This is a full length scratch tutorial from inside my School of Scratch classroom.
If you have ever wondered how to do Rafik’s Fast Autobahn scratch, don’t know where to even begin or if it seems unattainable, this article and video is for you!
I really struggled with this scratch myself, so I spent some serious time learning and understanding it so I could coach my students and cut down their frustration factor.
As with all my School of Scratch tutorials, I’ve broken this technique down into the smallest possible steps to give you the absolute best chance of learning it.
Set Rafik mode to “on” (just kidding), ready? Let’s GO!
Fast Autoban Tutorial
Overview
This is essentially a 2 click combo which uses travelling boomerang type record movements, or to put it even more simply, a series of slices and dices performed repeatedly and continuously, as 3 sets of 3 sounds.
Scratches that will help you with this combo: Slices and Dices.
Technique Breakdown
- Forward slice (2 sounds)
- Forward dice (1 sound)
- Forward slice (2 sounds)
- Forward dice (1 sound)
- Forward slice (2 sounds)
- Reverse dice (1 sound)
= 9 total sounds
Other scratches that can help you with this combo: A6 Autobahn (sometimes known as the Babybahn) and the Boomerang.
Video Notes
- 01:21 – Technique breakdown.
- 01:46 – Boomerang style breakdown.
- 02:06 – Slices and dices breakdown.
- 03:10 – Grouping sounds into 3 sets of 3.
- 03:56 – Join the 3 sets of sounds together smoothly.
- 04:52 – Using the Twiddle technique.
- 06:59 – Record hand technique.
- 07:41 – Timings.
- 09:41 – Triplets with a pause.
- 10:22 – Cross Rhythm Triplets.
- 11:42 – How to increase your speed.
- 13:54 – 80 bpm Triplets.
- 14:47 – 88 bpm Triplets.
- 15:03 – QnA Practice.
- 20:07 – Wrap Up.
- 20:39 – Slow Autobahn Preview.
Scratch Notation
If you are familiar with basic scratch notation, this is how it looks on paper:
Summary
Start slow with this scratch and make sure you can do each of the smallest, individual parts cleanly. With practice you will be able to link all the steps together and then work on increasing your speed. Even spending just 15 minutes a day practicing deliberately will see you make progress. Although Rafik does this scratch super fast, remember there are no rules. It sounds great when performed slow and funky. Experiment and make it your own!
Happy Scratching! 😀
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