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A Brief History of

Turntablism Turntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating music using direct-drive turntables and a DJ mixer.

1895 - Edison begins mass production of the phonograph and continues to improve the original design by adding a large horn to amplify the sound.

1870’s - Thomas Edison begins to develop a tinfoil phonograph or speaking machine. The machine included a cardboard cylinder wrapped in tinfoil on a threaded axle. A mouthpiece and diaphragm were connected to a stylus that embossed the sound waves on the tinfoil. To play back the recording, a reproducer replaced the mouthpiece.

To test the invention for the first time, Edison recited “Mary Had a Little Lamb” into the mouthpiece.

1906 - A new Victor gramaphone was introduced, which featured a concealed (inside) horn. It was dubbed the Victrola.

1969 - Kool Herc, considered to be the first hip-hop DJ develops “Cutting Breaks.” Kool Herc adapted his style by chanting over the instrumental or percussion sections of the day’s popular songs. Because these breaks were relatively short, he learned to extend them indefinitely by using an audio mixer and two identical records in which he continuously replaced the desired segment. His particular skill, later copied by many others, was to meld the percussion breaks from two identical records by playing the break over and over switching from one deck to the other. Hip hop derived from “hip hoppin” on the turntable.

1980’s - While playing at a club called the Warehouse, DJ Frankie Knuckles lays down drum machine-generated 4/4 beats on top of soul and disco tunes.

12” disco records that included long percussion breaks (ideal for mixing) contribute to the emergence of House Music.

1989 - The rave scene develops.

1994- Qbert’s mixtape “Demolition Pumpkin Squeeze Musik” (dubbed by Rap Pages as the greatest Mixtape of all time) ignites the fire of the experimental skratch / mixtape revolution.

1987 - The DMC (Disco Mix Club) holds its first annual DJ Competition

1975 - Grand Wizard Theodore discovers the scratch.

1950s - Invention of the 45 RPM 7 inch records.

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Technics progression

SL-1200 SL-1200 Mark 3 The SL-1200 was introduced in 1972 It The SL-1200 Mark 3 was introduced in 1989. represented a culmination of all Technics innovations to the world of Hi-Fi.

Turntablism

SL-1200 Mark 3D The SL-1200 Mark 3D was introduced in 1999 .

SL-1200 Mark 2 The SL-1200 Mark 2 was introduced in 1979 . It was an update to the popular SL-1200 series.

It was not released as a “Professional Model, but became popular with pioneering hip-hop DJ’s.

SL-1200 Mark 4 The SL-1200 Mark 4 was introduced in 1996 .

It soon after found it’s way into Disco’s as well as Radio Stations for airplay because of its increased Vibration Damping Ability and resistence to feedback.

SL-1200 Mark 5G The SL-1200 Mark 5G was introduced in 2002.

SL-1200 Limited Edition The SL-1200 Limited Edition was introduced in 1997, It marks the 25th anniversary of the SL-1200 series.

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Origins of House Music

House music had its origins in gospel, soul and funk rather than in commercial disco music. Furthermore, Chicago jazz, blues and soul had an immense influence on the creation of House music. There were significant Midwestern musical influences that led to the creation of the Chicago flavour of House music.

No doubt, the Midwest had its own tradition of African American music. Thus, blues and jazz presented a part of the mix. To sum up, the soul music produced in Chicago, Detroit and Memphis certainly had an impact on Chicago house.

Turntablism

The Warehouse, 206 South Jefferson Street

Larry Levan

It all started in Chicago’s Southside in 1977, when a new kind of club opened. This new Chicago club called The Warehouse gave House music its name. Frankie Knuckles, who opened The Warehouse, mixed old disco classics and new Eurobeat pop. It was at this legendary club where many of the experiments were tried. It was also where Acid House got its start.

Frankie’s friend Larry Levan was a black teenager from Brooklyn like Frankie. In fact, it was Larry who first suggested opening The Warehouse in Chicago. However, things took a different turn, and in the end Larry Levan spun in New York’s Paradise Garage.

Frankie Knuckles One of the leading DJs at that time was New York born Frankie Knuckles, also called the Godfather of House.

Indeed, he was more than a DJ; he was an architect of sound, who experimented with sounds and thus added a new dimension to the art of mixing.

Ron Hardy By the mid 80s House had emerged in Chicago as a fully developed musical genre through the efforts of Knuckles and those inspired by him like DJ Ron Hardy of Music Box fame.

Ron Hardy was another DJ from the gay scene. The sounds they produced differed in that the basis of Knuckle’s sound was still disco, whereas Hardy was the DJ that chose the rawest and wildest rhythm tracks he could find.

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Vinyl sleeve/label design

Turntablism

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Music logo/Poster Design

Turntablism

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