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REX2 is a proprietary type of audio sample loop file format developed by Reason Studios, 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. It is supported by PreSonus Studio One, Reason Studios Reason, Steinberg Cubase, Steinberg Nuendo, Cockos REAPER, Apple Logic, Avid Pro Tools, Ableton Live, Cakewalk Project5, Cakewalk Sonar, Image-Line FL Studio, MOTU Digital Performer, MOTU Mach 5 (software sampler), and Synapse Audio Orion Platinum, among others.
REX files are named after the three-letter filename suffix for "ReCycle EXport," as these are files generated by Reason Studios's ReCycle looping utility. The filename extensions for the file format are .rex and .rx2.
REX2 loops are created in ReCycle by analyzing audio files to locate zero crossings in the waveform, usually at the start of a beat or other rhythmic point. The file is then divided into "slices" delineated by these markers (a form of metadata). This allows compatible DAW software to adjust the playback start time of each slice, so that the loop can dynamically match the tempo of a song without altering the pitch of the loop, as would normally happen if the audio file was slowed down or sped up. Depending on the host software, individual slices can be triggered via MIDI notes, and individually tuned up and down in pitch if desired.
Royalty free REX2 Loop and sample collections are now available from many sources.
The original REX format was mono only; REX2 supports mono or stereo files.
The REX2 format uses a proprietary compression algorithm that can reduce the file size by up to 60%.
MIDI is a technical standard that describes a communication protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and related audio devices for playing, editing, and recording music.
Finale is a discontinued proprietary music notation software developed and released by MakeMusic for Microsoft Windows and macOS from 1988 until 2024, when it was discontinued.
FL Studio is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed by the Belgian company Image-Line. It features a graphical user interface with a pattern-based music sequencer. It is available in four different editions for Microsoft Windows and macOS.
Cubase is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed by Steinberg for music and MIDI recording, arranging and editing. The first version, which was originally only a MIDI sequencer and ran on the Atari ST computer, was released in 1989. Cut-down versions of Cubase are included with almost all Yamaha audio and MIDI hardware, as well as hardware from other manufacturers. These versions can be upgraded to a more advanced version at a discount.
Virtual Studio Technology (VST) is an audio plug-in software interface that integrates software synthesizers and effects units into digital audio workstations. VST and similar technologies use digital signal processing to simulate traditional recording studio hardware in software. Thousands of plugins exist, both commercial and freeware, and many audio applications support VST under license from its creator, Steinberg.
A digital audio workstation is an electronic device or application software used for recording, editing and producing audio files. DAWs come in a wide variety of configurations from a single software program on a laptop, to an integrated stand-alone unit, all the way to a highly complex configuration of numerous components controlled by a central computer. Regardless of configuration, modern DAWs have a central interface that allows the user to alter and mix multiple recordings and tracks into a final produced piece.
Audio editing software is any software or computer program which allows editing and generating audio data. Audio editing software can be implemented completely or partly as a library, as a computer application, as a web application, or as a loadable kernel module. Wave editors are digital audio editors. There are many sources of software available to perform this function. Most can edit music, apply effects and filters, and adjust stereo channels.
Acid Pro is a professional digital audio workstation (DAW) software program currently developed by Magix Software. It was originally called Acid pH1 and published by Sonic Foundry, later by Sony Creative Software as Acid Pro, and since spring 2018 by Magix as both Acid Pro and a simplified version, Acid Music Studio. Acid Pro 11 supports 64-bit architectures, and has MIDI, ASIO, VST, VST3, DirectX Audio, and 5.1 surround sound support.
Digital Performer is a digital audio workstation and music sequencer software package published by Mark of the Unicorn (MOTU) of Cambridge, Massachusetts for the Apple Macintosh and Microsoft Windows platforms.
ReWire is a software protocol, jointly developed by Propellerhead and Steinberg, allowing remote control and data transfer among digital audio editing and related software. Originally appearing in the ReBirth software synthesizer in 1998, the protocol has since evolved into an industry standard.
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.
Prosoniq Products Software was a German software developer of audio and music tools, mostly known for their sonicWORX, OrangeVocoder, TimeFactory and Hartmann Neuron synthesizer products. It also licensed proprietary technologies in the audio/music DSP sector to software manufacturers including Emagic, Steinberg, Digidesign, TwelveTone Systems, Merging, DAVID, AutoDesk/Discreet and others. Headquartered in Karlsruhe, Germany, Prosoniq pioneered the use of artificial neural networks for commercial audio processing.
LMMS is a digital audio workstation application program. It allows music to be produced by arranging samples, synthesizing sounds, entering notes via computer keyboard or mouse or by playing on a MIDI keyboard, and combining the features of trackers and sequencers. It is free and open source software, written in Qt and released under GPL-2.0-or-later.
Sonar was a digital audio workstation created by the former Boston, Massachusetts–based music production software company Cakewalk. It was acquired by Singaporean music company BandLab Technologies and renamed Cakewalk by BandLab.
WaveLab is a digital audio editor and recording computer software application for Windows and macOS, created by Steinberg. WaveLab was started in 1995 and it is mainly the work of one programmer, Philippe Goutier.
Reason Studios is a music software company, based in Stockholm, Sweden. Founded in 1994, it develops the studio emulation digital audio workstation and audio plug-in Reason.
The stutter edit, or stutter effect, is the rhythmic repetition of small fragments of audio, occurring as the common 16th note repetition, but also as 64th notes and beyond, with layers of digital signal processing operations in a rhythmic fashion based on the overall length of the host tempo. The Stutter Edit audio software VST plug-in implements forms of granular synthesis, sample retrigger, and various effects to create a certain audible manipulation of the sound run through it, in which fragments of audio are repeated in rhythmic intervals. The plug-in allows musicians to manipulate audio in real time, slicing audio into small fragments and sequences the pieces into rhythmic effects, recreating techniques that formerly took hours to do in the studio. Electronic musician Brian Transeau is widely recognized for pioneering the stutter edit as a musical technique; he developed, coined the term, and holds multiple patents for the Stutter Edit software plug-in.
Digital Sound Factory is a sound design company that creates sound libraries, known as SoundFont libraries, for playback on synthesizers and computers compatible with Steinberg Cubase, Cakewalk Sonar, Reasonstudios, Steinberg Halion, Native Instruments Kontakt, Apple GarageBand, Apple Logic, Ableton Live, GenieSoft Overture, Finale, Creative Labs Audigy/X-Fi, E-MU Systems EmulatorX/Proteus X, LMMS, FL Studio, MuseScore, Mixcraft, VSamp, SFZ, SynthFont, Ardour, FluidSynth and more.