Turntablism
Drag scratch
A drag is a scratch performed deliberately slowly, pulling the record at well under playing speed so the sound stretches downward in pitch. The fader usually stays open throughout.
In practice
A drag is a scratch made slow on purpose. It is the one that works in a club, because it reads as an effect.
Pick a sound with pitch rather than a pure percussive hit — a vocal or a horn stretches audibly, a kick just gets muddy. Pull steadily rather than in steps, because unevenness is far more obvious at low speed than at high. It combines well with a filter or a delay, and it sits naturally at the end of a phrase where the downward pitch reinforces something already resolving. Keep it rare: the effect is striking exactly once per set.
Slow
Well under playing speed
Pitched sound
What stretches audibly
Once
How often per set
Where these come from: Standard drag technique and its use in club contexts — established practice, not catalog figures. For what we can measure, see the family it belongs to.
Why it matters
It is the counterweight to a vocabulary that is otherwise built on speed. Most of the scratch family is about how fast and how cleanly a hand can move; a drag is about restraint, and it produces a sound — long, low, deliberately unnatural — that nothing else in the family does.
It is also the most usable scratch in a club context, because it does not depend on fader work and it reads as an effect rather than as a technique. A dragged vocal under a breakdown is something a dancing crowd hears as part of the music.
Frequently asked
Does a drag scratch need fader work?+
Usually none — the fader stays open and the hand on the record does the whole job, which is part of why it is the easiest scratch to use in a club set.
What sounds work best for a drag?+
Anything with pitch. A vocal or a horn stretches audibly downward; a kick or a snare just becomes muddy.
Is a drag the same as a brake?+
No. A brake slows the whole record to a stop using the platter or the motor; a drag is your hand pulling a specific sound slowly while the track continues.
Related terms
Scratch
A scratch is a sound made by moving a record back and forth under the needle while the crossfader or channel fader cuts it in and out. The hand sets the pitch; the fader sets the rhythm.
Tweak scratch
A tweak scratch is performed with the motor off, so the record only moves when your hand moves it. Without a platter pulling underneath, the sound follows the hand exactly and can be pushed into rhythmic patterns.
Brake
A brake is a controlled slowdown to a stop, either by killing the turntable motor or with the brake control on a player. The pitch falls with the tempo, which is the whole effect.
Hydroplane
A hydroplane is made by resting a finger or the side of a hand lightly on the spinning record so it stutters against the platter, producing a rapid fluttering sound without moving the record back and forth.
Explore: Transition techniques · Brake · Scratch · All DJ terms