Pigments 7

Pigments is a state-of-the-art software instrument that gives you the power of every shade of synthesis. With colorful, expressive sound engines, effortless modulation, professional utilities, and studio-grade FX, explore an infinite spectrum of sound.

Quickly craft the ultra-fat, hard-hitting, soul-stirring sounds you need with a software synthesizer that's powerful, versatile, and easy to use.

Pigments deconstructs synthesis and sound design, making it easier than ever to explore the infinite spectrum of sound. Color-coded, single-click modulation, packed with curated presets, immediately expressive macros - all instantly gratifying to use.

A no-nonsense sound design experience that lets you create any sound from scratch in seconds, or deep dive when you need to. Pigments unites voices, filters, modulation, sequencing, and FX in a slick end-to-end solution for your production.

Enjoy a softsynth workflow that can be customized to suit your setup, so you can focus on your sound; change Pigments' appearance, opt for the simplified Play Mode, shake up your audio routing, curate custom preset playlists, and more.

Pigments 7 - New features summary

• Redesigned "Play" page.
• Quick Edit V3.
• New Filters "Rage" / "Ripple" / "Reverb".
• New Effect "Corroder".
• CPU Consumption improvements.
• Sound engine upgrades.
• "Classic Filter - FM" "Audio Rate modulations" implementation.
• New Sound-Design "In-App" tutorials.

New in Pigments 6:

• New Modal Engine: Experience physically-inspired tones using collisions or friction, from delicate plucked strings to richly resonant pads. A bold new dimension in hybrid synthesis.
• New Filters: Broaden your palette with an analog-infused Multimode V2, the stacked Cluster filter for swirling textures, and LoFi for crunchy, lo-fi style coloration.
• New Vocoder Effect: Inject everything from classic vocal textures to avant-garde color-bass sound design into your patches, blending external input or Pigments' engines with seamless versatility.
• New Modulators: Elevate expression by assigning different modulation values per voice, adding deeper randomness, triggering audio-driven envelope followers, and sculpting curves with the revamped Function V2.
• Granular Improvements: Scan through samples mid-playback for time-stretching atmospheres, randomize grain playback for each note, and continuously adjust grain size for fluid, evolving textures.
• UX & UI Enhancements: Refine modulations with Quick Edit V2's drag-and-drop workflow, explore an improved file browser, and enjoy a refreshed layout—including a polished light theme—for effortless creativity.

Modal Engine

• Create soft plucked string sound: Select the string resonator mode, use the collision exciter only. Lower the brilliance knob to have a natural sounding decay.
• Create a chimes layer for a pad: Use the friction exciter with a very slow rate, or Use the granular exciter with a low rate and add random to the rate. This will add a subtle layer of chimes to your sound.
• Create metallic timbre while maintaining a solid sense of pitch: Create dissonant tones with Warp and Shape knobs. Then increase the Range knob to protect the first harmonics from the wrapping and preserve the base pitch of the sound.
• Use the modal resonator like a regular oscillator: Turn Decay and Brilliance all the way up to make the resonance infinite, and use the collision exciter, which excite all frequencies by the same amount. With this basis you can tailor the oscillator with the Warp, Shaper and Timbre parameters, and use the filters and Amp envelope like if it was a regular oscillator.
• Use Warp quantize to modulate the pitch of the partials while staying in tune: Turn on Warp Quantize (the little Q to the right of Warp). Then modulate the Warp and Shape knobs with LFOs or random modulators.

New Filters

• Formant filter with the Cluster filter: Select the LP+HP 24 mode with the cluster filter. Set a high resonance and a cutoff of 700Hz. Modulate the spread between 0 and 0.5, and play a rich signal like a Saw wave. Bonus: Add a bitcrusher in the FX to increase the vowel effect.
• Aliased Keys with the LOFI filter, to emulate the effect of old samples played across the keyboard: Select a source with few harmonics, like a sine, a triangle or a e-piano sample. Turn up the Keytracking to maximum. Enable pre-filter. Turn down the Freq knob until you have the right amount of aliasing.
• Resonant filter without losing bass: Select Classic filter LP, in Analog mode. Modulate the filter cutoff by an envelope. Play a bassline with a simple Saw wave, and increase resonance. For more grit, increase the output volume of the oscillator.

New Vocoder

• Talking Synth: Make Pigments talk using the external Audio Input with your voice. Experiment with Daft Punk like signature sounds and go beyond using Pigments capabilities.
• Color Bass Sound Design: Set the vocoder modulator to any point in your signal chain or to FX input to self vocode your signal to discover a new sonic territory. Mess around with the Mode, Bandwidth and Band Numbers to go from a very modern resonant spectral sounding vocoder to a cheap dirty one.
• Water Drop Effect: The Gate parameter allows to trigger individual band only when the amplitude of the band is greater than the threshold value. Find the sweet spot for your input sound and play with the Decay parameter to create droplet effects.

New Modulators

• Voice Modulator: Create organic variations in the spirit of analog synths with the Voice Modulator, creating differences on the modulated parameters between each note played.
• Envelope follower: Use the sound anywhere in Pigments audio chain and use its amplitude to create movements to any parameter to create organic behaviours.

New in Pigments 5:

• Reduced CPU consumption: Pigments now utilizes multi-core processing for greater CPU efficiency, allowing more users to explore this powerful softsynth with ease.
• Process any audio with Pigments: You can now process external audio in Pigments from the Utility engine, by routing the sound to the instrument through the track sidechain input. Additional FX routing options have also been integrated.
• Compose in style: Pigment's refreshed interface includes an improved play view, with new visualisers and other UX enhancements.
• Melodize any sound in 1 click: Explore the new generative sequencer, featuring one-click sequence generation and new play modes, as well as saveable presets and sequence browsing. Make use of the sequencer lock to apply your sequence settings to any sound.
• New curated content and sounds: Discover a selection of 100 new factory presets alongside new wavetables and samples in Pigments 5, comprising more than 1500 sounds.
• New preset expansions: Explore an exclusive selection of sounds with Explorations; 3 new sound banks including 150 presets in each, showcasing a range of bold, colorful and expansive sounds that Pigments is renowned for.

Features

Multiple synthesis types

Pigments puts you in control of 4 powerful sound engine types: Wavetable, Virtual analog, Sample & Granular, and Harmonic. Combine any pairing of these engines with an additional Utility oscillator and sampled noise for a near-infinite synthesis palette.

Modulation & sound shaping

Unleash, mutate, and elevate your sound until it's entirely your own with instant drag-and-drop modulation. Nothing is off-limits when it comes to altering your patches, with dozens of sources and almost infinite destination combinations, yours to command with a single click.

Musical sequencing & arpeggiation

Pigments doesn't just make amazing synth sounds - it makes music. Weave beautiful melodies, create evolving stepped modulations, and animate your whole sound with a simple yet powerful sequencing and arpeggiation engine that keeps your sound moving.

Color your sound

Add the finishing touches or send your patches into sonic orbit with a vast yet accessible array of filtering and FX options. Combine or collide dual filters with a selection of classic & modern modes, and sprinkle endless color into any sound with studio-grade FX, from Shimmer Reverb to Bitcrusher.

Different views

Get totally lost in your sound without ever losing your focus using Pigments' clean-cut layout options. Oversee your voices and modulation with the Synth tab, switch to Play Mode to keep it simple, or opt for Light Mode for a higher-contrast look.

Flexible audio routing

Choose how Pigments' voices, modulations, filters, and FX respond to each other with complete control over its audio routing. Direct different engines into different filters, swap series for parallel, or find your own combo for uniquely experimental audio manipulation.