A Kaleidoscope of Synthesizer Possibilities
A massively powerful wavetable and virtual analog software synth two decades in the making, Arturia Pigments is a soft synth that boldly reimagines the possibilities of time-tested analog and virtual synthesis while deploying them across a slew of future-facing sonic tools. Featuring cutting-edge wavetable synthesis, granular synthesis, harmonic synthesis, modal synthesis, and Arturia’s meticulous analog modeling engine, this seventh generation of Pigments heralds an inspiring and innovative era of multi-engine possibilities, including precise micro-tuning compatibility, generative sequencing, and comprehensive MIDI Polyphonic Expression (MPE) capabilities. Arturia has spent the past two decades analyzing and reinventing the most legendary synthesizers ever produced, so the time was ripe for a soft synth with a powerful architecture and lightning-fast workflow that makes crafting modern sounds with complex modulations quick, easy, and fun. While Arturia Pigments may stand on the shoulders of some of the greatest synths of the past, it delivers wholly modern avant-garde sounds, features, and playability. With its incredible sonic prowess and remarkable ease of use, Arturia Pigments is a groundbreaking go-to synth for producers, sound designers, and synth lovers alike. For this long-awaited seventh iteration of Pigments, Sweetwater’s studio pros couldn’t be more excited to take their sounds into uncharted, future-facing territory.
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What's new in Pigments 7?
Building upon its foundational software synthesis engine, Arturia's Pigments 7 introduces a range of modern upgrades to expand sound-building potential — along with updated modulation and CPU enhancements to keep your workflow efficient in the face of heavier FX chains, complex routing designs, and more. Three unique filtering tools, including Filter Rage, Filter Ripple, and Reverb Filter, expand sound-shaping possibilities tenfold, while an updated Corroder FX module brings long-awaited modulation-driven erosion potential into the equation. Beyond that, Pigments 7 promises an arsenal of over 150 new factory presets, 50 wavetables, 30 samples, and 20 noises, complete with an updated amplitude envelope design that reduces clicking and enhances sonic punch throughout the entire creative process. With all of these improvements in mind, previous owners of Pigments 6 will be happy to know they'll reap the full benefit of every 7th iteration upgrade — all free of charge.
Conjure exhilarating sounds with Arturia’s pentacle of synth power
Since its first incarnation, Pigments has struck a careful balance between past- and future-minded sound design tools that masterfully merge multiple dimensions of sonic sculpting armaments into a streamlined, intuitive, and inspiring package. This seventh-generation soft synth takes up the mantle by expanding everything to love about its predecessor while making precise upgrades to empower you to explore the furthest, uncharted reaches of multi-engine synthesis.
The virtual instrument's greatly enhanced CPU efficiency is foundational. Its multi-core processing enables you to explore and utilize exciting new and returning tools — all while maintaining stable operation throughout complex modulation and heavy effects chains. Its preset bank has been expanded to more than 1,500 options, leading to three additional sound banks to excavate alongside purpose-crafted presets that take full advantage of Pigments’ voltaic, expressive MPE and MTS-ESP micro-tuning compatibilities. Speaking of malleability, you can now deploy the extensive sound-shaping and effects tools of Pigments with nearly any audio, thanks to the Utility engine’s expanded functionality, allowing any external audio to be processed within the robust Pigments architecture.
Wavetable, analog, granular, harmonic, and modal engines: a quintet threat
Wavetable synths are used to create many of the cutting-edge sounds you hear in today’s blockbuster movies, television series, and hit records. Granular synthesis is capable of creating otherworldly synth sounds by deconstructing sampled material. Harmonic additive synthesis manipulates partials for next-level sound design. Modal synthesis pushes the bounds of synthetic sound design, marking a return to traditional, acoustic-inspired instrumentation. And analog synthesis remains a staple of contemporary music making.
Combining modern wavetable synthesis, granular synthesis, harmonic synthesis, modal synthesis, and analog modeling in one powerful, easy-to-use soft synth, Pigments is a synthesis platform that gives you the best of all worlds. Multiple soundbanks let you easily navigate an arsenal of presets and hundreds of wavetables, transcending the limits of genre through inventive and inspiring cross-engine modulation. From bombastic basses to evolving pads to molten leads, this soft synth has you covered.
Arturia Pigments lets you run up to two sound engines — a triple-oscillator virtual-analog engine, a detailed granular synthesis engine, a harmonic synth engine, a physically-inspired modal synth engine, or a complex wavetable engine with morphing and import — in parallel for impossibly colossal sounds. Furthermore, tools like the Wavetable engine’s Ring Mod and Pulse Width Phase Transformation, as well as the Harmonic engine’s partial-randomization phase modulation can be used with the plug-in’s versatile cross-mod capabilities, resulting in off-the-charts depth, dimensionality, and harmonic richness.
