Operation Manual w i th
Operation Manual by Roger Linn, Andrew McGowan & Riley Smith Version 1.4 Feb 2015 Dave Smith Instruments 1527 Stockton Street, 3rd Floor San Francisco, CA 94133 USA ©2015 Dave Smith Instruments www.davesmithinstruments.
This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) This device may not cause harmful interference and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation. This Class B digital apparatus meets all requirements of the Canadian Interference-Causing Equipment Regulations. Cet appareil numerique de la classe B respecte toutes les exigences du Reglement sur le materiel brouilleur du Canada.
Table of Contents What’s a Tempest? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Quick Start. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Overview of Panel Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Sounds, Beats, and Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Going Deeper. . . . . . . . . . . .
Amp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Envelopes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35 A Note About Envelope Shape. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 LFO 1 & 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Free-Running LFOs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
15. Initialize Playlist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Turn All Notes Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Save/Load. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57 Project and Beat Compatibility with Older OS Versions. . . . . . . . . . . Saving Sounds, Beats, and Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Loading Sounds, Beats, and Projects. . . . . . .
Credits and Acknowledgement For their samples, thanks to: Angus Hewlett/FXpansion Audio samples © 2007 FXpansion Audio UK Ltd. Used with permission. www.fxpansion.com Hugo Tichborne/Goldbaby www.goldbaby.co.nz Haptic Audio www.hapticaudio.
Tempest Operation Manual vii
viii Dave Smith Instruments
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 musical instrument for the real-time performance of beat-oriented music.
Quick Start The best way to get started is to watch our Tempest Quick Start video, presented by Roger Linn. Visit www.davesmithinstruments.com/product/tempest/ to see this and other helpful videos. Overview of Panel Controls Hold either Shift key to select the alternate function printed below some controls. Connect stereo outputs or 6 direct voice outputs to mixer. Connect power supply. Adjust synthesis settings of last sound pad hit. Adjust mix settings of last played sound pad.
Sounds, Beats, and Projects There are three terms that are important to know: A Sound is a collection of all settings required to produce a drum or other type of sound when you play a pad, including settings for samples, oscillators, filters, VCA, envelopes, LFOs, and more. If the 16 Sounds key is pressed, you can use the sixteen pads to play the Sound in the selected Beat. After you create a Sound, you can save it as a Sound file for later reloading into another Beat.
The Pad Function Keys 16 Beats If 16 Beats is pressed, the sixteen pads are used to play the sixteen Beats in memory. This is useful for live arrangement and manipulation of Beats during performance. One beat pad is always selected, indicated by its pad being dimly lit. To start playing a Beat, press Play. While playing, select another beat pad to switch to it. To stop playing, press Stop.
16 Sounds If 16 Sounds is pressed, the sixteen pads are used to play the sixteen Sounds (in either Bank A or B) of the selected Beat. This is useful for playing sounds, or for recording sounds into beats in real time. If the Pads key (in the Screens section) is lit, the following screen will be displayed, showing what’s in each pad and other useful controls: Soft Knob 1: Quantize When recording Beats in real time, notes are moved to the nearest 1/8, 1/16 note, etc., set here.
Sound Bank B Sixteen additional Sounds can be stored and accessed per Beat for a total of 32. Sounds in bank B are designated B1 through B16. Press Sound Bank B to toggle between banks A and B. • While holding Copy to copy a sound, use Sound Bank B to switch between banks. • To erase a Sound in Sound Bank B from a Beat, select Sound Bank B before or after holding Erase, and then hit a pad to erase that sound.
16 Mutes If 16 Mutes is pressed, the sixteen pads act as sixteen mute switches for playback of the sixteen Sounds in the selected Sound bank (A or B). This is useful for arranging the Beat’s parts in real time while playing. A lit pad indicates the Sound’s playback is on; an unlit pad indicates it is off. Pressing a pad toggles between on and off states.
16 Time Steps If 16 Time Steps is pressed, the sixteen pads represent sixteen time steps within the beat, useful for step programming. A lit pad indicates the presence of a note of the selected sound, and an unlit pad indicates its absence. Pressing a lit pad toggles between deleting and inserting a note (of the selected sound) at the pad’s assigned location in time and at the velocity level at which the pad was struck.
16 Tunings If 16 Tunings is selected (by pressing the 16 Beats and 16 Time Steps keys together), the sixteen pads play the selected sound at sixteen different tunings. This is useful for playing tuned parts like bass or melody lines. If the Pads key (in the Screens section) is selected, the following screen is displayed, showing the unique tuning for each pad plus related controls: Soft Knob 2: Octave Permits the pads’ tuning to be shifted up or down in octaves.
