☺️ Thank you! I can’t lie Tempest has quite interesting demos on YT, not that mine is great, but some are probably hard for a general audience to hear and not think it just sounds weird 😆
Man, was I surprised to be watching this video and it turns out I get a shoutout in it lol. Great stuff, you really summed up the mystique of the Tempest! Learning the machine, crafting your own sounds, and processing it with external FX go a long way
Hey man! Well hopefully it was a pleasant surprise! You’re the person I always suggest people go to when they say the tempest sounds bad. It’s a computer of sorts, you’ve done a great job bringing the best out of it! Just like you said, it needs some external effects for sure 😊
Two things made me fall back in love with my Tempest: 1: realizing that I could emulate a bunch of classic grooveboxes and save them as Beats so that I can make a pattern in Ableton and then cycle through those emulated grooveboxes to get a starting point, and then start customizing for my track. This is really essential, because the biggest downside of using a Tempest is that it's an inspiration-killer to build a kit from scratch while trying to write music, it just takes too long. 2: Realizing that the "VCA modulates its own decay time" trick is an incredibly powerful tool that's essentially a built-in transient shaper. This trick is so powerful that it's actually in the manual, which I have, but I didn't actually ever try it until watching Adam Schneider's 808 videos.
I've been a drummer using drum machines of all types since the late 70's. The day I got my Tempest I also took delivery of a 1940's Gretsch snare in need of attention. I split my time between experimenting with the Tempest and reconditioning the snare. It dawned on me during this time that the Tempest really is the closest any drum synth or machine (I've tried) has come to how real drums work and the ethos of playing them. So I'm still using, enjoying and being surprised by my Tempest (whilst the snare is now stored away and unused). Also, what no-one really mentions is that you can just pick a Tempest, plug your cans in, sit with it for while, just dabble with the sounds sounds, mess about, experiment , put it down the side of your armchair, pick it up again, take it with you, use it anywhere and anytime. This is a playable machine to jam with just like a traditional instrument . It might not be 100% easy to use but it's 110% easy to spend time exploring and having fun for the sake of it.
I honestly think the Tempest was too advanced for the majority of the market. It didn't sell well because it was too advanced, not because it wasn't good.
@@ScottBrio you nailed it ; it reminds me the story of the monotribe (before the volca) it was too early and expensive for the market (plus the designers didn't even put midi in on it because they considered this a toy, when in fact it's a much more powerful synth than the volca bass for example)
I don't think analog/hybrid groove boxes that aren't geared towards drums would do very well. Not that they aren't cool, but just that they're too hard to market and people don't know what to do with them once they have them. Look at the Circuit Mono Station or the Polyend Medusa; people review bombed the Medusa because the firmware was buggy at launch and every time I see the mono station mentioned it's people who bought it for half off and never use it.
Yes, you are exactly right. This was released in the era when people only wanted to look at the quick setup insert, not take the time to read the manual, and got frustrated from not getting the instant gratification they sought. The price tag alone tells you that this is an instrument / drum machine / synth for a mature type of musician. Or immature mad scientist.
I enjoyed my time with Tempest. I picked one up second hand several years ago. While it appears to be this amazing must have for all electronic musicians, I wound up finding it a bit more niche than I originally thought. Its beautiful. It has a great feel to it. I was VERY familiar with DSI designs and workflow at the time, but never found the UI to be that great or easy to understand. Like you, frustrated with what I wasn’t getting out of it, I decided to dive deep into it. What I really wanted it for, were gritty, undeniably analog drum synth sounds. Ultimately, while its great for performance, I found it to be a detriment to getting studio work done. I had every channel hooked up to my interface, and was seeking to multitrack Tempest using it for all of my percussion. It just took too long, of course maybe it would have been faster had I stuck with it for many months, but TBH, as a huge fan of synth drums, what I was getting out of tempest was good....but not exactly $1500 better than what I could make with a $50 drum synth plugin, or even Logic’s really old and much maligned Ultrabeat. ITB, I can have a string of 8 processing plugins to get the sound of a two layer snare, JUST how I want it. As a poly it was fine.....but lacked the features and ease of use of P08. So I let go of it, actually sold it for a profit. Now, five years later, and many drum machines later, I still prefer synth drums ITB. The flexibility, automation, MIDI processing, etc.....it just works better and easier for me. So easy to save hundreds of custom made hats, snares, kicks, etc. i can call them up in an instant and tweaking is very easy on the fly. I’m an analog guy. I love synthesis and sound design. You just don’t hear any difference between analog hardware and software when your sound is only a couple hundred milliseconds. Like there isn’t some special thud to a DCO sine wave kick compared to full digital. There was no special sizzle to my noise hats. Yeah, tempest has that distortion and compressor, but it wasn’t anything to write home about for me. Its very cool, but just wasn’t for me. TBH, I thought we would see a lot of live performances using Tempest. I’ve seen some on youtube but it just never really seemed to catch on.
I bought a tempest last year. This tempest was sitting on my local music stores shelf for like probably 8 years. I think I spent a good 40 -50 hours designing sounds on it, and I have to say it really is an inspiration killer. Doing things on the tempest felt like doing a pre-calculus assignment. The OLED had burn-in from years of sitting on the shelf. The output was kind of noisy. Considering it was the most expensive "drum machine" you could buy at the store it really didn't feel like it was worth the money. Sure it can do everything you want, but when it comes to hardware I prefer things that you can get up and running with quickly. Take the Sub 37 for example. If you know the basics about synths you pretty much just walk up to one knowing nothing and are able to tweak and get your sounds instantly. However, where the tempest gets it's best points in my opinion is it's sound. It's kind of a gritty, dark analog sound that I like. Anyways, I returned that Tempest, it got marked down and still is sitting on the shelf at that store to this day. Overall for a grand I feel like it would be a good price, but where it's at, all I can think of is how many other better things I could buy and use all the time for that same amount of money.
Elektron for example. They are leading in the drum machine game by a mile. Literally their every product is a superb drum machine. You want analog/synth? Analog Four. You want analog/sampler? Analog Rytm. Want sampler.. Octatrack, Digitakt, Samples. Maybe FM? Digitone, Cycles!
Your bloopers at the end of your videos give me flashbacks of when I did game reviews. I stumbled repeatedly on the same lines more times than I can count lol. By the way, I really liked the track you made with the Tempest.
For anyone that said it can’t do 808/any other drum sound, the correct statement is, YOU can’t make whatever drum sound. Complaining you can’t make x drum sound when you don’t understand drum synthesis is like picking up a guitar for the first time and complaining it sounds shit because you can’t perfectly play your favourite tune.
I think the problem is that there’s surprisingly little overlap between people that want a drum machine and people that know how to do drum synthesis. If you’re coming from “hey let me make a beat real quick,” you know you want an 808 kick. But you may not know how to think about that sound and build it up. And the process of synthesis is a slightly different skill set-a different way of listening and thinking. So on top of the really steep UI learning curve, a lot of people also probably had to confront the problem of learning basic subtractive synthesis at the same time. It’s a lot to have to get your mind around.
@@OuijTube That may be true, but if you’re about to drop over a grand on a piece of hardware, without even understanding what it it is you’re buying, then you clearly have more money than sense and your chances of understanding the intricacies of synthesis are pretty slim.
I love the tempest. I bought it 2 years ago and first wanted to get an Analog Rytm. But the fact that the tempest is soo confusing is what I love about it. I needed a gnarly raw and dirty machine to create rough samples and that's what I got!
