Arturia - Augmented Strings Intro (Free until April 30th)

[tallguy]

Like it says in the title, Arturia have just released a new instrument, Augmented Strings Intro. It looks to be some hybrid sample and synthesis based instrument. The "intro" in the title suggests it's a cutdown version of something bigger. Free until April 30.

Downloading as I'm posting this. Download is very slow as you'd expect on launch day.

LINK

[Loque]

Thanks.

[bxbrkrz]

Thanks!

[tallguy]

First impressions. This version is very much like Analog Lab. Presets with a few parameters like color and reverb that you can tweak. Some nice sounds to be had in there.

[QVprod]

So Friktion - Arturia Style. From the sound demo seems to cover string sections instead of (or as well as?) solo strings

[hamsterfactor]

Ta!

[QVprod]

So Friktion - Arturia Style. From the sound demo seems to cover string sections instead of (or as well as?) solo strings

A little bit of both it seems. Sounds great from. Curious to dig in once I'm able to download it. Server issues I supposes. was able to activate but no download option.

[joeyluck]

By the description, it sounds more like Spitfire/BT's Polaris that was just released? What timing. Polaris takes real string samples and makes them more synthy. Is that what this is?

https://www.spitfireaudio.com/shop/a-z/polaris

[mimidancer]

Having some fun today with Arturia's Augmented Strings. The interface is very basic but I encourage you guys to drop it into a combinator. From there the controls that are hidden from you can be accessed and manipulated. The simple interface and limited controls are housing something much deeper. I love free stuff.

[mimidancer]

So Friktion - Arturia Style. From the sound demo seems to cover string sections instead of (or as well as?) solo strings

it is not physical modeling like Friction. it is sampled based with a crossfade (morph) feature that lets one move from organic to synthetic. I dropped it in a combi with the little lfo and it is for sure fun. There is something inspiring about new even if the earth was not shattered. It for sure has a place on my palette.

[DaveyG]

It's certainly not revolutionary - people have been stacking synth sounds on top of real strings forever, but this instrument makes it very easy and the presets, as with everything Arturia, are superb. And it's hard to argue with the price. I assume there will be a non-Intro version at some point, perhaps incorporating other instruments.

Arturia really are at the top of their game these days. Their hardware synths, software synths and controllers are all bang on the money for me.

[manisnotabird]

The installation process seems very broken. The Arturia Software Center program is reporting it installed and activated, but it isn't showing up in Reason or Ableton, even after a restart. The option to uninstall and on the Arturia Software Center is also not working (was simply going to try and reinstall it). Now trying to download it directly from the Arturia website and the download keeps failing.

[StephenHutchinson]

The installation process seems very broken. The Arturia Software Center program is reporting it installed and activated, but it isn't showing up in Reason or Ableton, even after a restart. The option to uninstall and on the Arturia Software Center is also not working (was simply going to try and reinstall it). Now trying to download it directly from the Arturia website and the download keeps failing.

On PC it worked fine, on my Mac it showed as installed but didn't show up in Reason 12. I had a look again at the Arturia Software Center and in very fine print on the Augmented Strings were the words "Download Failed". Closed ASC re-opened, and and I was able to resume downloading. Not sure if this applies to your situation but thought I would share.

EDIT: On my Mac mini M1 I've had to try downloading it 3 times now and it always fails. It shows as half downloading after I close ASC and open it again. Trying to resume is probably futile at this point due to the demand on their servers I guess.

[stillifegaijin]

I haven't been able to successfully download it. The download crawls along, stops about halfway, fails. I assume it's the servers being overwhelmed but maybe it's another issue.

[joeyluck]

What's the size of the download?

[DaveyG]

What's the size of the download?

It was a couple of gig. Mine downloaded and installed really smoothly so keep trying.

[tallguy]

This always happens when Arturia gives away a freebie. After a day or two it'll download fine.

So far I'm not convinced of the usability of Augmented Strings Intro. Nice sounds, but if you can't change the attack time or some other basic parameters, lots of those sounds won't fit in your projects.

[riemac]

Having some fun today with Arturia's Augmented Strings. The interface is very basic but I encourage you guys to drop it into a combinator. From there the controls that are hidden from you can be accessed and manipulated. The simple interface and limited controls are housing something much deeper. I love free stuff.

This is great, we should make a Combi II for it with all the hidden controls of the soundengine.

[Despondo]

I haven't been able to successfully download it. The download crawls along, stops about halfway, fails. I assume it's the servers being overwhelmed but maybe it's another issue.

Go to your account on their site and got to your Products page. You can download it directly, avoiding the software center.

[Despondo]

EDIT: On my Mac mini M1 I've had to try downloading it 3 times now and it always fails. It shows as half downloading after I close ASC and open it again. Trying to resume is probably futile at this point due to the demand on their servers I guess.

Go to your account on their site and got to your Products page. You can download it directly, avoiding the software center.

[Micha1973]

A great Synthsound!

[QVprod]

Downloading directly from the site worked for me. Great sound, but definitely limited beyond the presets as is.

[stillifegaijin]

I haven't been able to successfully download it. The download crawls along, stops about halfway, fails. I assume it's the servers being overwhelmed but maybe it's another issue.

Go to your account on their site and got to your Products page. You can download it directly, avoiding the software center.

Thanks. That worked.

[StephenHutchinson]

Having some fun today with Arturia's Augmented Strings. The interface is very basic but I encourage you guys to drop it into a combinator. From there the controls that are hidden from you can be accessed and manipulated. The simple interface and limited controls are housing something much deeper. I love free stuff.

Mimidancer, thanks for this information, and wow... this screenshot is maybe a sixth of what's available in terms of controls:

Augmented Strings.jpg (333.55 KiB) Viewed 1848 times

I wonder if these hidden controls would be made available for a full Augmented Strings VST and not just an "Intro" version.

[StephenHutchinson]

The installation process seems very broken. The Arturia Software Center program is reporting it installed and activated, but it isn't showing up in Reason or Ableton, even after a restart. The option to uninstall and on the Arturia Software Center is also not working (was simply going to try and reinstall it). Now trying to download it directly from the Arturia website and the download keeps failing.

On PC it worked fine, on my Mac it showed as installed but didn't show up in Reason 12. I had a look again at the Arturia Software Center and in very fine print on the Augmented Strings were the words "Download Failed". Closed ASC re-opened, and and I was able to resume downloading. Not sure if this applies to your situation but thought I would share.

EDIT: On my Mac mini M1 I've had to try downloading it 3 times now and it always fails. It shows as half downloading after I close ASC and open it again. Trying to resume is probably futile at this point due to the demand on their servers I guess.

Further Update: It took almost 3 days to get this on both of my Macs but it's finally downloaded.