Arturia Pigments 3 - €99

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

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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.