4 reviews for 75% off “Stigmata” by FluidShell Design

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7 out of 10

7/10

Stan – January 24, 2024 :

Stigmata has an unusual workflow, so using the manual and videos is expeditious. That’s not to say that you can’t just “grab and go” with it to get interesting and surprising results. The snapshot sounds often have subtle complexities that get revealed in long note durations and by adjusting the big knob, layer controls, etc. Individual source sounds are not selectable in/by layer. I found the sounds to be generally on the darker, pad/soundscape side but by adjusting a layer’s attack and volume I found that you can get an interestingly subtle melodic quality to the sounds. Not entirely unique in this aspect but Stigmata has its own flavor in this regard.

Some things to make note of:
(1) The PRESETS folder actually contains snapshots and they work best stored as snapshots in the Kontakt Snapshot Folder. If you try to use them directly and you don’t have the right (corresponding) nki loaded, you’ll get missing samples errors even after a batch resave.
(2) The high CPU load is no joke with Stigmata. Some of the snapshots start out at a 30-40% CPU load with a single note and increase quickly from there with multiple notes. Don’t expect to build even more complex sounds with multis, especially if they involve chorded input.

All in all, an interesting library at a really good VST Buzz deal price.
8 out of 10

8/10

Emiliano – January 25, 2024 :

very good vst, both for sound design, refining or adding depth to other sounds, or also standalone synth module
8 out of 10

8/10

David – February 5, 2024 :

Great sounding. Can see me using this to add some motion to my ambient pieces. Offers a nice palette of sound that is a little different to everything else.
9 out of 10

9/10

phil – April 7, 2024 :

a very good program for experimenting with sounds efficiently, the sounds are out of the ordinary, we are in the presence of a very sought-after product from a sonic point of view, the researcher of original sound will find what he is looking for to explore different sound voices

A Soundscape Synthesizer Combining Sample Playback & Wavetables

To create the samples used in “Stigmata”, FluidShell Design spent a considerable amount of time researching timbres using instruments with rich sounds.

Rather than investing in an insane amount of equipment that they would probably only need once or twice, it seemed obvious to them to call on friends who have the equipment they don’t. This is how they were able to record hours of various sounds from complex modular synthesizers, historical machines, but also acoustic and electroacoustic instruments.

Whatever the source recorded, it took them days to transform simple recordings into raw material for “Stigmata”. Because “Stigmata” is not a simple player of prefabricated sounds, it takes full advantage of Kontakt’s gigantic capacities in terms of resynthesis.

75% off “Stigmata” by FluidShell Design

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Simple And Effective But Not Simplistic

Complex Worlds

Inspired by modular synthesis, “Stigmata” is an instrument capable of producing rich and complex soundscapes. Designed as a true sound creation tool, “Stigmata” features numerous modulations and treatments particularly adapted to the staging of melodic ambiances.

A recognizable element of the interface, it is the complete and complex filtering that is in the spotlight with “Stigmata”. Those familiar with modular systems will be familiar with the technique of using multiple filters together to achieve a richness of harmonic content.

“Stigmata” incorporates this technique and makes it a central part of the performance. With tempo-synchronised modulations and variations particularly suited to creating melodic moods, “Stigmata” lacks nothing and should be a real inspiration to you.

Easy To Handle

“Stigmata” incorporates four polyphonic sources that reproduce layering techniques, each with sufficient controls to place them in space, adjust their character and modulate them dynamically and continuously.

The organisation of the instrument is simple: there are five categories of controls. Modulations allow you to determine the strength and speed with which sounds are modified. Variations offer alterations to each source in real time.

Modulations and Variations work with Macros, grouped controls, while the middle section houses a set of filters combined around a common control, stereo width adjustment and infinite sustain to hold notes played without the need to keep your hands on the keyboard.

In Depth

Many Kontakt instruments offer this kind of combinations that are often associated with “Ambient” music. What makes FluidDesigns’ proposal different is that it is meant to be simple, without being completely “turnkey”.

“Stigmata” is not a bank of prefabricated samples. Its modulation capacities, its complex filtering network and its specifically adjusted processing make it a fully-fledged instrument.

Once the desired sound has been obtained, “Stigmata” allows you to modify it in real time using a few controls chosen by you, via a MIDI controller or the automations of your sequencer.

By assigning even the big central rotary controller to a potentiometer on your MIDI controller or to a modulation wheel, you can modify the presence of the 4 sources at will. It’s not just a regular low pass filter, it’s a set of filters that work in sync. “Stigmata” is an instrument designed with experimentation in mind.

