Scr-scr-scratch effects!
Developed in the late 1970s by hip-hop DJs such as Grand Wizard Theodore and Kool Herc, scratching is undoubtedly the most iconic use of a pair of turntables. The basic premise of scratching is to create a rhythmic sound that complements the music being played, achieved by moving the scratch record back and forth while using the central mixer’s crossfader to chop the scratching sound in and out. While it can take many years to become ambidextrous enough to do epic scratch moves using a mixer and vinyl turntables (or CDJs), you can use your DAW and choice plugins to recreate this sound in the box, without a single dusty record in sight.
The first place to start is recreating the movement of the record itself. The most basic scratch move is known as the baby scratch, which entails moving the scratch sound backwards and forwards, with the crossfader open at all times. There are lots of ways of doing this in your DAW, such as manually placing multiple scratch samples on the grid and reversing every other sample.
However, the easiest method is to use a tapestyle ‘repitching’ delay such as Waves’ H-Delay, u-he’s Color Copy or PSP’s cmDelay (free in Plugins). Set the wet/dry mix to 100% wet, and dial the feedback back to minimum. Once set up, aggressively twisting (or automating) the delay time gives the back-and-forth repitching effect synonymous with scratch DJs.
The crossfader’s volume-chopping is slightly easier to mimic, as it’s essentially a volume on/ off switch. The simplest way to achieve this effect is to MIDI-map your scratch channel’s Mute control and manually record in some faux fader action. However, a square-wave-driven tremolo or trance gate plugin can do the same job, with added scope for recreating faster fader movements – such as transforming flares and crabs – by automating the timing of the effect to taste.