Arturia’s Augmented series offers a blend of synthesis and sampling, combining a range of acoustic instruments sounds with a selection of synth engines and sound-design tools. The latest addition to the range, Augmented Mallets Play, has just been announced, and is being offered as a free download until 2 January 2025.
The latest Augmented offering has been created by sampling three mallet instruments: marimba, vibraphone and celeste, and Arturia say that they’ve been transformed into original, modern-sounding tones rather than simply mimicking their acoustic counterparts. There are 50 presets included, and a set of 11 naturally played articulations are joined by 19 additional processed variants, offering a diverse mixture of authentic and artificial sounds. Along with four different synth engines (Virtual Analog, Granular, Wavetable and Harmonic), the instrument boasts a pair of sampler engines and built-in delay and reverb effects.
In keeping with the rest of the range, Augmented Mallets Play sports a simple, intuitive GUI that has been designed to stay well out of the way of the creative process. The instrument’s dual-layer design makes it possible to load two sound sources per preset and blend seamlessly between them using a Morph control, while a collection of seven macro controls (Time, Color, Motion, FX A, FX B, Reverb and Delay) offer quick access to key parameters directly from the main page.
Compatibility
Augmented Mallets Play is supported on PCs running Windows 10 or above, and Macs running macOS 11 and higher. VST, VST3, AU and AAX plug-in versions are available, along with a standalone application.
Pricing & Availability
Augmented Mallets Play is available now, and is free for anyone to download until 2 January 2025.
www.arturia.com/products/software-instruments/augmented-mallets-play/overview
