
Scene at Berklee presents snapshots and stories from the hundreds of clinics, workshops, performances, and other events that take place in our community year-round.
There are few names as significant to the story of hip-hop's origins as Grandmaster Flash. The DJ's technical innovations in breakbeat looping, scratching, and more paved the way for himself and a generation of DJs to create the musical bed for what would become modern rap music. I am not the first DJ ever-absolutely not. I am the first DJ to make the turntables an instrument, Flash told students at the Berklee Performance Center on Wednesday during an in-depth demonstration of his most influential techniques. I love the fact that the kids are trying to learn this, he said. The computer corrects you all the time. Vinyl is like being on the 100th floor, no net.
Chief among the techniques Flash presented was his quick-mix theory, which he developed in order to create an endless loop between two records playing the same sample on separate turntables. He accomplished this by spinning one record backwards to the precise point where the phrase began while the other record is playing. To dial that in precisely, he discovered a shorthand that worked: to get back to the start of a four-bar musical phrase, he had to turn the record back six counterclockwise revolutions. Flash also explained how he spliced wires out of stereo components and into a mixer using Krazy Glue to create a system that would allow him to hear both turntables in his headphones-a major technical advancement. And during his final turntable demonstration, he admonished students to always remember the most important rule when sampling short passages of vinyl: This is the Biblical law of DJing: you must never go into the wack part.
Learn more: Berklee's Ensemble Department offers a range of turntable courses and performance groups led by faculty including Brian Raydar Ellis.
Related categories:
Scene at Berklee
News
Related Reading
Berklee's Encore Gala Celebrates 25th Anniversary The landmark event will feature Chaka Khan, Grandmaster Flash, Livingston Taylor, and Twisted Pine, along with more than 150 faculty, alumni, and student musicians.
Encore Gala Raises $2.3 Million for Berklee City Music The 25th annual Encore Gala included guest musicians such as Chaka Khan, Grandmaster Flash, and Livingston Taylor.
Feel the One: Terri Lyne Carrington and Others Get Mystical with Jazz Advice The drum legend and Berklee professor put together a special ensemble to perform and field questions from students.
More from Berklee Now
Most Popular
Listen to the Berklee Artists Who Made 2019s Best Music Whether it was pop, hip-hop, indie, bluegrass, or jazz, Berklee artists performed and produced some of this year's most critically acclaimed tracks.
Latest
Scene at Berklee: Grandmaster Flash The turntable pioneer shared the Biblical law of DJing and other practical wisdom from the early days of hip-hop.
Associate Professor Margaret McAllister Named Fulbright Scholar With McAllister's award, Berklee has received the designation of being a top producer of Fulbright U.S. scholars.
Berklee Presents The Coming: Black History Month Celebration The musical narrative features Daniel Black reading excerpts from his book The Coming, compositions from Tia Fuller's Grammy-nominated album Diamond Cut, and more.
Read All
Subscribe The latest sounds, stories, and ideas, sent to your inbox weekly.
Berklee Blogs
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Instagram
Snapchat
Soundcloud
Spotify
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
09/10/2026
September 10 2026, 06:00 (PDT) Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026
New Sports Intelligence helps providers better unders...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
22/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/09/2026
Manifold Technologies, developer of software-defined, FPGA-accelerated infrastructure for live production, has named Ryhaan Williams as Chief Commercial Officer...
21/09/2026
Studio Network Solutions (SNS) has won Best Journal Article at the 2026 IAMT Impact Awards for What Video Editors Need When Everything Is Changing Around Them,...
21/09/2026
Major League Wrestling (MLW) has announced a streaming distribution agreement with Tubi for its weekly series MLW FUSION. Beginning September 17, new episodes w...
21/09/2026
Disney Entertainment has announced that Adam Smith has been named Chairman, Direct-to-Consumer, with responsibility for Disney and Hulu including product, engi...
21/09/2026
United Airlines and DISH have announced an agreement to bring live professional ...
21/09/2026
SES and JioStar have announced a multi-year agreement under which SES will provide satellite distribution services for JioStar's television channel portfoli...
21/09/2026
The Detroit Red Wings have announced details for their inaugural season on Detro...
