Arturia Pigments 3 - €99

The Pigments powerhouse gets upgraded to v3, adding more engines, more waveforms and more effects. Have we reached saturation point?

After 20 years of successfully producing software synths based on classic hardware products, Arturia released their first unique synth, Pigments, in 2018 – and now we have Pigments 3. Pigments is a synth instrument that works as a standalone application so you can play live with a keyboard controller, or as a plugin within your favourite host software. Pigments combines virtual analogue and wavetable synthesis, and includes filters, effects, modulation, sequencing and arpeggiation. Version 2, released in 2019, added sample-based and granular synthesis, as well as MPE (MIDI Polyrhythmic Expression).

Now we’re looking at Pigments 3, which includes a new Harmonic Engine for additive synthesis; a Utility Engine, with a sub-oscillator, supplemental analogue waveforms, and two noise sources – so now up to three Engines can be layered together. There are also 80+ new wavetables, and other additions and improvements. Pigments 3 installs as Audio Unit, VST, or AAX plugins, as well as the standalone mode. The review was conducted with a 2019 iMac running macOS Big Sur, Ableton Live 11, and assorted MIDI keyboards and controllers.