Final Scratch

Final Scratch is a DJ tool created by the Dutch company N2IT with input from Richie Hawtin (aka Plastikman) and John Acquaviva that allows manipulation and playback of digital audio sources using traditional vinyl and turntables. It seeks to cross the divide between the versatility of digital audio and the tactile control of vinyl turntablism.

Concept

Special vinyl records pressed with a digital timecode are played on normal turntables. The timecode signal is interpreted by a computer, connected to the turntables through an interface called the Scratchamp. The signal represents where the stylus is on the record, in which direction it is travelling, and at what speed. This information is interpreted by the computer and used to play back a digital audio file which has been 'mapped' to the turntable.

In practical terms, this means that any audio file can be manipulated as though it were pressed on vinyl. This has a great many advantages for DJs, not least that a laptop computer can often hold tens of thousands of audio files, whilst a record box has a decidedly smaller capacity and is much heavier. Furthermore, Final Scratch can play any audio file (provided it is in a recognised format), meaning that original compositions and productions can be used immediately in DJ sets without the expense of pressing temporary acetate records.

Prerelease

Final Scratch was originally developed for BeOS, and premiered at the Be Developer Conference in 1998.

Versions 1.0-1.5

All versions of Final Scratch 1 use the same Scratchamp, a USB and RCA device in a round plastic shell. The technical specifications of this device have been closely guarded by Stanton as an anti-piracy measure, though some users, unsatisfied with the latency and instability of the system, have alleged the use of faulty Philips sound chips which had already been withdrawn from the market. However, the same chipset was being used in several other USB audio devices manufactured by companies like Griffin and Roland at that time.

FS 1.0 was released for PC only, on a specially modified distribution of Debian Linux. It was relatively primitive but some users found that, if configured correctly, it outperformed all subsequent versions of Final Scratch 1.x.

With version 1.1, Stanton Magnetics began working with Native Instruments on the software side of the product, which became Traktor Final Scratch. As the name suggests, this bore a resemblance to the interface of Traktor, a Native Instruments software DJing product. This version was once again available on Linux, but was also ported to Mac OS X.

The next major advance was version 1.5, which not only added the ability to keep the pitch of the record constant whilst shifting the tempo, but also added a Windows XP version of the software. The interface changed very little, but this allowed PC users to simplify and stabilise their systems, though initially a vocal minority of users had issues with the Windows Scratchamp drivers.

Version 2

Version 2 added not only a new software engine, but a new Scratchamp as well. This new Scratchamp made 24-bit/96khz digital quality playback and record possible, added an ASIO driver, MIDI in and out, and uses a Firewire interface instead of the previous USB. The version 2 Scratchamp is also compatible with Native Instruments Traktor DJ Studio (starting at version 2.6) to enable vinyl control in that application.

External links

Music software | DJing