16 Levels If 16 Levels is selected (by pressing 16 Sounds and 16 Mutes together), the sixteen pads play a single Sound at sixteen evenly spaced volume (velocity) levels. This is an alternative to using the pads’ touch sensitivity for playing and recording dynamics.
Pad Options The buttons in this section provide a variety of useful tricks to get the most out of using the pads for playing both sounds and beats. Sound Bank B Press to select an additional bank of 16 sounds. Reverse When on, sounds will play and record in reverse. Fixed Level If off, sound pads are touch-sensitive, playing louder when hit harder. If on, sounds always play at a fixed velocity level, set in the System settings.
Reverse Playback Reverse causes Sounds—even completely analog, non-sample-based Sounds—to play in reverse by reversing the envelopes. (Sample-based Sounds also play the sample in reverse.) Reverse is a real-time, performance control in 16 Sounds and 16 Beats modes and it can also be recorded into a Beat on a per note basis. While playing a Beat in 16 Sounds mode, turning Reverse on and playing a pad will cause the Sound to play in reverse.
To use the arpeggiator: 1. In the pad function section, press the 16 tunings button (or 16 sounds or 16 levels, depending on your purpose). 2. In the screens section, press the pads button. 3. In the pad options section, press the roll button. 4. Use soft knob 3 (mode:assign) to set the arpeggiator mode. 5. Use soft knob 4 (octaves) to set the arpeggiator’s octave range (0, 1, 2). 6. Hold down multiple pads and press the roll button The arpeggiation rate is controlled by the bpm knob.
The Screens Keys Tempest’s graphic OLED screen can display a variety of different types of information. The keys in this section are used to determine which information it displays. The Events key This displays the Beat Events screen, containing either a grid view of the beat’s note events (if Play List is off) or a scrolling list of Play List events (If Play List is on). This is described on the following page.
Events Key: The Beat Events screen If the Events key is pressed, the Beat Events screen will be displayed. The Beat Events screen is used for visual programming and editing of beats. This screen is displayed on page 17. The Beat Events screen contains a 4 x 16 grid with a row for each of four Sounds in the Beat, and sixteen columns representing sixteen time locations within the Beat. A rectangle in one of the cells indicates the presence of a note event of the row’s Sound at the column’s time location.
Note Event Parameters The nine note event parameters are described below: • Velocity - Note Velocity value to be used by various modulation • Duration - Note Duration in 24 PPQN increments (parts per quarter note), used to gate the envelope generators (1-255). When ADSR envelopes are used, the Duration determines the time period before the Release envelope phase begins. • Tuning - Changes the Pitch of the note in semitones (-60 to +60).
Soft Knob 1: Row The 4 rows of the grid represent 4 of the beat’s sound pads. Turn this knob (or press the Up/Down Arrow keys) to select a different row. If turned past the bottom or top of the screen, the screen scrolls up or down to reveal higher/lower sound pads. Shift + Soft Knob 1: Assign Row Often the 4 sounds you wish to edit aren’t contiguous and therefore can’t all be edited in the same screen. Turning this knob permits the selected row to be reassigned to any of the 32 sound pads.
Play List The Play List function enables you to create lists of beats that automatically play back in sequence. Though this feature has existed in drum machines for many years, Tempest takes it further: in addition to manually entering a list of beats, you can also create play lists by recording your live beat arrangements (switching between beat pads while playing) in real time. Each project in Tempest contains 4 play lists, each of which contains up to 99 steps.
If Shift is on, the soft key and soft knobs 3 and 4 change their function as shown below. Soft Knob 3: Select List Turning this knob allows you to select one of the four Play Lists. SHIFT ON Step Beat Select List RT Rec: Off Play List: 1/Favorite arrangement End: Loop to Step 2 1 12/Four hihat ticks 1 bar (Bar 1) 2 5/Basic 4-count beat 7 bars (Bar 2) 3 3/Basic beat with fill 1 bar (Bar 9) 4 Delete Step 120.0 1. 1.
Creating a Play List by Manually Entering Steps To create a play list manually: 1. Press Play List to turn on Play List mode. Display the Play List screen by pressing the Events key. 2. If the play list contains steps, either a) delete all steps one at a time [Shift + soft key], or b) select a different, empty play list [Shift + soft knob 3] or c) from the Edit menu, initialize the entire play list. 3. Using the Step soft knob, select step 1. 4.
