Turntablism
Flare scratch
A flare starts with the fader open and clicks it shut one or more times mid-motion, so the sound is interrupted rather than started. One click is a one-click flare, two is a two-click.
In practice
The fader starts open and clicks shut mid-motion, so a missed click still leaves you with a sound.
Learn the one-click first and make the click land exactly on the beat, so the interruption is the rhythmic event rather than the motion. Bounce the fader off the cut rather than holding it there — a flare click is a tap, not a close-and-open, and the fader cap should return under its own tension. That is why scratch mixers have adjustable fader tension and a very short cut-in distance: a fader that needs a millimetre of travel to silence is a fader you can bounce. Two-click and three-click are the same tap repeated inside one push.
Starts open
The inversion
A tap
Not a close and open
One, two, three
Clicks per motion
Where these come from: Technique convention on scratch-oriented mixers, not catalog figures. For what we can measure, see the four-click version.
Why it matters
It is the technique that opened up modern scratching, because it inverts the default fader position. Everything before it starts closed and opens to make a sound; a flare starts open and closes to interrupt one, which means the sound continues if your fader hand misses.
That inversion is also what makes it scale. Add clicks and you get the same motion at double or triple the rhythmic density without moving the record any faster — and that is the road to the crab, which is a flare with four clicks in one motion.
Frequently asked
What is a one-click flare?+
A flare with a single fader click in the middle of each record motion. The sound plays, is interrupted once, and resumes — one click per push or pull.
Why is a flare easier than a chirp?+
Because it fails safe. The fader starts open, so a missed click leaves a sound playing; a chirp starts and stops the sound with the fader, so a miss leaves silence.
What is an orbit flare?+
A flare where the clicks alternate between the two sides of the crossfader, so the interruption travels across the fader rather than returning to the same side.
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.
Crab scratch
A crab is a flare played with the fingers rather than the thumb: the thumb holds tension against the fader while four fingers release it one after another, giving four clicks in one motion.
Transformer scratch
A transformer scratch keeps the record moving slowly and steadily while the fader is stabbed open and shut, chopping one continuous sound into rhythmic bursts. The fader does all the work.
Crossfader
The crossfader is the horizontal fader that blends between two channels. At one end you hear only the left assignment, at the other only the right, and a curve control sets how abruptly the handover happens in between.
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