The many accessible modulations, those using randomness, the chosen treatments: all this makes it possible to obtain sounds between complex pads and special noises. In some cases it is possible that “glitches” or noises appear. This is completely normal and intentional. Mod cycles can create clicks, as can envelopes and moving loop points in a sample.

Despite extensive testing on several computers with different configurations, it is not possible to certify that “Stigmata” will work smoothly on all existing machines, PC and MAC.

Please refer to Kontakt’s CPU requirements in case of doubt. A 7th gen Intel i5 should run the instrument flawlessly depending on the ASIO driver of your audio interface.

Please note: the UI’s background is blue. Some of the videos were made with the BETA version (black background & knobs). This change was made upon request by our beta-testing team.

Instruments List

The “Stigmata” Library contains 22 instruments and each instrument comes with presets:

STIGMATA 1 to 13
STIGMATA Euphoria
STIGMATA Magnetron
STIGMATA Sensitive
STIGMATA Steel

STIGMATA Textron
STIGMATA Thrash
STIGMATA Untold
STIGMATA Shadows
STIGMATA Urge

Note: Requires the Full Retail version of Kontakt 6.7 or higher (NOT compatible with the Free Kontakt Player).

The Architecture Of Stigmata

“Stigmata” includes 5 groups of functions.

The Sources

This part of the interface gives access to the global functions of each Source:

Gain
Panoramic (PAN)
Envelope (ENV)
Activation/Deactivation of the Source (Activate)

Modulations

This part of the interface lets you control everything related to the temporal changes of the Sources:

The rotary knobs control the amount of modulation
The vertical switches determine whether the modulation is active or not
The vertical sliders below adjust the speed with which a modulation operates

Variations

These are the specific treatments for each source: reduction of the sampling quality, chorus, overdrive, boost, etc…

Filtering

This central portion of the interface is where the various combined filters operate.

The central rotary allows you to modify the frequency. Each Source has a combination of filters and all are driven by this rotary. In addition to the combined filters, it is possible to activate a final filter separately for each Source:

Two LPFs for Sources 1 & 2
Two HPFs for Sources 3 & 4

The horizontal strip, containing two disks with white triangles, is used to determine the stereo width of the output.

By clicking on the “FS” logo, you will activate the ‘EASY MIX’ function. This function makes it possible to give more thickness to the instrument so that it takes more space in a composition. If you want to make adjustments that are either more precise or simply more in line with your tastes, it is advised not to activate it.

‘EASY MIX’ is active when the logo is brighter.

Reverbs & Delays

These effects play an important role in the presence of “Stigmata” in a musical composition:

The DIFFUSION effect is common to all Sources.
AMBIENCE 1&2 is assigned to Sources 1&2.
AMBIENCE 2&3 only applies to Sources 2&3.
REVERB applies to all Sources after they are mixed. This reverb works with IR files specifically designed for the “Stigmata”.

Basic Concepts

“Stigmata” is an instrument with 4 simultaneous sources. These 4 sources are capable of producing sounds that evolve over time thanks to modulations.

Each source has classic controls:

Source Volume
Panoramic (PAN)
Envelope (ENV), with attack and release parameters (ATK & REL)
Activation/Deactivation of the Source (ACTIVATE)

MODULATIONS can be used on top of these controls in order to make the sound fluctuate. As a general rule, two parameters are used for each modulation: one of them controls the speed of the modulation, and the other its dosage.

The parameters in “Stigmata” are grouped into MACROS, i.e. a single visible adjustment will modify a predefined number of grouped parameters. This choice was made so as to avoid cluttering the graphical interface.

For example, Modulation 1 at the top left of the interface is used to set the two modulations M1 and M2 that can be activated using the vertical switches below. The speed of M1 and M2 can be adjusted using the vertical sliders located below, on the left side.

In addition to the MACROS that are used to drive Modulations, “Stigmata” uses other MACROS to adjust the behavior for each source. These macros are grouped at the top right in the VARIATIONS category.

In each “Stigmata” instrument, sources have been selected to fulfill at least one role in the soundscape. This is why you will always find 4 sources with identical VARIATIONS from one “Stigmata” instrument to another.

Since VARIATIONS are macro-based, their use is very simple.

For example, for source 3, there are two vertical switches: LO-FI and CHORUS. When the LO-FI switch is in the upper position, the variation is active and can be measured using the large rotary adjustment knob.

For instance, turning the rotary adjustment to the left will increase the variation. If you now activate the CHORUS, it will intensify when the knob is pushed to the right. If both VARIATIONS are active at the same time, the knob controls both at the same time.

For more in-depth information read the [User Manual].