Turntablist transcription methodology

Turntablist Transcription Methodology, or TTM, is a notation system for scratching and turntablism written &published by John Carluccio formatted by Ethan Imboden, and designed as well as transcribed by Raymond Pirtle aka DJ Raedawn. It is an intuitive graphical representation of the movement of a record whilst performing with a turntable, and was originally documented in a booklet form for distribution used by turntablists around the world.

The system has achieved acclaim from a number of recognizable turntablists, and is becoming increasingly accepted as a valuable method for transcribing turntablist music as it used by public schools in the UK, dj schools and has appeared in numerous university dissertations. Thousands of dj techniques, tutorials and musical scores have been transcribed using this system. Some of the worlds top turntablist dj battle champions use the system such as Dj Qbert, Rob Swift, Dj Nelson, Dj Woody, Dj Wundrkut, Dj K-Swizz and Ritchie Rufftone.

Lesser-used systems of turntable notation have been devised by other Turntablists, and whilst they are less commonly available and/or used, they deserve a mention. One example of an alternative system is that developed by composer Raúl Yañez for DJ Radar, which was used to transcribe his Concerto For Turntable and uses traditional musical staves and notes to record the scratches. This system is limited in comparison to TTM, however, as it does not give such clear directions over the many aspects of scratching, such as velocity, direction, and crabbing.

The TTM musical notation system has aided in the communication and collaboration among DJs, turntablists, musicians and producers. It has been recognized as the industry standard of musical notation for turntablists worldwide.  The TTM system is used by renowned DJ instructors at Electronic Music Collective, Scratch DJ Academy, School of Scratch, The Beat Junkies Institute of Sound, and Q-bert’s Skratch University. In 2012, Dj Raedawn created a free dj school called TTM Academy dedicated to teaching and expaning the use of the Turntablist Transcription Methoodology. In 2013, Raedawn released of the "Period Matrix of Skratches" in 2013, as a follow up to TTM 1.0, which is a musical chart that features over 900 different dj musical techniques. The Following year, Raedawn created the supplementary "Periodic Matrix of Faderless Skratches", a musical chart with over 1400 dj techniques that can be executed without a cross fader. In recent years Period Matrix of Skratches posters have made their way into the studios of amateur and profressional dj's around the globe.

TTM origins

While documenting the X-ecutioners first studio recording X-pressions, John Carluccio envisioned the notation system in 1997 [1] and started testing his rough concept with DJ Rob Swift[2] and turntablists. [3] In 1998 he partnered with industrial designer Ethan Imboden to create a TTM booklet, and by 2000, with additional aid from DJ Raedawn (Raymond Pirtle), a full detailed booklet was distributed at The Battle Sounds Turntablist Festival  #4 at New City’s Symphony Space on February 17, 2000. TTM 1.0 was Dj Raedawn's second book on 'skratch notation which followed his first book "The Fundamentals", a self published book that was the worlds first book on the subject of skratch notation. Dj Raedawn have John Carluccio and Ethan Imboden a copy of this book when the first met up in a Manhattan cafe. To create TTM 1.0, Dj Raedawn designed all of the book's tutorial examples and transcribed all of the dj musical techniques such as Rob Swifts "Scratchin'" featured at the back of the book. John Carluccio published the book himself for the first run, later used Truth.com to fund additional printing runs and used definitions from the now defunct Asisphonics.com to describe the techniques in the book designed by Dj Raedawn. Ethan Emboden formatted the book for printing and additionally worked with Dj Raedawn to create the score grid.[4] The TTM booklet has been downloaded, shared, and translated versions in Italian, French, Spanish[5] have been created by turntablist enthusiasts.[6] In 2001, John Carluccio was named by Time Magazine as one of the next 100 Innovators in music for TTM.[7] In 2004, Scratch Magazine (issues #1- #6) featured TTM notations in a reoccurring column that explained iconic hip-hop scratch patterns.

References
  1. "US Copyright Office / Public Catalog: Turntablists transcriptions: lesson1". US Copyright Office.
  2. "Rob Swift TTM demo". www.synthtopia.com. October 2009.
  3. McKinnon, Matthew (2012). "Drop the Needle: John Carluccio has found a way to transcribe the ineffable art of scratching".
  4. Turntablist, LLC (2000). "Official TTM booklet (pdf)" (PDF).
  5. Tom, Perchard (2017). "From Soul to Hip Hop". Google Books.
  6. Mark, Katz (2012). Groove Music: The Art and Culture of the Hip-Hop DJ. Google books. ISBN 9780195331110.
  7. Josh, Tyrangiel (2001). "Music: TURNTABLIST EXPERT: Now Every Night He Saves a DJ's Life". TIME MAGAZINE.
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