But this has some issues, namely you can mostly reduce partials to the left or right, it is very hard to fully remove partials in the centre of the frequency spectrum (you can with an EQ, but not fully and you more than often reduce other partials than the ones you want to).īut if you really want to design timbre, it is much better to not include what you don’t want than to filter it out. Regular synths, or “subtractive” create this frequency pattern with a single, complex oscillator, then use a filter to reduce the partials. Together, they form the timbre or the style of the sound. So if you would imagine a spectrum analyser, the highest spike (usually the lowest in frequency) is the fundamental frequency of the sound, and then the next ones (usually to the right, higher frequency) are the partials. The very early experimental synths had this, where each oscillator would create the fundamental and each of its partials to create a complex sound. Version three, which is free for existing users, brings incremental updates like more sound engines, more wavetables, more effects and so on, but there are two features that are brand new and strike out, we will analyse them below:ĭubbed the “Harmonic Engine”, Arturia Pigments 3 introduces one of the earliest forms of sound synthesis, additive synthesis. For a detailed review, you can also check our article here at. Other than this, it has some very nice effects onboard, a great sequencer and the option to load your own wavetables. Thus, it is very very intuitive and also very easy to learn. What is striking about the Arturia Pigments is the visualisation of the modulation sources. It initially started out as a wavetable synth with a lot of features. IntroductionĪrturia Pigments is a very nice and very modern VST instrument. And for a full fledged review, our friends at have a very nice review.

Today we bring you an update on the new features of this full fledged “polychrome” VST synth. We actually love all Arturia software here at.

Pigments 3 review