5:15 I kind of feel that after I get a new synth, or machine I need to let it marinate in my head before I dive into learning it. It took me about 1 year of marinating on the Digitone. lol This is really nice to see
Purchased cheap 4 years ago, it’s now my main song writing tool. Yes, it has a couple of silly limitations but there’s no escaping the fact that every time I touch it, something awesome happens.
I appreciate you including a super-cut of your mouth moving faster than your brain at the end. I could never do that with my scripted videos because the bad language is very "not ad friendly".
I’ll never get rid of mine. That said, I’ve definitely had my moments of wanting to throw it out my window. I had to do a deep dive as well to truly appreciate it. I still struggle with it at times, mostly with making new drum sounds (takes me while to find sweet spots I like), but not with navigating my way around it. Definitely developed some muscle memory with this thing. The pads are so nice to play. The 4th encoder above the screen still glitches on me, and I have to recalibrate the voices from time to time, but it’s one of my top pieces of gear I’ve ever purchased nonetheless.
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Hey Mr ! Thx for this awesome tribute video. Such a unique instrument. Never get rid of mine. We would both go on the same desert island with Tempest haha. Keep rocking 🎶🖤
Fantastic video fam! As usual. The Tempest has a lot of character. At times it’s quirky ness makes it feel more alive IMO I love mine! When I’m looking for inspiration I just fire it up 🔥 and boom I’m good to go.
Had mine for around 8 years, still use it at least once a week. Sounds soooooo good!!!! It's actually easy enough to use if you use your brain and don't expect a digital synth.
Had mine for three years now. My take: -excels as a standalone instrument for writing/arranging/dawless performance -huge headache in a recording environment The sweet spot for me came after I set up a handful of favorite sounds/kits in a project. Then I stepped back from the task of sound design and let those choices be my limitations. Once I started combining that with other instruments and started arranging further, the fun really began. The opposite is the case when I have it in the studio and I'm trying to record things to tempo. Aligning all the onboard settings with DAW settings via its convoluted menu system is the ultimate buzzkill for my workflow. So I typically go with a different synth when I'm tracking unless it's a unique one-shot sample or something else not locked to tempo.
I so agree with everything you’re saying, I use mine exactly the same way, I’ve tried so many times to get it synced up and working with my DAW, but never have any productivity boost, so it ends up just being a free running piece. One shots, or some synth stuff year. Seems like the internal clock and as a stand-alone is where the sweet spot is, like you I feel you gotta make like 100 solid sounds and put them in kits because on the fly programming each time is just too cumbersome and saps my creative flow.
Awesome intro! I was a Tempest owner for a quite few years and got one early on - such a deep and powerful machine! When it was first released DSI did say that the firmware wasn't fully developed and that they would use a lot of the feedback from users to develop it further. I think a lot of buyers weren't aware of that. In the end I did decide to sell it, I got tired of the tedious menu-diving on that little display and I just didn't use it enough to justify having a machine of that price sitting around.
A ridiculously powerful unit once you learn and understand the limits of what it can do. Learning about Voice Priority and Assignments can open this unit up greatly for a user. On its own, it is impressive; tied into a studio's worth of gear, it becomes an indispensable toolkit. Like you, it took me a while to sit down with it and really get to know the Tempest, but once I got my head around it, I felt greatly rewarded for the effort.
Love my Tempest, and it also took me a long time to get it. Apart from being a wonderful synthesiser, it can also replicate the sounds of old drum machines so well and can make the hugest sub sounds ever!❤️ Thanks for the video man🤘🏽
tblv9300 posted a video 7 years ago called Tempest as a 6 Voice Polysynth. Blew up and from what I know was the first video to really go viral showing the synth side of Tempest. Look it up. Wonderful demo!
Boomchic! Bought mine when it first came out. Was Excited about an analog drum machine. At first I was frustrated with it. I felt like it lacked something, but with Time I slowly fell in love with it. Still learning new things from time to time. Some people don’t approve, but that’s bc like with any machine/synth, you have to put effort into it to fully understand what you’re dealing with. I feel like I have a good understanding of it though. It’s a keeper for me, especially now that it’s discontinued.
I saw it the first time in your video about volca fm or kind of video, and thought wow, I want to have one sometime, but I was younger no job, a little bit of money, and I started to "collect" instruments, after 2 years passed, three weeks ago I realized, I finally got money to get it, and now I'm proud user of Tempest and it will be long journey
I’ve been going back and forth on doing a video on this exact subject for years. For the most part I agree with what you say here. There are a few missed points that should be touched on. Midi being an especially sore spot imho. There are some other maddening issues... maybe I should do that video lol . That being said it’s still a fantastic device. But like you said, you need to treat it as it’s own instrument. Very nice video.
I love how you show the more synth part of the tempest, beyond the obvious drum machine.People complain about the tempest, but this video just shows that in the right hands it can shine.Thanks.Two pieces of gear I will never sell, are the tempest and the vermona perfourmer.
Feel the exact same way. Bandmate bought it when it came out and we both didn’t understand synthesis as well back then. Years later now it feels like every time I get into it new inspiration strikes and the features open up more. Love being able to assign LFO2 to the OSC 1/2 mix on hats and percussion. The delay taking up voicings really threw me for a loop recently but glad to have figured that out.
Thank you for this video. I bought a Tempest early on but never wrapped my head around it. I had a log of fun playing with some of presets and using the Roll and Reverse buttons and the sliders. I never did wrap my head around creating patches on my own. Never had the time to dedicate to it and later picked up and Analog Rytm. Maybe someday I'll have the time to give it the attention that it needs. I have to see if there was ever an editor for it as a shorcut for menu diving.
Hey Noir, great video! I had one and it was very frustrating, because the memory always seemed to be full as soon as you got some something awesome going. The side chaining aux function was where is was at with the unit fantastic fatness. It did have an amazing sound that beat anything else in what you could get out of it. It was a real rival to the Elektron Rytm but, I still have that one. Ease of use and very comparable drum sound is were that one won out. Incredible machine, just failed where you needed it to work (saving you stuff).
Love the review from someone who's clearly taken the time with the tempest, "may never be equalled with built in kryptonite." Mines coming back from the shop and I had to grab some inspiration. Thanks Noir.
Well, I can answer the question about whether I'd pick up a Tempest "today" (more or less). I'm the one who literally bought the last Tempest from Sweetwater. Went out of stock permanently the day my order shipped, and the product page disappeared and started redirecting not too long afterwards. Wouldn't trade it in for anything at this point.
great show, love the way you present ! Spectralis comes to my mind, you may have heard Another attempt to be everything. even though its more of a Groove Box
I'm glad I picked one up new before they were discontinued. I looked around at all the offerings, and the Tempest was the only high end analog at the time. Professional patch makers or those that wish to learn how to program a synth will be very pleased IMO. It's a drummers synth that does so much more than drums. I look to it for the envelopes, and the oddities, or when in the mood to use pads instead of a conventional keyboard. It's a great sounding piece of gear.
It wasn't on Sweetwater because it was no longer being produced. You are so right about the TEMPEST. This is the very best description of the TEMPEST and its capabilities. I bought mine from Sweetwater in 2015. I can't count the number of times I have decided to sell it because of frustration, but didn't, because of amazement. An aftermarket memory increase upgrade would solve a lot of frustration, but not all. I am still learning about it, learning just how much it can do, and it always sounds amazing.
