Slipmat

A slipmat is a circular piece of slippery cloth or synthetic materials disk jockeys place on the turntable platter instead of the traditional rubber mat.

Unlike the rubber mat which is made to keep hold the record firmly in sync with the rotating platter, slipmats are designed to slip on the platter, allowing the DJ to manipulate a record on a turntable while the platter continues to rotate underneath. This is useful for holding a record still for slip-cueing, making minute adjustments during beatmatching and mixing and pulling the record back and forth for scratching. They are also very commonly used simply as decoration for when a record isn't on the turntable.

Slipmatt

Slipmatt (born Matthew Nelson, 1968) is an English happy hardcore (and more recently rave breaks) producer and DJ based in Essex, England. He was one half of rave act SL2, who had a 1992 UK hit with "On A Ragga Tip".

History

In 1985, while working as an electrician and courier, Nelson obtained his first turntables and started playing hip-hop and house. He then founded a pirate radio station named "Raw FM" in London's East End, and in 1989 began his professional DJ career as DJ for the Raindance rave event. His first music production was in 1989 where Slipmatt collaborated with DJ Lime forming SL2. The single "Do That Dance", was released in that same year. This was followed by the number 11 UK chart hit "DJs Take Control" / "Way In My Brain". The follow-up single "On a Ragga Tip", reached number 2 in the UK Singles Chart in April 1992. As a result of their chart success, the band were propelled into the media spotlight and made appearances on Top of the Pops and other television shows. SL2's chart success continued with a remix of "Way in My Brain", which made the top twenty in the UK chart.