Scratching..

I am getting into producing and I want to add some scratching to spice up some of my beats. I know for one I need a DIRECT drive turntable, but thats all I know.. Is there a special mixer I need to be able to scratch? What type of needle should I get thats affordable? I would appreciate any help

you can scratch on a decent direct drive turntable like a gemini or a stanton or a numark. Technics are very good of course but not the only deck in the game. If money is no object then get a vestax straight arm turntable with a shure cartridge. Vestax mixer as well.

I have an sl-1200 and a gemini pt-2000III. I scratch with the gemini using a numark tony touch cartrdige. this is an exellent cartridge. Tracks like a beast.

Mixer wise a lot of the hardcore turntablists want crossfaders with different mixing curves, kill switches, hamster switches, etc. Its all fun stuff that lets you play with the sound.

It all depends on how deep you want to get into it and how much money you want to spend. If you want to just add a little flavor here and there you don't need to spend much money(I really recommend the numark tony touch though) but if you want to be Q-bert you're gonna have to lay down some dough.

Peace

If you are just going to be scratching for your productions, I'd recomend a CDJ1000 for it instead of a 1200 or whatever. That is if your budget allows of course. This way you could make/download your own samples and just burn them onto a CD instead of having to buy scratch records.

As for your mixer, look into something by Vestax for sure. Can't offer much more help on that though.

For the decks I'd go for Vestax PDT-2000s as I've found them the best for scratching. If not then there's always the trusty Technics. I wouldn't bother with cheap DD decks as they can have very low torque and be absolutely useless for mixing, never mind scratching. Carts have to be the Shure M-44 - nothing can hold like those babies. For the mixer, if you can afford it, I'd go for the Allen & Heath Xone2 (God, I love that mixer) otherwise the Vestax PMC06 (mixtick design) will do just fine as it's the best quality scratch in its price range. I'm assuming you won't be needing a mic socket as the PMC06 doesn't have one... hey, what do you expect at that price?

ahkentaten, you said that the Vestax are great if money is no object... how much do they cost in the States? Here in the UK they're cheaper than Technics... you can get a pair of 1200/1210 mk 2s for around £700 and yet a pair of PDT-2000s can be picked up for as little as £600.