Okay, folks, as promised, polyrhythms for your Tempest! You know, should you find yourselves as cooped-up and bored as I am.
I’ve decided to post these in batches, mostly so it won’t seem as overwhelming. In total, there are 6 polymeter templates, and 11 polyrhythm templates. Together, they cover every possible polyrhythmic combination that the Tempest is capable of. I’ll start with the 6 polymeter templates, because they are easier to explain and visualize, and therefore a better way to get to grips with the concept.
Before I talk about how they work, let me first say, forget what you know about making sequences on the Tempest, and this will all be a lot easier.
You don’t have to record or enter any notes into the sequencer, because I’ve already done that for you. You could think of it like using the Tempest as an old-school modular sequencer, wherein all the steps are fixed, and you just get to decide which ones are active, and make changes to the sound on each step. It’s also worth noting that these templates are really only good for standalone use: i.e. because of the math involved, it was necessary to use odd time signatures, step divisions, bar counts, and extreme tempos to create these sequences and make them loop seamlessly; so, there are limited tempo ranges within which they are usable, and it won’t be practical (though not impossible I suppose) to sync them with your other gear.
Each template is saved as a beat file. I’ve also attached a Word document containing reference charts, which you will need to refer to, at least until you get to know how the steps of each sequence are laid out on the pads (this will all make more sense when you see it).
I figure the best way to get started is for me to simply talk you through one of the templates while you’re looking at it. So, go ahead and download the files, dump them into your Tempest, and load the beat file named “PolyMETER 23456 & 10”; then switch the pad view to 16 Mutes – Sound Bank A. *Don’t change the mute status of any of the pads (yet). Now open the Word document, and you’ll see that the first chart on the page has the same name… That’s your road map for this template. What you’re looking at here is a graphical representation of the pads on your Tempest, and their current mute status, for both Bank A (bottom 2 rows) and Bank B (top 2 rows).
What you should be seeing on your Tempest (in 16 Mutes mode, Bank A) is the pads lit in groups: i.e. a group of
2 and a group of
5 (on pads 1—8), and a group of
3 and a group of
4 (on pads 9—16). Hopefully its obvious how that correlates with the related chart on the Word doc; but, to be thorough, basically the coloured squares on the chart represent the unmuted pads, and how they are grouped together (colour-coded in this case simply to distinguish each group). The dark squares indicate inactive pads. I’ve also labelled the pads on the OLED screen (lead, bass, and other), but only as a visual cue to further help distinguish each group; the names themselves are otherwise arbitrary.
Let’s make some noise…
Change your BPM to the tempo I’ve recommended (80bpm in this case), and press play. Look at the group of 2… You’ll see by the lights blinking that it cycles back and forth like a sequence unto itself: 1,2,1,2,1,2,1,2,1,2… Now, look at the group of 3, and you’ll see that it also cycles in a sequence unto itself: 1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3… And the same is true of the group of 4 and the group of 5. Each little sequence plodding away at the same tempo and time division, but with a different step count. This is polymeter. Of course, right now, all you’re hearing is a chorus of
bloop, bloop, bloop… All in unison, all with the same sound. Bare with me.
The trick here is to think of the pad mutes as on/off switches for the “steps” or “trigs” in each of these groups of notes or “sequences” if you will. Go ahead and mute the middle step in the group of 3, for instance, and you’ll see that it still counts in a cycle of three, but the middle “step” is no longer sounding (of course, at this point, you’re still listening to the steps in all the other sequences playing simultaneously; so, it won’t be obvious that the step is muted, but it is). Moving on… Unmute that pad again, and let’s try something more obvious. Go to Sound Bank B and mute ALL the pads, then come back to Bank A and mute all the pads
except for the
first one in each group… Now it should be more obvious that each “sequence” of notes is cycling independently of each other, and you’ll be hearing a true 2 against 3 against 4 against 5 polymetric phrase.
Still with me?
Now let’s change the sound on one of the steps. Let’s keep the current mute status for now. Switch to 16 Sounds mode, tap Pad A1, and start tweaking any of the sound parameters for that pad (FYI, just for fun, I set up some basic LFO routings in the mod matrix, so all you have to do is add an amount). Now try doing the same with Pads A4, A9, and A13. The effects of all this should be obvious enough, and by now you should be seeing the potential of these templates. Of course, you could also just load your own sounds onto each “step” this way, but I kind of like the pseudo-modular aspect of this approach. It’s up to you. In the end, all you need to remember is that
Mutes are what you use to turn the “steps” on and off, and
Sounds mode is where you select a “step” in order to edit the sound on it. You could think of this as a type of “parameter locking” (à la Elektron).
And, of course, you can use any combination of these little sequences together, at the same, with any or all of the steps active in each, and whatever sound you want on each step. Bank B in this template, by the way, as you’ll see in the reference chart, is comprised of two more, slightly longer sequences: a
10 step sequence and a
6 step sequence. They work the same as the others, and can be used at the same time as well.
Okay, now that you know how this particular template works, hopefully you’ll be able to figure the rest out using their respective reference charts. To that end, I’m going to stop talking now, and see if my instructions don't prove adequate.
If not, feel free to ask questions. Lord knows, I’ve got the time now to answer a few.
Stay healthy, y’all.
Cheers!