21/09/2026
Manifold Technologies has appointed Ryhaan Williams as Chief Commercial Officer for North America, effective October 1, 2026. Based in Jacksonville, Florida, Wi...
21/09/2026
Angels Broadcast Television (ABTV), the local television home of the Los Angeles...
21/09/2026
The 2026 US Open Tennis Championships marked a year of change with respect to TV...
21/09/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
21/09/2026
Drum-tuning app now available on Android
RT60 describe their iDrumTune app as the world's most advanced, accurate and intelligent system for assisting ...
21/09/2026
Innovative multiband auto-panner introduced
SoundGhost's latest plug-in takes an innovative approach to auto-panning, and divides incoming signals into ...
21/09/2026
We check out the M5 Max-equipped model The same, but different. The new Mac Studio models feature M5 Max and M5 Ultra silicon, dramatically improving the perf...
21/09/2026
From Graphic Novel to 30-Minute Animated Film: What I Learned Building an AI-Ass...
21/09/2026
Liam Hopkins Builds Recording Studio with Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton September 20, 2026
0 Comments
Video complements audio production with music v...
21/09/2026
Indigenous screen organisations from Canada, Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia ...
21/09/2026
Physical AI is moving rapidly from research to large-scale deployment. By 2035, ABI Research projects an installed base of 49 million level 3-5 autonomous vehic...
21/09/2026
Today, Egypt's AI builders gathered in the Grand Egyptian Museum for a reception that highlighted the nation's rapidly growing AI ecosystem - spanning A...
21/09/2026
Every AI factory needs power and cooling that fit its computing architecture. As AI infrastructure expands, power, cooling, water, site and grid constraints are...
21/09/2026
RT celebrates Irish Sign Language Awareness Week 2026
Special programmes across RT television, radio and online, plus special initiatives
#ISL #IDSL #IWDP26...
21/09/2026
AI security is an engineering problem. That means defined security requirements,...
21/09/2026
Clean energy isn't hard to come by, but the pace of large-scale adoption has historically been slow due to bottlenecks - including out-of-date infrastructur...
20/09/2026
Piano-playing singer-songwriter competition returns for fourth year
Casio have officially revealed the list of 16 finalists who have earned their place in t...
20/09/2026
COW Jobs: Video Editor, Motion Designer - Remote, PT, 6 Months
Brie Clayton September 20, 2026
0 Comments
Video Editor + Motion Designer (Remote | PT ...
19/09/2026
Three new rackmount power conditioners introduced
Yorkville Sound have announce the upcoming launch of three new RPC rackmount power conditioners from ART P...
19/09/2026
September 15, 2026
AMSTERDAM, SEPTEMBER 2026 - Colorfront (colorfront.com), the Academy and Emmy Award-winning developer of high-performance cinema mastering, ...
19/09/2026
Two High-Profile Professional Sports Franchises Renew creative.space Contracts with DigitalGlue
NFL team and Major League Soccer Club cite ease of use, secure ...
19/09/2026
Limited Edition Audio releases VoxSplit Pro for overlapping dialogue separation ...
18/09/2026
IBC 2026 Tech Moves Beyond the Gloss and Into the Rack If you spent any time in the halls of the RAI this year, you noticed a clear shift in conversation. The c...
18/09/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
18/09/2026
Qvest has appointed Jens Miedek as Senior Vice President Sales, Media and Entertainment. Before joining Qvest, Miedek spent 16 years at Riedel Communications an...
18/09/2026
Fonn Group has acquired full ownership of everviz, a cloud-native platform for interactive charts, maps, and data-driven graphics, and will rebrand it as Teikna...
18/09/2026
Other World Computing (OWC) has announced the acquisition of OpenDrives, a provider of software-defined video and rich media storage management solutions. The a...
18/09/2026
Kaltura and Verimatrix have announced a partnership integrating Verimatrix's Digital Rights Management and security capabilities into Kaltura's Cloud TV...
18/09/2026
The sixth edition of the World Nomad Games combined traditional sports, large-scale cultural performances, and some decidedly modern broadcast technology. Held ...
18/09/2026
DAZN and Super League Basketball (SLB) have extended their partnership for the 2026-27 season. Every Championship, Cup, and Play-Off fixture will be available l...