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CNN Live Today

Interview With Hip Hop Professor

Aired February 23, 2004 - 10:53   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


(MUSIC)
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: That's D.J. Grand Master Flash cutting and scratching. And if you know hip hop, you've heard of the techniques. Each is a musical tool that dueling D.J.s use to create a bigger beat out of some standard tunes.

Now (UNINTELLIGIBLE) can get into the mix with a new book. It's titled "Turntable Technique, The Art of the D.J." And there's also a new course at the Berkeley College of Music. We have the professor in the house.

Stephen Webber is the man who authored the book and the course. And he joins us live from Boston.

Professor, good morning. Thanks for being with us.

STEPHEN WEBBER, BERKELEY COLLEGE OF MUSIC: Good to be with you. Good morning.

Turntablism. Who knew?

(CROSSTALK)

WEBBER: Absolutely. Lot of people are surprised. But, yes, that seems to be the word that describes playing with a turntable as a musical instrument.

KAGAN: Well give us a little taste.

WEBBER: Sure. Over here we've got a track going. One of the things you can do is throw in other instruments on another turntable. For instance, I have a trumpet sample underneath this. You can control just about everything about it. Play it forwards, play it backwards.

And then you can also do things that people call scratching and cutting. It was first developed by Grand Master Flash, Grand Wizard Theodore. Actually using the turntable itself as a percussion instrument to do some soloing or whatever you want to do really.

There's a lot of different techniques including the crab, where you can see I'm using the individual fingers on my fader hand.

KAGAN: So, Professor, let me just ask some people are probably going to say. All right, that's interesting but is it music and does it need a class from a college, a music college? WEBBER: Sure, sure. That's a fair question. I think what drew me to it is the rich tradition and the culture of hip hop itself. Hip hop is a culture that has not only musical traditions, but literary traditions, artistic traditions. Started now over 25 years ago.

People tend to think that in the '80s they thought it was kind of a fad and still people now think it's a fad. If you go beyond the mainstream of what is in hip hop it's actually a very deep culture.

And it's something that gave us this new art form of using the turntable as a musical instrument, which Grand Master Flash started doing long ago.

And actually if you go all the way back, I think the first example we have of a turntable being used as a musical instrument is 1939. John Cage wrote a piece for two turntablists and several other instruments.

So it's kind of odd to think of the turntable as a musical instrument, but it really is.

(CROSSTALK)

KAGAN: Let me just ask you this. And I know we're kind of cutting back and forth here with the headphones and everything. But you know you have now the album. There's a book. Are you really doing turntablism and hip hop a favor here? it's kind of an outside the mainstream, that's what makes it cool and hip. Now there's a college course. It's almost like a slap in the face, do you think?

WEBBER: Well, the amazing thing is most of the guys and most of the D.J.s that I have talked to don't feel that way about it. Our purpose is really to pay respect. I feel like if Berkeley College of Music, we're founded on the principle that you can teach musicianship with contemporary music.

And people felt that way when jazz was around in 1945 when we first started out. That was the popular music of the day. And it was considered -- again lot of people look at (UNINTELLIGIBLE). I was a jazz major back when I went to college. People say, you learn that on the street.

Well, in the '70s we started doing this with rock in the '60s and '70s.

KAGAN: And now turntablism.

WEBBER: And now hip hop and turntablism.

KAGAN: How about a quick course. We're about to go to break. As we do, why don't you scratch and cut us out.

WEBBER: All right. Great. Here we go.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired February 23, 2004 - 10:53   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(MUSIC)
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: That's D.J. Grand Master Flash cutting and scratching. And if you know hip hop, you've heard of the techniques. Each is a musical tool that dueling D.J.s use to create a bigger beat out of some standard tunes.

Now (UNINTELLIGIBLE) can get into the mix with a new book. It's titled "Turntable Technique, The Art of the D.J." And there's also a new course at the Berkeley College of Music. We have the professor in the house.

Stephen Webber is the man who authored the book and the course. And he joins us live from Boston.

Professor, good morning. Thanks for being with us.

STEPHEN WEBBER, BERKELEY COLLEGE OF MUSIC: Good to be with you. Good morning.

Turntablism. Who knew?

(CROSSTALK)

WEBBER: Absolutely. Lot of people are surprised. But, yes, that seems to be the word that describes playing with a turntable as a musical instrument.

KAGAN: Well give us a little taste.

WEBBER: Sure. Over here we've got a track going. One of the things you can do is throw in other instruments on another turntable. For instance, I have a trumpet sample underneath this. You can control just about everything about it. Play it forwards, play it backwards.

And then you can also do things that people call scratching and cutting. It was first developed by Grand Master Flash, Grand Wizard Theodore. Actually using the turntable itself as a percussion instrument to do some soloing or whatever you want to do really.

There's a lot of different techniques including the crab, where you can see I'm using the individual fingers on my fader hand.

KAGAN: So, Professor, let me just ask some people are probably going to say. All right, that's interesting but is it music and does it need a class from a college, a music college? WEBBER: Sure, sure. That's a fair question. I think what drew me to it is the rich tradition and the culture of hip hop itself. Hip hop is a culture that has not only musical traditions, but literary traditions, artistic traditions. Started now over 25 years ago.

People tend to think that in the '80s they thought it was kind of a fad and still people now think it's a fad. If you go beyond the mainstream of what is in hip hop it's actually a very deep culture.

And it's something that gave us this new art form of using the turntable as a musical instrument, which Grand Master Flash started doing long ago.

And actually if you go all the way back, I think the first example we have of a turntable being used as a musical instrument is 1939. John Cage wrote a piece for two turntablists and several other instruments.

So it's kind of odd to think of the turntable as a musical instrument, but it really is.

(CROSSTALK)

KAGAN: Let me just ask you this. And I know we're kind of cutting back and forth here with the headphones and everything. But you know you have now the album. There's a book. Are you really doing turntablism and hip hop a favor here? it's kind of an outside the mainstream, that's what makes it cool and hip. Now there's a college course. It's almost like a slap in the face, do you think?

WEBBER: Well, the amazing thing is most of the guys and most of the D.J.s that I have talked to don't feel that way about it. Our purpose is really to pay respect. I feel like if Berkeley College of Music, we're founded on the principle that you can teach musicianship with contemporary music.

And people felt that way when jazz was around in 1945 when we first started out. That was the popular music of the day. And it was considered -- again lot of people look at (UNINTELLIGIBLE). I was a jazz major back when I went to college. People say, you learn that on the street.

Well, in the '70s we started doing this with rock in the '60s and '70s.

KAGAN: And now turntablism.

WEBBER: And now hip hop and turntablism.

KAGAN: How about a quick course. We're about to go to break. As we do, why don't you scratch and cut us out.

WEBBER: All right. Great. Here we go.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com