrodite and Micky Finn
  • My friend lent me some of his Drum and Bass Vinyl collection and I would mix them all back and forth. Aphrodite Drop Top Caddy / Bad Ass was a favourite.
  • I kept purchasing Drum and Bass Vinyl.
  • Started getting more and more into Hip-Hop:
    • The Pharcyde – Labcabin California (CD)
    • Gangstarr – A Decade of Hits (CD)
    • A Tribe Called Quest – Beats Rhymes and Life (CD)
    • Souls of Mischief
    • The Roots
    • Blackalicious
    • Hieroglyphics
  • Started buying Hip-Hop Vinyl – realising how much I had missed I started diving deep to go back through everything from the Golden Age which I adored.
  • Started to explore scratching after my brother showed me some scratching which I was mesmerised by and fell in love with on the spot.
  • I used the line switch / punch pads on my SoundLab starter mixer. The cross fader had no adjustment and would break quite often so this was the only way I could create clean sounds.
  • There were 1 or 2 people I saw scratching in real life – one was using the line switches and one was doing the crab scratch and it was a complete mystery to me.
  • I saw the Scratch Perverts performing live and was blown away by their cuts and had no idea what or how they were achieving the sounds.

 2000

  • September – Purchased my first dedicated scratch mixer – The Vestax 06 ProA “Mixtick” which I was so in love with.
  • I set out to learn and practice, using Scratch Perverts Turntable Tutorial – A Vestax Masterclass.
  • I did what I do not recommend and jumped into learning Flares and the 2 Click Flare (2 finger crab style), I was just so excited that I could create sounds that resembled what Prime Cuts was teaching and demonstrating.
  • I got connected with DJs in Bristol – DJ Quest (UK DMC Champ), Timestretch, Rogue and we would meet up to freestyle scratch together.

 2003

  • Attended the Red Bull Music Academy, Rome.

 2004

  •  Travelled to NYC, visiting Turntable Lab in person and doing a few DJ Gigs with friends.

2008

General Notes

  • I used my SoundLab turntables whilst I saved up to upgrade to a pro turntable with direct drive.
  • I purchased 1 x Vestax 2000 which was my first pro turntable.
  • I saved up and purchased a second.
  • After scratching on my boyfriend’s Technics 1200 mk 2, I found I much preferred the Technics feel, whilst he loved the Vestax and we ended up trading setups which worked out great.
  • I started doing Hip-Hop Vinyl sets in Plymouth in 1999.

2014

  • May 27, 2014 – Opened my online School of Scratch.

To be continued…