IMPORTANT: With RT Rec set to On, when you start recording your live beat arrangement, any existing steps in the play list will be overwritten! If you’re not creating a play list by recording your live beat arrangement, it’s better to keep this set to Off in order to avoid accidentally erasing your play list steps by unintentionally entering Record mode. 5. Press the beat pad that you want your play list to start with. 6. Press the Record button to turn Record mode on. 7.
22 The Screens Keys Dave Smith Instruments
The Sound Controls A Sound is a collection of all settings required to produce a drum or other type of sound when you play a pad, including samples, oscillators, filters, envelopes, LFOs, and more.
If the Sounds key is pressed, one of the following screens appears. Use the four arrow keys to move between the screens.
Use the four arrow keys to move between the screens.
26 Oscillators Dave Smith Instruments OSC 4 OSC 3 OSC 2 OSC 1 SUB OSC OSC 4 LEVEL OSC 3 LEVEL OSC MIX HPF Modulation routing omitted for clarity PRE-POST FILTER LPF FEEDBACK LOOP TEMPEST VOICE ARCHITECTURE SUB OSC LEVEL FEEDBACK LEVEL VCA AMP VOLUME PAN R L
Oscillators Tempest has four oscillators for each of its six voices. Oscillators 1 and 2 are digitally controlled analog oscillators or DCOs. “Digitally controlled” does not mean the audio is digitally generated, just that the oscillators’ frequencies are under digital—rather than voltage—control. The audio signal path is still completely analog. The advantage of digital control is that the tuning is exceptionally stable over a ten-octave range without having to compensate for variables like temperature.
The Pulse values ranges from 0 to 99 per cent and set the pulse width or duty cycle of the Pulse wave. A value of 50 results in a true square wave with equal alternating high and low levels, as in the preceding illustration. Increasing or decreasing the value from 50 causes the waveshape to become asymmetrical. Lower values narrow the positive-going portion of the wave, higher values widen it.
Osc Slop: 0...5—The amount of random oscillator frequency tuning slop. The analog oscillators in Tempest are very accurate, and will not drift. This works great for accurate sounds, and allows precise de-tuning. Oscillator Slop allows subtle amounts of frequency drift. For larger amounts, use a random LFO. Glide Mode: FixRate, FixRate A, FixTime, FixTime A—Determines how the oscillators respond when Glide is on.
The Digital Oscillators Sample: Off, sample name 1, sample name 2, …—Tempest contains several hundred sampled sounds, including different types of noise, acoustic drums and percussion, classic analog and digital drum machines, effects, and the single-cycle waves from the Prophet VS. The sample format is 16-bit, 44.1kHz, mono. For a complete list of samples, see “Samples” on page 80. Level: 0…127—Sets the volume level of oscillator 3 or 4.
Pre/Post Filter affects both oscillators 3 and 4, not just the currently selected oscillator. Glide Mode: FixRate, FixRate A, FixTime, FixTime A—Determines how the oscillators respond when Glide is on. • FixRate: The time to transition between notes varies with the interval between the notes; the greater the interval, the longer the transition time. The glide rate is fixed. • FixRate A: The same as FixRate, but glide is only applied when playing legato.
Lowpass Frequency: 0...164—Sets the filter cutoff frequency over a range of more than 13 octaves. This control steps in semitones when turned slowly, but smoothly controls the filter without steps when turned at a faster rate. 4 Pole: On, Off—Selects the filter configuration. When on, the filter is in 4-pole mode. A 4-pole, low-pass filter rolls off frequencies above the cutoff frequency at a slope of -24dB/octave.
Highpass Frequency: 0...127—Sets the filter cutoff frequency for the 2-pole high-pass filter. A setting of 0 passes all frequencies. Turning the control up attenuates frequencies below the cutoff at a slope of -12dB/octave. Key > Freq: 0...127—Sets the amount of modulation from the note number— from either the beat, the pads, or via MIDI—to the filter cutoff frequency. Sometimes called key tracking in keyboard synths, because the cutoff frequency “tracks” notes played on the keyboard.
Amp Feedback: 0…127—The left audio output of each voice can feed back into the signal path pre-filter. Depending upon the amount of feedback, this can result in anything from a pleasing fuzzy distortion-like sound to unpredictable harmonic squealing and widespread pandemonium. A setting of 0 prevents any of the signal from feeding back. See “Tempest Voice Architecture” on page 26 for more information.
Envelopes Tempest has five sixstage DAPDSR (delay/ attack/peak hold/decay/ sustain/release) envelope generators for each of its six voices. Two of the envelopes are “hard wired” to specific destinations: low-pass filter and amplifier (VCA). The Pitch envelope uses All Oscillators as a default destination, but it can be changed. The two auxiliary envelopes are assignable to any modulation destination. (For a complete list, see “Modulation Destinations” on page 79.
