At this week's NAMM Winter Show in Anaheim, CA, Cycling '74 announced radiaL, an extensible loop-based composition and performance tool designed for Mac users looking to explode the boundaries between live performance, sound design, and composition.

radiaL is a modular environment that's centered around cockpit-style circular "loop gauges." Live and studio use is facilitated with a set of supported performance devices (control surfaces, MIDI, keyboard, mouse, step sequencers, real-time modulation generators). radiaL also supports multi-channel audio I/O with ASIO and hosts VST plug-in effects.

It lets you add your own modules or change the standard components with Cycling '74's Max/MSP graphical programming environment. Plus, the folks at Cycling '74 say they'll continue to release new modules, and facilitate the exchange of users' loops, setups, and extensions.

Other radial features, according to Cycling '74, include: sample-accurate loop playback with pitch and time shifting; support for AIFF, WAV, and MP3 files; automatable modulation matrix system; a library of user interfaces, plus the ability to build your own; flexible audio routing and support for ASIO, ReWire, DirectConnect, and VST; live loop capture and hard-disk recording; a graphical application for loop creation and editing and a free library of loops; integrated support for the MotorMix automated control surface; and device control templates.

radiaL will be available in the third quarter of the year for under US$200. Cycling '74 also announced the Mac compatible Essential Instruments, a collection of 14 software synthesizers, drum machines, and sampler modules for VST2 and MAS. They'll be available this quarter for $99, with a special $59 price offered to PLUGGO users.

A free trial version will be downloadable from the Cycling '74 Web site, where free preview versions of the Theremin and analog emulation drum modules will be available prior to the official release of the product. i-Synth 1.1 is available now.

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