Arturia Pigments 2 (Free Update): Now it's Granular

[mxbf]

I think Arturia is a company that makes synths for producers. It's hard to explain why I feel that way. Their stuff isn't fetishistic at all. But it works, and it works in a very pragmatic way.

I don't like Pigments. I don't really like their collection of "emulations." They aren't the synth-mans synth, you know?

But they do sound good in a real full mix environment. That's nothing to snub.

[Ah_Dziz]

The 5D's of expression are separate to the MPE spec, not a part of it. I use my Roli Seaboard Block every day without MPE and I still have access to all 5 dimensions of touch. I just have to spend a bit of time assigning each to a parameter in whatever synth I want to control, but that's also true with MPE. Of all the 5 Ds, I think release velocity is probably the one fewest care about. In fact, until very recently I didn't even know it was part of the MIDI spec, even though it has been for decades. It's just not something many people find much use for, which makes you an outlier. As someone who has spent most of his life as an outlier in multiple areas, it's just something you need to learn to live with.

This is true. I often use a midi transformer to change the release velocity to something else just for fun lots of time to breath or a random cc . It just bums me out that with all the new MPE controllers it has not been embraced more. Life goes on, and hopefully strobe and cypher will be made more stable as time goes on. Or maybe it will be supported in zebra when it finally goes full mpe.
I do get tons of mileage out of it in my reaktor mpe creations. It is also implemented well in softube modular, but I barely use that at all after it was so overhyped and pretty underwhelming (for the amount of CPU it eats).

[SamDi]

I don't like Pigments. I don't really like their collection of "emulations." They aren't the synth-mans synth, you know?

But they do sound good in a real full mix environment. That's nothing to snub.

That‘s also a thing I don‘t get. For me, the most Arturia presets sound pretty unimpressive. One of the main reasons IMO is that they are far too not hot enough (-10dB compared to most other synths). Don‘t know if this intended for production purposes. After pushing them through a limiter and sometimes some subtle saturation they sound way better.

[vitocorleone123]

Uninstalled the demo. I still like the UI, but the sound still doesn’t do anything for me over Hive 2 and Omnisphere (and others). If they’d had considered my new Keystep as well as the free reverb and offered it for $49 that might’ve just been low enough to pick up. $69 still is too much for it.

Maybe Pigments 3?

[mxbf]

>$69 still is too much for it
Strong disagree. That's an absolute steal if anything for what you get.

Don't pass up on the sample section, check out the map section. You can do some really interesting things with using the sample section and modulation. I may be ignorant but I doubt Omnisphere even can do this for its 500 dollar price tag.

Pigments is kind of like a more fun to use version of Falcon sorta.

[Echoes in the Attic]

>$69 still is too much for it
Strong disagree. That's an absolute steal if anything for what you get.

Don't pass up on the sample section, check out the map section. You can do some really interesting things with using the sample section and modulation. I may be ignorant but I doubt Omnisphere even can do this for its 500 dollar price tag.

Pigments is kind of like a more fun to use version of Falcon sorta.

Yeah Omnisphere granular is nowhere near as powerful as Pigments unfortunately.

[machinesworking]

Pigments is kind of like a more fun to use version of Falcon sorta.

The layout is what Cypher2 should look at to clean up its issues UX wise.
Pigments almost demands you to create your own sounds.

At first I was sort of shocked at all the negative replies in this thread, but I forgot this is KVR, where Diva, Massive, even Falcon etc. get bad reviews by people. Arturia have had various periods of negative press here, (to be fair, not always unjustified), and I think that carries over to Pigments.

[FarleyCZ]

Pigments is kind of like a more fun to use version of Falcon sorta.

Exactly my thoughts. When I want a quick granular-ish/hybrid patch and don't need the whole sounddesign monstrosity of Falcon for it. That's where Pigments 2 shine. Love to have them both, tbh.

[SamDi]

Pigments is kind of like a more fun to use version of Falcon sorta.

