

Try, for example, loading up a multi-patch from the sound bank, or loading a number of individual loops into several of the slots. This has various benefits, not least of which is its ability to be used as a live performance module both for gigs and for more creative playback during recording. Pieces of Eight One of the great things about the Dr Octo REX is that it has eight slots, as opposed to the one of the original, meaning it can do the work of eight of the old modules.

Reason’s implementation is arguably the most elegant, however. So much so, in fact, that REX files are now supported by many other DAWs, either in a dedicated player module or with the ability to be placed on a regular audio track. That might seem normal now, but in 1994 when it was invented, it was revolutionary. REX loops are MIDI-triggered, sliced audio files that can change their tempo dramatically without altering their pitch – and their slices can be picked up, manipulated and rearranged. ReCycle was one of the company’s first major software releases: a standalone application for analysing and slicing up audio loops and saving them in a format that had significant advantages over regular digital audio at the time. You may not know that Propellerhead invented the REX format.