Dear Noir et Blanc Vie, I discovered you because of the TEMPEST. I found your videos to be amazing, engaging, and very useful. I was wondering if you have any other videos that have the TEMPEST being played, just to hear what it can do. I really want to learn mine now, thanks for all you have done on u-tube. You are amongst the best on here, in my opinion.
Bro, I love your channel and your vids. Top notch and your knowledge and dedication is inspiring. I was changing out all my pad trigger points today. I had been wanting to do it since I got it 4 + years ago, and did it today. now I can trigger the pads with my keyboard (with ease) . I didn't put them in order, it's kinda mixed up, so it will be more unpredictable . (this is for using a midi keyboard to play the drums. the pads still play properly) . I sometimes hate using it, (but now I can easily trigger the pads!) but I mostly love it. every one of the voices is a full stand alone synth. it's insane! And I'm always taking it further . in fact. I learned a crazy thing today , hours before spotting this vid. I'll bet you all want to know heh heh. .. If you put a (in the matrix) LFO at max 127 to the VCA Level, it will re trigger it forever. If any of you are interested in the killer self playing sound I made, I'll get all the settings on a text, or put it to a library file. Thanks Noir, you make great music.. and was that going through a strymon? and IM NEVER SELLING MINE
One of my favorite devices EVER! Once you take the time to figure it out its unbelievable. It speaks its own language but like many languages it is derived from other languages you can borrow from when using it.
Hello from Tallinn 🇪🇪🙌 You have a lot of experience in making tracks on synthesizers. Tell me please your opinion if has a synthesizer or groovebox from modern systems, which is very well suited for wooble and reese sounds and making dnb genre? Would be so cool. Thank you
bought it like 3 months ago... filled up 3 projects so far because it's an absolute joy to program if you know the layout. If this thing pisses you off, you need to check yourself. It's a songstarter for sure.
The Tempest has taught me SO much about sound design! It takes ages to know all the knocks and crannys but it was well worth it! I still don't understand how the filter sweep of the whole beat does what it does, hard to explain...
The analog oscillators have SUBS??!?! Omg, I've had one of these since they shipped. Thank you. I really need to sit down and go through it deeply still.
Putting a Prophet synth in a drum shaped housing didn't work for me. The samples were lackluster but you couldn't put your own in. I was always struggling to find a decent kick.
I feel there is a lot of love here for the Tempest. I had a Machinedrum and wanted to switch to Rytm or Tempest. Went for the Rytm because I could get to the sounds I wanted quicker which is more fun to me. I guess your own musical approach is what matters most when choosing any musical instrument, any machine sparkles in a certain field.
Sufjan Stevens uses the Tempest really well. His newest album has some incredible drums sounds/patterns on it. Also I'm pretty sure Nicolas Jaar uses it a lot.
Owned so many pieces of equipment. The tempest is amazing as a synth & drum machine. It’s one of them instruments when you hear it in real life. And hands on for half hour. You instantly want one. The most versatile instrument I’ve owned.
with the ease of assignments to velocity sensitive envelopes we can create highly dynamic percussive pads. the beat-wide FX allows you to 'sqeeze' the whole beat or loosen it up, same as a drummer would do on a drum-set, for example by increasing the attack / decay of all sounds.
My buddy had one for a couple of years. Every time I tried to program some drum sounds all I got were synth tones and I couldn't actually figure out how to use it has a drum machine. I didn't spend much time with it, but I think that is the crux: It's really a complex synth in a drum machine-shaped package, that is not easy to use as a drum machine.
I've got a Tetra which I'm quite fond of-especially when it's paired with an Arturia Beatstep Pro. It's can be a BIG sounding drum machine with a little help and is much easier to grasp compared to the Tempest. But with that being said, the Tempest seems much more versatile and...weird which I appreciate. Also it doesn't help when a well-written video essay about the Tempest is uploaded onto UA-cam by someone who is cute af but I digress.
This is very much how I felt about my Analog Four mk2. I bought it for full price and then listened to the factory sounds... I thought I’d made a huge, expensive mistake. Almost two years later, as I continuing to learn its secrets every time I use it, it’s now my favorite synth alongside the the Virus. I’ll never get rid of it. But it demands deep learning and experimentation... which leads to happy accidents, and general mastery of the hardware :) it’s worth the journey and the time spent.
I remember the first Tempest video you made was how I found the channel. I really wanted a drum machine, and I'd always wanted a Linn 9000, but realized the Tempest was something else entirely. I think the biggest issue with the Tempest for me is that it's too complex and I have little to no experience with electronic instruments. I ultimately decided on the Digitakt and never looked back. This is a great bookend to the Tempest saga, Stephen. No doubt it is an amazing machine; as you hint at, I think anything that polarizes people this much is a testament to that. Cheers and I hope you're doing well
Hey hey! Oh boy, remember when videos like that Tempest video were YT acceptable, long drawn out intros, totally cringe...thankful I’m much better at YT now...........oh wait, am I?😂 How funny to still be around after 4 years. I’m doing well, hopefully 2020 has had some positives on your end, it’s the weirdest year for me on record...good, but weird.
I've had a Tempest since it first came out. I've been happy with it,, and have even used it as an external synth on gigs. But I agree the lack of memory is frustrating. I hate having to delete projects to make room for more. When I recently added some new sounds, I spent a few hours deciding which sounds should get deleted. With MPC's I like to use "song mode" to construct songs, but the closest thing in the Tempest are "playlists". And with only four playlists it was hard to use the Tempest for live gigs. Who does a gig with just 4 songs?
it took you several years.... same for me and I am still puzzled as to what this machine can do. Mine is staying on my desk and won't move for another while.
I had nearly the exact same experience - I had preordered the Tempest, because I was so excited about the possibilities it presented. And when I received it, the presets were about as appealing as a wet fart. I played around with making my own drums a little bit, but it was just playing. On the shelf it went for a couple of years. It was when Roland announced the TR8, I considered picking one up - but I had spent all this money on a Tempest. What if I sat down - like, really sat down, and learned how to use it. Practice it like an instrument. 45 minutes a night, five nights a week, for a month or two, and it opened all the way up. I built out emulations of the Roland sounds I wanted, so I didn't need a TR-8. In fact, I sold my TR-606 and DR-110 because I built their sounds (except those hihats) on my Tempest - indistinguishable in a mix (and a free download if you go looking), and in the process, learned enough about drum synthesis to start building out amazing kits that shaped my music. Now it's my desert island synth - the last thing I'd sell if I had to.
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Same here. I also have an AR that can gave me quick idea of a kick... Then i emulate it on Tempest and it usually sounds better (except for warehouse techno kick)
I bought one upon release, prepared to go the distance...which I did for a year and a half, then sold it. Amazing instrument that covered sonic territory that few if any other things could, but I spent the majority of the time going after a strictly drum machine aesthetic and a sonic character that I ultimately wasn't going to get from it. When I sold the Tempest, I got an Elektron Machinedrum, which is what I should have done in the first place for what I wanted to do. Years later, I hear your opening bit and can only dream of what I might have done with the Tempest and my FX units. But I would never have been happy with it as my #1 drum machine.
The price of used Tempests shot up to ~$2K almost immediately after it was discontinued. I've been wanting one for a long time so I wish I pulled the trigger earlier, but I still might buy one at some point. Really hoping for another Sequential drum machine at some point.
