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ReCycle (program)
Encyclopedia
ReCycle is a music loop
editor designed and developed by Swedish
software developers Propellerhead Software
. It runs on Microsoft Windows
and Apple Macintosh based PCs
. The software debuted in 1994.
The principal idea of ReCycle is to alter the tempo of a music loop without changing its pitch or otherwise altering its sound. ReCycle does this by "slicing" loops into a series of separate "beats" or "hits" and altering their timing (or even quantizing them) without altering the length of the individual slices, thus allowing the loop to play at a different speed whilst using the unmodified sounds for each individual slice/drum hit, a process which fully preserves the original pitch of the loop while allowing a great variety of speed/timing tweaks. ReCycle can also assign each successive slice to a respective MIDI note on a scale. ReCycle was the first program to popularize the idea of loop slicing.
Propellerhead developed their own file format for this software: REX, and later REX2
(.RX2) adding support for stereo
files, which has become a standard for music loops and is compatible with many third party programs, including Emagic Logic, MOTU
Digital Performer
, and Steinberg Cubase
. Propellerhead's Reason has its own specialised REX2 playing device called the Dr. Octorex Loop Player. In versions prior to Reason 5.0, it was supported in the Dr.REX Loop Player. This device can play slices when requested or simply play the entire loop in sequence.
ReCycle was originally developed in conjunction with Steinberg
, although version 2 was solely a Propellerhead release.
An update to ReCycle, version 2.2, was released in October 2011. It adds 64-bit support as well as no longer requiring Rosetta on OSX (as it was removed in OSX 10.7). The complete list of changes in version 2.2 are as follows:
Music loop
In electroacoustic music, a loop is a repeating section of sound material. Short sections of material can be repeated to create ostinato patterns...
editor designed and developed by Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
software developers Propellerhead Software
Propellerhead Software
Propellerhead Software is a music software company, based in Stockholm, Sweden, and founded in 1994. They are most notable for the studio emulation Reason.- History :...
. It runs on Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
and Apple Macintosh based PCs
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
. The software debuted in 1994.
The principal idea of ReCycle is to alter the tempo of a music loop without changing its pitch or otherwise altering its sound. ReCycle does this by "slicing" loops into a series of separate "beats" or "hits" and altering their timing (or even quantizing them) without altering the length of the individual slices, thus allowing the loop to play at a different speed whilst using the unmodified sounds for each individual slice/drum hit, a process which fully preserves the original pitch of the loop while allowing a great variety of speed/timing tweaks. ReCycle can also assign each successive slice to a respective MIDI note on a scale. ReCycle was the first program to popularize the idea of loop slicing.
Propellerhead developed their own file format for this software: REX, and later REX2
REX2
REX2 is a proprietary type of audio sample loop file format developed by Propellerhead, a Swedish music software company.It is one of the most popular and widely-supported loop file formats for sequencer and digital audio workstation software...
(.RX2) adding support for stereo
STEREO
STEREO is a solar observation mission. Two nearly identical spacecraft were launched into orbits that cause them to respectively pull farther ahead of and fall gradually behind the Earth...
files, which has become a standard for music loops and is compatible with many third party programs, including Emagic Logic, MOTU
MOTU
MOTU can refer to:*Mark of the Unicorn, a music-related computer software and hardware supplier.*Masters of the Universe, a toy and media franchise by Mattel....
Digital Performer
Digital Performer
Digital Performer is a full-featured Digital Audio Workstation/Sequencer software package published by Mark of the Unicorn of Cambridge, Massachusetts for the Apple Macintosh platform.-Ancestry:...
, and Steinberg Cubase
Steinberg Cubase
Cubase is a music software product developed by Steinberg for music recording, arranging and editing as part of a Digital Audio Workstation. It is one of the oldest DAWs to still enjoy widespread use...
. Propellerhead's Reason has its own specialised REX2 playing device called the Dr. Octorex Loop Player. In versions prior to Reason 5.0, it was supported in the Dr.REX Loop Player. This device can play slices when requested or simply play the entire loop in sequence.
ReCycle was originally developed in conjunction with Steinberg
Steinberg
Steinberg GmbH is a German musical software and equipment company based in Hamburg. It mainly produces music recording, arranging and editing software as used in digital audio workstations and VSTi software synthesizers.- History :...
, although version 2 was solely a Propellerhead release.
An update to ReCycle, version 2.2, was released in October 2011. It adds 64-bit support as well as no longer requiring Rosetta on OSX (as it was removed in OSX 10.7). The complete list of changes in version 2.2 are as follows:
- The program is now fully compatible with 64 bit operating systems.
- ReCycle 2.2 is also a true Cocoa program under Mac OS and works great with Mac OS X 10.7 Lion.
- The main window has been redesigned, with new zooming and scrolling.
- Scrolling is smoother and you can now zoom in further.
- Some redundant controls have been removed and others added.
- When exporting AIFF and Wave files, Record/Reason-style tempo information is now included in the file.
- When importing audio files created in Record or Reason, the tempo information in those files is used for setting tempo and length in ReCycle.
- The Waveform now indicates graphically what sound will be played back, by dimming silent sections.
- You can now use the Q, W, E and R keys to select tools, just like in Reason.
- The Preference dialog has been streamlined and updated.
- Open Recent (documents) is now a sub-menu on Mac OS.
- The status bar has been removed.
- Removed support for the Sound Designer II, Mixman, SampleCell and Akai (.aka) formats since these are all outdated.
- The authorization system and copy protection has been changed.
- Installation under Mac OS is now drag and drop (no installer).