Derek Showard, better known by the stage name GrandMixer DXT, is an American musician, and the first DJ to use the

turntable A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration waveforms are recorded as corresponding phys ...

as a musical instrument. Early in his career, he was known as Grand Mixer D.ST, a reference to

Delancey Street Delancey Street is one of the main thoroughfares of the Lower East Side in Manhattan, New York City. It runs from the street's western terminus at the Bowery to its eastern end at FDR Drive, connecting to the Williamsburg Bridge and Brookly ...

on the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...

Manhattan, New York City Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the smallest county by area in the U.S. state of New York. Located almost entire ...

. He was featured in the influential hip hop film ''

Wild Style ''Wild Style'' is a 1982 American hip hop film written, produced and directed by Charlie Ahearn. Regarded as the first hip hop motion picture, it includes appearances by seminal figures such as Adam Horowitz, Fab Five Freddy, Lee Quiñones, L ...

''. Widely recognized as a pioneer, Grand Mixer DXT is credited as being the first

turntablist Turntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating new music, sound effects, mixes and other creative sounds and beats, typically by using two or more turntables and a cross fader-equipped DJ mixer. The mixer is plugged into a PA syste ...

. He was the first person to establish the turntable as a fully performable and

improvisation Improvisation, often shortened to improv, is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. The origin of the word itself is in the Latin "improvisus", which literally means un-foreseen. Improvis ...

al musical instrument (Alberts 2002). Especially important is his technique of altering the pitch of the

note Note, notes, or NOTE may refer to: Music and entertainment * Musical note, a pitched sound (or a symbol for a sound) in music * ''Notes'' (album), a 1987 album by Paul Bley and Paul Motian * ''Notes'', a common (yet unofficial) shortened versi ...

or sound on the record. He is also credited with helping to popularize DJing through his

scratching Scratching, sometimes referred to as scrubbing, is a DJ and Turntablism, turntablist technique of moving a vinyl record back and forth on a phonograph, turntable to produce percussive or rhythmic sounds. A crossfader on a DJ mixer may be used to ...

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer. He started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. Hancock soon joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he helped to redefine the role of ...

's single " Rockit", from the

Bill Laswell William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, wo ...

and

Material A material is a matter, substance or mixture of substances that constitutes an Physical object, object. Materials can be pure or impure, living or non-living matter. Materials can be classified on the basis of their physical property, physical ...

produced album ''

Future Shock ''Future Shock'' is a 1970 book by American futurist Alvin Toffler, written together with his wife Adelaide Farrell, in which the authors define the term "future shock" as a certain psychological state of individuals and entire societies, and a ...

''. He is featured in the 2001 documentary, '' Scratch''.

Discography

Albums

With

Ginger Baker Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker (19 August 1939 – 6 October 2019) was an English drummer. His work in the 1960s and 1970s earned him the reputation of "rock's first superstar drummer", for a style that melded jazz and Music of Africa, Africa ...

* '' Horses & Trees'' (Celluloid, 1986) With

* ''

'' (Columbia, 1983) * ''

Sound System Sound system may refer to: Technology media * Sound reinforcement system, a system for amplifying audio for an audience * High fidelity, a sound system intended for accurate reproduction of music in the home * Public address system, an institution ...

'' (Columbia, 1984) * '' Perfect Machine'' (Columbia, 1988) With

Jah Wobble John Joseph Wardle (born 11 August 1958), known by the stage name Jah Wobble, is an English bass guitarist and singer. He became known to a wider audience as the original bass player in Public Image Ltd (PiL) in the late 1970s and early 1980s; ...

* ''Heaven and Earth'' (Island Records, 1995) With

King T Roger McBride (born December 14, 1968), better known by his stage name King T (formerly known as King Tee), is an American West Coast hip hop rapper from Compton, California. Emerging as one of Compton's earliest hip hop artists, he was signed t ...

* ''

IV Life ''IV Life'' is the fourth studio album by American West Coast hip hop artist King Tee. It was released on March 28, 1995 via MCA Records, making it his first album on the label after his split with Capitol Records. Production was handled by sever ...

'' (MCA, 1994) With

* ''

Akasha Akasha (Sanskrit ' ) means Aether (classical element), aether in traditional Hindu cosmology. The term has also been adopted in Western occultism and spiritualism in the late 19th century CE. In many modern Indo-Aryan languages and Dravidian la ...

'' (Subharmonic, 1995) * '' Jazzonia'' (Douglas, 1998) * ''

Aftermathematics ''Aftermathematics'' (styled ''AFTERMATHematics'') is a collaborative album by Grand Mixer DXT and Bill Laswell, released on December 5, 2003 by Sub Rosa. Track listing Personnel Adapted from the ''Aftermathematics'' liner notes. ;Musici ...

'' (Subharmonic, 2003) With

Praxis Praxis may refer to: Philosophy and religion *Praxis (process), the process by which a theory, lesson, or skill is enacted, practised, embodied, or realised * Praxis model, a way of doing theology * Praxis (Byzantine Rite), the practice of fai ...

* ''

Profanation (Preparation for a Coming Darkness) Profanity, also known as swearing, cursing, or cussing, is the usage of notionally offensive words for a variety of purposes, including to demonstrate disrespect or negativity, to relieve pain, to express a strong emotion (such as anger, ex ...

'' (NAGUAL, 2008) With

Sly and Robbie Sly and Robbie were a prolific Jamaican rhythm section and production duo, associated primarily with the reggae and dub genres. Drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare teamed up in the mid-1970s after establishing themselves separat ...

* '' Rhythm Killers'' (Island Records, 1987)

Singles

D.ST: ''The Home Of Hip Hop'' (Celluloid, 1985)

References

External links

Grand Mixer DXT
discography at

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

*
DJ Grand Mixer DXT Interview
at NAMM Oral History Collection (2013) {{DEFAULTSORT:Grand Mixer Dxt American hip-hop DJs Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Musicians from New York City