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Forgive the name dropping...but last week I did a few things for Sheena Easton to use in her live show. They now have Pigments 2 in da house. I used it for pads, brass type stuff (although it was layered with Omnisphere for this one), and some arp/seq type sounds. All were pretty much factory presets that I tweaked to fit what I wanted. Wonderful VI to have in the toolbox. With a lot of synths the technical stuff gets away from me and I'm just a knob turner/tweaker find it as quick as I can and track kind of guy. Point is... it was a valuable part of the project.
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Pigments 2 is in my V7 pack. V7 is the digital back bone of my today's electronic music. The Mini, Matrix and SEM are basically all I need. Arturia does a beautiful job in recreating the past.

 

For this review I played around with Pigments 2 for two days. Sampled a coconut (horse-gallop) I split the day before (yummie!), recorded the Mini and created my own Moog wavetables, programmed some analogue pads, basses, grainy stuff...

 

The fun:

- Using a wavetable to modulate the filters is an interesting feature.

- Workflow for creating wavetables is smoooooth. Just import a whole directory and you're done.

- You can dive deep - a sound designers dream!

- Moulding curves on the envelopes is always good. (Andromeda)

- The sampler - ultra fast and simple: I found a new S612!

- MPE - I'm thinking of purchasing a Roli.

- The lipstick and powder - the looks.

 

There are some things that you can't cover up with lipstick and powder: (Quizzz: what's the title and who wrote the song?)

- Three LFO's - that's just one more than the SEM V2 has - which is considered a 'simple' synthesizer.

- What's wrong with that pulse wave? You can't run a full pulse with modulation and somewhere there is some aliasing flying around.

- Wavetables - I made my own wavetables twenty years ago on the Waldorf Microwave XT. That sounded great. My own wavetables in Pigments sound grainy like a broken Casio CZ.

- The filters: Please Arturia don't go for great specs, choose SOUND. I would have been happy with just the Matrix filters - these are okay.

- Way too many "interesting" sound results. "Interesting" does not inspire me to play, compose and record songs.

- Where's the global FX switch? I want to hear the SOUND.

- Some factory programs are too loud (LED bar indicator is a plus btw) and started to crackle.

 

Almost everything seemed done right until I closed my eyes and started to listen. It's the sound of Pigments that made me long for the Mini, SEM, Matrix-12, Synclavier.

 

Do I recommend it? For a first synth: no. Buy the Arturia Mini, SEM, the CS. As a second synth? Maybe a good choice if you want to explore sound design. Overall I would say that the Synclavier is a far better sounding rival. Would I buy a Roli for using on Pigments? No. I'll rather wait until Arturia delivers a next synth with MPE.

:keys: My Music:thx: I always wondered what happened after the fade out?
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There are some things that you can't cover up with lipstick and powder: (Quizzz: what's the title and who wrote the song?)

 

Girls Talk -Elvis Costello (and yes I knew this and didn't search for the answer) :cool:

Correct answer! ðð»

:keys: My Music:thx: I always wondered what happened after the fade out?
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  • 3 weeks later...
Pigments 2 is in my V7 pack. V7 is the digital back bone of my today's electronic music. The Mini, Matrix and SEM are basically all I need. Arturia does a beautiful job in recreating the past.

 

For this review I played around with Pigments 2 for two days. Sampled a coconut (horse-gallop) I split the day before (yummie!), recorded the Mini and created my own Moog wavetables, programmed some analogue pads, basses, grainy stuff...

 

The fun:

- Using a wavetable to modulate the filters is an interesting feature.

- Workflow for creating wavetables is smoooooth. Just import a whole directory and you're done.

- You can dive deep - a sound designers dream!

- Moulding curves on the envelopes is always good. (Andromeda)

- The sampler - ultra fast and simple: I found a new S612!

- MPE - I'm thinking of purchasing a Roli.

- The lipstick and powder - the looks.

 

There are some things that you can't cover up with lipstick and powder: (Quizzz: what's the title and who wrote the song?)

- Three LFO's - that's just one more than the SEM V2 has - which is considered a 'simple' synthesizer.

- What's wrong with that pulse wave? You can't run a full pulse with modulation and somewhere there is some aliasing flying around.

- Wavetables - I made my own wavetables twenty years ago on the Waldorf Microwave XT. That sounded great. My own wavetables in Pigments sound grainy like a broken Casio CZ.