Sustain: 0...127—Sets the sustain time of the selected envelope. In AD Mode, Sustain has no effect. Release: 0...127—Sets the release time of the selected envelope. In AD Mode, Release has no effect. Amount: -127...127—Sets the amount of modulation from the selected enve- lope to its destination. Use Amount (and not Velocity Amount) if you don’t want the Sound to use the velocity sensitivity of Tempest’s drum pads.
A Note About Envelope Shape Like most synthesizers, Tempest’s envelopes are not linear, but curved. Without going into too much detail (or math), the curve is based on a logarithmic function. But that curve—and, therefore, the envelope’s shape—can be altered with modulation. For example, figure A below shows the “normal” decay of a simple AD envelope where attack is set to 0. Using one of Tempest’s Mod Paths (see page 40), an envelope can be used to modulate itself.
Shape: Triangle, Reverse Sawtooth, Sawtooth, Square, Random—The waveshape of the LFO. Random (or “sample and hold”) generates a random value that changes once per cycle. Destination: Off, mod destination 1, mod destination 2, …—Sets the modulation destination to which the LFO is routed. See “Modulation Destinations” on page 79 for a list of possible destinations. Sync: Off, On—When on, the LFO syncs to the beat based on multiples of quarter notes, regardless of the time signature.
Free-Running LFOs By default, the wave cycles of Tempest’s two low frequency oscillators are restarted by a note on, beat, or play command. However, you can set the LFOs to be free running so that once triggered, the wave cycle continues without being restarted. To disable wavecycle restart for LFO 1 or LFO 2: 1. In the screens section, press the sounds button. 2. In the lfo 1&2 section, press the lfo2 button on or off to display the parameters for the LFO that you want to edit. 3.
Modulation Paths Tempest has eight general-purpose modulation paths with a great variety of mod sources and destinations available. Press MOD PATH to display the settings for the current sound. Source: Off, mod source 1, mod source 2, …—Sets the modulation source for the selected mod path. See “Modulation Sources” on page 78 for a complete list. Use Source to route external MIDI controllers to Tempest’s mod destinations. Amount: -127…127—Sets the amount of the source used to modulate the destination.
Choke and Voice Assign Each of a Beat’s thirty-two Sounds can be choked by one of two other Sounds in the Beat. The most obvious use is to enable a pedaled or closed high-hat to choke off an open high-hat. To Set Choke for a Sound: 1. In 16 Sounds pad mode and Sounds edit mode, press Shift then Mod Paths, or repeatedly press the Page Down or 6 key, to navigate to the Misc screen. 2. Tap any pad to select a Sound. 3.
To Assign a Sound to a Specific Voice: 1. In 16 Sounds pad mode and Sounds edit mode, press Shift then Mod Paths, or repeatedly press the Page Down or 6 key, to navigate to the Misc screen. 2. Tap any pad to select a Sound. 3. Use the Voice Assign Soft Knob to choose one of the six voices.
Beat-wide Parameters Normally the panel sound controls operate on a single sound. However, if Pad Function is set to 16 Beats, only eight of these controls are enabled and they affect the playback of all sounds playing in the beat. These eight parameters are called Beat-wide parameters: The eight parameters are Oscillator Pitch, Lowpass Frequency, Lowpass Resonance, Audio Mod, Highpass Frequency, VCA Feedback, Envelope Attack and Envelope Decay.
Mixer and Effects A 32-input mixer permits unique mix (volume, mute, solo, pan, delay send, and delay on/off for each sound) and effects settings (delay time, delay feedback, distortion, compression) for each Beat. The Delay feature acts like a digital audio delay but instead creates additional delayed notes in order to keep Tempest’s entire signal in the analog domain.
Compressor Envelope The Compressor has its own set of envelope controls that allow you to fine tune compression characteristics. To display the Compressor parameters: 1. Press the shift button and turn the compress knob. 2. Press the Page Down button to display the env trigger parameter. 3. Turn soft knob 4 to select the sound that will trigger the compressor envelope. 4. Press the Page Up button to re-display the Compressor parameters and adjust them as desired. Attack: 0...
Real Time FX The Real Time FX touch sliders have two modes: • Beat FX: The sliders can alter the sound of the entire Beat playback. • Note FX: The sliders can alter parameters of a single Sound, and those changes can be recorded into the Beat. Beat FX If Pad Function is set to 16 Beats, Beat FX mode is active, in which slider movements affect Beat-wide sound parameters, altering the sound of the entire Beat’s playback. In this mode, the Playback key is always on. Try it out.
