Some n00b turntablism questions

[mutant!]

How do turntablists do it these days? I've seen turntables on the 'net that work with CDs and have the whole "scratch simulator" thing going on, but somehow I doubt that is the norm. People still use vinyls? And that's the other thing, are 'tablists limited to sounds that they can find on old vinyls lying around, or is there a way to cut vinyls of one's own? I also imagine that there are stores (online?) that offer specific sounds/tracks/samples on vinyl for the purpose of scratching.

I merely ask because I have arranged a turntablist for my band through a friend but right now I don't have contact with him - I think he's away on holiday right now - so I want to know how this stuff works so I can start writing our music with that kind of thing in mind. Thanks in advance! :thumb:

[mutant!]

Ba-dUMP

[mutant!]

...Don't tell me no-one here has scratched the vinyls before.

[Lee Harvey Castro]

The predominant medium for scratching is still vinyls, thankfully, most turntablists aren't big fans of cd decks as they do not offer the warmth of vinyls plus it's harder to apply techniques learnt on cd decks to vinyl, so not recomended for anyone to start on.For using their own material most DJs have a dubplate made , which is like a flimsy vinyl that wears away after being used about 50 times, but is fine for a few takes or a live set.And there is quite a number of vinyls made specifically for scratching, they aren't too hard to find.
Hope that helped.

[mutant!]

Hey, thanks man. Where does one go to have the dubplates made?

[freakmeeko]

Vinyls are still popular, the most common virtual scratch box is the Yamaha DJX II-B. It's only available on Ebay and such, though.