Scratch Professor

Scratch Professor

9 February, 2008 | 4.07PM

• Written by: GirlSonic
• Filed under: Music News: book, history, technique, webber

What better way to spend a weekend than reading a book about DJ musicianship, particularly if you aren’t and have no plans to be a DJ? 

My excuse for staying at home while the playground of Manhattan at midnight beckons: one hell of a nasty cold.  Ok, ok, my information addiction might have something to do with it as well.

So I’ve curled up with my blankie, a cup of tea, and a copy of Stephen Webber’s ‘DJ Skills - The Essentials of Mixing & Scratching’. 

Mr. Webber is Professor of Music Production and Engineering at the Berklee School of Music in Boston, and his curriculum vitae is quite impressive. 

That’s him at the turntables with his Stylus Symphony at the Berklee Performance Center.

I picked up his book because the first several chapters cover the historical development of DJ music and culture, and I hoped to learn the answers to some critical questions.

Like, why do some DJs refer to themselves as ‘shaman’?  As in DJ Something-something Shaman or Shaman Master Something-or-other.

And, how did the DJ ‘battle’ get started and what is the DMC?

Oh and while we’re at it, what is this ‘stutter-editing’ they speak of?

Seriously, Professor Webber’s enlightening text covers the history of the DJ beginning with the invention of the phonograph and continuing on through the evolution of platter spinning from radio to rave to Carnegie Hall.

It’s a great read.  But I wonder if I’ll ever find out what the expression ‘Boh!’ means ....

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