To view or edit the Beat FX assignments, press Shift + either Playback key: Soft Knob 1: Select Row Select one of 8 Beat FX modulation paths for editing. Edit Beat FX1 Source Proj: Saturday night gig Beat FX1: Slider1 Pos +/Beat FX2: Slider2 Pos +/Beat FX3: Slider3 Pos +/Beat FX4: Slider4 Pos +/120.0 Soft Knob 2: Source This selects the mod source. The options are: “Position +/-” (bipolar with 0 at center, “Position+” (bipolar with 0 at bottom, and “Pressure” each for FX Sliders 1-4.
Here’s what the panel keys do: Playback key If on, slider movements also affect any notes of the selected sound pad that play back from the beat. If on while recording, these slider movements are recorded back into the played notes. Shift + Playback: Assign This displays the Note FX Assign screen, described below. The Latch On key Normally the sliders are active only when you touch them. If the Latch On key is on, the sliders remain active at their last touched positions at all times.
Rec/Edit Keys These four keys provide a variety of functions for editing Sounds, Beats, Play Lists, and Projects. The Click key Pressing this toggles the click (metronome) on or off. The click volume can be changed in the System: General menu. Although Click does use one of the voices, after you have a couple of sounds recorded you shouldn’t need it and it can be turned off. The Undo Rec key If the Undo Rec light is on, this means there is something to undo.
To quickly Erase All Notes of a single Sound Pad from a Beat: 1. Press 16 Sounds. 2. While holding Erase, press the sound pad to be erased. To Erase All Notes of a single Sound Pad from Sound Bank B: 1. To erase a Sound in Sound Bank B from a Beat, select Sound Bank B before or after holding Erase. 2. Hit a pad to erase that sound. To quickly Erase Only Some Notes from a Beat: 1. Press 16 Sounds. 2. Turn Record on and press Play. 3.
Copying a Sound To selectively copy a Sound and/or its associated elements: 1. In the pad function section, press the 16 sounds button. 2. In the screens section, press the sounds button. 3. In the rec/edit section, press and hold the copy button. 4. Use the 4 soft knobs above the display to select the elements that you want to copy (sound, sequence, notefx, mixer). - Setting an element to on will include it in the copy operation. - Setting an element to off will exclude it. 5.
Copying a Beat To selectively copy a Beat and/or its associated elements: 1. In the pad function section, press the 16 beats button. 2. In the screens section, press the sounds button. 3. In the rec/edit section, press and hold the copy button. 4. Use the 4 soft knobs above the display to select the elements that you want to copy (kits, sequence, params, beatfx). - Setting an element to on will include it in the copy operation. - Setting an element to off will exclude it. 5.
The Edit Function Holding Erase and Copy together presents a menu of functions for editing sounds, beats or projects held in RAM memory (not in flash memory) Copy Sound Initialize Sound Rename Sound Copy Beat Initialize Beat Rename Beat Copy Bars Insert Bars Delete Bars Rename Project Initialize Project Turn Soft Knob 1 to select one of the edit functions, then press the Soft Key to select it. Each screen contains up to four fields that are edited using the 4 soft knobs.
4. Copy Beat This copies any Beat over any other Beat. Enter the Source and Destination Beats, then press Copy Now. Note that if Pad Function is set to 16 Beats, the Copy key can be used to do the same thing. 5. Initialize Beat This initializes any Beat to default settings at the specified time signature, erasing any previous contents. Enter the Beat to initialize, the Time Signature and Number of Bars, then press the Init Now soft key. 6.
9. Delete Bars from Beat This deletes bars from a Beat. Enter the Beat, the First and Last Bar to delete, then press the Delete Now soft key. 10. Change Time Signature of Beat This function allows you to change the time signature of all measures within a beat. If the new time signature is shorter, the notes at the end of each bar will be truncated. Or if the new time signature is longer, the notes at the beginning of each bar will be copied to the end of the bar to fill the new space.
15. Initialize Playlist This utility initializes the selected Playlist to the default (blank) settings, allowing you to create a new Playlist. Turn All Notes Off Tempest is capable of being played from the internal sequencer, the pads, and MIDI simultaneously. If a stuck note should occur, simply press Left Shift + Right Shift + Stop to force all the voices off.
Save/Load Pressing Save/Load presents a menu of functions related to saving or loading files. Like a personal computer, Tempest has both random access memory (RAM) and permanent non-volatile storage for saved Sounds, Beats, and Projects. The current Sound, Beat, or Project is always loaded into RAM for playback and editing. Tempest uses flash memory for non-volatile storage. It is important to understand the distinction between RAM and flash.
