Scratching, sometimes referred to as scrubbing, is a DJ and turntablist technique of moving a vinyl record back and forth on a turntable to produce percussive or rhythmic sounds. A crossfader on a DJ mixer may be used to fade between two records simultaneously.
A DJ scratching a record
In the mid-1970s in the South Bronx, a young teen DJ named "Grand Wizzard Theodore" (right) invented the "DJ scratch" technique. Other DJs, like Grandmaster Flash, took the technique to higher levels.
A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs, club DJs, mobile DJs, and turntablists. Originally, the "disc" in "disc jockey" referred to shellac and later vinyl records, but nowadays DJ is used as an all-encompassing term to also describe persons who mix music from other recording media such as cassettes, CDs or digital audio files on a CDJ, controller, or even a laptop. DJs may adopt the title "DJ" in front of their real names, adopted pseudonyms, or stage names.
Club DJ Robert Hood
Club DJ Ellen Allien at MAGMA festival 2006, in Tenerife, Spain
DJ workplace in a nightclub, consisting of three CDJs (top), three turntables for vinyl records and a DJ mixer
DJ Pete Rock performing at Rahzel and Friends – Brooklyn Bowl, 2016
