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If You Don't Breathe You May Choke - The Benefits Of Silence

By Kwote

http://kwotemusic.com

 

Good phrasing in scratching is a lot like writing a good sentence. If done well it will contain all the necessary punctuation to get your point across. If you have a lot to say in one sentence, it helps to break things up by adding commas(or even parenthesis). Sometimes you may need to blatantly pause… for effect. All of these elements create a conversational tone to what you are writing.

If you choose to ignore punctuation in your phrasing, at best you are most likely irritating the listener. It is very typical for a lot of scratchers to do this. They go and go, yet rarely stop to see if the listener is still paying attention. When that happens the listener will usually tune out due to overwhelm. Fortunately enough for us, this issue can be remedied.

Are Your Ears On Break?

It may seem obvious that there are countless ways to use silence in scratching. In all honesty though, there are a lot of ways that I was unaware of. One of the key ways is to become a better listener. Even in a conversation, if you're the dominant speaker, it helps to give the person you're speaking to the chance to acknowledge what you're saying. This can come in the form of words like: okay, yes, right, I see.

When this concept is used in a scratch solo, the other person becomes the beat you are scratching over. If you never pause to hear the beat, it can be difficult to know if your scratching is really meshing well. In fact, if you really aren't paying attention you can really start to clash rhythmically. This is similar to when someone is ready to respond to what you've said and they do, but you don't notice because you're still talking. It can be a total train wreck!

Picking Up The Pieces

Clearly, unless you enjoy embarrassing moments, avoiding the above scenario is desirable. So let's define our goal. We want to captivate people with our scratching and give them an enjoyable and memorable experience. If they really enjoy what you do, they'll likely be back for more.

Pausing regularly, even for brief moments, is a great way to keep track of where you are in the beat and stay in sync with the rhythm. When this happens you will flow more smoothly. You'll be more at one with the beat and the listener WILL notice. Even if they aren't really into scratching, you have a better chance of capturing their interest. If they enjoy the beat you're scratching over, they'll likely be more into you, simply because you're blending in with the beat more successfully.

A Strong Accent

There are defining moments in a beat that you should definitely pay attention to. You can save yourself a lot of trouble by taking advantage of this. One such typical way is to pause at the end of a loud snare drum. If one particular snare drum is louder(more dynamic) than the rest, try pausing as soon as it ends. This will naturally bring out more strength in that part of the beat and your solo.

I get an image of a drumhead being punctured or a speaker popping. It's also similar to adding multiple exclamation points to your sentence!!! Be wary not to overuse this idea as it can become too predictable, but when used in moderation it can really catch your listener off guard. As we all know, being too predictable equals boredom. The opposite is also true. When no one knows what to expect things can get VERY interesting.

No Need For Crutches

So as you can see, boredom is not a friend of ours. We need to take extra caution to make sure that we're not over dependent on silence in our scratch solos. The saying, "all good things in moderation, including moderation", applies here.

There are times when silence can actually be detrimental to what you're trying to express. You may have a whirlwind of fast, crazy emotion to unload on the listener. If you were to use silence throughout that part of your solo, much of the impact would be lost. By waiting to add silence after you've expressed those emotions, you not only get the full idea out properly but you add extra impact by ending in an abrupt manner.

The Balancing Act

Ultimately we want to control silence. Not let it control us. You do this by developing a great sense of when to use it and how much of it to use. Experimentation during practice is a great way to further improve upon this skill. I highly recommend recording and reviewing your scratching to hear if you are violating or emulating the principles laid out in this article.

It may be painful at times to hear mistakes you are making. However, awareness of one's faults is extremely vital to effectively improving as a scratch dj. You may not even catch all of your mistakes. If you are new to this concept it can be tough to perceive what is right or wrong. That is okay. Going through the process of thinking things through on your own, will do wonders for your awareness. Thus, you'll find that you're increased awareness will lead to improvement in many other areas of your scratching.

For more information on how to improve your scratching, go to http://kwotemusic.com and sign up to my newsletter where I feature free lessons monthly.

Kwote
http://kwotemusic.com

© 2011 Kwotemusic

About the Author

Kwote is a professional turntablist, composer and scratch dj instructor living in the San Francisco, Bay Area, CA. He is known for creating music by melding the unconventional with the conventional in a convincing manner. Currently he is featured with multiple artists throughout the world on a Guitar based compilation entitled ‘Shrouded In Sound'.

http://kwotemusic.com

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