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Regardless of your view on whether turntables can be considered a musical instrument, there is no doubt that, tastefully used, they can create all sorts of rhythmically interesting effects. For those who have honed their skills, nothing is going to replace the genuine article. For the rest of us — pre-recorded sample loops aside — there is now Vinyl Boy. This PC-only VST plug-in is available from Musicrow and, priced at about £12, is not going to burn a big hole in anyone's pocket. The modest little plug-in attempts to emulate the kind of scratching effects that can be created using a turntable. With only four controls, all of which are pretty much of the 'set and forget' variety, it is also simple to use.
Vinyl Boy can be purchased direct from the Musicrow web site, and the small download includes both the plug-in and a four-page PDF manual. Installing the plug-in is simply a matter of placing the file in your VST plug-in folder. To use the plug-in, an instance of Vinyl Boy is inserted on the audio track that you wish to process. Once this is done, a MIDI track can be used to send mod wheel data to the plug-in — Vinyl Boy appears as an output option in the MIDI track destination setting within Cubase. This all worked a treat on my test PC, and I soon had the plug-in working in Cubase 4.
Aside from the turntable graphic, the user interface includes three knobs and one switch. According to the manual, the Smooth knob changes the smoothness of the scratching sound, with higher values less likely to generate pitch stepping, while the Amount knob acts like a sensitivity control to fine-tune the response of your mod wheel. The Out knob simply controls the output level from the plug-in. The Stream button toggles between two modes of operation. With it switched on, the track being processed is heard all the time, but with the Stream button off, the track is only heard when you raise the pitch-bend control. In both modes, 'scratching' is performed by moving the mod wheel on your MIDI keyboard.
In essence, as the mod-wheel value is increased, audio playback of the track is slowed down, while reducing the mod wheel value speeds up playback. In use, I found lower Amount settings made the scratching effects easier to control and, with a little practice (far less than that required with a real turntable I'm sure!), I was able to create some reasonably convincing turntable effects. I was easily able to add scratching effects in my own tracks, and the plug-in worked a treat to disguise the occasional explicit phrase in a lyric to create a 'clean' version of a vocal part. While I'm sure Vinyl Boy wouldn't satisfy the turntable purist, it is a very convenient alternative for occasional use. It is also simple to use and a lot of fun. John Walden
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