I had to sell my tempest, decided i needed first a better audio interface, so bought a fireface ucx for the tempest. had a tr8s in the meantime, sold it because i cannot adjust as much as i like, but i prefer that i have all voices playable parallel not like on the tempest where you are pretty limited in terms of voices when you wanna make i.e. dancy house grooves or just eclectic warp-esque sound patterns... had the digitakt bought with the tempest, and those together were fun, then without the tempest, after 2 years i stepped one up, sold the digitakt and bought the the rytm mk2. and again, it is limited to 8 out of 12 voices at a time. but being able to load your own samples was a huge bummer that they failed to make a software for easy sysex sample transport onto the tempest. plus the connectivity is so great on the rytm. i really hoped to play all my voices on the tempest with the midi cc parameter locking capability of the digitakt and was really frustrated that the tempest was very enclosed referring external midi connectivity. and now i havent had my tempest for 3 years and i still miss it, i love the pads, i love the sounds, i love the variety of samples. its limitation are its powers. there is nothing like the feedback, i cannot believe how this machine can sound, if you want anything that comes close to it, you have to built it in your own modular, but all that in one box. its still genius. it is sad that it did not get a second spring. but creating a basic kick can take hours because you easily end up make some weird noises before you realize what you were up to. but that is the magic: tempest lets you fall down into a very creative process, but you have to know a lot of sound design if you wanna start right ahead. so i am happy now, cause the rytm is pretty straight forward, but with just one lfo there is not so much sound design possible, and i guess thats just ok. and i will never understand why the hell they limited the internal space soo much on the tempest. so in the end, just listen to extrawelts unknown lp or nicolas jar playing on fka twigs magdalene album and enjoy the potential of this wonderful machine. and if you are into wavey pop, the linndrum samples are really worth a listen. makes you feel timetravel and play back 2 back with prince
I purchased and sold mine for under value, I thought it was going to be a great device for playing DAWless but the Elektron Analog Rytm actually did what I needed. Learned a lesson the hard way, know what you're buying and research.
I remember wanting to get one of these years ago, but ultimately never did due to the many issues users reported. Is funny, because I thought it was discontinued ages ago... But glad Dave stuck with it and seems to have resolved what they could. Always up for a solid drum machine, and I could see eventually grabbing one of these at some point. Thanks for your perspective!
I never got a chance to use a Tempest. I was super hyped when it was originally announced, and have always wanted one, but never had the money. I never realized this was such a polarizing machine. It really is quite an amazing instrument, and it's no wonder why it took so long to bring it to market. It's a lot more than I was ever expecting it to be, and perhaps that's why it just doesn't appeal to me all that much. I think I would have preferred Roger's version, a simpler Tempest with fewer features, and one that hopefully would be a bit easier and more fun to use. I respect the hell out of the Tempest for what it is, though, and I think ultimately it's a much more versatile and unique piece of gear because of that. Adam Schneider's "Terrible Lie" demo is really awesome! The Sub 37 drum tutorial is super useful as well. Thanks for the channel recommendations!
Well I've tried many drum machines (and I know Tempest can be more than that), and I didn't want to try the Tempest that seemed too limited for me when looking at the sequencer. I finally bought one a couple of years ago to try it and instantlty fell in love with this instrument. I like deep synthesis and intuitive workflow, and the Tempest is exactly that. It depends on what you're looking for, but it's the first 'drum machine' I own that really feels like an instrument to me (I've had some Elektron, Jomox, Roland, Arturia, MFB, modular, software...).
I definitely perked up with that opening sound. That pad with the sort of metallic rustling. When I saw the $2k price on Reverb, I thought, "this is cool, but not $2k cool," for me any way.
I've had mine for about a year after a tonne of forum reading and video watching/listening so I had full knowledge of the issues and quirks and I think in part that's what drew me to it in the end... knowing that I'd need to work at it and get in deep but that maybe I would be able to make some reasonably unique sounds because of it's relative rarity. I must admit that I still haven't given it the love and attention it needs but it's definitely a keeper.
The Rev2 had a function where you could hold Shift and turn a knob so it's parameter value would appear on the screen without changing it. Does the Tempest have anything similar?
@@NoirEtBlancVie the tempest has other flaws that one needs to go around it. the shit knobs seems a minor one. All the moog machines I have and have had presented programming flaws also.... my OB06 tho is perhaps the best designed synth I recorded material with. Shortly, there is no perfect synth
I agree, the OB6 is the synth I tell everyone to get, even over the Prophet 6. I talked with Dave Smith a couple years back and he said the OB6 just has that WOW, factor, and the first time I heard it, I was completely blown away. I’ll probably never get one though, I definitely don’t need another analog synth to save my life 😂
Oh ya, one more thing, when ever I watched how to vids I always wonder how to get the samples so bright and clean and killer. then I saw someone turn the Pre/Post filter to more post and Ka-Pow. It takes the mud off the samples. That was the thing I hated was how muddy the samples where and not much punch. just turn most of the pre filter to post, and Ka-Blam! it's like getting a new machine. For some reason the factory settings (at least mine) were all on pre filter. Try that one Ma and Paw tempest doubters and Shka-Blooie!!
EquestrianSport absolutely, the pre/post filter is important in shaping the sounds. It’s a tough machine because you really gotta listen to it and dial in what contextually works best. 😃
The Tempest is like a Ferrari from the 80s, not perfect, too expensive, but has endless power. I love my Tempest ❤️
Yet barely enough memory to hold its own samples 😭😭😭
Wow that intro jam would hella sell tempests if they were still being made. Absolutely wonderful.
☺️ Thank you! I can’t lie Tempest has quite interesting demos on YT, not that mine is great, but some are probably hard for a general audience to hear and not think it just sounds weird 😆
I've always been off-put by the price, demos, and my personal experience; But, that intro jam made me check the prices before you got to that.
Ur hella seller
i know right? i was gooooone with the flow of the intro
Man, was I surprised to be watching this video and it turns out I get a shoutout in it lol. Great stuff, you really summed up the mystique of the Tempest! Learning the machine, crafting your own sounds, and processing it with external FX go a long way
Hey man! Well hopefully it was a pleasant surprise! You’re the person I always suggest people go to when they say the tempest sounds bad. It’s a computer of sorts, you’ve done a great job bringing the best out of it! Just like you said, it needs some external effects for sure 😊
@@NoirEtBlancVie definitely a pleasant surprise, I love your gear videos! Thanks, honored to hear you dig my Tempest vids. Keep up the awesome work!
Ohh man you are so spot on about all that Tempest drama, and your intro music is amongst the best Tempest demos!
HAHA. I love the outtakes on this video! I'm so glad you showed this process a bit. :)
Two things made me fall back in love with my Tempest:
1: realizing that I could emulate a bunch of classic grooveboxes and save them as Beats so that I can make a pattern in Ableton and then cycle through those emulated grooveboxes to get a starting point, and then start customizing for my track. This is really essential, because the biggest downside of using a Tempest is that it's an inspiration-killer to build a kit from scratch while trying to write music, it just takes too long.
2: Realizing that the "VCA modulates its own decay time" trick is an incredibly powerful tool that's essentially a built-in transient shaper. This trick is so powerful that it's actually in the manual, which I have, but I didn't actually ever try it until watching Adam Schneider's 808 videos.
I've been a drummer using drum machines of all types since the late 70's. The day I got my Tempest I also took delivery of a 1940's Gretsch snare in need of attention. I split my time between experimenting with the Tempest and reconditioning the snare. It dawned on me during this time that the Tempest really is the closest any drum synth or machine (I've tried) has come to how real drums work and the ethos of playing them. So I'm still using, enjoying and being surprised by my Tempest (whilst the snare is now stored away and unused). Also, what no-one really mentions is that you can just pick a Tempest, plug your cans in, sit with it for while, just dabble with the sounds sounds, mess about, experiment , put it down the side of your armchair, pick it up again, take it with you, use it anywhere and anytime. This is a playable machine to jam with just like a traditional instrument . It might not be 100% easy to use but it's 110% easy to spend time exploring and having fun for the sake of it.
