Intergalactic Arturia Sounds, Primed for Real-time Performance
Throughout the company’s multi-decade tenure, Arturia has cemented itself among the vanguard of contemporary, multimode synthesis, trailblazing across two distinctive yet interlinked lanes critical to the advancement of synthesis: original instrumentation and state-of-the-art emulation. AstroLab realizes the nexus of these two vectors as a dedicated stage keyboard designed to bridge the infinite potential of virtual instrumentation with the grounded, tactile needs of a studio or stage performance. With 61 semi-weighted keys and a variable polyphony of up to 48 voices, the AstroLab’s constellation of sounds lets you pull presets from their Analog Lab, V Collection, or Pigments software instruments and deploy them in real time for endless permutations of interstellar sound design. Extensive connectivity and compatibility options include Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and footswitch support, while accommodations for MIDI 2.0, aftertouch, and layering let you combine multiple dimensions of past, present, and future sounds into a single, performance-optimized instrument. With the evolution of key-based performances perennially looming over the horizon, gigging keyboardists, producers, and studio synthesists at Sweetwater alike have found the AstroLab to be a welcome breath of fresh air, introducing an inspiring blend of tactility, mobility, and expression tools to any arrangement.
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How does AstroLab work? Multidimensional sound in one instrument
Arturia’s AstroLab brings the near-infinite multitudes of sonic-sculpting possibilities afforded to its Analog Lab, V Collection, and Pigments virtual instruments to a robust keyboard that was purpose-built for stage and studio performances. With storage space for well over 1,000 presets, the AstroLab’s comprehensive, galvanizing engine serves as the singular source for any of your carefully curated sounds from compatible VIs. Eight 360-degree potentiometers supply flexible macros that can be tailored to each preset, divided between four instrument controls and four effects controls — including two insert effects slots — that strike the ideal balance between hands-on tactility and limitless virtual sounds. Additionally, each of the macro controls is color coded to not only display the adjustment of a parameter but also to support multi-part presets, allowing you to control one or both of a preset’s respective macros simultaneously.
AstroLab Connect: one app for comprehensive preset control
Across the sum of the Analog Lab, V Collection, and Pigments offerings, you’d be forgiven for wondering how the AstroLab’s streamlined interface accommodates such a diverse array of instruments. This is where AstroLab Connect enters the frame. This multi-platform mobile and desktop app lets you browse, organize, select, and even purchase new and existing sounds. It organizes them into playlists or sound banks to suit your needs. You can also broadly peruse information by category, style, and instrument. Detailed indexing tools are contrasted by a flexible, accommodating interface, making it painless to manage presets for dedicated set lists or performances, with further options that let you edit them straight from the app. Because Arturia outfitted the AstroLab with Wi-Fi capabilities to both produce its own network and connect to your smart device from a shared network, you’re always able to shape your sound.
A paradigm shift of form and function
The AstroLab is an unusual yet exciting blend of MIDI controller and proper instrument, with a diverse array of MIDI, Bluetooth, USB, Expression, Sustain, auxiliary input, and XLR/TRS combination jacks to facilitate countless configurations of real-time performance. Because the macro controls are predefined, the AstroLab daringly challenges the seemingly limitless possibilities of virtual sound with the simple fact that, for as much latent sonic potential exists within these virtual instruments, most — if not all — of those vectors play their most integral roles in the composition stage. Instead, AstroLab streamlines the real-time performances of those sounds by reducing the physical and virtual complexity of running a VI with a connected, synchronized onstage computer or laptop.
Versatile sound design for any sonic style
With its ample opportunities for interoperative integration, the AstroLab’s bevy of onboard tools melds worlds of sound with ease. Its distinctive architecture includes dual split and layering modes that allow you to craft complex textures, patches, and soundscapes that combine sonics from all over time and space, like Pigments’ futuristic wavetable magic with painstakingly crafted analog monosynths from the V Collection. Plus, the AstroLab’s onboard expressive capacity and performance tools can be discerningly deployed to elevate any instrument, including built-in delays and reverbs, dual insert effects for each preset, pitch and modulation wheels, an arpeggiator, a looper, a sequencer, and even a vocoder. Furthermore, each of the auxiliary jacks that accompany the dedicated Sustain and Expression inputs can be custom-assigned to functions unique to the AstroLab’s presets, capable of accommodating both TS-switch and continuous-pedal use.
Engineered for live shows, optimized for studio coherence
Arturia designed the AstroLab to meet the multimode needs of the contemporary gigging musician, and the instrument’s focused yet pliable architecture is meant to seamlessly join the open-ended nature of the composition and ideation stages with the purposeful, pointed tools needed for studio recordings and live shows. Its 5-pin MIDI I/O lets you connect the AstroLab to control or be controlled by countless external devices, and Arturia envisions a world where the AstroLab’s studio MIDI functionality can be used for building and customizing patches within the capable VIs, ensuring the transition from sound shaping to live use is nearly flawless. This workflow allows you to mindfully build and adapt presets far earlier in your creative process, drastically reducing headaches and hassles when it comes time to arrange your desired set list.
Arturia AstroLab 61 Features:
- A hybrid stage keyboard that brings the power of V Collection, Analog Lab, and Pigments to live performance without the need for a computer
- Features 30+ onboard instruments and over 1,300 presets, including more than 200 artist-inspired sounds spanning pianos, organs, strings, brass, and a wide range of synths
- Includes arpeggiator, sequencer, and looper functions, as well as chord and scale modes, with smooth preset transitions for seamless live switching
- Multitimbral engine allows you to split or layer 2 sounds with up to 48 voices of polyphony, enabling complex and expressive soundscapes
- Offers 4 instrument macros and 4 effects macros for real-time control over brightness, timbre, time, movement, and more
- Built-in effects engine includes delay, reverb, chorus, flanger, phaser, overdrive, bit crusher, wavefolder, EQ, amp modeling, and other sound-shaping tools
- Equipped with 8 assignable macros and a 61-key semi-weighted keybed with aftertouch for detailed, expressive playability
- Functions as a controller for Analog Lab Pro and works seamlessly with the AstroLab Connect mobile app for editing, organizing, and browsing sounds
- Provides flexible connectivity with Wi-Fi (including hotspot mode), USB-C and USB-A ports, combo XLR/TRS inputs with onboard vocoder, and multiple pedal inputs
- Includes full ownership of all onboard instruments and is compatible with both V Collection and V Collection X for deeper expansion