Near-infinite sound-sculpting control
And to shape the sounds you generate from those sound engines, Pigments has twin filters with dozens of continuously variable filter types and continuous series/parallel routing to give you near-infinite sound-sculpting control — including an expanded set of new Filter Rage, Filter Ripple, and Reverb filter tools for expansive shaping possibilities. Vintage-inspired panache abounds, with the ability to draw from any of Arturia’s V Collection instruments’ filters, including the lauded MS-20 V, Jup-8 V, and returning Multi-Filter. You can even modulate FM filters directly from the engines to evoke unwieldy sonics. However you shape them, the sounds coming from Arturia Pigments will take center stage in your productions.
Incredibly powerful and intuitive
Despite its awesome sonic prowess, Arturia Pigments is a ridiculously easy soft synth to use. At Sweetwater, we're intimately familiar with the challenge of seizing that flash of inspiration and molding it into sound. It's the most fundamental — and exciting — part of making music. Pigments streamlines that process with near-limitless patch creation and modulation options at your beck and call in an intuitive user interface that provides visual feedback every step of the way. Throw in cool features such as drag-and-drop Insert and Send routing, color-coded modulation, and a slew of both LFO shapes and sync modes, and sonic experimentation becomes as effortless as it is boundlessly inspiring.
A truckload of tricks up its sleeve
According to Arturia, "While Pigments can sound like other synths, no other synth can sound like Pigments." We couldn't agree more here at Sweetwater. Pigments' ability to scale quantized pitch modulations lets you quickly build complex melodic sequences, but tonal accuracy extends beyond traditionally Western musical arrangements. Built-in MTS-ESP micro-tuning capabilities let you expand your sound to greater reaches of culture, style, and sonic precision. It offers continuous unison controls that can be modulated with classic and chord modes. Its wavetable oscillator boasts extensive wave-shaping options with unique aliasing controls. In addition to the expected modulation sources, it has unconventional ones like the Turing and Binary random generators. Topped off with a fully-fledged vocoder effect, taking any sound to expansive, blended heights is an effortless feat.
Your go-to versatile synth
Arturia Pigments also features a battery of modulators — advanced envelopes, morphing LFOs, randomizers, combinators, and more — that bring sound to life. Meanwhile, configurable gate/retrig handling for the modulators is great for unusual rhythmic sequences and self-generating patches. Arturia Pigments’ polyrhythmic sequencer has a strong emphasis on randomness but also has scale control to retain musicality. The soft synth’s stunning studio-grade effects — including wave folder, Shimmer Reverb, the legendary JUN-6 chorus, and more — make crafting rich, evolving patches instantaneous and fun. Plus, the Utility engine lets you route any eternal audio through the soft synth’s myriad of texturization tools, enabling you to seamlessly merge sounds across instruments and sources — virtual or otherwise — to craft an entirely distinct sonic landscape powered by Pigments.
Arturia Pigments 7 Features:
- Combines 2 sound engines in parallel in one powerful, easy-to-use soft synth
- Complex wavetable engine with morphing and import
- Virtual analog engine with 3 oscillators per voice and multiple waveforms
- Granular synth engine for mind-mending soundscapes
- Harmonic synth engine enables complex additive synthesis
- Modal synth engine supplies acoustically-inspired tones from plucked strings to orchestrated pads and beyond
- Generative sequencer allows for 1-click sound design with immense depth and precision
- Massively upgraded GPU means multi-core processing to explore Pigments more easily than ever before
- External audio routing via Utility engine means Pigments FX style with any source
- Add a sub oscillator and up to 2 noise sample layers for extra depth and sonic color
- Twin filters with dozens of continuously variable filter types and continuous series/parallel routing
- Analog-inspired Multimode V2 filter, Cluster filter, and LoFi filter options
- Included Filter Rage, Filter Ripple, and Reverb Filter utilities offer expansive experimentation potential when shaping new timbres and tones
- Modulate anything with anything, including MIDI, envelopes, LFOs, random sources, and complex function generators
- Extended voice value, depth, envelope triggering, and sculpting curve modulation controls via a revamped Function V2 modulator
- Sharpened S-shaped amplitude envelopes reduce click noise and supply harder-hitting bass lines, keys, and more
- Updated drag-and-drop modulation workflow
- Built-in vocoder effect for expansive blending and input audio possibilities
- Sample scanning for in-depth granular expression
- Integrated polyrhythmic step sequencer and arpeggiator make it easy to create complex, evolving sequences and arps
- Powerful built-in studio-grade effects, including 18 FX algorithms and a versatile distortion module
- Brand-new Corroder FX algorithm supplies a new take on modulation-driven erosion FX
- Visual interface with graphical representation of the most important modules
- Graphical editing, source-based or destination-based
- Living, moving waveform to see your sound come alive
- 4 assignable macros to control multiple parameters at once
- Improved play view provides a unique and clear interface with enhanced playback and timbre evolution visuals
- Ramp waveform for virtual analog engine
- Enhanced in-app tutorials
- Optimized processing operation leaves more headroom for modulation, layered tones, and heavy FX chains
- Extensive factory preset library with hundreds of sounds from top artists and sound designers, including Jeremy Savage, Starcadian, Cubic Spline, Mord Fustang, and Jörg Hüttner — plus highlighting of recommended tweakable parameters