I would absolutely never hate an analog groovebox :) we should have so much more analog/hybrid grooveboxes on the market !
I honestly think the Tempest was too advanced for the majority of the market. It didn't sell well because it was too advanced, not because it wasn't good.
@@ScottBrio you nailed it ; it reminds me the story of the monotribe (before the volca) it was too early and expensive for the market (plus the designers didn't even put midi in on it because they considered this a toy, when in fact it's a much more powerful synth than the volca bass for example)
I don't think analog/hybrid groove boxes that aren't geared towards drums would do very well. Not that they aren't cool, but just that they're too hard to market and people don't know what to do with them once they have them. Look at the Circuit Mono Station or the Polyend Medusa; people review bombed the Medusa because the firmware was buggy at launch and every time I see the mono station mentioned it's people who bought it for half off and never use it.
this thing way too ahead. people are only now being like erm i needed this... shame one simular will come out in 30 years
Yes, you are exactly right. This was released in the era when people only wanted to look at the quick setup insert, not take the time to read the manual, and got frustrated from not getting the instant gratification they sought. The price tag alone tells you that this is an instrument / drum machine / synth for a mature type of musician. Or immature mad scientist.
I enjoyed my time with Tempest. I picked one up second hand several years ago. While it appears to be this amazing must have for all electronic musicians, I wound up finding it a bit more niche than I originally thought.
Its beautiful. It has a great feel to it. I was VERY familiar with DSI designs and workflow at the time, but never found the UI to be that great or easy to understand. Like you, frustrated with what I wasn’t getting out of it, I decided to dive deep into it. What I really wanted it for, were gritty, undeniably analog drum synth sounds.
Ultimately, while its great for performance, I found it to be a detriment to getting studio work done. I had every channel hooked up to my interface, and was seeking to multitrack Tempest using it for all of my percussion. It just took too long, of course maybe it would have been faster had I stuck with it for many months, but TBH, as a huge fan of synth drums, what I was getting out of tempest was good....but not exactly $1500 better than what I could make with a $50 drum synth plugin, or even Logic’s really old and much maligned Ultrabeat. ITB, I can have a string of 8 processing plugins to get the sound of a two layer snare, JUST how I want it.
As a poly it was fine.....but lacked the features and ease of use of P08. So I let go of it, actually sold it for a profit. Now, five years later, and many drum machines later, I still prefer synth drums ITB. The flexibility, automation, MIDI processing, etc.....it just works better and easier for me. So easy to save hundreds of custom made hats, snares, kicks, etc. i can call them up in an instant and tweaking is very easy on the fly. I’m an analog guy. I love synthesis and sound design. You just don’t hear any difference between analog hardware and software when your sound is only a couple hundred milliseconds. Like there isn’t some special thud to a DCO sine wave kick compared to full digital. There was no special sizzle to my noise hats. Yeah, tempest has that distortion and compressor, but it wasn’t anything to write home about for me.
Its very cool, but just wasn’t for me.
TBH, I thought we would see a lot of live performances using Tempest. I’ve seen some on youtube but it just never really seemed to catch on.
The vibe you have in your videos is always sooo good! As is its contents! Nice homage to the Tempest!
Thanks man! Good to see you, I finally have an easier time making the videos, It’s a bit of a change in style.
@@NoirEtBlancVie I like it!
I bought a tempest last year. This tempest was sitting on my local music stores shelf for like probably 8 years. I think I spent a good 40 -50 hours designing sounds on it, and I have to say it really is an inspiration killer. Doing things on the tempest felt like doing a pre-calculus assignment. The OLED had burn-in from years of sitting on the shelf. The output was kind of noisy. Considering it was the most expensive "drum machine" you could buy at the store it really didn't feel like it was worth the money. Sure it can do everything you want, but when it comes to hardware I prefer things that you can get up and running with quickly. Take the Sub 37 for example. If you know the basics about synths you pretty much just walk up to one knowing nothing and are able to tweak and get your sounds instantly. However, where the tempest gets it's best points in my opinion is it's sound. It's kind of a gritty, dark analog sound that I like. Anyways, I returned that Tempest, it got marked down and still is sitting on the shelf at that store to this day.
Overall for a grand I feel like it would be a good price, but where it's at, all I can think of is how many other better things I could buy and use all the time for that same amount of money.
Elektron for example. They are leading in the drum machine game by a mile. Literally their every product is a superb drum machine. You want analog/synth? Analog Four. You want analog/sampler? Analog Rytm. Want sampler.. Octatrack, Digitakt, Samples. Maybe FM? Digitone, Cycles!
VitaminX I was about to buy the mpc live, but the sweetwater rep talked me into getting the digitakt. Haven’t looked back since.
@Outdated Gear I have it too. Love it.
@@LukezyM Analog four is the best synth on the market for pure flexibility and sonic capabilities
IMO
@XymXir I didn't say I didn't understand how to use it. I said it wasn't fun to use
Your bloopers at the end of your videos give me flashbacks of when I did game reviews. I stumbled repeatedly on the same lines more times than I can count lol.
By the way, I really liked the track you made with the Tempest.
For anyone that said it can’t do 808/any other drum sound, the correct statement is, YOU can’t make whatever drum sound. Complaining you can’t make x drum sound when you don’t understand drum synthesis is like picking up a guitar for the first time and complaining it sounds shit because you can’t perfectly play your favourite tune.
I think the problem is that there’s surprisingly little overlap between people that want a drum machine and people that know how to do drum synthesis.
If you’re coming from “hey let me make a beat real quick,” you know you want an 808 kick. But you may not know how to think about that sound and build it up. And the process of synthesis is a slightly different skill set-a different way of listening and thinking.
So on top of the really steep UI learning curve, a lot of people also probably had to confront the problem of learning basic subtractive synthesis at the same time. It’s a lot to have to get your mind around.
@@OuijTube That may be true, but if you’re about to drop over a grand on a piece of hardware, without even understanding what it it is you’re buying, then you clearly have more money than sense and your chances of understanding the intricacies of synthesis are pretty slim.
I love the tempest. I bought it 2 years ago and first wanted to get an Analog Rytm. But the fact that the tempest is soo confusing is what I love about it. I needed a gnarly raw and dirty machine to create rough samples and that's what I got!
Thanks for the shout out man! Really appreciate it and love the video. The Tempest is one for the history books for sure!
Man... a Poly Evolver in drum machine form sounds amazing to me. This thing's jumped up in my long list of things to buy lol
Great video!
5:15 I kind of feel that after I get a new synth, or machine I need to let it marinate in my head before I dive into learning it. It took me about 1 year of marinating on the Digitone. lol This is really nice to see
Purchased cheap 4 years ago, it’s now my main song writing tool. Yes, it has a couple of silly limitations but there’s no escaping the fact that every time I touch it, something awesome happens.
I appreciate you including a super-cut of your mouth moving faster than your brain at the end. I could never do that with my scripted videos because the bad language is very "not ad friendly".
I’ll never get rid of mine. That said, I’ve definitely had my moments of wanting to throw it out my window. I had to do a deep dive as well to truly appreciate it. I still struggle with it at times, mostly with making new drum sounds (takes me while to find sweet spots I like), but not with navigating my way around it. Definitely developed some muscle memory with this thing. The pads are so nice to play. The 4th encoder above the screen still glitches on me, and I have to recalibrate the voices from time to time, but it’s one of my top pieces of gear I’ve ever purchased nonetheless.
Hey Mr ! Thx for this awesome tribute video. Such a unique instrument. Never get rid of mine. We would both go on the same desert island with Tempest haha. Keep rocking 🎶🖤
sounds wonderful to my ears, don't really get how anyone could hate on this machine
Fantastic video fam! As usual. The Tempest has a lot of character. At times it’s quirky ness makes it feel more alive IMO I love mine! When I’m looking for inspiration I just fire it up 🔥 and boom I’m good to go.
Had mine for around 8 years, still use it at least once a week. Sounds soooooo good!!!! It's actually easy enough to use if you use your brain and don't expect a digital synth.
Love mine, hang onto them. They’re gonna skyrocket in value in about a decade.
i wish it took a decade. went to reverb today and the price has doubled since last June
Had mine for three years now. My take:
-excels as a standalone instrument for writing/arranging/dawless performance
-huge headache in a recording environment
The sweet spot for me came after I set up a handful of favorite sounds/kits in a project. Then I stepped back from the task of sound design and let those choices be my limitations. Once I started combining that with other instruments and started arranging further, the fun really began.
The opposite is the case when I have it in the studio and I'm trying to record things to tempo. Aligning all the onboard settings with DAW settings via its convoluted menu system is the ultimate buzzkill for my workflow. So I typically go with a different synth when I'm tracking unless it's a unique one-shot sample or something else not locked to tempo.
I so agree with everything you’re saying, I use mine exactly the same way, I’ve tried so many times to get it synced up and working with my DAW, but never have any productivity boost, so it ends up just being a free running piece. One shots, or some synth stuff year. Seems like the internal clock and as a stand-alone is where the sweet spot is, like you I feel you gotta make like 100 solid sounds and put them in kits because on the fly programming each time is just too cumbersome and saps my creative flow.
Awesome intro! I was a Tempest owner for a quite few years and got one early on - such a deep and powerful machine!
When it was first released DSI did say that the firmware wasn't fully developed and that they would use a lot of the feedback from users to develop it further. I think a lot of buyers weren't aware of that.
In the end I did decide to sell it, I got tired of the tedious menu-diving on that little display and I just didn't use it enough to justify having a machine of that price sitting around.
A ridiculously powerful unit once you learn and understand the limits of what it can do. Learning about Voice Priority and Assignments can open this unit up greatly for a user. On its own, it is impressive; tied into a studio's worth of gear, it becomes an indispensable toolkit. Like you, it took me a while to sit down with it and really get to know the Tempest, but once I got my head around it, I felt greatly rewarded for the effort.
It's an amazing machine. As a 6 voice poly it's great and the drums are unique and creative. Top machine. Thx for the great video!
Love my Tempest, and it also took me a long time to get it. Apart from being a wonderful synthesiser, it can also replicate the sounds of old drum machines so well and can make the hugest sub sounds ever!❤️ Thanks for the video man🤘🏽
tblv9300 posted a video 7 years ago called Tempest as a 6 Voice Polysynth. Blew up and from what I know was the first video to really go viral showing the synth side of Tempest. Look it up. Wonderful demo!
Boomchic! Bought mine when it first came out. Was Excited about an analog drum machine. At first I was frustrated with it. I felt like it lacked something, but with Time I slowly fell in love with it. Still learning new things from time to time. Some people don’t approve, but that’s bc like with any machine/synth, you have to put effort into it to fully understand what you’re dealing with. I feel like I have a good understanding of it though. It’s a keeper for me, especially now that it’s discontinued.
Hell yeah, Boomchik Posse!
I saw it the first time in your video about volca fm or kind of video, and thought wow, I want to have one sometime, but I was younger no job, a little bit of money, and I started to "collect" instruments, after 2 years passed, three weeks ago I realized, I finally got money to get it, and now I'm proud user of Tempest and it will be long journey
I’ve been going back and forth on doing a video on this exact subject for years. For the most part I agree with what you say here. There are a few missed points that should be touched on. Midi being an especially sore spot imho. There are some other maddening issues... maybe I should do that video lol .
That being said it’s still a fantastic device. But like you said, you need to treat it as it’s own instrument. Very nice video.
I love how you show the more synth part of the tempest, beyond the obvious drum machine.People complain about the tempest, but this video just shows that in the right hands it can shine.Thanks.Two pieces of gear I will never sell, are the tempest and the vermona perfourmer.
Feel the exact same way. Bandmate bought it when it came out and we both didn’t understand synthesis as well back then. Years later now it feels like every time I get into it new inspiration strikes and the features open up more. Love being able to assign LFO2 to the OSC 1/2 mix on hats and percussion. The delay taking up voicings really threw me for a loop recently but glad to have figured that out.
Thank you for this video. I bought a Tempest early on but never wrapped my head around it. I had a log of fun playing with some of presets and using the Roll and Reverse buttons and the sliders. I never did wrap my head around creating patches on my own. Never had the time to dedicate to it and later picked up and Analog Rytm. Maybe someday I'll have the time to give it the attention that it needs. I have to see if there was ever an editor for it as a shorcut for menu diving.
Hey Noir, great video! I had one and it was very frustrating, because the memory always seemed to be full as soon as you got some something awesome going. The side chaining aux function was where is was at with the unit fantastic fatness. It did have an amazing sound that beat anything else in what you could get out of it. It was a real rival to the Elektron Rytm but, I still have that one. Ease of use and very comparable drum sound is were that one won out. Incredible machine, just failed where you needed it to work (saving you stuff).
Very insightful, well done!
Good content, really enjoy your stuff!
Love the review from someone who's clearly taken the time with the tempest, "may never be equalled with built in kryptonite." Mines coming back from the shop and I had to grab some inspiration. Thanks Noir.
Have you tried Jomox Alpha Base?
Waiting in anticipation and slight trepidation for the postie to drop off my recently purchased Tempest! Wish me luck!!
Orbital has used the Tempest in their production and live gigs since its release and remain big fans of it.
Well, I can answer the question about whether I'd pick up a Tempest "today" (more or less). I'm the one who literally bought the last Tempest from Sweetwater. Went out of stock permanently the day my order shipped, and the product page disappeared and started redirecting not too long afterwards. Wouldn't trade it in for anything at this point.
So it’s your fault 😉
love your content. fantastic video.
great show, love the way you present !
Spectralis comes to my mind, you may have heard
Another attempt to be everything. even though its more of a Groove Box
I'm glad I picked one up new before they were discontinued. I looked around at all the offerings, and the Tempest was the only high end analog at the time. Professional patch makers or those that wish to learn how to program a synth will be very pleased IMO. It's a drummers synth that does so much more than drums. I look to it for the envelopes, and the oddities, or when in the mood to use pads instead of a conventional keyboard. It's a great sounding piece of gear.
You did a great job at giving me the idea to one day buy one as a learning project.
Great vid, thank you
the price is steep for an amateur/hobbiest like me in the world of synthesis, but I've wanted one for a while - learning curve and all.
Dude. Now it's going to be a shit ton more expensive. I saw this used recently by an L.A. DnB artist called Basek. It was pretty amazing.
It wasn't on Sweetwater because it was no longer being produced. You are so right about the TEMPEST. This is the very best description of the TEMPEST and its capabilities. I bought mine from Sweetwater in 2015. I can't count the number of times I have decided to sell it because of frustration, but didn't, because of amazement. An aftermarket memory increase upgrade would solve a lot of frustration, but not all. I am still learning about it, learning just how much it can do, and it always sounds amazing.
