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Not too quickly or abrupt like a scratch, but when it's done at a linear speed at something like a tenth of a second both ways, further the record is brought to where it would have been had this technique never been done; in other words the rhythm is uninterrupted.

It seems like a lot of "trap" music is doing this and I don't know what to call it.

A good example is the following mix where it occurs frequently:

1:54:03 (Or 114 minute mark) It's done a number of times after the time posted. I love it, but don't know what to call it.

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    After listening to the example, I'd call it a reverse playback instead of a rewind. The vocal track is simply reversed for a moment, while the underlying beat is unchanged. Then, to keep the vocal track in sync with the beat, it is either fast forwarded or jump-cut forward to line back up after the moment of reverse. Not sure what this technique is called.
    – NReilingh
    Nov 15, 2012 at 2:51
  • Googling reverse playback and I'm only getting information on reversing whole songs and videos, however I really like how your described what is happening. Maybe there isn't a name for this yet, but I hope at the very least that one gets invented so it is easier to talk about.
    – Sophie McCarrell
    Nov 15, 2012 at 15:01

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I have just listened to it. If you want to do that live you need the instrumental on one deck and the a cappella on the other one then you slowly rewind it and then jump to the part you cued (where you want the song to start again). On regular turntables you would have to lift the needle and bring it back to the position where it was before you rewinded.

In an audio editing software it is easy to do though, it is often used to censor songs in Hip Hop. It is used in the song "Ching a ling" of Missy Elliot:

If you have ableton live for example, you warp your a cappella to the rhythm of your beat so that both always stay synced if you speed up the tempo. You select the part of the a cappella you want to reverse, you split the track and select the part you want to reverse. In the clip window at the bottom of the window you click on "R" to make the clip reversed. As simple as that .

I found that it is also called backmasking and it is when a message is hidden by playing it in reverse in a song lol... http://www.backmaskonline.com/index.php?page=rap

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  • I will, from here on, call it backmasking ;). Thanks. With that backmask link, I now see the technique is quite simply to do, although I'm sure it is more challenging to find good times to put it into the music.
    – Sophie McCarrell
    Nov 15, 2012 at 21:04
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I am not sure if you are talking about that but the way you describe it, it seems to be a baby scratch. If the record is brought back then forward, it is a scratch but then you have different kinds of scratching techniques from the baby scratch to the crabbing.

In dancehall music I know DJs do a lot of "Pull up", they stop the record by rewinding it and then they play it again from start.

If you have another link where we can hear it, please share it.

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    Did you listen to the mix at the 114 minute mark? It's also done 3 times in a row at the 113 minute mark as well. I'm not well versed in the terminology, but I looked up Baby Scratch and they don't really sound any bit a like. Maybe that's because the videos I watched they used a less complicated sound to scratch. There is no album scratch sound in it, just the record being played in reverse for a moment. I think the comment by NReil describes it really well.
    – Sophie McCarrell
    Nov 15, 2012 at 14:38
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the used effect is to sensor explicit lyrics. It is a function on the 'club standard' DJ players from Pioneer.
The effect is called: Reverse on Slip Mode reverse wil play the backwards. slipmode is the mode that will pick up the song were it should be if you would not play it backward (so it stays in time) (there are some other effects you can use in slipmode like making (short) loops for a stutter effect.

Irie!

jimmy Spliff 'get together & feel alright’ 

ps: a demo video

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