Turntablism
Turntable
A turntable spins a record at a constant speed while a stylus tracks its groove. A DJ turntable adds a pitch fader, high torque so it reaches speed instantly, and a platter you can hold and release.
In practice
A DJ turntable is built to be interfered with: high torque, heavy platter, slipmat, and a pitch fader you can reach.
Set one up in this order and it will behave: level the deck, balance the arm to zero, set tracking force, set anti-skate to match, then check the pitch at zero against a known record. A deck that skips is almost never a faulty deck — it is level, tracking force, a worn stylus or vibration reaching the plinth from the floor, in roughly that order of likelihood. Direct drive is the format worth owning; belt drive is for listening.
Torque
What lets you interfere
Slipmat
What lets the platter keep turning
4 steps
To set one up properly
Where these come from: Standard DJ turntable setup procedure and design characteristics — established practice, not catalog figures. For what we can measure, see the setting that stops skipping.
Why it matters
Everything that makes a deck a DJ deck comes from one requirement: you have to be able to interfere with it. Strong torque means the record recovers the moment you let go, a heavy platter holds speed against a hand, and a slipmat lets the platter keep turning underneath a record you are holding still.
It is also still the reference instrument, whatever you actually play on. Jog wheels are designed to feel like a platter, timecode systems exist to put digital files back under a needle, and the vocabulary of mixing — cueing, backspinning, riding the pitch — was all invented on one.
Frequently asked
Why do DJs use direct-drive turntables?+
Torque and recovery. A direct-drive platter reaches speed almost immediately and returns to it the instant you release it, which a belt cannot do because the belt itself stretches.
Why does my turntable skip?+
Check level, tracking force, stylus wear and vibration reaching the deck through the table — in that order. A faulty deck is far down the list of likely causes.
Do I need turntables to learn to DJ?+
No, and most people now start on players or a controller. Turntables teach a particular sensitivity to the record itself that transfers everywhere, which is why plenty of digital DJs still own a pair.
Related terms
Tonearm
The tonearm carries the cartridge across the record, holding the stylus in the groove at a controlled angle and force. Its counterweight sets that force and its anti-skate opposes the pull toward the centre.
Direct drive
On a direct-drive turntable the motor turns the platter itself; on a belt drive an offset motor turns it through an elastic belt. The belt isolates motor vibration and, in doing so, removes the instant response DJs need.
Tracking force
Tracking force is how hard the stylus presses into the groove, measured in grams and set by the counterweight. Too little and the stylus leaves the groove; too much and it wears both the tip and the record.
Slipmat
A slipmat is a felt disc between the turntable platter and the record. It lets the platter keep spinning while you hold, drag or pull back the record itself, which is what makes cueing and scratching possible.
Explore: Beginner mixing guide · Slipmat · Timecode vinyl · All DJ terms