After last week’s launch of the Arturia Astrolab, we take a look at great sounds to fill your Arturia synths with, including from Arturia themselves!
Arturia’s Astrolab, which I reviewed ahead of its launch last week, represents a new era for both Arturia and the world of software and hardware synths. The first, and by all accounts not the last, new product to celebrate their 25th Anniversary, Astrolab blurs the lines between those two worlds.
Inspired by this, I decided to showcase a range of great sounds and patches for your Arturia synths. We have two sound packs for two of their best instruments, Pigments and MiniFreak. But first, we start with Arturia’s own sound library collection.
Arturia _Sounds
Strangely, given Arturia’s proliferation in both the hardware and software synth markets, you don’t often see or hear too much about their own, eclectic collection of sounds and patches. There’s not even any YouTube videos I can share, but, slowly and quietly, they have developed an ecosystem that has been built into Analog Lab V and MiniFreak V.
You can access specific sound banks right from the Analog Lab V library. This also includes, by extension, the all-new Astrolab. The best bit about this deep integration is that you can audition a selection of patches within the instrument itself.
And when I say audition, I don’t mean some pre-recorded audio snippet. The selected patch loads right up and you can play it. It’s limited to the first 10-16 patches, or so, depending on the bank. But it’s a really great way to get to know a sound bank before you buy.
There are packs for most of Arturia’s instrument collection. Best of all, there is a great range of free banks too. Most packs retail for $9.99 or $14.99, with a few being a little more. The more you pay, the more you get! Check them out today!
GEOSynths Fragements Vol.1 for Arturia MiniFreak
The Arturia MiniFreak took a lot of us by surprise when it was released in October of 2022. Diminutive in size, the MiniFreak punches way above its weight. It’s a brilliant digital synth that sounds huge and wild. it has quickly gained a dedicated following and, as such, a decent number of third party patches.
One such patch collection comes from the excellent GEOSynths stable. Based out of Blackpool, U.K., Jamie crafts superb patches to sell on his own site, as well as factory banks for the likes of Sequential. That in itself should be commendation enough!
Frgaments Vol.1 runs the gamut of styles. Pads, arps, strings, basses and leads. It is all covered here. And every single patch comes with Macro assignments, making use of the MiniFreaks superb performance and expression features.
You can buy Fragments Vol.1 for just $19 direct from the GEOSynths website, where you can also buy sounds for Arturia’s PolyBrute too!
NewLoops Elevation – Pigments Sound Bank
Arturia’s Pigments is now at version 5 and is now be playable in hardware with the launch of Astrolab. This powerful synthesizer uses virtual analog, wavetable, sample and harmonic synth engines to deliver huge sounds. Big, lush evolving pads, mix-cutting leads and voluminous basses are all well within its reach.
Elevation, from NewLoops, specifically focuses on the wavetable engine. Using the new wavetables found in Pigments 5, Elevation delivers sizeable cinematic pads. As with the GEOSynths patches, the mod wheel, aftertouch and macros are all assigned. This allows you to shape and evolve the sounds further.
All patches are level matched and everything has descriptions and tags to aid your searching. There are 32 patches in total. A free demo pack is available from the NewLoops website. The bank itself is available to purchase from the same page. It costs just £14.99. There’s a limited launch offer discount of 20%.
NewLoops offers a 7-day money back guarantee if you’re not completely satisfied! Personally, I think you will be!
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