Video Scratching

Video Scratching is a video editing technique where an artist cuts up video from various sources and edits them togething into a rythmic sequence, sometimes adding a beat and instrumentals to the audio.

Years ago I had a VHS tape of a group called Emergency Broadcast Netowork (EBN) who pretty much pioneered the art of video scratching. I don’t know what happened to that tape, but luckily nearly all the videos are available on YouTube.

They gained the most notoriety for a video they did of George Bush Senior performing the Queen song We Will Rock You.

One of my favorites is this track, titled Get Down.

A recent favorite video scratch of mine is Aaron Valdez’s Big Screen Version:

A YouTube user by the name of Rx2008 has been posting some wonderful, fresh video scratches. Here are a few:

GW Bush covers REM’s End of the World:

Tony Blair covers The Clash’s Should I Stay or Should I Go:

Bush and friends cover John Lennon’s Imagine: