Some Tempest usage questions for you guys

[Pym]

All very helpful data points, thanks for everyone who is responding!

[muleskinner]

1. Do you use the Bank B sounds? If so, how do you use them?

Yes, all the time. As way to store more sounds and variations of a sound in a single beat.

I tend to have more synth sounds in bank B but this is not always the case by any means.

2. Do you record parameters with the sliders normally? Do you find it intuitive?

Sometimes. yes, it's fairly intuitive.

What I really, really wish was that in '16 timesteps' mode it would have recorded the slider positions when you enter a step. This always seemed like a massive missed opportunity to me but hey ho!

3. Do you use the sliders live normally? Do you find it intuitive?

I don't play live but I do record live manipulation using the sliders and yes, I find it intuitive.

4. If you do use the sliders, what sort of functions do you find most fun? What sort of macros do you assign to them?

All sorts of things but often it's filter cutoff/resonance and various parameters to do with the envelopes. I often have amp envelope set to modulate its own decay and change the mount of that modulation using the sliders. This is in my default setup.

5. Do you use the MIDI delay? If not, would you if you had more voices?

No, because I nearly always work with sounds assigned to a particular voice and never have enough 'spare' voices.

I might use it if there were more voices but tbh I'd probably just keep using an external delay (though I know you can do some interesting stuff with the MIDI delay).

[Pym]

That's a good point, I put it in my design notebook to think about

What I really, really wish was that in '16 timesteps' mode it would have recorded the slider positions when you enter a step. This always seemed like a massive missed opportunity to me but hey ho!

[KoSv]

First of all, thank you Pym for your work on this incredible machine!
To the questions:
I generally use the Tempest for live performances. So my opinion on it is heavily biased in this direction.

1. Do you use the Bank B sounds? If so, how do you use them?

bank B is a sometimes a new or second song for me. I also use B often for transitions to a new patterns.

2. Do you record parameters with the sliders normally? Do you find it intuitive?

yes. sometimes I do record params with it.

3. Do you use the sliders live normally? Do you find it intuitive?

ALL THE TIME! YES SUPER INTUITIVE!!! LOVE IT!

4. If you do use the sliders, what sort of functions do you find most fun? What sort of macros do you assign to them?

Mostly roll and filter. but sometimes other params.

5. Do you use the MIDI delay? If not, would you if you had more voices?

no. never.

hope this helps!

One question:
Any thoughts on opening the source code?


Cheers!

[Pym]

I don't think I will, no. If it was a more accessible chip combination I'd certainly consider it but the amount of support questions I'd be asked is just not worth the effort, as much as I'd love to see what people can come up with. We have a combination of processors from 3 different companies and one just has infuriating tools, it just wouldn't be worth it in the long run

One question:
Any thoughts on opening the source code?

[Jonas]

1. Do you use the Bank B sounds? If so, how do you use them?

- I always dedicate a pad in Bank B for programming all of my bass lines and another pad in Bank B for sending out a sequence to the Pro 2. My right hand is busy on the OB-6 or the Pro 2 and I usually play my bass lines with my left hand on the Prophet '08 or Mono Evolver Keys. But when playing at live events, I don't always have room to bring along another key synth for bass duty and so it's very useful to have the bass lines written on a spare pad in Bank B (on an individual output) which I can unmute for whenever I need it.  And yeah, writing out a sequence on a Bank B pad and sending it out via midi really frees my hands up so I don't have to press the the start button on the Pro 2, which I may not always hit in sync with the beat.

2. Do you record parameters with the sliders normally? Do you find it intuitive?

- Yessir.  It works great for me when creating a filter effect on white noise for a transition between beats. Using the sliders makes me spend more time fumbling through which sounds to load, thinking of what options I'll use to affect the parameters when recording. And that's all part of the fun!

3. Do you use the sliders live normally? Do you find it intuitive?

- I do, but I have very few parts in songs where my hands are free to get at them.  If I used the Tempest more as a performance synth on its own, then I would do it more often. I use it as very linear drum machine, by simply arranging my beats together in the playlist and then just press play and follow along with my hands on my other synths.

4. If you do use the sliders, what sort of functions do you find most fun? What sort of macros do you assign to them?

- I have one set for Beat Roll and the other set for All Envelope Attack.

5. Do you use the MIDI delay? If not, would you if you had more voices?

- I do not use it.

- - Similar to what another user in this thread had mentioned, I only use the Tempest for writing full songs. Each song is saved as a separate project, because one song pretty much uses up all of the beats and I can't build more than one playlist per project.  I then save each project / song in the same project destination folder so I can quickly switch to the next song and dial in the playlist when performing live.  I have enough memory for about 8 or 9 songs.  So I often have to export / import my projects when I want to write something new or include an old song into my live set.  I think Roger Linn intended it to be used more as a performance instrument that you jam on while manipulating sounds and recording new parts over beats as you go, but I never even touch the pads when I'm playing a show or doing performance videos on YouTube. I have more fun with designing my kit, programming the beats, arranging the beats together in a playlist, and then just press play and go at it on my keys.  It produces the sounds that I want people to hear in my music.  It's perfect for me.