Scratch Studio Edition Installation

Vinyl emulation in Pro Tools

Scratch Studio Edition has been Discontinued

Scratch Studio Edition has been discontinued. Serato is concentrating its engineering efforts on the award winning Scratch LIVE instead.

For further info please contact Serato.

 

Software Installation

Run the software installer on the CD provided and follow the on-screen instructions.

Important: you need an iLok dongle (sold separately) to authorize your copy of Scratch Studio Edition.

Next, run your digital audio workstation (DAW) application. A window will appear asking you whether you wish to authorize. Follow the on-screen instructions. You will be prompted to insert your iLok license card into your iLok.

Software Setup

Example sessions have been provided as part of the Scratch installation. We recommend that you open one of these sessions in Pro Tools to see how Scratch Studio Edition should be set up.

First you will need to instantiate Scratch Studio Edition on a stereo aux input. You will need one stereo aux input for each turntable you are using.

Set the inputs of the aux channels to receive the signal from your turntables. (Note: Scratch Studio Edition will not work unless an input is set on the aux channel)

Assign the outputs of the aux channels to go to your DJ mixer. Each instance of the plug-in requires its own stereo output.

To record your performance you will need to record the output from your DJ mixer.

 

Calibration

It will initially be necessary for you to ‘calibrate’ Scratch Studio Edition. This is because your stylus is very sensitive to vibrations and even when the record is motionless, it will pick up noise and vibrations from the room which can be interpreted by Scratch Studio Edition as record movement.

We overcome this problem by setting a noise threshold when the ‘calibrate’ button is pressed. You should only need to calibrate Scratch Studio Edition before you start a session or if the noise levels in the room change. When in external mode, you can see the signal level being measured by Scratch Studio Edition in the display as a level meter. The thick horizontal line is the noise threshold, anything below this level will be ignored by Scratch Studio Edition.

  1. Make sure that the output from your turntable is being routed to Scratch Edition.
  2. Put the needle on the record, with the platter completely motionless.
  3. Hold the calibrate button for a second or two, long enough to move the threshold above the noise.

Note: the calibrate button will only appear when Scratch Studio Edition is in external control mode.

Functions

Load

Loads AIFF, WAV and SDII samples (Mac only) for scratching. Samples are automatically loaded in stereo pairs (where available).

Rec

Allows side-chain recording of a (for example) microphone signal. Click rec to start recording and again to stop, for live sample scratching. Using this button replaces the current sample. The waveform overview shows a progress bar representing how much RAM is available for recording. Scratch √remains silent while recording, and playback controls are disabled.

Int / Ext Buttons

Clicking either of these buttons will put Scratch Studio Edition into internal (mouse controlled) or external (turntable controlled) scratching. When Scratch Studio Edition is in external mode all the playback features are controlled by your turntable.

When you switch from external to internal mode, Scratch Studio Edition will attempt to make the transition seamless by setting its internal controls to match the speed of your turntable.

Normal Speed Switch

This switch lets you simulate either a 33 or 45 rpm record. Set this switch to the speed you prefer.