Main screen overview, Virtual deck, Visual aids – Rane MP 4 Manual 1.9.2 User Manual
Page 13: Tempo matching display, Track overview display, Main waveform display, Beat matching display

RANE MP 4
FOR
SERATO SCRATCH LIVE
•
OPERATOR’S MANUAL
1.9.2
13
area. When the two tracks are matched to the 
same tempo, the peaks will line up. Note that the 
tempo display is aligned with the beginning of 
the bar, so the peaks keep their relative position 
as the track plays. This display does not show 
the relative timing of the beats, only the tempos 
of the tracks. The peaks will still line up when the 
tracks are playing at the same tempo, but are 
out of sync.
TRaCK OVERVIEW dISpLay
This view provides a complete overview 
of the track waveform, and includes 
a marker to show the current position 
within the track. This view is useful for 
finding transitions within the track. The 
waveform is colored according to the 
sound spectrum – red representing 
low frequency bass sounds, green 
representing mid frequency sounds and 
blue representing high frequency treble 
sounds.
 You can jump to different positions 
within the track by clicking on the Track 
Overview display. Grey lines behind the 
overview show the length of the track – a thin 
grey line every minute, and a thick grey line every 
5 minutes. The overview will be filled when you 
load the track onto a Virtual Deck. On slower 
computers, disable auto fill overviews in the 
setup screen – with this setting disabled, the 
overview will be filled as you play the track. 
SEE
“pREpaRING yOuR FILES” ON paGE 12.
maIN WaVEFORm dISpLay
This view provides a close-up 
of the track, including color 
coding to show the frequency 
of the sound; red representing 
low frequency bass sounds, 
green representing mid-
frequency sounds and blue 
representing high-frequency 
treble sounds. You can 
also switch to a three-band 
spectrum view by holding 
the ctrl key and clicking on 
the waveform. Click on the 
waveform to ‘scrub’ or make fine adjustments 
to your position within the track. The Main 
Waveform is zoomed around the current position 
in the track. 
TIp: use the + and – keys to zoom in and out.
TIp: Waveform can be either vertical or horizontal. 
SEE “hORIzONTaL WaVEFORmS” ON paGE 27.
Kick drum
In this example, the red part of the 
wave represents a kick drum, while 
the purple part represents a snare 
drum.
 
Snare drum
BEaT maTChING dISpLay
This view shows the position of beats 
within the track. When beat matching, 
this view helps align the downbeats 
of the two tracks. The markers are 
matched up when the two tracks are 
beat matched.
 
Example: The following is a
demonstration of using the visual aids 
to help beat match. In this example, 
the track that is playing is on the left 
deck, and the track to be mixed in is 
on the right deck.
1. Start the track playing on the right deck. After 
a few seconds, blue peaks appear in the Tempo 
Matching display.
2. Adjust the pitch of the right turntable until the 
blue peaks sit under the orange peaks in the 
Tempo Matching display. Once they are aligned, 
the two tracks have the same tempo.
3. Next align the markers in the Beat Matching 
display. Watch the color of the items passing by 
in the Main Waveform display. Remember that a 
kick or bass drum will be red in color, and a snare 
drum will be green or blue. This technique will by 
no means guarantee perfect mixes, but may help 
to speed up the process of beat matching.
maIN SCREEN
OVERVIEW
VIRTuaL dECK
The Virtual Deck shows 
everything about the 
speed and position of 
a track. The circular 
progress bar around 
the edge is a visual 
representation of the 
position within the song, and can be set to flash 
to warn you that the track is nearing its end. The 
time and remaining time are displayed in minutes 
and seconds. The pitched BPM (BPM with pitch 
adjustment multiplier added) is shown on the left 
of the Virtual Deck, and the percentage pitch 
shift is shown on the right of the Virtual Deck. If 
the track has no BPM information, pitched BPM 
will not be shown.
TIp: use the keyboard shortcut shift-alt-
arrow to unload a track from the Virtual deck.
VISuaL aIdS
When the track is playing several waveforms are 
displayed. Each shows a different aspect of the 
track being played.
TEmpO maTChING dISpLay
The Tempo Matching display area provides a 
helpful tool for beat matching. Scratch Live 
detects the beats within the track, and places 
a row of orange peaks (for the track on the left 
side) above a row of blue peaks (for the track 
on the right side) in the Tempo Matching display 
