PIGMENTS 6 update
Arturia have released yet another update to Pigments, putting it at version 6. The amount of support and upgrades this synth has received is quite astounding, especially when the first couple updates added new synth engines, then after that new effects and filters. This update brings us a whole new modal synth engine as well as a cluster filter, a vocoder effect and a few smaller updates here and there. As with each update, they’ve decided to slightly reskin Pigments, it looks nice, but doesn’t quite pop as much as some previous versions while still improving in other ways. Also, this time around seems to be the first time a feature has been removed from pigments, at least the first one I’ve noticed. It seems the function generator randomizer is gone, this does not affect any presets nor will it mess with any of your projects, but it was a neat little utility to say goodbye to.
This article is focussed exclusively on the new features in version 6.0, if you’d like to read my full review of Pigments you can check that out here
MODAL
The star of the show with this update is the new modal engine. I must say I really love this one, it’s not Tela, but it is surprisingly capable and deep while seemingly incapable of producing bad sounds. The modal engine features two resonator modes “string” and “beam”. These contain different partials that can be warped with the various controls. The timbre and shaper settings seem to be different masking settings to shape the volume of various partials. The warp controls let you rearrange the frequencies of each partial, providing a wide variety of tonal structures. However, these warp controls aren’t the smoothest even when modulated.
Feeding into the modal engine are two exciters. To the right you have percussive exciter capable of doing plucks or even short strums in “collision” mode or simple transient sample playback in transient mode. To the right is a more sustained exciter which can produce noise, granular textures, or a pleasing “friction” mode. I found using a touch of friction on plucky sounds gives their tails a nice natural airy reverb quality. Both exciters can also receive audio input from Pigments side chain input making it rather sweet modal effect unit.
VOCODER
Almost another synth engine unto its self, the Vocoder effect is rather deep. It does top out at 40 bands, so don’t expect too much precision, but you can use a wide variety of sources as your modulator input, from individual engines, filters, and even external audio. The bandwidth, formant and sibilance controls allow for some creative shaping and the gate is quite fun for experimental sound design. I haven’t spent too much time with vocoders in general, but having this built into a synth really opens some creative doors, especially being able to vocode one synth engine against another.
On top of these two major additions, new set of filters has been added with “cluster filter”. These filters all feature one to five peaks with a spread control. Personally I’d like a wider spread range, but really just having a few more filter options is already quite nice. Quite a few other things have made their way in as well, from a new random modulator, to a key voicing modulator, to a sample rate reducer in the bitcrusher and a better preset system for the function generator. I likely missed some things here and there, but the new modal engine and vocoder effect are really the focus of my attention with this update. This update has been quite refreshing with some of the coolest new features since version 3.
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PIGMENTS 6: https://www.pluginboutique.com/product/1-Instruments/4-Synth/11867-Pigments-6?a_aid=61c378ab215d5