The Stab: Builds Fader Control
As you begin to work on the Stab, you’ll notice that control is extremely important. The technique is very simple, but it may take some time to develop control and coordination. Your fader hand allows the sound for the forward stroke, then closes before you hear the backward stroke, and reopens for the next forward stroke. When done repeatedly, you only hear the forward stroke.
The technique requires both hands to move in time with the music, similar to the Chirp. The difference is that the fader is opened on the forward stroke instead of being closed, then quickly closes to cut off the sound and isolate the forward stroke. Like everything we do, the fader and record are moving in time with the pulse of the music. Once you are able to identify how your hands move with the rhythm to isolate the forward stroke, the Stab can be executed musically and with precision.
Understanding How We Approach the Stab
A lot of DJs tend to focus on how many times the fader has to open and close to produce multiple scratch sounds, but looking at it that way can overcomplicate things. The challenge of the technique isn’t about developing speed to open and close the fader before the backward stroke. It’s about developing the feel of the movement and executing it in time with the music.
Like everything else so far, we practice the technique at a comfortable speed to build muscle memory and develop a clear sense of what it feels like to execute it properly. Once that feeling starts to develop, we can begin to execute the Stab musically and with precision.
This is why understanding rhythm and timing is critical. When these are understood, the Stab can be approached logically. If you’re not able to isolate the forward stroke to the music, it simply means your hands are out of sync with the beat and each other. From there, we use the pulse of the music as a reference to make adjustments and understand what needs to be corrected. So, with time and practice, this can be fixed.
Below is the original transcript from the video.
Hey, this is Ronin from Scratching Made Easy. In this video, we're going to apply quarter note and quarter rest rhythms to the stab. You’ll find a link to the sheet music in the description below. For those who don’t know, a stab is a short accented forward scratch.
Let’s start with a demonstration. I’m going to play a short-accented stroke, then close the fader before I pull the record back. By closing the fader before the pullback, it eliminates the sound of the backward stroke. After closing the fader and eliminating the sound, we repeat the sequence. Now that we’ve got that covered, let’s play some quarter notes.
If you’re new to our series and you're not familiar with counting music, we recommend you go back and check out our Baby Scratch series to get caught up. Let’s move on to the first rhythm. The tempo is at 85 beats per minute. Here we go!
Rhythm 1
With the second rhythm, let’s focus on making sure we don’t hear the sound when we pull back the record. We want to close the fader completely before we pull back the record. Let’s make sure we eliminate that sound. Here we go!
Rhythm 2
It may take some time to get your timing down, so with the third rhythm we're going to continue working on closing the fader before the pullback. This time, we're also going to focus on making sure that our forward stroke after the pullback is on beat. We want to be in time. Alright, here we go!
Rhythm 3
That covers it for the first lesson in our stab series. Make sure to practice this with both hands. During your practice sessions, continue to focus on being in time when you execute your forward strokes. It may feel awkward right now, but with consistent practice, that’ll change over time. We hope you enjoyed this video. I gotta go. Hit that subscribe button. See you next video. Peace!
FAQs
1. Why is only the forward stroke heard in the Stab?
Only the forward stroke is heard in the Stab because the fader allows the sound for the forward stroke, then closes before the backward stroke is heard.
2. Why is developing the feel of the movement important for the Stab?
Developing the feel of the movement is important for the Stab because the challenge is not developing speed, but executing the movement in time with the music.
3. Why are rhythm and timing critical for the Stab?
Rhythm and timing are critical for the Stab because they help you identify when your hands are out of sync with the beat and each other and use the pulse of the music as a reference to make adjustments.
Summary
The Stab develops fader control by allowing the sound for the forward stroke, then closing the fader before the backward stroke is heard. Internalizing the feel of this movement and executing it in time with the music helps you identify when your hands are out of sync and use the pulse as a reference to make adjustments.
About the Authors
Jason E. Bullock and M. Dwayne Bullock (DjRoninTokyo) are the creators of Scratching Made Easy and the authors of Scratching Made Easy Turntable Method Book 1: A Guide to Scratching. They created a scratch notation system that uses standard musical notation to apply fundamental music concepts to scratching.
Pt. 1 → Pt. 2
Continue to: How I Learned Cross Fader & Record Control - The Stab Scratch (Part 2)
