Crab (scratch)
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A crab is a type of
crossfader
.
Creation
The crab scratch was invented by
X-ecutioners), and the rest of ISP among others got together for what would later be known as the "Famous Warehouse Session" at Yoga Frog's
old mobile DJ warehouse. It was at this session that Qbert publicized the new scratch.
While the name "crab" seems self-explanatory since it makes your hand look like a crab when you curl all of your fingers to perform it, according to Qbert the name originated elsewhere. Apparently, he and
crepes
one night after a show. He said that when the people over there pronounced crepes, it sounded more like "cccccreb" and since he thought it was funny, he used it to name the "cccccreb" scratch which everyone now pronounces as the crab.
Technique
To do a crab scratch the DJ quickly rubs/taps the fader knob with 3 or 4 different fingers in sequence starting with the pinkie or ring finger while using the thumb as a spring to cut the fader back out after each tap (or in if scratching
orbits
, crabs can be performed once as a single distinct move, or sequenced to produce a cyclical never ending type of crab sound.