Graham found the Stanton Final Scratch system to be the ideal choice for his Lollapalooza gig, allowing him to bring massive amounts of music along without having to carry crates of records and CDs. "Final Scratch was the heart of my entire DJ booth," says Graham. "Although I did have a pair of CD players at my disposal, I rarely used them. I found the combination of Final Scratch with my PowerBook G4 to be far more preferable." The number one reason Graham cites is that, for him, the Final Scratch interface is truer to the feel of spinning actual vinyl than playing CDs.
He continues: "Final Scratch allows me to be spontaneous and change my mind about a selection in a matter of seconds. No fumbling for CDs, no changing records." Graham also likes the waveform display which gives him visual cues about a track that just aren't possible with vinyl or CD. "There are also some cool tricks," he says, "like being able to assign the same track to both Final Scratch records and then phase them or beat-juggle them."
He also likes being able to carry an entire CD-quality music library on a laptop. "In a matter of seconds you can sort your entire collection and then type a keyword to do a search. This is so much easier than digging through a huge crate of records or flipping through CDs."
During the tour, Graham used Final Scratch to play a wide range of music and samples - from house, techno and breaks to hip-hop, drum 'n' bass and even an occasional rock record. Since the tour had a wireless network running, Graham was able to download new tracks and samples in between sets and have them loaded and ready to play from Final Scratch by the time he went on again. "Final Scratch conveniently combines form, function, versatility and style," says Graham. "It is the most impressive DJ technology I have used to date."
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
