Dave Smith Instruments TEMPEST - Manual (Page 11)

1 Tempest Operation Manual What’s a Tempest?
What’s a Tempest?
Tempest is a professional drum machine that generates its sounds using six
powerful analog synthesis voices. It runs an innovative, performance-oriented
operating system that permits an extraordinary level of control to create, edit,
arrange, and manipulate beats and sounds in real time without ever stopping play.
We like to think of Tempest not just as a drum machine but rather as a new musi-
cal instrument for the real-time performance of beat-oriented music.
Here is a summary of some of Tempest’s innovative features:
• Complex and rich analog voice structure: two analog oscillators with
sub-oscillator, plus two digital oscillators (with a large bank of included
samples), lowpass filter with audio-rate modulation, highpass filter, VCA
with feedback, five envelopes, two LFOs, and eight flexible modulation
paths. Though optimized for drum sounds, it excels at tuned sounds as well,
and even doubles as a 6-voice analog keyboard synth. In addition to the six
direct voice outputs, there are stereo mix outputs and phones outputs, plus
two inputs for foot switches or expression pedals, MIDI in/out, and USB.
• The performance-oriented operating system, ninety panel controls, and
graphic OLED display work together to provide a tightly integrated, fast,
non-stop workflow in which nearly all creation, editing, arrangement, and
manipulation operations occur in real-time without stopping play. A high
priority was given to producing the highest quality human feel, including
the ability to adjust swing timing in real time on playback.
• Sixteen pressure- and velocity-sensitive lit pads are arranged in a 2x8
configuration, providing easy access to all fingers and providing the ideal
compromise between the popular 4x4 and 1x16 arrangements for both real-
time and step programming. The pads can be used to play sixteen drum-
beats, sixteen sounds (for each of two banks), sixteen sound mutes, sixteen
velocity levels, or sixteen time steps (for step programming). The R
oll
button permits creating drum rolls or repeated groove patterns by varying
pad pressure during record, and doubles as a momentary “stutter” effect
when the pads are assigned to play beats.
• Two pressure- and position-sensitive Real Time FX slide controllers permit
real-time recording of note or beat-wide sound parameter changes into the
drumbeat as you play. Real-time effects include stereo analog distortion
and compression, plus audio delay and beat “stutter”, both produced in the
sequencer in order to maintain the pure analog signal path.