Rating: 
Summary: this other book is *much* better
Review: Don't bother with this book; I bought it and was totally disappointed. Buy the book listed below instead, it's thick, full of information on all aspects on DJ'ing form beat-matching to equalizing to matching jeys, etc .. and it's even fun to read.How to DJ Right: The Art and Science of Playing Records by Frank Broughton, Bill Brewster
Rating:
Summary: this other book is *much* better
Review: I began scratching two years ago using this book, and progressed faster through the basics than any of my friends who started at about the same time. Now I use this book to teach others. It breaks things down into easy to follow and clear descriptions, something that no video I own bothers to do. The interviews are also dope; QBert, Swamp, Mixmaster Mike, Craze, Atrac, and Kuttin Kandi all have interesting stories to tell. There is also a short history of the hip-hop DJ, which is stuff everyone should know if you're going to DJ. The two pieces of vinyl that come with the book have some great samples for scratching and two cuts for beatmatching. I especially enjoy teaching with this book, it makes it easy for my students to make progress between lessons. It also includes some traditional music notation, which gives me a clear vocabulary to talk to my students with. If you're starting out this book is excellent. It works!
Rating: 
Summary: The Industry Standard
Review: I began scratching two years ago using this book, and progressed faster through the basics than any of my friends who started at about the same time. Now I use this book to teach others. It breaks things down into easy to follow and clear descriptions, something that no video I own bothers to do. The interviews are also dope; QBert, Swamp, Mixmaster Mike, Craze, Atrac, and Kuttin Kandi all have interesting stories to tell. There is also a short history of the hip-hop DJ, which is stuff everyone should know if you're going to DJ. The two pieces of vinyl that come with the book have some great samples for scratching and two cuts for beatmatching. I especially enjoy teaching with this book, it makes it easy for my students to make progress between lessons. It also includes some traditional music notation, which gives me a clear vocabulary to talk to my students with. If you're starting out this book is excellent. It works!
Rating:
Summary: Don't buy this!
Review: I found this book totally useless. It's thin, pretty much only talks about scratching, and the little information it contains anyone who is even thinking of learning how to DJ already knows. There is nothing in here to help someone become a DJ. It's pretty much all focussed on scratching and even then misses the mark. If you want to scratch *maybe* this book as something for you (I doubt it). If you want to be any other kind of DJ, don't even think this book will help. The things that this should but does not include: - A detailed section on beat matching. I think the book spends a whole paragraph on it.
- How to use a mixer. There is absolutely *nothing* in this book about equalizing.
- The various ways of mixing one song into another. I could go on and on ... Stay away from this book. It look like it was written for pre-schoolers and even the way the author writes mkes it seems like he's tryig to teach six year old kids ... What a waste ...
Rating:
Summary: I love this book!
Review: I have probably all of the books on DJing that are out there, and this is my favorite. It comes with two 12" records that contain a wide band of white noise (like a continuous "Ahhhhh" sample) that really help you ease into skratching. I've been DJing for years now, and I still use that track. There is also a very cool acid jazz track which has a Miles Davis muted trumpet vibe going which you can beat match with an R&B style track---I never could get the hang of beat matching until I bought this book/record set. This really made it easy. The other technique this book helped me with better than any other source I could find is the crab scratch. The exercises break it down into very easy to follow steps, and by practicing slowly and speeding it up a little at a time, my crabs are now even and clean. I think maybe this book throws off some people who are expecting it to read like a copy of Source magazine---it's refreshingly free of trendy lingo and the silly posturing that often accompanies the DJ scene. It also treats the turntable as a musical instrument, which some DJs still have a problem with. It helped me a lot, and like I said, I still use the records--there are a lot of good synth and spoken word samples on them as well!
Rating:
Summary: 12" Records Very Handy
Review: I have probably all of the books on DJing that are out there, and this is my favorite. It comes with two 12" records that contain a wide band of white noise (like a continuous "Ahhhhh" sample) that really help you ease into skratching. I've been DJing for years now, and I still use that track. There is also a very cool acid jazz track which has a Miles Davis muted trumpet vibe going which you can beat match with an R&B style track---I never could get the hang of beat matching until I bought this book/record set. This really made it easy. The other technique this book helped me with better than any other source I could find is the crab scratch. The exercises break it down into very easy to follow steps, and by practicing slowly and speeding it up a little at a time, my crabs are now even and clean. I think maybe this book throws off some people who are expecting it to read like a copy of Source magazine---it's refreshingly free of trendy lingo and the silly posturing that often accompanies the DJ scene. It also treats the turntable as a musical instrument, which some DJs still have a problem with. It helped me a lot, and like I said, I still use the records--there are a lot of good synth and spoken word samples on them as well!
Rating:
Summary: I love this book!
Review: I received a pair of turntables and a mixer for Christmas last year, and this book got me off my rear end and got me practicing. I mastered beat matching in one night. The book is very easy to follow. The records that come along with it are great, too. I heard the author on NPR and he was cutting Richard Nixon saying "I am not a crook," which is right off of the records that come with this book! I also learned about Grandmaster Flash, Qbert and Craze from the interviews and history section. Well worth the price!
Rating:
Summary: Straight-ahead method, easy to use
Review: I've been a club and mobile DJ for over 12 years, but I've never gotten into scratching, even though I love the way it sounds. This book made it easy, and gave me some background on where the artform came from. The records gives you useful samples, in fact I use them every night in my mobile and club sets to sprinkle in some cuts and stabs. This goes over huge, especially at my high school and college gigs.
Highly recommended, will get you started in no time.
Rating: 
Summary: A must for new DJ's!
Review: This book is an awesome reference for the new DJ. It comes with 2 albums that are exactly the same, so as you can learn to beat-match and scratch properly. It has alot of good tips and pointers, and really is a great help. My only criticism is that the info on beatmatching is a bit limited, as this book is for the budding scratcher, and it has heaps of info on scratching. Maybe in the next publication Stephen Webber will remeber to put down that the easiest way to get the beats together is to listen to the bass drum. Other than that, this book is great, and I think Stevie boy has done a good job. DJ Zanshin (Australia)
Rating:
Summary: Beginners
Review: This is for people who don't know what a turntable or a mixer is.. People who have never heard of DJing before..
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