TURNTABLIST TECHNIQUES
Sep 1, 2001 12:00 PM, By Robin Smith
One of the most confusing issues for aspiring turntablists is figuring out the best way to set up a turntable for scratching. The problem is that no standard configuration exists for scratch DJs. Ask five different DJs how they arrange their cartridges, tonearms, and headshells, and chances are you'll get five different answers. To help you figure out the configuration that works best for you, this month's column looks at tonearm, headshell, and cartridge setup.
Your turntable-component setup should minimize skipping while providing the highest possible audio fidelity. Typically, turntablists favor a skip-free setup over one that offers the best audio quality. However, with some careful adjustments and attention to specific settings, you probably can achieve a good balance between the two.
Three main distinguishing factors will help you choose the setup that works best for you:
- Your cartridge
- Your favored scratching style (beat juggling, beat mixing, crab)
- Your technique (how heavy- or light-handed your touch is and so on)
CARTRIDGE TYPES
Ortofon, Shure, and Stanton, the three main players in the turntablist cartridge world, manufacture a variety of cartridges designed for scratch DJs. Each model offers different features, so you may have to try a few different cartridges before you find the perfect one.
Most of the cartridges designed for turntablists require a separate headshell. Those cartridges must be attached to the headshell with screws; the headshell is then mounted to your turntable's tonearm. Some models feature an integrated quickmount design that eliminates the need for a separate headshell. Cartridges in Ortofon's Concorde line feature that design, as do some cartridges from several other manufacturers, including Stanton. Ortofon's Concorde Scratch is a particularly good performer for turntablist applications. All-in-one combos are definitely easier to set up, but they don't offer as many options for tweaking. If setting up quickly is important to you, the integrated models are worth exploring.
HEADSHELL TWEAKS
Cartridges requiring a separate headshell offer two main options for making custom setup adjustments:
- Use of the optional headshell weight
- Cartridge alignment
Before making any adjustments, you should be aware of the difference between the terms total weight and tracking weight. Total weight refers to the actual weight of the headshell-and-cartridge combo; it's a fixed value. Tracking weight is the force exerted by the needle on the record; it's a variable value. You can adjust tracking weight by rotating the tracking-weight dial and counterbalance weight (usually located at the back end of the tonearm). It's important to know that a headshell setup with a greater total weight requires a heavier counterbalance-weight setting to achieve a desirable tracking weight.
HEADSHELL WEIGHT
In the early days of scratch DJing, turntablists often taped a penny to the headshell, providing additional tracking weight by increasing the headshell's total weight. Old-school cartridges were not designed for tracking applications, so the additional weight was necessary to prevent the needle from skipping out of the record's groove. DJs often selected the cartridge that gave them the heaviest tracking, because that reduced the likelihood of skipping.
Current cartridge models track much better while being scratched — some are even custom-designed for turntablist applications — and they typically outperform older models while requiring less tracking weight. Even though the extra weight often isn't necessary, many turntablists still use the extra weight plate provided with headshell-mounted cartridges.
Cartridges are designed to perform within a range of tracking weights, usually 2 to 4 grams. The reason many companies include an extra headshell weight is to ensure that all turntable tonearms can be adjusted to the desired weight setting. If you can adjust your tonearm to the desired setting without using the headshell weight, I recommend leaving it off.
Your objective is to reduce the total combined weight of the cartridge and headshell as much as possible and still maintain the target tracking weight. That will reduce skip-inducing wobbles during heavy scratch sessions. Wobble is caused by the needle's tendency to skate toward the center spindle. The needle counters the skate by moving in the opposite direction, and the cycle continues, causing the side-to-side wobble that leads to skipping. The lighter the cartridge's total weight, the less severe the wobble's effect.
HEADSHELL ALIGNMENT
In the '80s, several manufacturers produced what is known as a linear tonearm. Those tonearms were placed on a motorized sliding bar that kept the tonearm parallel with the groove across the entire record as it played. The design was an attempt to fix the main drawback of most traditional tonearms, which remain parallel with the groove through only a limited range on a 12-inch record.
With regular tonearms, the closer the needle is to the center spindle, the more it's misaligned in the groove. For normal music reproduction, increased misalignment typically leads to a reduction in audio fidelity as the needle approaches the center of a record. Scratch DJs also know that misalignment can result in an increase in side-to-side wobble.
Turntables with S-shaped tonearms (such as the Technics SL-1200MK2) are particularly susceptible to wobble. Several new turntables designed for scratch performance offer a newly developed straight tonearm design (the ASTS Tonearm System introduced by Vestax). The straight tonearms eliminate the wobble effect almost completely by reducing misalignment of the needle and groove.
If you have a turntable with the more traditional S-shaped tonearm, you can try to toe in the cartridge. If you angle the back end of the cartridge toward the center spindle, the needle's alignment is nearly parallel to the groove and the wobble effect is reduced — but not eliminated. The trade-off is that this adjustment increases record burn, and it will wear out the grooves on your records much more quickly than a standard setup.
When playing with that option, do not adjust the headshell more than 20 degrees. The best course of action is to experiment with small changes, checking after each adjustment to see if skipping is reduced. I recommend doing the modification only if you experience frequent skipping while scratching and none of the other tweaks outlined here seem to help.
The best way to reduce skipping is to develop a smooth, fluid scratching technique. Although radical setup adjustments can improve your cartridge's tracking abilities, adjustments are counterproductive if they reduce the life of your records.
SKIPPING OUT
These headshell tweaks should help you prevent the needle from skipping out of the groove and allow you to concentrate on improving your scratching technique. In next month's column, I will continue exploring tonearm, headshell, and cartridge tweaks by taking a detailed look at some adjustable tonearm settings.
Robin Smith is a former radio and club DJ. Lurking as a bedroom mixer and geek, he is creator of the Online 1200, a Web version of the Technics SL-1200MK2 operating instructions (www.turntablism.com/online1200). He can be reached at robin.smith1@sympatico.ca.
| Want to use this article? Click here for options! |  |
