Pigments 6

[martiu]

Good but hard to master

yes very good, i think it can be hard for some because there is just so much options, but overall nice and visual GUI

[Teksonik]

top_toolbar.zip

Thank you so much for this. The new toolbar bothered me as well, but it didn’t occur to me that it can be changed.

You are welcome. Yes it seems like a small thing but Pigments is much easier on my eyes without the colored toolbar

top_toolbar.zip

Thank you! It's such a small detail, but it makes a huge difference. It's busy enough as it is without a distraction at the top.

You are welcome, my feelings exactly!

Thanks again for both. Do you mind if i use your avatar pic as the cover pic for the preset pack?

You're welcome for both. Yes please use my Avatar pic for the preset pack.

EDIT:

Here's the image I use:

[Ah_Dziz]

Microtuning seems to be whacked in this. Scl/kbm and .tun files in Pigments are out of tune with Surge XT, Vital, and Odin2. I even tried to test with the free MTS_ESP Mini but it crashes my laptop. To be fair I only tested one scale (Ptolemy Diatonic Hermiolion) so other scales might be okay. Guess I'll try a few more and report back.

Edit: Yeah, either Pigments microtuning is off or Surge, Vital, and Odin2's are.

Check the "transpose" settings on each synth. It's implemented differently in different synths (some retune the engine by the set number of semitones and others just offset the midi note input) and has lead to screwy behavior and confusion for me on numerous occasions when using lots of synths in MTS ESP mode. Also making sure that MPE isn't enabled/ disabled can sometimes fix tuning. I can confirm that MTS ESP works fine alongside Surge, all the Uhe stuff and all the other arturia stuff on my windows 10 machines in bitwig, cubase, machine, Reaper and FL.

[Cuauhtli]

Okay. Thanks for the info. I'll look into it to see what exactly is happening with Pigments. I did find out that the free MTS_ESP works with Waveform so it is apparently an issue with Reaper.

[swilow11]

Good but hard to master

yes very good, i think it can be hard for some because there is just so much options, but overall nice and visual GUI

I don't know what it is with Pigments, but I just cannot ever feel comfortable with it. It makes perfect logical sense, everything is laid out intuitively and clearly...and yet, it never feels like home. I find Phase Plant or even Falcon easier to work in, perhaps because I'm only summoning into existence those oscillators and modulators that I need?

I use quite a lot pf Arturia products- namely Motions, Fragments, Bus Peak, Coldfire, Analog Lab- and all share a general schema that doesn't really suit me. The products are so high quality that I still use them, but never feel that sense of automaticity that one experiences when one is super comfortable with a piece of gear. This is a me problem, not an Arturia problem though...

[CrystalWizard]

top_toolbar.zip

...

Thanks again for both. Do you mind if i use your avatar pic as the cover pic for the preset pack?

You're welcome for both. Yes please use my Avatar pic for the preset pack.

EDIT:

Here's the image I use:

i'll use that one.

swilow11:
It makes perfect logical sense, everything is laid out intuitively and clearly...and yet, it never feels like home. I find Phase Plant or even Falcon easier to work in..."

Wow, so amazing (and cool) how differently we all perceive things. Pigments is one of the smoothest synths to program i've used. There are a few head-scratching design choices but mostly it's very easy and quick. Falcon,... only virtual synth i ever sold off, was a nightmare of UI choices (imo). To be fair it's a totally amazing thing, i just could not "get it".
I like the synthesizer capabilities of Pigments, reminds me (a bit, just) of Omni, Alchemy, and Absynth. All sample mangler/synths that i mostly use to "synth."

[swilow11]

Oh yeah, Pigments is laid out quite brilliantly. It all flows perfectly together and with a little bit of prior knowledge, you're making awesome stuff in minutes. And yet...

My own sound design process is quite unruly. I try to maintain order where I can but I tend to just get in the flow and start creating modulation and movement quite spontaneously. This is just made more difficult in synths with a fixed architecture.

Re: Falcon. This is the weirdest synth out there. Design wise, it is incomprehensible that a musician could have thought to build a synth this way. It's the Excel of VSTS. But once you get comfortable with it and understand the admittedly bizarre workflow, it is unrivalled for sound design. Really, only something like Bitwig grid, Cardinal or Phase Plant can compete. My big issue with Falcon is that big, multilayered patch will often end up impenetrable when I play it again a few weeks after creating it. And it is seriously ugly. But I love it. Alongside Phase Plant and Serum, it is ky most used synth, mainly for random noodling though.

Possibly the thing underpinning my issue with Pigments is less UI related and more sonic. It does some things brilliantly but imo just doesn't really sound great. It can sound sterile and, as many others have mentioned, kinda sterile. That said, I've been loving the modal engine for making bell like plucky tones, and using the pitch shift delay to generate melodies. It is a great synth, but unless I consciously push myself to use it, I honestly often forget I have it.

