App of the Week: ‘Baby Scratch 1.4.1’

“Baby Scratch” emulates the vinyl medium but it also emulates the turntable and the requisite fader.
App of the Week: ‘Baby Scratch 1.4.1’
Taxis line up at a gas station in Guiyang City, Guizhou Province. (gog.com)
3/22/2011
Updated:
9/29/2015
<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/Photo_1_medium.jpg"><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/Photo_1_medium.jpg" alt="TURNTABLE: A screenshot of Baby Scratch, an iPhone app that gives the user a miniature turntable to learn simple scratching techniques. (Tan Truong/The Epoch Times)" title="TURNTABLE: A screenshot of Baby Scratch, an iPhone app that gives the user a miniature turntable to learn simple scratching techniques. (Tan Truong/The Epoch Times)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-122733"/></a>
TURNTABLE: A screenshot of Baby Scratch, an iPhone app that gives the user a miniature turntable to learn simple scratching techniques. (Tan Truong/The Epoch Times)
As controversy rages over whether electronic music qualifies as real music, the reality is that more and more of the music that we listen to incorporates elements of electronic manipulation and synthesized sounds.

In the 1980s, a new technique in electronic music called scratching was invented. The zipping and chirping sounds made on a turntable with this technique splashed into mainstream pop music with Herbie Hancock’s “Rock It.”

Ever since then, scratching has been wildly popular in hip-hop and other popular genres.

As popular as scratching may be, the high-torque turntable that is required to perform scratching techniques is not something that most people can easily access, and most people nowadays don’t even own a vinyl record to scratch with.

There is now vinyl emulation software, but most still require dedicated hardware which only professionals would be likely to buy. If you just wanted to try your hand at scratching without a significant investment, however, there is now an app for that.

<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/photo_2_medium.jpg"><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/photo_2_medium-313x450.jpg" alt="DJ: A screen on Baby Scratch shows its controls. The iPhone app can transform a phone into a miniature turntable. (Tan Truong/The Epoch Times)" title="DJ: A screen on Baby Scratch shows its controls. The iPhone app can transform a phone into a miniature turntable. (Tan Truong/The Epoch Times)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-122734"/></a>
DJ: A screen on Baby Scratch shows its controls. The iPhone app can transform a phone into a miniature turntable. (Tan Truong/The Epoch Times)
“Baby Scratch” emulates the vinyl medium but it also emulates the turntable and the requisite fader. “Baby Scratch” provides very solid basics. The spinning animation is smooth, the controls are responsive, and the sound is very realistic.

As its namesake suggests, you can perform simple techniques such as the baby scratch and the emulation is capable of allowing you to perform many others. The main limitation you will encounter is that you will not be able to perform any techniques that require fine finger movement because the interface is just too small.

This limitation also applies to the virtual volume fader that cannot be manipulated as quickly as a real fader. There is a transformer button that helps address this limitation by immediately silencing the music when pressed, but again, it is so small that it can only be used with one finger when it really needs to support multiple fingers.

An obvious point to be made is that this app cannot reproduce the sensation of the torque and friction between a spinning record and your fingers that is required to perform some techniques. In this way it will never replace a real turntable, but that was never the intention—it is called “Baby Scratch” after all.

“Baby Scratch” comes with some classic samples and loops to scratch with and provides a few more available for purchase. You cannot import your own music to loop or scratch with, but you can record a limited length of audio through your iPhone’s microphone. This sampling feature can be quite fun.

Despite its limitations, “Baby Scratch” is still capable of providing a satisfying experience to a novice turntablist or anyone with an itch to scratch.

“Baby Scratch” is available for free. It also has a sibling app called “Flare Scratch,” available for $4.99 that addresses some of the shortcomings of “Baby Scratch.”

[etRating value=“ 3.5”]