Scratch Live 2.1 Manual
for Rane SL 3
Sample Player
The SP-6 Sample Player allows you to play up to six sources of audio, in addition to the tracks playing on the Virtual Decks. Any audio file in your Scratch Live library can be loaded to any one of the six slots, allowing playback of short samples, sound effects, or full length tracks.
The SP-6 is enabled when the SL 3 is plugged in, but not operational in the offline player mode.
Click on the SP-6 button to access the sample player window. In the top right corner of the SP-6 there is a button which opens the Display Menu. Clicking on this drops down a menu with the list of available controls:
- Mode: Chooses the play mode: Trigger / On- Off / Hold / Repeat modes.
- Output Select: Assigns individual slot outputs to the left, mix, aux, right or to the master output.
- Pitch: Pitch Slider / Bend / Nudge / Keylock controls.
- Play from: Choose which cue point / loop to use for the loaded track.
- Overview: Displays the overview of each track.
- Level: Individual sample slot level and Gain controls.
- Level meter: Displays the volume level for the sample slot.
This enables you to set up the sample player with the appropriate controls that suit your workflow.
Loading Music To The SP-6
To load a track to the SP-6, drag and drop the desired file from your library into one of the sample slots. To eject a track, click the eject button to the right of the title display.
TIP: You can load tracks to the SP-6 with the keyboard shortcuts: ctrl + alt + z to n.
TIP: Select and drag six tracks from your library onto the first sample player slot to simultaneously load six tracks across all six slots.
Playing Samples
Pressing the play button on each slot will play the loaded audio.
Tip: Use the shortcut keys
| z (slot 1) | x (slot 2) | c (slot 3) |
| v (slot 4) | b (slot 5) | n (for slot 6) |
to trigger each sample respectively.
Play Modes
Each slot has three different play modes:
Trigger mode - When play is pressed, the audio plays through until the end of the track. Pressing repetitively will trigger the audio from the beginning of the track. To stop the audio, hold the alt key while either clicking the play button, or pressing the corresponding shortcut key (e.g., alt - z for slot one).
Hold Mode - The sample will only play while you press and hold the play button or the corresponding shortcut key. Upon release of the play button, the audio stops immediately. This mode most closely resembles the function of the “note off” mode found on many popular samplers.
On / Off Mode - When play is pressed, the audio plays through until the end of the track. Pressing play again stops the audio.
Repeat Mode - Each slot has a repeat button. When activated, this will repeat the loaded audio file from beginning to end, or will play the first stored Scratch Live loop, if the file contains one.To adjust the loop information on a track, load it to a virtual deck, make your adjustments, then load it back into the sample player.
TIP: Short “loop” samples can be turned into a continuous track using the repeat function. Ensure there is a clean cut at the start and end of a bar.
TIP: If you don’t wish to use the SP-6, you can disable it in the Plugins tab on the Setup screen.
SP-6 Instant Doubles
You can instant double from the Virtual Decks down to the SP-6, from the SP-6 up to the Virtual Decks and also between the sample slots themselves. This means the position, track gain and speed will match when you drag a track to from one location into another. This allows you to beat match tracks with your turntables/CD players on the Virtual Decks, and then “instant double” the track down to a slot, freeing up the Virtual Decks to continue your mix with other tracks. Click and drag an already playing track from a Virtual Deck or sample slot and drop it on another sample slot to begin instant doubling.
SP-6 Pitch Controls
There are individual Pitch Slider, Bend, Nudge, and Keylock controls for each sample slot. The BPM is also displayed next to the pitch slider. If no BPM is present in the tracks ID3 tag, the pitch of the track is displayed as a percentage.
Click and drag the pitch slider to make regular pitch adjustments. Hold the shift key and move the pitch slider to make fine pitch adjustments.
Click on the + and – buttons to nudge the track into time. (temporary pitch adjustment) Hold the ctrl key and click the + and – buttons to make ultra-fine pitch adjustments to nudge the track, adjusting the pitch permanently.
SP-6 ‘Play From' Selector
Use the “Play From” selector to choose where the track will play from. You can choose to play a track from the start of the file, any one of the cue points, or any one of the loop in points.
When this is set to play from start, or play from a cue point, the track will play right through until stopped. When a loop is selected, the track will play until the loop out point, unless you have “track repeat” on, in which case the track will loop
using the in and out points of the selected loop.
The number of options will be dependent on the number of cue points and loops already set in your track. i.e if the track loaded has no cue points and loops set, then only “start” will be available as a “Play From” option.
TIP: To set or adjust cue and loop information for a track, load it to a Virtual Deck, make your adjustments, then load it back into the sample slot.
SP-6 Track Overviews
Displays an overview of the track loaded to each sample slot. The waveform, play head position, cue points and selected loops will all be visible.
SP-6 Slot Volumes
Each individual sample slot has a separate volume slider and gain control.
Volume Sliders - Use the volume slider to mix and make temporary adjustments to the volume of the sample you are playing. You can use these sliders like you use the line faders or up faders on your DJ mixer, fading from full volume right through to completely silent.
Gain Knobs - In addition to the volume slider there is an additional gain knob for each slot. These allow you to fine tune the maximum gain volume of the loaded sample. The gain adjustment will also be written to the track’s ID3 tag, meaning that it will be the same every time you load it.
SP-6 Output Selector
Use the master output selector button to choose where you wish to have the SP-6 output to.
L outputs through the left channel
M outputs through both channels (mix)
A outputs through the aux channels (1 and 2)
R outputs through the right channel
If you have the output set to Aux and click on the SP-6 THRU button, the sample player will automatically switch to use the Main mix output. This prevents a feedback loop from occurring.
There is also a master sample player Gain knob to adjust the overall SP-6 volume.
Individual Output Selectors
By default each sample slot will be set to Master, mirroring the SP-6 master output setting. You can however, use the individual output selector buttons to override the master output setting.
To send an individual slot to a different output from the master, deselect the master option by clicking on the master button for the corresponding slot.
This will unlink the sample slot from the master sample player output selection, allowing you to choose the L, M, A, R output for each slot. These output routings will be saved when you close down Scratch Live, so the next time you launch Scratch Live, your preferred settings will remain the same.
SP-6 Sample Banks
The SP-6 has four separate sample banks, labeled A, B, C and D. To switch between the different banks click on the A, B, C or D buttons.
Each bank will save the individual sample and sample slot settings you last used, allowing you to prepare banks for easy recall at a later stage. Sample Bank A will load as the default.
SP-6 Mute Buttons
Use the mute buttons to mute the audio output for each of the SP-6’s sample slots. Click the mute button to silence the audio output, click the mute button again to turn the audio back on.
You can also ctrl-click on the mute buttons to mute the outputs momentarily, meaning that the audio will only be muted for as long as you hold your mouse click.
TIP: You can MIDI assign these buttons, allowing you to create a virtual kill switch for the sample slot. To MIDI assign momentary mute, hold ctrl and click on the mute button before tapping your MIDI controller.
SP-6 MIDI
All features of the SP-6 are MIDI assignable. The SP-6 window must be opened first before enabling MIDI assign mode.
SEE MIDI CONTROL FOR MORE INFORMATION.