Architecture of Grace
← The turntables

The Turntables, in pictures

Almost no reading. Tape it to the wall next to the decks.

1What everything is

Both turntable decks.
Two decks, side by side. They have exactly the same buttons.
The waveform and the close-up strip. The song, drawnTall bumps are the drums. The thin strip under it is a close-up of where you are right now.
The record on the platter. The recordDrag it to scratch. Hold it still and it goes quiet, the way vinyl does.
Load a song, Take it off, Start, CUE. Load · Start · CUEStart goes and stops. Set cue marks a spot; CUE jumps back to it.
Hot cues, loops, SYNC and the BPM readout. SYNC, and the BPMMatches this deck to the other one. The yellow number is how fast this song is.
Nudge buttons and the 33 and 45 speeds. NudgeSlides the beat a hair forward or back, without changing the speed.
The PITCH readout and slider. PITCHA little faster, a little slower. This is how you match two songs by hand.
The KILL LOW, KILL MID, KILL HIGH and FLAT buttons. KILL LOWTakes the bass out. Press it on the song coming in, then swap.
The volume slider. VOLUMEHow loud this deck is.

2Get a song on there

The song stays on this computer. Nothing is uploaded anywhere.

1 The Load a song button. Load a songMP3, M4A or WAV, from this computer.
2 The waveform after a song loads. It draws itselfWait a second. The tall bumps are the drum hits.
3 The red Start button. Press StartThe red one. Now put a hand on the record.

3If scratching feels too fast

One button fixes it. It sits under the two decks. Click it to change it.

The button reading Platter: fine. Start hereYour hand moves a long way, the music moves a little. Easiest to control.
The button reading Platter: normal. When your hand is steadyThe middle setting.
The button reading Platter: 1:1 vinyl. Like a real record — very touchyThe screen is small and a real record is the size of a dinner plate, so at 1:1 the smallest movement is a big move in the music. This is the setting that makes people say they cannot do it.

4Four scratches

Green = push forward. Red = pull back. Two hands: one on the record, one on the crossfader under the decks.

The record on the platter.
Crossfader The crossfader. stays in the middle the whole time

BabyEasy

Push the record forward, then pull it back. The fader never moves. Say hmm-hmm while you do it.

The record on the platter.
Crossfader The crossfader. open on the push · across on the pull

ForwardEasy

Push forward with the fader open. Slide the fader across, pull back silently, slide it back. Only the push is heard.

The record on the platter.
Crossfader The crossfader. opens and closes inside one push

ChirpMedium

Open as you push, close before the push ends. A short bird sound.

The record on the platter.
Crossfader The crossfader. stays in the middle

TearMedium

One push. Then pull back in two pieces — fast, then slow. Fader open. It tears.

Set Fader: Cut (under the decks) before you try the forward scratch. On Blend the fader fades instead of cutting, and the pull-back is still heard.

5Lining two songs up

Two songs only sound like one when the numbers agree. Watch the yellow BPM on each deck.

NOT LINED UP Deck A reading 106.8 BPM. Deck B reading 99.8 BPM.

Wrong

106.8 against 99.8. The beats drift apart and it sounds like two songs fighting.

LINED UP Deck A reading 106.8 BPM. Deck B reading 106.7 BPM.

Right

106.8 against 106.7. Close enough. Now you can move the crossfader.

1 The PITCH slider. Drag PITCHOn the slow deck. Watch its BPM climb toward the other one.
2 The Nudge buttons. Then NudgeSame speed but landing late? Nudge it forward a hair.
3 The SYNC button and BPM readout. Or press SYNCDoes it for you. Try by hand first — it trains your ear.

6Swapping to the next song

The crossfader lives under the two decks. Count 32 beats to get from one side to the other.

The crossfader all the way left. Hard left — only deck ADeck B is silent, however loud its volume is.
The crossfader in the middle. Middle — both decksWhere a mix happens. Also where you leave it to scratch.
The crossfader all the way right. Hard right — only deck BThe swap is finished.
KILL LOW lit up on a deck. KILL LOW, halfway acrossTwo kick drums at once is mud. Bring the new song in with its bass killed, then at the halfway point swap: bass out of the old one, bass into the new one.

7Your record crate

Under the crossfader. It keeps your songs, even after you close the tab.

The crate with three records standing in it, each with A, B and remove buttons. Up next — pack the crate before the setPress Add songs and pick all of them at once. They stand in the crate in order. When it is time, drag a record onto a deck, or press A or B under it. It goes on the platter and leaves the crate.
The Previously spun list with one song in it. Previously spunThe last eight records you played. One press puts any of them back on a deck.

Closed the tab by mistake? Open the Turntables again. Both records go back on, stopped right where you left them.

8Nothing is happening