Yes, indeed Pigments in terms of GUI is on second place after Serum on my personal rank list. Falcon is powerful, but for me the GUI is no fun.

[FarleyCZ]

Yes, indeed Pigments in terms of GUI is on second place after Serum on my personal rank list. Falcon is powerful, but for me the GUI is no fun.

Fun? Nope. Functional? Hell yeah. I love the idea of having multilayered patch and having a degree of freedom in terms of effectability on every level of that patch from oscilators up to multitimbral section. It has it's heritage it came from. It respects that heritage. I think Falcon is awesome if you have serious crazy layered idea that you'd love to have made as one patch. If you want to feel to be Eric Presing for a moment. Pigments is for the times you'd like to use similar basic ideas, but in a smaller quick and fun way.

[SamDi]

I think Falcon is awesome if you have serious crazy layered idea that you'd love to have made as one patch. ... Pigments is for the times you'd like to use similar basic ideas, but in a smaller quick and fun way.

I use to say it like that: There are tools, where it's fun to mess around - one could call it inspiring. And there are tools, which, when you have an idea and know how to reach it, give you the opportunity to do it like that. Falcon is rather the second one.

[FarleyCZ]

Couldn't agree more on that one.

[BONES]

he just said he "wished" people would stop saying mpe compatible when no release velocity.

Which is stupid because the two things have nothing to do with one-another. Release velocity is part of the MIDI spec so he would have been more accurate if he'd said "I wish people would stop saying MIDI compatible when no release velocity". But that, too would be a stupid thing to say.

5D is Roli speak and is used to refer to MPE expressions

No, it's not. You do not need MPE to use all five dimensions of touch, they are just MIDI cc's and will work with any standard MIDI set-up. MPE simply allows you to apply them per note. So if Arturia had said that Pigments supports the full Roli 5D experience, then he'd have something to whinge about but, as it stands, as long as it can work with MPE's multi-channel MIDI, then it is indeed MPE compatible.

Nothing about this justifies calling people idiots. Chill out man.

I'm sorry but if you can't understand the difference between a standard and a specific controller that conforms to that standard in it's own particular way, then you'd have to be an idiot, wouldn't you? I've put it as plainly as I can but I will give it one more shot - you don't need MPE to use 5D touch from a Roli Seaboard, it is just one of several MIDI modes that a Seaboard can operate in.

Is there a way to stop that awful retriggering when you play the same note with a long release?

What awful retriggering?

[BONES]

I think Arturia is a company that makes synths for producers. It's hard to explain why I feel that way. Their stuff isn't fetishistic at all. But it works, and it works in a very pragmatic way.

Agreed.

I don't like Pigments. I don't really like their collection of "emulations." They aren't the synth-mans synth, you know?

No, I don't. I'm a synth man and they suit me down to the ground. Perhaps they aren't for the frivolous synth man but for the professional synth man?

That‘s also a thing I don‘t get. For me, the most Arturia presets sound pretty unimpressive. One of the main reasons IMO is that they are far too not hot enough (-10dB compared to most other synths). Don‘t know if this intended for production purposes. After pushing them through a limiter and sometimes some subtle saturation they sound way better.

Why wouldn't you just turn them up so they are as loud as everything else? That's what we have mixers for, you know. Pigments has it's own saturation, no need to add it externally.

... the sound still doesn’t do anything for me over Hive 2 and Omnisphere (and others).

I much prefer Pigments' sound to Hive and it has the added advantage of being much easier to use into the bargain. It does use a bit more CPU, though. I find myself pining for Hive 1.2 these days, it was a lot more usable.

I think Falcon is awesome if you have serious crazy layered idea that you'd love to have made as one patch.

I'd rather use multiple, layered instances than do battle with a single multi-layered patch structure, especially if it's anything like DUNE's multi-layer set-up.

[Vortifex]

What awful retriggering?

Seems to happen mostly with wavetables and samples. Set it to a long release and press the same key twice - it will cut the previous release. Try Pad > The Analog Garden, for example. Maybe there's a setting I'm missing somewhere.