Look who’s Seven! Although the versioning is rather elastic. Sometimes it’s One Giant Step For Mankind. Other times – like now – it’s a groovy lava lamp when you play the presets.
I’ve previously described the releases, but I think it’s time to take stock as of now, with some nostalgia in how we got here.
Getting Here
Pigments 1 was formed from legendary emulations – SEM and MOOG and JUPITER and many more all in a melting pot with wavetables – a reasonable base. At that time I didn’t quite feel it because these elements were each part of an original story – a SEM filter is not enough to be the SEM journey. When it came to wavetables the story was Serum, and Pigments did not tell that story more effectively than Serum.
Pigments 2 added sample playback, both straight and granular. Multi-samples oddly must split at six octaves, so for example – C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6. Granular and wavetable synthesis in combination offer some great results. The wavetable is sharp, the granules are soft, you should have the best of both worlds. But I was then already spoiled by Padshop 2 which moved on to additive resynthesis at the same time that Pigments added granular. Pigments 3 added a harmonic oscillator. Over time I’ve seen that as the most defining aspect of Pigments, the thing it does, the reason you would reach for it.
Pig Six Seven
Let’s jump straight to pigs of the moment. In Six we got physically modelled tones – banging and scraping etc. Some new filters which are intended for formants and note clusters. A vocoder humphf. Much improved modulation with multiple forces at work. And the granular oscillator can now be scrubbed like a record while keeping a more even cloud mass. In Six there were a lot of different things you could do – and if you don’t own many things that’s a bonus. But I still couldn’t hear a unified identity – the Pigments Sound that makes you pick it out in a mix.
Seven is a smaller update, Six part 2 – it gives you something pretty to look at when performing, some more ‘creative’ filters which create impulse effects (the sort that go with old telephones and booths) and an impressive set of tutorials built into the interface. In a time when Absynth et al. hide their motions as secret potions this should be seen as a very charitable feature.
Sum It Up
Time to take stock of this as if a new owner… you have very powerful tool that can produce an awful lot of sounds. If you have a need – it will very likely fulfil it. But it somehow reminds me of my ARP 2600 – impressive, featured and I hardly ever find a reason to use it.
What we don’t have is the Pigments sound – apart from the harmonic oscillator. You know when you hear a specific shaped space in a music production … where a Moog wouldn’t work but a FM synthesiser would be great. Pigments can do either of those things but you will reach for the FM synthesiser because you can already hear that in your head. The harmonic oscillator becomes the key – it needs to offer a wider variety of musical tonalities, less wild warbles and more human and dare I say pretty.