General feedback on the Tempest as a whole

[Arcade]

I've got a Pro 2 and Maschine, but I'd prefer to have a hardware drum machine so I can move away from the computer. I like the idea of the Tempest but am obviously aware of certain bugs and pending updates that are being discussed. I haven't delved into them though because without owning one, it's hard to understand a lot of it.

My question is, are these issues simply some small features people are after because they've been promised, or are there some functional issues that would impinge on everyday use? Ie should I consider a Tempest, or wait to see how they are after the update?

I've also seen two colour schemes floating around, has there been any revisions or is this still effectively V1 of the Tempest? I ask as I'll most likely be seeking a used unit.

Thanks!

[Hannibal Lektra]

Hiya, Arcade.
I've had my Tempest for a little over a year and admittedly, I have only been creating my own sounds and beats on it for the past 2 months and I have never ran into any of the bugs that I read about. Beyond that, I love my Tempest and it is the last piece of gear that I would ever get rid of.

I will say however that the Tempest is not an out-of-the-box performance machine. You have to earn what comes out of it. Not to say that you won't have some sinister grooves happening with your Pro2 sync'ed up to it the first time you turn it on tho.

The different color schemes are the same machine under the hood.

[Robot Heart]

Re: The color schemes- The "light grey" is the picture of the beta units we showed at NAMM before the Tempest was released. The darker color scheme is the production version, none of the light versions were commercially produced.

[Arcade]

Thanks guys. I had a quick play today at my local store. I have to say, it took some time to get my head around it. Not quite as intuitive as the Pro 2.

One thing I found strange, there were only about 8 kits available to load. Is that right? Is the idea to create your own kits from the various sounds and then save, or was this particular one perhaps missing some of the factory kits? If this is right, it may well be a little slower than expected to get up and running. I'm not the quickest learner and prefer to start my explorations from presets and learn that way!

[musicman666]

Thanks guys. I had a quick play today at my local store. I have to say, it took some time to get my head around it. Not quite as intuitive as the Pro 2.

One thing I found strange, there were only about 8 kits available to load. Is that right? Is the idea to create your own kits from the various sounds and then save, or was this particular one perhaps missing some of the factory kits? If this is right, it may well be a little slower than expected to get up and running. I'm not the quickest learner and prefer to start my explorations from presets and learn that way!

I see the tempest as a poly synth that excels at creating rhythm type sounds and beats ....it's less confusing when you think of it that way.

[kisielk]

One thing I found strange, there were only about 8 kits available to load. Is that right? Is the idea to create your own kits from the various sounds and then save, or was this particular one perhaps missing some of the factory kits? If this is right, it may well be a little slower than expected to get up and running. I'm not the quickest learner and prefer to start my explorations from presets and learn that way!

There's a lot more example projects / kits available for download from the DSI website.

[darmanmerdeka]

i hope dont have to stop & scroling through the list every time i change the composition and more midi.
after all specially with the recent beta update, i love my Tempest.

[Yorgos Arabatzis]

I'm afraid these will never happen due to lack of memory on the Tempest...

i hope dont have to stop & scroling through the list every time i change the composition and more midi.

[joosep]

As a whole, there is nothing out there as of right now, that even makes me think about selling me Tempest.
Maybe a Tempest2 (updated memory, processor etc...)

What I love about the Tempest as a whole? There are so many ways I can play it. I usually use the 16 Steps mode for my kicks, congas etc, but almost always do live recordings for my synth, bass, cymbals/hats/claps/bells sounds.
Once I got used to the Solo/Mute and the 16 Sounds and 16 Mutes buttons, then the LIVE factor really took over. I find it so easy to operate it and manipulate the sounds on the fly. Of all the drummachines I have touched, this feels the most like an actual instrument, like a real synth, not like a computer that just shoots out sounds.

[Sontag]

I love the sound of the tempest and that it has character. All other drummachines that i know are trying to sound like an 808 or a 909... The Tempest has it's own sound.. an amazing sound imo! =)
and of course the mod matrix! don't like the filter too much when it comes to synth and bass sounds, but that is a matter of taste i guess. cheers

[HT]

Limitations aside it is always fun to play and because it's fun I use it a lot.
The build quality is very good and the pads feel organic for want of a better word.
This rough-arsed-thrown together ditty hints at what's possible in half an hour. Zero processing....Headphones dudes.

https://www.orfium.com/profile/howling_terror/

[abique]

I'm considering to buy a tempest. But I wonder if it will meet my expectations.
I want to do some techno/trance music (I guess it has to be minimal!) and use it alone.
I know the 6 voices limitations and I think I can deal with it but I'm a bit afraid because there is no delay and reverb, no fx.
How does the midi delay sound? Do you have some examples?
I saw a thread about the liveset organisation, is it easy to chain many projects?

Thank you.

[HT]

Hi abique, the midi delay is what it is and besides voice stealing it isn't really suited as a main fx in trance, but who am I to say what can and cannot be done with some creative thinking. I tend to use one or more of the outputs into a few stomp boxes or sometimes straight into the DAW.

As for chaining projects...doesn't work like that. You can chain beats though, it's called a playlist and can be programmed or recorded in realtime then saved. The song I linked to in my previous post 'The Tempest' was a playlist I'd recorded and you can still use the envelopes and filters and more whilst it's running.

It's a decent sized investment so worth a trip to a shop that has one to demo.

[abique]

Hi HT,

Thank you for your answer. I also think that the tempest is not suited for trance, I tend to think that trance is so complex to produce that it maybe more convenient in a DAW.

But I definitely think that I can make some nice techno/tribe on it

Alex.

[tainsus]

But it's suited for idm 
https://soundcloud.com/tainsus/rushing-to-become-archive

[abique]

Oh man I loooove your song! 

You added a bit of reverb right?

[tainsus]

Hey thanks, a bit of reverb (very little actually) except for 3/4 seconds of excessive use to create some kind of 'break'.