Despite the odd, unsettling-sounding title, the free atch iPhone app is pretty fun. The upside is that you can record a sample of your voice and then listen to it over three different built-in loops. And as the title infers, you can create your own unique sounds by scratching the virtual record in whichever ways you choose.
The downsides are that you can’t record your scratch sessions, and you can’t bring in your own music; you have to work with what they give you (though the built-in beats are arguably pretty cool). Part of the fun of interactive iPhone apps is just that: they are interactive. You get to hear your own voice back and then do something creative with it — the kind of good time everyone enjoys.
The only thing I never totally got about Baby Scratch was the intro. When you first open up the iPhone app, after the initial creepy noise that sounds like whatever you might imagine a “baby scratch” to actually be, a series of short vocal and sound samples come up and play through repeatedly until you touch another button. Were these sounds meant to simply inspire, or could I have incorporated them into my own music making? I was never sure. Alas, Baby Scratch held up on its own. When else do I get to put my knowledge of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song lyrics to productive use?