Dear Noir et Blanc Vie, I discovered you because of the TEMPEST. I found your videos to be amazing, engaging, and very useful. I was wondering if you have any other videos that have the TEMPEST being played, just to hear what it can do. I really want to learn mine now, thanks for all you have done on u-tube. You are amongst the best on here, in my opinion.
Bro, I love your channel and your vids. Top notch and your knowledge and dedication is inspiring. I was changing out all my pad trigger points today. I had been wanting to do it since I got it 4 + years ago, and did it today. now I can trigger the pads with my keyboard (with ease) . I didn't put them in order, it's kinda mixed up, so it will be more unpredictable . (this is for using a midi keyboard to play the drums. the pads still play properly) . I sometimes hate using it, (but now I can easily trigger the pads!) but I mostly love it. every one of the voices is a full stand alone synth. it's insane! And I'm always taking it further . in fact. I learned a crazy thing today , hours before spotting this vid. I'll bet you all want to know heh heh. .. If you put a (in the matrix) LFO at max 127 to the VCA Level, it will re trigger it forever. If any of you are interested in the killer self playing sound I made, I'll get all the settings on a text, or put it to a library file. Thanks Noir, you make great music.. and was that going through a strymon? and IM NEVER SELLING MINE
EquestrianSport Yup, it was all through the Nightsky, though I’ve always felt the Tempest begs for effects!
One of my favorite devices EVER! Once you take the time to figure it out its unbelievable. It speaks its own language but like many languages it is derived from other languages you can borrow from when using it.
Hello from Tallinn 🇪🇪🙌 You have a lot of experience in making tracks on synthesizers. Tell me please your opinion if has a synthesizer or groovebox from modern systems, which is very well suited for wooble and reese sounds and making dnb genre? Would be so cool. Thank you
Yaeh, the Tempest is great! I also love the randomizer that some guy on the sequential forum did!
bought it like 3 months ago... filled up 3 projects so far because it's an absolute joy to program if you know the layout. If this thing pisses you off, you need to check yourself. It's a songstarter for sure.
The Tempest has taught me SO much about sound design! It takes ages to know all the knocks and crannys but it was well worth it!
I still don't understand how the filter sweep of the whole beat does what it does, hard to explain...
Sir you are fantastic! Thank you for your brilliant insights and entertaining tutorials.
I've always wanted one of these. I hope I still get to pick one up one day.
The analog oscillators have SUBS??!?! Omg, I've had one of these since they shipped. Thank you. I really need to sit down and go through it deeply still.
Right! This is totally missed all the time, don’t even feel bad. I too have found stuff with those arrow buttons where I’m like “seriously!?!” Haha
Putting a Prophet synth in a drum shaped housing didn't work for me. The samples were lackluster but you couldn't put your own in. I was always struggling to find a decent kick.
Did they ever make a midi implementation chart like they promised or is it still absent of one?
I feel there is a lot of love here for the Tempest. I had a Machinedrum and wanted to switch to Rytm or Tempest. Went for the Rytm because I could get to the sounds I wanted quicker which is more fun to me. I guess your own musical approach is what matters most when choosing any musical instrument, any machine sparkles in a certain field.
Sufjan Stevens uses the Tempest really well. His newest album has some incredible drums sounds/patterns on it. Also I'm pretty sure Nicolas Jaar uses it a lot.
That whole album is just filled with prophets and the tempest. I love it.
Which album are you talking about? I would like to listen to it.
Owned so many pieces of equipment.
The tempest is amazing as a synth & drum machine. It’s one of them instruments when you hear it in real life. And hands on for half hour. You instantly want one.
The most versatile instrument I’ve owned.
with the ease of assignments to velocity sensitive envelopes we can create highly dynamic percussive pads. the beat-wide FX allows you to 'sqeeze' the whole beat or loosen it up, same as a drummer would do on a drum-set, for example by increasing the attack / decay of all sounds.
My buddy had one for a couple of years. Every time I tried to program some drum sounds all I got were synth tones and I couldn't actually figure out how to use it has a drum machine. I didn't spend much time with it, but I think that is the crux: It's really a complex synth in a drum machine-shaped package, that is not easy to use as a drum machine.
The price will go up soon... I don't sell mine! LOVE IT!!! Thanks for the video...
Hi. Is there a link to your music somewhere that I'm missing?
I've got a Tetra which I'm quite fond of-especially when it's paired with an Arturia Beatstep Pro. It's can be a BIG sounding drum machine with a little help and is much easier to grasp compared to the Tempest.
But with that being said, the Tempest seems much more versatile and...weird which I appreciate. Also it doesn't help when a well-written video essay about the Tempest is uploaded onto UA-cam by someone who is cute af but I digress.
A nice topic, nicely covered. I’ll never own one, but it’s in my top handful of older synths that I am confident would be worth having and mastering.
This is very much how I felt about my Analog Four mk2. I bought it for full price and then listened to the factory sounds... I thought I’d made a huge, expensive mistake. Almost two years later, as I continuing to learn its secrets every time I use it, it’s now my favorite synth alongside the the Virus. I’ll never get rid of it. But it demands deep learning and experimentation... which leads to happy accidents, and general mastery of the hardware :) it’s worth the journey and the time spent.
I remember the first Tempest video you made was how I found the channel. I really wanted a drum machine, and I'd always wanted a Linn 9000, but realized the Tempest was something else entirely. I think the biggest issue with the Tempest for me is that it's too complex and I have little to no experience with electronic instruments. I ultimately decided on the Digitakt and never looked back. This is a great bookend to the Tempest saga, Stephen. No doubt it is an amazing machine; as you hint at, I think anything that polarizes people this much is a testament to that. Cheers and I hope you're doing well
Hey hey! Oh boy, remember when videos like that Tempest video were YT acceptable, long drawn out intros, totally cringe...thankful I’m much better at YT now...........oh wait, am I?😂 How funny to still be around after 4 years. I’m doing well, hopefully 2020 has had some positives on your end, it’s the weirdest year for me on record...good, but weird.
Outstanding video. First time here and subscribed!
Where can I hear this track in full? I'd pay good money!
I've had a Tempest since it first came out. I've been happy with it,, and have even used it as an external synth on gigs. But I agree the lack of memory is frustrating. I hate having to delete projects to make room for more. When I recently added some new sounds, I spent a few hours deciding which sounds should get deleted. With MPC's I like to use "song mode" to construct songs, but the closest thing in the Tempest are "playlists". And with only four playlists it was hard to use the Tempest for live gigs. Who does a gig with just 4 songs?
it took you several years.... same for me and I am still puzzled as to what this machine can do. Mine is staying on my desk and won't move for another while.
TRIGGERED.
Great video. Great machine, probably one of the better DSI/Sequential products tbh.
I had nearly the exact same experience - I had preordered the Tempest, because I was so excited about the possibilities it presented. And when I received it, the presets were about as appealing as a wet fart. I played around with making my own drums a little bit, but it was just playing. On the shelf it went for a couple of years. It was when Roland announced the TR8, I considered picking one up - but I had spent all this money on a Tempest. What if I sat down - like, really sat down, and learned how to use it. Practice it like an instrument. 45 minutes a night, five nights a week, for a month or two, and it opened all the way up. I built out emulations of the Roland sounds I wanted, so I didn't need a TR-8. In fact, I sold my TR-606 and DR-110 because I built their sounds (except those hihats) on my Tempest - indistinguishable in a mix (and a free download if you go looking), and in the process, learned enough about drum synthesis to start building out amazing kits that shaped my music. Now it's my desert island synth - the last thing I'd sell if I had to.