- The filters: Please Arturia don't go for great specs, choose SOUND. I would have been happy with just the Matrix filters - these are okay.

- Way too many "interesting" sound results. "Interesting" does not inspire me to play, compose and record songs.

- Where's the global FX switch? I want to hear the SOUND.

- Some factory programs are too loud (LED bar indicator is a plus btw) and started to crackle.

 

Almost everything seemed done right until I closed my eyes and started to listen. It's the sound of Pigments that made me long for the Mini, SEM, Matrix-12, Synclavier.

 

Do I recommend it? For a first synth: no. Buy the Arturia Mini, SEM, the CS. As a second synth? Maybe a good choice if you want to explore sound design. Overall I would say that the Synclavier is a far better sounding rival. Would I buy a Roli for using on Pigments? No. I'll rather wait until Arturia delivers a next synth with MPE.

 

Love this well-rounded summary review; brutally honest :2thu:.

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  • 6 months later...

Late to the software party but Pigments 2 reads like something I might want to explore for maninpulating my own samples. I'm thinking it should be like the V Emulator II on steroids.

 

For those who have already used Pigments 2, let me know if in software it provides some semblance of a Waldorf Quantum or Prophet XL. :cool:

PD

 

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy"

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  • 4 months later...

Hi everyone,

 

I"m bumping this thread because Pigments 3 dropped yesterday, and that has more than a little to do with my being a bit quiet around here lately. I wrote all the updates to the instruction manual, as well as an online FAQ which should be posted in the coming days. It"s super fresh in my mind so I"m in a great position to answer questions. (Notice that the very first post in this thread, by dB, now has an image of Pigments 3 as it’s linked from the Arturia website).

 

In a nutshell, the biggest new features include:

 

  • Harmonic Engine: This new engine type performs additive synthesis. It’s not quite Synclavier-style wherein you can set a different envelope and other characteristics for each partial. Instead, you set an overall number of partials and then control the harmonic relationships by a variety of creative means. These include the ratio between them, the proportion in amplitude of even and odd partials (Parity), how much they decrease in volume as they ascend and where this slope starts (Tilt and Tilt Offset), and more. There’s a “Spectrum” section that lets you Morph between two multi-point comb filter-type thingies and apply each to the overall harmonic series. You can pan and randomize odd vs. even partials in the stereo picture, and apply FM to the harmonic series via an onboard modulation oscillator. There’s even a mode designed to create the “Shepard’s Tone” audio illusion of an eternally rising pitch. And I"m only scratching the surface here.
  • Utility Engine: This is a third tab now, and you can use it even when both main engines are tied up. It features a single virtual analog oscillator, which is pretty straightforward with five waveform choices (triangle and square have adjustable pulse width). A sub-osc would be the first thought here. Then, these two identical “Noise” sources do a lot more than make noise. They’re essentially baby sample players with factory libraries of ambiences, drones, nature sounds, industrial sounds, and a lot more.
  • The Wavetable and Sample engines got a bunch of new wavetables and samples.
  • Four new FX: Pitch-Shifting Delay, Jun-6 Chorus, BL-20 Flanger (an emulation of the rare Bel BF-20), and a trippy and somewhat dangerous Multiband Compressor.
  • The Stereo Pan effect now has a Mono Bass button that keeps the lows stationary.
  • The Combinate tab now has three Combinators instead of two.
  • Tons of new patches.

 

If you’ve been on this thread, you already know about how deep the modulation matrix is and how nearly everything can interact with nearly everything else. This thing is insane, and I find it a sound designer’s paradise.

 

So, if anyone is inclined, ask me anything!

Stephen Fortner

Principal, Fortner Media

Former Editor in Chief, Keyboard Magazine

Digital Piano Consultant, Piano Buyer Magazine

 

Industry affiliations: Antares, Arturia, Giles Communications, MS Media, Polyverse

 

 

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  • 10 months later...
  • 1 year later...
On 3/14/2020 at 11:55 PM, The Real MC said:

One thing I REALLY don't like: VCA envelope resets to zero with repetitive strike on same key. VERY annoying with release tails like pads, calliope, celeste, tine pianos, choirs.

 

Bumping this thread after reading the SOS April 2023 review of Pigments v4.  Gordon Reid can be brutally honest.

Arturia still did not remedy this.

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