Technical Itch

Dec 1, 2001 12:00 PM, By Stacia Monteith

John Acquaviva enters Los Angeles's Spundae and quickly assesses the sound system. He places two dub plates on two turntables, plugs in a small box, and boots his laptop computer. With the flip of a switch, he fires up an arsenal of 3,000 tracks, giving him the ability to throw down any obscure disco song or sophisticated Brazilian percussion track he wants, even if he's in the middle of a straight-up house set. Acquaviva used to lug two record boxes (about 200 records) to every gig, but now his sets are no longer limited to the amount of vinyl he can carry with him, thanks to FinalScratch.

Acquaviva, alongside fellow techno icon Richie Hawtin, is the first to experiment with a new vinyl-to-digital interface called FinalScratch, the brainchild of Amsterdam-based N2IT Development. Basically, FinalScratch allows a vinyl record (here, a dub plate containing digitally encoded song information) to control a digital file. An A/D converter box, called the Scratch Amp, connects to and provides an interface between the turntables, mixer, and computer. DJs manipulate the records just as they would any other 12-inch. “For me, as a DJ, the turntable is a much better controller than a mouse, CD, or touch pad,” Acquaviva explains. “You can pick the needle up and see the response on the computer screen with a mere 12 ms delay. I can cue any place I want to in a song, and the waveform display helps me find the break.” The digital file can be MP3, WAV, or audio CD. Acquaviva finds he can get powerful club sound quality just by using any of the larger MP3 bit rates, such as 192 or 256 Kbps.

Acquaviva sees many practical advantages with FinalScratch: “If you're doing demos for labels, DJs, or producers, you don't have to make acetates or burn CDs. It's great for me because I use Sonic Foundry software like Acid Pro and Sound Forge, and I'm constantly doing new mixes. I used to rip ten different CDs for ten different mixes. Now if I want to play my latest mix during a gig, I just click on it.”

Acquaviva also finds benefits in the realm of production: “It has motivated me to do more edits. Often a track just needs to be reshuffled. Now DJs can play their own mix of a song whether they're simply mixing two copies or producing their own new elements. If I don't like my own mix, I can go on the airplane tomorrow and reedit it over headphones. I'm just starting to scratch that surface. If FinalScratch becomes the standard, it will be amazing.”

FinalScratch was developed on the BeOS operating system. “BeOS is the best real-time system,” says Acquaviva. In 2002 FinalScratch will be developed on an imbedded Linux system for PC and Mac. “Linux is such a great operating system,” he says. “Once it's in Linux, N2IT wants the community to improve it. I think Linux is ideal for this technology, because sharing ideas is what the electronic-music community is about.”

FinalScratch is nearing the end of its prototype stage. Although the pro version is still produced only on a microscale, a consumer version, compatible with both PC and Mac operating systems, is set to premiere in early 2002.

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