I forgive myself that I am not that good at getting the sounds
I forgive myself for not being a good beat programmer
I forgive myself for not being a good musician
Yet when I get into the flow with the Tempest up til the point I 'get lost in show business' and I fall apart
Apologies and forgiveness are not to be found.

I know there's a high cost of entry and a lot work to do for Tempest, but for me, the midi beat repeat available on a touchstrip is unrivaled by any beats gear I know- Tempest for me is a lot more fun to play beats through live than an SP or MPC. Its too bad barely anybody is using it like this. though. Hope some more will try it out going forward.

I want to try the TE TX-6 in place of my X32 rack, but it costs a lot so will have to wait for now. Would save a ton of tabletop space though, for real.

Also I'm glad the BS posts got erased by the mods- were a waste of space in this place where we should be constructively discussing a very unique and special instrument.

synthguy, you're giving my game away! (beatroll assigned to the touchstrip should have been a default setting)

Yea... just trying to give some more concrete reasons why this instrument is awesome. Some folks seem unaware why.

Man sell that thing and go modular. Get a couple of REALLY great sounding kicks like SSF Ultrakick or Blue lantern and some funky sequencer stuff. 'beatroll' LOL

Are you in the right thread? I've been posting about how this is my favorite machine for over a decade, but go off I guess. Nothing about modular appeals to me, especially when it comes to patch recall and performance. Glad you like your Blue Lantern, congratulations.

Yeah good points. I am being an arse. I just wished I liked mine. It must be an expectation thing. You probably have different intentions to me too. Both have good points. It's the sound design of modular I like. You CAN save patches with modular but with a load of cables and a CV patch storage module. The Tempest doesn't sound terrible to me but I find it a bit numb feeling in comparison when programming. The sound doesn't excite me like my other drum stuff does. Some like the synth engine on it but to me it is a bit limited and like I say feels a bit numb.

I am poking around hoping somebody will convince me I like it. Also I have stopped using MIDI. Once you experience the tightness of CV you cant go back.

Limited? It’s a “drum machine” where each voice has 4oscs, a sub, 2 filters, 5 envelopes 2 lfos and a large mod matrix with a full suite of performance controls like velocity/aftertouch/mod wheel and touch strips. The only thing missing is audio rate FM but it has filter FM at least. You’d easily be 10-15 grand into eurorack replicating it


I’ve got 2 7u cases of eurorack and like it but the tempest really isn’t something I’d try replicating

I totally agree. Its just that what it does have feels a bit numb to me. I just don't get the feedback when programming it like I do from other stuff. I wish I liked it more than I do.

lol

I chased purist modular setups for a while, mostly left me cold and uninspiring.

I don’t know, it can be quite fun as long as you want to make simple stuff.

I have a 21U, with various table top gizmos. a tinysizer, for playing it I have a voyager/ 351/352 and a cirklon with cv and I have definitely made it make some beeping noises.

Go hybrid not purist Expert Sleepers Silent way and others for example. Sample accurate CV on a stick and you can save your control setups. Shame the Tempest has no CV. Modular is whatever you want it to be. The clue is in the name.

Agree, I really enjoy Voyager+RME+all those 'modules', and it is great experience..

When I tried building and playing with some 'real modular stuff', built mid-size and even borrowed expensive large frame from my buddy. Didn't do anything for me. Just a waste of time (in my case), likewise different music aesthetic in the first line.

I packed all my Eurorack stuff up while I started rewiring everything here in December 2021, it still has not been connected up again. So I guess it doesn't do much for me either

I think I'm going to buy one soon. Because it's soooo baaaaad you know ?

Any thoughts on Tempest for analog FM?
Particularly toms?
I liked the FM toms on the Analog RYTM a lot but didn't really like the machine.
I am aware of some of the criticisms of the Tempest - Just asking about sound and flexibility for FM.
TIA

Been a while since I sold mine but do not remember it having FM. In fact AFAIk no DCO based Dave Smith instrument can do traditional osc FM..

There is only filter FM, so you can self oscillate the filter and then FM that.

Looking at the docs I see the LFOs reach audio rates and the oscillators are listed as modulation destinations?

Rate: 0...162—Sets the LFO frequency. Speed ranges from slow (30 seconds) to very fast—at 90 (8 Hz, C-2) and above the speed steps in semitones, up to 162 (523 Hz, C4 or an octave above middle C).

Not super high rates but enough to double, triple even quadruple the frequency of a low note.
Thoughts?

https://www.sequential.com/downloads...manual_1.3.pdf

Good point.
I would need to be 30 years younger, though

I don't see the point of bringing Expert Sleepers gear in a self contained Tempest thread.
Excellent steady midi though. Yes.

I am just here trying to like the Tempest. Thing is I have just about eliminated MIDI in my setup. It just feels way too old school to me and sadly I will let it go. I did try but it just didn't work out. Its not you its me...

To each their own I guess, nobody's wrong.
My setup is 80% under MIDI control, and Expert Sleepers handles all of it. ESX-8MDs... I must have ten of these at this point ?

But The Tempest is a way for me to break my MIDI habbit. Self-contained composition tool. On the road analog DAW... Mind bending when I think about it.

Yeah good point, that is where I did have the most fun was with it on its own. Ten ESX 8s! MIDI is more practical than what I am doing I suppose. ES3s fed by VCV Rack (silent way is a bit grey).
So what do you think are the sound design highlights of the Tempest. For you what are the stand out sounds that you get from it?

I don't get anyhting from it yet. I'm buying one as I type. But after reading the manual three times, the sellingpoint is six voice polyphony, complex voice architecture, and the possibility to write very detailed beats. via the sequencer, the many parameters you can change per step... Seems incredible.

Being able to write per step settings for all sounds, being able to have 32 sounds per beat... This a crazy amount of control... And the interface overall. I have not touched the unit, yet it seems I know it already. Well though out piece of gear. In comparison, I've struggled with Elektron for years on the other hand ! I now only use the Rytm as an expander in the studio. I made a little MIDI NRPN plugin for it. It has its use, but purely as a interface-less production tool. To me, not a creative platform at all.

Looking for something that allow me to write complex music on the road, that is not a computer, there's not much like the Tempest.. And it's analog too haha. WTH and people are still hating on the thing !!!
It could do with 8 voices sure.
As for the samples, I actually like that you can't load yours into the machine. Sample loading is a pain in the ass for recall. You change samples as you go, and there goes all your old sounds. Nothing matches anymore, your snare now sound like a pad ; you just lost all your work because you switched the samples...