Saving Sounds, Beats, and Projects Sounds are saved to one of several folders in Tempest’s flash memory. They can also be exported and saved as system exclusive MIDI data. To Save a Sound to Flash: 1. In 16 Sounds mode, tap a pad to choose the Sound to save. 2. Press Save/Load, choose Save Sound, and press the Next Soft Key. 3. The current source Beat and Sound are displayed and can be changed, if desired. Press the Next Soft Key. 4. Select the destination Sound folder. 5.
To Save a Project to Flash: 1. Press Save/Load, choose Save Project, and press the Next Soft Key. 2. Select the destination Projects folder. 3. Enter the Project name using the Edit Filename Soft Knob to choose characters and the Left and Right cursor keys to move the cursor. Press the Next Soft Key. • Press the Insert Char Soft Key to insert a blank space before the cursor. Press the Delete Char Soft Key to delete the highlighted character.
A Beat is loaded into RAM from flash and assigned to one of Tempest’s pads. Beats can also be imported via MIDI. (See “Importing Sounds, Beats, and Projects” on page 66.) Load Beat Options (including Loading Sound Kits) When loading a Beat, there are five options to determine what data gets loaded. Load Options Dest Beat Load Beat “A Bouncy C”: Normal BEAT LOAD OPTIONS Load Now 14/Fast beat #2 DEST BEAT PAD TO REPLACE 120.0 Free 2.5MB Normal—All Beat data will be loaded into the destination Beat.
7. Press the Again Soft Key to load another file or Save/Load to exit. The Beat is loaded into the destination pad. Any unsaved edits to the previous Beat will be lost. Press Save/Load again at any time prior to pressing Load Now to cancel the operation. A Project is loaded from flash and replaces the current Project in RAM. (Only one Project can be loaded at a time.) The last Project saved is loaded by default on power up. Projects can also be imported via MIDI.
Quant: 16th Swing: 50.0% Sound Type Load Sound Bt: 14/Swing beat 100 bpm Snd: A12/Boomy Kick Tamb Claps Rim Shaker Block SftSnr Snare HhOpn TomHi TomMid TomLo Kick 120.0 HhTite Ride 1.1.01 Crash Splash 16 Sounds In Pads view, strike a pad to select a Sound and then turn the Load Sound soft knob clockwise to load the first available Sound for the current Sound directory.
To Export a Sound from RAM over MIDI: 1. Connect Tempest to the receiving device (computer running MIDI application, dedicated hardware sequencer, etc.) using either USB or a MIDI interface. If using a MIDI interface, connecting Tempest’s MIDI out to the device’s MIDI in is sufficient for exporting. 2. In 16 Sounds mode, tap a pad to choose the Sound to export. 3. Press Save/Load, choose Export Sound in RAM over MIDI, and press the Next Soft Key. 4.
To Export a Project from RAM over MIDI: 1. Connect Tempest to the receiving device (computer running MIDI application, dedicated hardware sequencer, etc.) using either USB or a MIDI interface. If using a MIDI interface, connecting Tempest’s MIDI out to the device’s MIDI in is sufficient for exporting. 2. In 16 Beats mode, press Save/Load, choose Export Project in RAM over MIDI, and press the Next Soft Key. 3. Since there can only be one Project in RAM at a time, there is no source to choose.
To Export from one Tempest (master) to Another (slave) over MIDI: 1. Connect MIDI out on the master to MIDI in on the slave. (Tempest is incapable of acting as a USB host, so transfers must be done using a MIDI cable.) • If exporting a Sound from RAM, put both Tempests into 16 Sounds mode, tap a pad on the master to select the source Sound, and tap a pad on the slave to choose the destination.
Importing Sounds, Beats, and Projects Importing data from SysEx files is simple. Connect the transmitting device to Tempest via USB or MIDI—one MIDI cable from the device’s MIDI out to Tempest’s MIDI in—and then open and play the files from a MIDI sequencer or SysEx utility. Files exported from RAM load into the current Sound/Beat/Project in RAM; files exported from flash load into flash in the same location from which they were originally exported.
Renaming Files Any of the files saved to Tempest can be renamed. To Rename a File: 1. Press Save/Load, choose Move/Rename File (Sound/Beat/Project) and press the Next Soft Key. 2. Choose the Type, Folder, and File to rename and press Next. 3. Use Select Char (Soft Knob 3) and Edit Char (Soft Knob 4) to select and edit characters, respectively. Use Insert Char (Page Up key) to insert space before the selected character. Use Delete Char (5 key) to delete the selected character. 4.
