Turntable Terminology
Until you start playing a turntable, these following terms may not mean much. However, to the person rocking a turntable and manipulating a mixer, these terms are as relevant as "staccato," "legato," and "fortissimo" to a classically trained violinist. There are many other terms, and some are called multiple names, depending on who uses them or claims to have created the techniques. To put it mildly, this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Airplane Scratch
Two turntables play the same record, and one is moved faster and slower
in relation to the other while both are fed through the mixer, creating
a phasing or flanging sound (sort of like the whooshing of a jet flying
by).
Battle-Style
Two turntables are turned 90 degrees in relation to each other, one on each side of the performer.
Baby Scratch
As its name implies, it's the simplest scratch movement, where you just
move the record back and forth without manipulating a volume fader.
Beat Juggling
Play two different records and switch between them to create new rhythms based on the combinations that are produced.
Bubble Scratch
Move the record back and forth while manipulating the EQ knob from
minimum to maximum, producing a pseudo wah-wah effect as the filter
(tone control) takes the sound from dark to bright.
Crab Scratch
Your hand looks like a crab as you use three or four fingers to rub or
tap the fader knob sequentially while scratching the record.
Chirp Scratch
Fade the sound down while pushing the record forward, and then fade the
sound up while pulling back on the record. When it's done quickly, you
can hear a "chirp."
Chops
Chops are like forwards, but you do not let go of the record when you push forward.
Drag
This is simply moving the record slowly forwards or backwards.
Drumming
Drumming is to manually arrange the samples by using different scratch techniques to create a percussive rhythm.
Echoes
Echoes are done by doing forwards on the upfader, and fading out slowly.
Flare Scratch
Similar to the transform scratch, but you cut the sound into pieces by
bouncing the fader off of the cut-out side of the fader slot. There are
several types of flare scratches, each named according to the beat it's
used on.
Forwards/Backwards
Forwards are achieved by taking a sound, letting it play forward,
turning your fader off, bringing the sound back, and doing it over
again.
Hamster-Style
A DJ usually sets up the right-channel turntable on the right and the
left-channel turntable on the left, and mixes accordingly. When you set
up hamster-style, you flip-flop the setup so that the right turntable
comes out the left channel and vice versa.
Hydroplane
Lightly drag your fingers over the moving record to produce a bassy sound from the friction, reversing the volume faders.
Lazer
The lazer is done by flinging the record fast forward or fast
backwards. It is usually done with one finger to have the leverage to
fling quick.
Looping
Playing the same record on two turntables and mixing between different parts.
Orbit Scratch
This term is pretty wide-open, but it generally means that you do one scratch, move forward and then backward (or vice versa).
Scribble Scratch
This is done with a tense forearm, moving the record back and forth in
very small, shaky increments for a bit of a vibrato effect.
Rubs
A rub uses the same technique as a hydroplane, except the difference is
you control the record with the other hand by bringing it back or
forward.
Stabbing
Move the record quickly one way or the other to produce a stabbing sound.
Strobing
A type of beat juggling where you alternate between two records,
tapping or pulling on each one to add more beats through syncopation.
Tear Scratch
Similar to the baby scratch, this one is done by pulling back on the
record and pausing momentarily midway through. You can also do it on a
forward stroke.
Transform (or Transformer) Scratch
You move the record with one hand while tapping the fader to raise and
lower the volume in sequence, much like an electronic tremolo.
Tweak Scratch
This is done with the turntable's motor turned off; use your thumb and
fingers to move the disk back and forth, and it slows down after you
let go.
Twiddle Scratch
This is sonically similar to the crab scratch, but done by rapidly using just two fingers.
DC Servo Motor
A lower-speed, electronically controlled drive motor in a turntable.
Head
The part at the front of the arm that (usually) will contain a headshell.
Headshell (or cartridge slide, or cartridge mount)
The part attached to the tone arm that the cartridge mounts on to and wires to.
Synchronous Motor
An AC-powered turntable motor that "locks" onto the 60 Hz (Hertz, or
cycles per second) or 50 Hz line frequency of the electricity from the
wall.