Really want to understand the harmonic engine better. That is in my current sound design goal which i tend to set each month- deeper understanding of that particular engine, mastering FM8, and getting more comfortable with Cardinal. Now if I can just obtain a few more hours in the day.

[CrystalWizard]

Re: Falcon. This is the weirdest synth out there. Design wise, it is incomprehensible that a musician could have thought to build a synth this way. It's the Excel of VSTS. But once you get comfortable with it and understand the admittedly bizarre workflow, it is unrivalled for sound design. Really, only something like Bitwig grid, Cardinal or Phase Plant can compete.

It's not actively being developed but Reaktor can rival it. And Max, and likely VCV Rack (for sound design, not multidamples).

Possibly the thing underpinning my issue with Pigments is less UI related and more sonic. It does some things brilliantly but imo just doesn't really sound great. It can sound sterile and, as many others have mentioned, kinda sterile.

So i keep hearing (at least on KVR) but i'm not having that problem. Perhaps many of the presets sound sterile? There's plenty enough was to make it sound "not sterile." I already posted this, but again: the one thing i find uncomfortable is how fast the attack times can be. It gives Pigments that "poke you in the ear" effect.

Now if I can just obtain a few more hours in the day.

That is the real issue (for me at least), i have enough tools to last a lifetime.

[IvyBirds]

Really want to understand the harmonic engine better. That is in my current sound design goal which i tend to set each month- deeper understanding of that particular engine, mastering FM8, and getting more comfortable with Cardinal. Now if I can just obtain a few more hours in the day.

If you have the Arturia V Collection you should explore Synclavier V. You can run it at its 1980s 8 Bit glory, or crank it up to 25 bits

It gets overlooked because people think it's just a vintage emulation which it kind of is, but at its heart it's an Additive Synth like the Harmonic Engine on Pigments and an FM synth

If you load a sample into it, it will turn it into an additive patch. This can be a very handy teaching aid. Load some samples into it and let it turn it into an additive patch and see the harmonic relationships and then listen to what happens when you change and adjust them

[swilow11]

I do have V Collection and coincidentally reinstalled Synclavier a few days ago. Haven't really taken a deep dive yet but it looks really unique and potentially incredibly deep. May make it next month's Synth-To-Learn.

[IvyBirds]

I do have V Collection and coincidentally reinstalled Synclavier a few days ago. Haven't really taken a deep dive yet but it looks really unique and potentially incredibly deep. May make it next month's Synth-To-Learn.

If you do check out these videos

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3P4 ... D00sIVUFGO

His YouTube channel is one phenomenal and goes into great detail on all sorts of plugins

[swilow11]

I do have V Collection and coincidentally reinstalled Synclavier a few days ago. Haven't really taken a deep dive yet but it looks really unique and potentially incredibly deep. May make it next month's Synth-To-Learn.

If you do check out these videos

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3P4 ... D00sIVUFGO

His YouTube channel is one phenomenal and goes into great detail on all sorts of plugins

Nice, thanks for this. Will be checking his videos out, cheers!

[agharta]

Just played around with it for the first time in conjunction with Arturia Augmented Voices.
I started with Pigments, loaded 5 instances and turned off all the effects on most of them just to hear the synths.
Felt inspired and drawn to add Augmented Voices and they gelled together.
A good start for version 6 with me.

[martiu]

Just played around with it for the first time in conjunction with Arturia Augmented Voices.
I started with Pigments, loaded 5 instances and turned off all the effects on most of them just to hear the synths.
Felt inspired and drawn to add Augmented Voices and they gelled together.
A good start for version 6 with me.

now try Synclavier, very bloated but still good

[swilow11]

I do have V Collection and coincidentally reinstalled Synclavier a few days ago. Haven't really taken a deep dive yet but it looks really unique and potentially incredibly deep. May make it next month's Synth-To-Learn.

If you do check out these videos

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3P4 ... D00sIVUFGO

His YouTube channel is one phenomenal and goes into great detail on all sorts of plugins

Insomnia and spent a few hours watching some videos and playing the Syclavier. Is this one of the most deep and unique synths out there? How are people not raving about this?

Even just drawing in a bunch of random harmonics in one partial has yielded a beautiful chimey eerie pad, and there is basically nothing else happening.

Probably my only real complaint is the same as any of the non conventional synths- which is the steep learning curve and the hyper specificity of the acquired skill. If you learn, say, Serum you can export that knowledge to many other synths. Not so with stuff like Syclavier. The skill learned is largely only applicable in the one synth itself. Not so much a complaint as an observation.

What other little gems are there in V COLLECTION? I only have maybe 20% installed. I use the CS80, DX7, Mini V, piano, MS20, but the rest is gathering dust. Do you suggest anything else from V Collection? My main interests are making atonal weird atmospheric sounds and gritty fm stuff, the latter which is covered by countless other tools so more looking to make pads/drones/alien robots.