System Settings Select Line System: General 1. Master Transpose 2. Fine Tune 3. Click Level 4. One bar count in Offset +0 +0 120 Off Category System Press System to view the System menu. The System menu contains various global parameters that apply to all operation regardless of the selected Beat or Sound. Any changes to these settings are remembered even after power is turned off. The system parameters are grouped into 9 different categories.
3. Click Level: 1...127—Sets the volume of the metronome click. 4. One bar count in: Off, On, Record Only— When On, one bar of metro- nome clicks plays before recording or playback begins. If set to Record Only, the count in only plays before recording. If Off, no count in plays. Count in does not play when syncing to an external MIDI clock. 5. Fixed Level Velocity: 2...128— Sets the velocity value used when Fixed Level in Pad Options is on. 6.
The following table lists the Pedal Assignment options and the input devices with which they are typically used. Controller Footswitch Mod Source Pedal 1/2 Sequencer Start/Stop Master Volume Sequencer Start System: MIDI Remote Pad Play 1. Remote Pad IN Channel: All, 1…16— Sets the incoming MIDI chan- nel for MIDI note-to-pad playback and recording. The note-to-pad mapping is programmed using the MIDI Note : Pad mapping described below. 2.
4-35. MIDI Note: Pad A1-B16: Any MIDI key— When remotely triggering sounds from received MIDI Note messages, you can assign which note number triggers each pad. Assign each of the 16 pads in banks A and B to a MIDI note number of your choice. A MIDI note can only be assigned to a single pad. If you try to assign a MIDI note that has already been assigned, the display will read, (Used:Pad ??) and show the pad where the MIDI note has been assigned.
System: MIDI Polyphonic Keyboard Play Tempest can double as a 6-voice polyphonic analog keyboard synthesizer, playing the selected sound polyphonically and responding to your MIDI keyboard’s sustain pedal and pitch bend wheel. 1. MIDI: Synth IN Channel: Off, 1…16—Sets the channel on which one of Tempest’s Sounds can be played from an external MIDI keyboard or other MIDI controller, or a MIDI sequencer. When used strictly as a MIDI sound module, Tempest behaves as a six-voice analog poly synth.
4. MIDI: Sequencer Out Channel: Off, 1…16—Selects the channel used to output MIDI note number messages from a Sound’s sequencer track. 5. MIDI: Sequencer Sound: A1…A16, B1...B16—Used to choose the Sound that plays on the MIDI: Sequencer Out Channel. System: MIDI Clock 1. MIDI: Clock Mode: Off, Master, Slave, Slave Thru—In Master mode, Tempest transmits MIDI clock and start, stop, and continue messages.
System: MIDI System Exclusive 1. MIDI: Sysex IN-OUT Cable: None, MIDI Port, USB—This control allows you to select either the MIDI port or USB connector for MIDI Sysex data transfers. If “None” is selected, Sysex will be neither transmitted nor received. USB Sysex transfers are only supported with Mac OSX and Windows 7. System: BPM/Swing/Comp/Dist Sources 1.
Project. If you wish to use the Beat’s setting (and have the distortion amount change when a different Beat is selected), set this to Beat. If you wish to use the Project’s distortion setting (so that the distortion amount stays the same regardless of which Beat is playing), choose Project (factory default). If you wish the distortion setting to always reflect the position of the Distortion knob, choose Pot Position.
When set to Disabled, the Latch On buttons simply switch between FX1 and FX3 or FX2 and FX4 and the latch function is disabled. For more details about Latch On, see “Real Time FX” on page 35. 5. Envelope Amount Encoder behavior: Normal, Shift Switched—In Shift Switched mode, the un-shifted (Amount) and shifted (Velocity Amount) behaviors are swapped. That is, when Shift is off, the encoder controls Velocity Amount and when on, Amount. 6.
