Stagecraft Software - Scratch Track

Scratching in the DAW

Scratch track is designed to give you a way to add scratches to your recording projects. You can use this plugin to scratch samples, loops, tracks or live input. This is the only software to offer live scratching and to support all types of timecoded vinyl, MIDI learn for controls, automation, and programmable crossfade.

Timecoded Vinyl

Scratch track is the cheapest, simplest, most versatile way to use your timecoded vinyl in any DAW or audio plugin host. That makes this plugin the easiest way to add scratching to your recording projects, period.

Live Input

You can even scratch a stream of live incoming audio. This means you can scratch any of the sounds that you can generate with the host program, or even incoming audio like a live MC. Imagine sending out a shout out from on stage, and then rolling it back to scratch the audio. No problem.

Samples and Tracks

You can use this plugin to trigger samples and tracks. There are programmable cue points so you can juggle between cues in your samples at the touch of a button.

MIDI Learn

Like all our plugins, this one comes with its own MIDI learn. Simply right-click on any of the buttons or sliders (including the crossfade) to map a midi signal to that control.

Crossfade

The only plugin out there with a professional level crossfade. This plugin lets you adjust the curve of the crossfader and responds with super-low latency to incoming midi signals, so you can finally use a midi controller for serious scratching.

Vinyl Setup

The primary function of the Scratch Track plugin is to allow you to use timecoded vinyl inside your recording software. this means that you can scratch audio samples with timecoded vinyl from inside Ableton, Cubase, reaper, or any other DAW. To use vinyl, simply follow the steps below.

First, open the plugin UI, enable vinyl inputs (by clicking on “vinyl in”) and then select the type of vinyl you wish to use (in the vinyl control panel, in the plugin). 

Second, You need to make sure that audio is actually being routed to the plugin (specifically to the first two inputs). In most DAWs, the vinyl input will be the primary input shown on the plugin’s track.

In Ableton for instance, you simply need to select the incoming vinyl signal from the audio input dropdown, as shown below.

MIDI Setup

Like all our plugins, you can map incoming midi messages to any of the sliders or buttons. To do this, simply right click the button or slider, and then activate the midi learn. Once activated, the object will learn the next midi message that it receives, and use that in the future to trigger/move.

Like all our plugins, you can map incoming midi messages to any of the sliders or buttons. To do this, simply right click the button or slider, and then activate the midi learn. Once activated, the object will learn the next midi message that it receives, and use that in the future to trigger/move. 

Line-Ins

One of the novel features of Scratch Track is that it will allow you to scratch live incoming audio. This means (for instance) that you could sing a few lines of a song, and then grab the turntable, and scratch the audio immediately after it was first created.

To do this you must first enable live streaming (by clicking on the “live input” button on the plugin’s UI.

Once enabled, the plugin will add the incoming audio from input 3&4 to the plugin’s scratch buffer. The incoming audio will also be immediately displayed in the waveform UI (shown below).

Notice, that once you scratch the stream, it will no longer be in sync with the live throughput. To bring it back up to the current playtime, simply click the “sync” button.

Automation

One of the most powerful and unique features of Scratch Track is that it can be used to record turntable scratching to automation data. This means that in addition to recording the audio output (what the scratch sounds like), you can also record how the timecoded vinyl was moved to obtain a certain scratch. It should be possible, then, to tweak the scratch after the fact, to invent new scratches that would otherwise not be possible.

To record automation, simply select the automation “out” on the plugin. This will tell the plugin to send tracking data for all parameters to the host, including the scratches that it is producing based on the timecoded vinyl input. In your host, you can then record this data.

How to do this will vary depending on your software. In Ableton, simply hitting the record button will record all automation.

To playback the automation, we must now select the automation “In” button on the Scratch Track plugin (to let the plugin know it should use incoming automation data and not the incoming timecoded vinyl signal, or other midi inputs). You may also need to record automation for one of the “play” parameters, in order to trigger the sample.

You should now see the turntable scratch when you hit play on the DAW, regardless of the timecoded vinyl input.

Finally, to take this to the next level, you can record automation for the crossfade parameter. By automating the scratches and the crossfade, we can reproduce the actions of a turntablist down to the smallest detail. We can also invent new and impossible scratches by tweaking the automation data.

Features

• Interprets timecoded vinyl and allows scratching
• Scratch loops, samples, or tracks
• Record and scratch live inputs in real-time
• Record loops
• Midi learn
• MIDI platters controllers for scratching ability
• CDJ compatible
• Supports most MIDI controllers

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System Requirements

macOS

• macOS 10.13 or newer 
• Intel / M1 Apple Silicon supported (64-bit only)
• AAX, AU, VST 3

Windows

• ­Windows 7 or newer (64-bit only)
• AAX, VST 3

Note: Windows 32-bit hosts are no longer supported.