Kick Drum Design advice

[Yorgos Arabatzis]

He means my tips about consistency

i couldn't see anything about this on the tips thread, but yes, the mod matrix is DEFINITELY essential is making what i would consider a tight slamming kick drum. or at least, to get the most out of the envelopes.

[idm]

Yes but not only those

The recipes from noisy little bugger are also very important and helpful for starters
 

[onesnzeros]

can't see any "noisy little bugger" tips... or recipes

as for the inconsistency tips, been using them since i got the Tempest.
It's just the first synth where i've had to spend ages in a mod matrix to get a decent envelope shape.

[AdamXAudio]

He was talking about the tutorials on the Sound Design & Patch Exchange post:
http://forum.davesmithinstruments.com/index.php/topic,34.0.html

The Stim's Tempest Recipes section.  Having an Envelope Shape knob would've been much easier than going into the Mod Matrix for sure, but it's not like that will ever happen so I'm cool with how it is.  Small price to pay for the flexibility the Tempest offers in my opinion, but I can see how that can make it less immediate.

[Yorgos Arabatzis]

He means this: https://stimresp.wordpress.com/tempest-recipes/
And indeed Tempest needs more effort than any other synth to get you there...

can't see any "noisy little bugger" tips... or recipes

as for the inconsistency tips, been using them since i got the Tempest.
It's just the first synth where i've had to spend ages in a mod matrix to get a decent envelope shape.

[onesnzeros]

thanks heaps guys, much appreciated!

[bozo]

but i'm not sure i believe "a sine wave is a sine wave" though.
on synths, a "sine wave" is rarely a sine wave.

I guess this is true in the analogue domain  - I only own two other analogue synths and neither offer an analogue sine so I couldn't really comment!

But what I'm getting at is, if you're filtering the triangle wave to get as close as possible  to a sine wave then it's worth trying the digital sine for the body of the kick. You can still get an effective slow pitch drop on this whilst freeing up the filter and analogue oscs for the attack (or anything else). It shouldn't be discounted just because it's digital.

no i'm not discounting it because it's digital, i'm discounting it because it sounds not so good. but i'm coming to see more and more, it's because of the envelopes. The envelopes on the Tempest just kinda suck. Especially for a percussion synthesiser. I'm strongly thinking of selling the Tempest. Every time i use it now i get this persisting apparition of Dave Smith's smug head and it's making me more and more uncomfortable.

From what I've found, you need to bend the envelopes in the mod matrix to make them really snap for kick drums the right way. I've been A/Bing making kick drums on the Tempest with other hardware and software that I usually design kicks on, and I've found that to get the results I'm used to hearing I need to bend the Tempest's pitch/filter decay by an amount of +30.

ok i'll try that... you mean source = Osc pitch and Destination = pitch envelope? by a value of 30??
cheers

I'd also advice you to check out the tricks&tips topic. Bending the envelope sis one of the more basic tricks. I think it's even in the manual... env as source modulating its own decay.

Also using peak of the envelopes can make a lot of difference in getting booming, punchy kicks and what not.

i ran into that wall sometime ago, no peak as a mod dest, that imo would have opened a huge can of sounds,..............baffling omission to say the least. (we all gotta palay nice now)

[idm]

Standard answer: why focus on what could have been, in stead of what is?

Makes no sense to me. The T can already create endless amounts of sounds with the routing possibilities available.

[onesnzeros]

that's true, but i think everyone is entitled to at least one major "baffling omission" outburst.
...plus a few small ones
we all know it's love it or leave it, but sometimes the bafflage is enough to make one burst outward.

[idm]

Alright, that is True
For me it's the omission of more dotted lfo sync options.

[muleskinner]

Alright, that is True
For me it's the omission of more dotted lfo sync options.

pre/post filter not being a mod dest

And the fact you can't 'lock' the mod matrix screen so you can tweak mod amounts alongside envelope parameters (for example) without the screen switching and having to click 'mod paths' to go back to it again. Bit of a fail that - and the most annoying thing about the Tempest's UI IMO.

Sorry, derailing thread...

[LucidSFX]

I never thought about a mod screen lock. That would be awesome...I know...dev stopped on new features. A+ for cool feature though;)

[RobH]

Don't forget you can assign the sliders to do this!

I use the sliders so one controls decay and one a mod matrix amount controlling amp - ampdec so the envelopes tighten and things like this as I mess with the decay it works on snares really well with that noise source getting clamped down harder as I open up the decay. I haven't tried it on a kick yet but I'm sure it will work!

[muleskinner]

I use the sliders so one controls decay and one a mod matrix amount controlling amp - ampdec so the envelopes tighten and things like this as I mess with the decay it works on snares really well with that noise source getting clamped down harder as I open up the decay. I haven't tried it on a kick yet but I'm sure it will work!

Nice!

[muleskinner]

I never thought about a mod screen lock. That would be awesome...I know...dev stopped on new features. A+ for cool feature though;)

  We can dream...