Tempest Operation Manual System Settings 77
Modulation Sources Pitch Envelope Filter Envelope Amp Envelope Aux 1 Envelope Aux 2 Envelope LFO 1 LFO 2 Velocity Note Number Noise Random Pad Pressure Slider Position 1 Slider Position 2 Slider Pressure 1 Slider Pressure 2 Foot Pedal 1 Foot Pedal 2 MIDI Pitch Bend MIDI Mod Wheel MIDI Breath MIDI Expression 78 Modulation Sources Dave Smith Instruments
Modulation Destinations Osc 1 Frequency All Env Amount Osc 2 Frequency Pitch Env Attack Osc 3 Frequency Filter Env Attack Osc 4 Frequency Amp Env Attack Osc All Freq Aux 1 Env Attack Osc 1/2 Mix Aux 2 Env Attack Osc 3 Level All Env Attack Osc 4 Level Pitch Env Decay Osc 1 Pulsewidth Filter Env Decay Osc 2 Pulsewidth Amp Env Decay Osc 1/2 Pulsewidth Aux 1 Env Decay Sub Osc Volume Aux 2 Env Decay Feedback Volume All Env Decay Lowpass Filter Pitch Env Release Resonance Filter Env R
Samples White Noise Beefy Supra Snare Pink Noise Flat Loose Ring Green Noise Shorty Thud Trick Snare Rim Resonant 4K Noise SCI Tom Cart Kick Resonant Loose Soft Noise LM-1 Bass Drum Cool Rim Cicada LinnDrum Bass Another Edge Buzzed 909ish Cut Snare Chain Link 808ish Muted Half Edge Grinder Long Time 808 High Edge 420 HighPass Noise Cut the Mustard Cracker Tight Boom Electron K Light Rim Porky Flab Dry Rim Hollow Thud Solid Pickle-O Hollow Head Early Nineties Woody Si
Funk Sn Noisy Click Close Foot Pedal LM-1 Snare Splatted Snare LM-1 Closed LinnDrum SD Broken SD LM-1 Open Basicly Ghost of a Snare LinnDrum HH Closed Beatbox Video Game LinnDrum HH Machine Caved Perc LinnDrum HH Open Twin Reverse Snare Close Tambo Dry Edge Heavy Tight Studio Hat Short Attack Pedal Edge Crack Hat Digi 8 Pedaled AM Accent CompuSnare Half Edge HH Dub Plate Plastic Open Edge Dry Tap Snare Trash Sharp Closed Peace Corp Bucket Sharp Pedal Old Timer Toy D
9009 HH2 LinnDrum Ride 808ish Hi Tom Perc Hat 909ish Crash 808ish Mid Tom DR55 HH Tom Splash Cart 808ish Low Tom Right Foot Pedal Reverse CY 909ish Tom Hi Another Perc Res Hi 909ish Tom Mid Closing HH Res Mid 909ish Tom Low Small Hi Hat Res Floor Reverse Hi Unnatural Nice Hi Reverse Mid Trip Hop HH Nice Mid Reverse Low Aliens Nice Floor Clap 9090 Silver HH Punchy Hi Layered Clap Kicky Hi Hat Punchy Mid Slap Clap Large Edge Cymbal Punchy Low Digi Clap Zilch Crash Hi Ma
Light Cross 808ish Lo Conga Punch n Drag Low Cross LM-1 CongaHi Nutrino Jam Block H LM-1 CongaLo Solar Explosion Jam Block L LinnDrum Conga Wrinkled Keys Tambourine Quark Guiro Tambo Ring Particulate Castanet TamBell Hadron Drag That Click Metal Tamb Flutter Moon Golf Wood Tamb Broken Toy Real Shaker LM-1 Tamb Click Reduction Cabasa A LinnDrum Tamb Fazzle Cabasa B Raucous Tamb Grunt LM-1 Cabasa Tri HiFi Bucket Bottom LinnDrum Cabasa Short Triangle Charged Porceline
Square Orient Corn WmBell HighPipe Flute 2 RdBell Mass Med Pure R2Bell ReedOrg Tuba W2Bell OrgAhh FullBell FmtBell MelOrg FzReed Clarinet FmtAOh AhhFem FmtAhh AhhHom Banjo1 AhhBass TriPlus RegVox DisBel Vocal1 Pulse2 Vocal2 Pulse3 Harmony SqrReed Bass Oohh Guitar Eehh Nice Feedback WWind Piano1 Oboe E.Pno Harp M.
Support Troubleshooting Here are a few suggestions for resolving problems that may occur. The sequencer has stopped running. Make sure MIDI: Clock Mode in the System menu is set to Auto, Master, or Off, or—if set to Slave—that MIDI: Clock In is set to MIDI Port or USB and that MIDI clock is actually available to that port. An oscillator or filter sounds strange or out of tune. In the System menu, choose Calibrate Analog Oscillators and Filters.
Warranty Repair Dave Smith Instruments warrants that Tempest will be free from defects in materials and/or workmanship for 1 year from the date of purchase. Please register your product online at www.davesmithinstruments.com to establish the date of purchase. (This is not a requirement for warranty service, but it will help expedite the process.) Please contact support@davesmithinstruments.com to determine the best course of action for getting your Tempest repaired.
Tempest Operation Manual Warranty Repair 87
88 Warranty Repair Dave Smith Instruments
Dave Smith Instruments 1527 Stockton Street, 3rd Floor San Francisco, CA 94133 USA www.DaveSmithInstruments.
