Output’s cloud-powered Arcade plugin lets you play loops like a synth

Output has opened the digital doors to Arcade, a new loop-based synth that’s based on cloud content. This is a subscription service, and is designed to change the way you work with samples.

User-friendliness appears to be front and centre of the Arcade experience. Fire up the plugin and you can choose from numerous playable kits, each of which comprises 15 loops. The white keys on your MIDI controller are used to trigger the loops, while the black keys modify them and sliders adjust the sonic character. There are also 11 effects, modulation options and loop editing.

The Arcade content is accessed through a cloud-based browser which organises content into three levels: Product Lines, Kits and Loops. You can search by keyword or tag and listen to audio previews, then download just the content that you want. The loops can be locked to pitch and tempo, giving you total flexibility, and you can even drag in your own loops and process them with the Arcade engine.

“All you have to do is watch someone use Arcade for five minutes and you grasp the impact this will have on music production,” says Output founder and CEO Gregg Lehrman. “Our goal from day one has always been to help musicians be creative. I think this is a huge next step in the fulfilment of that vision and can’t wait to hear how it inspires and transforms music.”

An Arcade subscription costs $10 a month, though you can cancel at any time and keep the content that you’ve created up to that point. What’s more, you can try the service for free for 100 days.

Find out more and sign up on the Output website.