Same here. I also have an AR that can gave me quick idea of a kick... Then i emulate it on Tempest and it usually sounds better (except for warehouse techno kick)
Bad? WTF? Who thought it was bad? I loved mine. All it really needs is patience and a decent reverb and it is godlike.
I bought one upon release, prepared to go the distance...which I did for a year and a half, then sold it. Amazing instrument that covered sonic territory that few if any other things could, but I spent the majority of the time going after a strictly drum machine aesthetic and a sonic character that I ultimately wasn't going to get from it.
When I sold the Tempest, I got an Elektron Machinedrum, which is what I should have done in the first place for what I wanted to do.
Years later, I hear your opening bit and can only dream of what I might have done with the Tempest and my FX units. But I would never have been happy with it as my #1 drum machine.
Can the tempest so basic polyrhythmic stuff? ...individual track lengths on a pattern
Would you consider releasing a drum kit and or 808 pack with your homemade tempest sounds?
The price of used Tempests shot up to ~$2K almost immediately after it was discontinued. I've been wanting one for a long time so I wish I pulled the trigger earlier, but I still might buy one at some point. Really hoping for another Sequential drum machine at some point.
Death to scalpers.
I had to sell my tempest, decided i needed first a better audio interface, so bought a fireface ucx for the tempest.
had a tr8s in the meantime, sold it because i cannot adjust as much as i like, but i prefer that i have all voices playable parallel not like on the tempest where you are pretty limited in terms of voices when you wanna make i.e. dancy house grooves or just eclectic warp-esque sound patterns...
had the digitakt bought with the tempest, and those together were fun, then without the tempest, after 2 years i stepped one up, sold the digitakt and bought the the rytm mk2. and again, it is limited to 8 out of 12 voices at a time.
but being able to load your own samples was a huge bummer that they failed to make a software for easy sysex sample transport onto the tempest.
plus the connectivity is so great on the rytm. i really hoped to play all my voices on the tempest with the midi cc parameter locking capability of the digitakt and was really frustrated that the tempest was very enclosed referring external midi connectivity.
and now i havent had my tempest for 3 years and i still miss it, i love the pads, i love the sounds, i love the variety of samples. its limitation are its powers. there is nothing like the feedback, i cannot believe how this machine can sound, if you want anything that comes close to it, you have to built it in your own modular, but all that in one box. its still genius.
it is sad that it did not get a second spring.
but creating a basic kick can take hours because you easily end up make some weird noises before you realize what you were up to. but that is the magic: tempest lets you fall down into a very creative process, but you have to know a lot of sound design if you wanna start right ahead.
so i am happy now, cause the rytm is pretty straight forward, but with just one lfo there is not so much sound design possible, and i guess thats just ok. and i will never understand why the hell they limited the internal space soo much on the tempest.
so in the end, just listen to extrawelts unknown lp or nicolas jar playing on fka twigs magdalene album and enjoy the potential of this wonderful machine. and if you are into wavey pop, the linndrum samples are really worth a listen. makes you feel timetravel and play back 2 back with prince
Your videos are awesome. Thanks for all of it!
Thanks Mack, just trying to have fun with it 😊
True and excellent review / opinion / update.
I purchased and sold mine for under value, I thought it was going to be a great device for playing DAWless but the Elektron Analog Rytm actually did what I needed. Learned a lesson the hard way, know what you're buying and research.
I remember wanting to get one of these years ago, but ultimately never did due to the many issues users reported. Is funny, because I thought it was discontinued ages ago... But glad Dave stuck with it and seems to have resolved what they could. Always up for a solid drum machine, and I could see eventually grabbing one of these at some point. Thanks for your perspective!
I never got a chance to use a Tempest. I was super hyped when it was originally announced, and have always wanted one, but never had the money. I never realized this was such a polarizing machine.
It really is quite an amazing instrument, and it's no wonder why it took so long to bring it to market. It's a lot more than I was ever expecting it to be, and perhaps that's why it just doesn't appeal to me all that much. I think I would have preferred Roger's version, a simpler Tempest with fewer features, and one that hopefully would be a bit easier and more fun to use. I respect the hell out of the Tempest for what it is, though, and I think ultimately it's a much more versatile and unique piece of gear because of that.
Adam Schneider's "Terrible Lie" demo is really awesome! The Sub 37 drum tutorial is super useful as well. Thanks for the channel recommendations!
Well I've tried many drum machines (and I know Tempest can be more than that), and I didn't want to try the Tempest that seemed too limited for me when looking at the sequencer. I finally bought one a couple of years ago to try it and instantlty fell in love with this instrument. I like deep synthesis and intuitive workflow, and the Tempest is exactly that.
It depends on what you're looking for, but it's the first 'drum machine' I own that really feels like an instrument to me (I've had some Elektron, Jomox, Roland, Arturia, MFB, modular, software...).
I definitely perked up with that opening sound. That pad with the sort of metallic rustling.
When I saw the $2k price on Reverb, I thought, "this is cool, but not $2k cool," for me any way.
I've had mine for about a year after a tonne of forum reading and video watching/listening so I had full knowledge of the issues and quirks and I think in part that's what drew me to it in the end... knowing that I'd need to work at it and get in deep but that maybe I would be able to make some reasonably unique sounds because of it's relative rarity. I must admit that I still haven't given it the love and attention it needs but it's definitely a keeper.
The Rev2 had a function where you could hold Shift and turn a knob so it's parameter value would appear on the screen without changing it. Does the Tempest have anything similar?
not mine
See that’s the thing, it doesn’t.
@@NoirEtBlancVie the tempest has other flaws that one needs to go around it. the shit knobs seems a minor one. All the moog machines I have and have had presented programming flaws also.... my OB06 tho is perhaps the best designed synth I recorded material with. Shortly, there is no perfect synth
I agree, the OB6 is the synth I tell everyone to get, even over the Prophet 6. I talked with Dave Smith a couple years back and he said the OB6 just has that WOW, factor, and the first time I heard it, I was completely blown away. I’ll probably never get one though, I definitely don’t need another analog synth to save my life 😂
@@NoirEtBlancVie The Prophet is a spiritual thing…
Oh ya, one more thing, when ever I watched how to vids I always wonder how to get the samples so bright and clean and killer. then I saw someone turn the Pre/Post filter to more post and Ka-Pow. It takes the mud off the samples. That was the thing I hated was how muddy the samples where and not much punch. just turn most of the pre filter to post, and Ka-Blam! it's like getting a new machine. For some reason the factory settings (at least mine) were all on pre filter. Try that one Ma and Paw tempest doubters and Shka-Blooie!!
EquestrianSport absolutely, the pre/post filter is important in shaping the sounds. It’s a tough machine because you really gotta listen to it and dial in what contextually works best. 😃
Wow, found it! may I ask, is the nightsky on your main outs of the tempest? so it affects all the sounds, also the kicks, or only the synthparts?
Yes, I would absolutely buy a Tempest. But not for anything close to $2,000.
I hear you, sometimes I think back and say, $2000 for this thing, not worth it then, we’ll worth it now haha
@@NoirEtBlancVie more like closer to 1k
well then you will never get one as the price is going to go up.
@@bepitan you beat me to it lol
2.5k on reverb now.. I might get it