Arturia Pigments 3: A near limitless super-synth

Arturia is undoubtedly one of the leading names in music software, having had an incredible impact on the industry since their founding in 1999. They gained fame early on for their emulations of well-known synths and they’ve maintained that popularity with renowned plugins, hardware, digital instruments, and more. They’re still just as big as ever, due in no small part to one of the greatest jewels in their crown: Arturia Pigments 3.

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Described by the company as a polychrome software synthesizer, Pigments 3 is so big and so powerful that there are hardly any superlatives that can do it justice. To start, it’s got a color-coordinated interface that is both remarkably easy on the eyes and easy to navigate- anyone who’s used a digital synth before should have no problem jumping right in and immediately choosing from and editing over 1200 unique presets or sculpting your own. There is an almost unbelievable level of customization available- there’s 4 sound engines (Harmonic, Wavetable, Virtual Analog, and Sample), of which you can pair any two at a time, along with a utility engine that lets you add an additional oscillator and up to two layers of sampled noise. Choose up to 2 out of 10 different filters and play around with the advanced routing: you can wire the filters in series or parallel, route them to a separate FX bus, or sum them pre-FX. Modulation is easy yet effective, as you can see the change with source or destination-based editing. 3 LFO’s, 3 envelopes, up to 3 custom functions, up to 3 randomizers, and up to 3 combinators allow you to fine-tune any sound with absolute precision. Finally, there’s an astonishing 18 different FX to choose from, with up to 3 at a time available to use through either twin insert buses or a send bus. Simply put, there is an array of options, and the possibilities are truly endless.

Pigments has everything it needs to be your go-to synth: it’s intuitive where other synths can be intimidating; expansive where others are limited; stylish where others are boring. No matter your style or genre, it’s well worth your while. You can get Arturia Pigments 3 on their website for $199!

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Image Credits: Arturia