Dave Smith Instruments Tempest User Manual

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Operation Manual

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Operation Manual

Roger Linn, Andrew McGowan & Riley Smith

Version 1.4

Feb 2015

1527 Stockton Street, 3rd Floor

www.davesmithinstruments.com

Tempest Operation Manual

Dave Smith Instruments

San Francisco, CA 94133

USA

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.

For Technical Support, email: support@davesmithinstruments.com

Dave Smith Instruments

Table of Contents

What’s a Tempest? ....................................1

Quick Start ...........................................2

Overview of Panel Controls ................................2

Sounds, Beats, and Projects ...............................3

Going Deeper ...........................................3

The Pad Function Keys .................................4

16 Beats ...............................................4

16 Sounds ..............................................5

Sound Bank B ........................................... 6

Selecting Sounds by Category ..............................6

16 Mutes ............................................... 7

16 Time Steps ........................................... 8

16 Tunings .............................................9

16 Levels .............................................10

Pad Options .........................................11

Reverse Playback ....................................... 12

Roll with Arpeggiation .................................... 12

The Screens Keys ....................................14

Events Key: The Beat Events screen ........................15

Note Event Parameters ..................................16

Play List ..............................................18

The Sound Controls ..................................23

Undo Sound / Revert Sound ............................... 23

Oscillators ..........................................27

The Analog Oscillators ...................................27

The Digital Oscillators .................................... 30

Lowpass ............................................32

Highpass ...........................................33

Tempest Operation Manual

iii

Amp ................................................34

Envelopes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35

A Note About Envelope Shape .............................37

LFO 1 & 2 .............................................37

Free-Running LFOs .....................................39

Modulation Paths .....................................40

Choke and Voice Assign ...............................41

Beat-wide Parameters .................................43

Mixer and Effects .....................................44

Compressor Envelope ...................................45

Real Time FX ........................................46

Beat FX ............................................... 46

Note FX ............................................... 47

Rec/Edit Keys. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49

The Click key ..........................................49

The Undo Rec key ......................................49

The Erase key ..........................................49

The Copy Key .......................................... 50

The Edit Function ....................................53

1. Copy Sound .........................................53

2. Initialize Sound .......................................53

3. Rename Sound ......................................53

4. Copy Beat ..........................................54

5. Initialize Beat ........................................54

6. Rename Beat ........................................ 54

7. Copy Bars ..........................................54

8. Insert Bars Into Beat ..................................54

9. Delete Bars from Beat .................................55

10. Change Time Signature of Beat .........................55

11. Rename Project .....................................55

12. Initialize Project .....................................55

13. Rename Playlist .....................................55

14. Copy Playlist ........................................ 55

Dave Smith Instruments

15. Initialize Playlist .....................................56

Turn All Notes Off ....................................... 56

Save/Load. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57

Project and Beat Compatibility with Older OS Versions ..........57

Saving Sounds, Beats, and Projects ........................58

Loading Sounds, Beats, and Projects ........................59

Load Beat Options (including Loading Sound Kits) ............. 60

Loading sounds quickly from the Pads screen .................61

Exporting Sounds, Beats, and Projects ......................62

Importing Sounds, Beats, and Projects ......................66

Important: Import Notes ..................................66

Renaming Files ......................................... 67

Deleting Files ..........................................67

System Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68

System: General ........................................ 68

System: Foot Pedals .....................................69

System: MIDI Remote Pad Play ............................70

System: MIDI Polyphonic Keyboard Play .....................72

4. MIDI: Sequencer Out Channel:

output MIDI note number messages from a Sound’s sequencer track. ....73

5. MIDI: Sequencer Sound:

Sound that plays on the MIDI: Sequencer Out Channel. ...............73

System: MIDI Clock .....................................73

System: MIDI System Exclusive ............................ 74

System: BPM/Swing/Comp/Dist Sources .....................74

System: UI Preferences ..................................75

Off, 1…16—

A1…A16, B1...B16—

Selects the channel used to

Used to choose the

Modulation Sources ..................................78

Modulation Destinations ...............................79

Samples ............................................80

Support .............................................85

Troubleshooting ........................................85

Contacting Technical Support ..............................85

Warranty Repair ......................................86

Tempest Operation Manual

Credits and Acknowledgement

For their samples, thanks to:

Angus Hewlett/FXpansion

www.fxpansion.com

Hugo Tichborne/Goldbaby

www.goldbaby.co.nz

Haptic Audio

www.hapticaudio.com

For Sound and Beat design:

Robert Baker

Mark Camp

Kosta Cross

Carson Day

Richard Devine

Michael Dietel

Peter Dyer

Mohamed Espinosa

Derrick Estrada

Shane Etter

Andrew Everding

Joshua Fielstra

Troels Folmann

Reek Havok Jeremy Jacobs

jaswho?

Nathan Kampf

James Kojac

Kevin Lamb

Joe McGinty

Drew Neumann

Chris Randall

Robert Rich

Brian Tester

Jason Ware

Special thanks also to: Wade Dawson, Rory Dow, Peter Molettiere, and Riley Smith.

The DSI crew: Ashely Bellouin, Fabien Cesari, Bob Coover, Carson Day, Chris Hector, Tony Karavidas, Mark Kono, Andrew McGowan, Joanne McGowan, Tracy Wadley, and Mark Wilcox.

Dave Smith Instruments

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.

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 lter with audio-rate modulation, highpass lter, VCA

with feedback, ve envelopes, two LFOs, and eight exible 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 workow 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

conguration, providing easy access to all ngers and providing the ideal

compromise between the popular 4x4 and 1x16 arrangements for both realtime 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 Roll 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, or as an arpeggiator when multiple pads are pressed..

• 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 eects 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.

Tempest Operation Manual

What’s a Tempest?

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.

Use position

and

pressure sensitive

touch strips

to alter

either

sounds or entire beats in real-time.

Connect

stereo

outputs or

6 direct

voice

outputs to

mixer.

The 16 pads can be used

to play

16 drumbeats,

16 sounds,

16 time steps

for step record,

16 tunings,

16 mutes, or

16 volume

levels.

Connect power supply.

Adjust

synthesis settings of last sound

pad hit.

Adjust mix settings of last played

sound

pad.

Select Bank A

or B sounds,

Roll for

repeating notes

or beat stutter, Fixed Level to

defeat touch sensitivity, or

Reverse to play

backwards.

Graphic OLED screen,

4 Soft Knobs, 1 Soft Key,

screen navigation keys,

Shift and Transport keys.

Set Tempo, Distortion,

Compression,

and Main Volume.

1. Click Level

2. One bar count in

3. Fixed Velocity level

4. Pedal 1 Mode

5. Pedal 1 Expr Pedal Asn

Select what’s on

the screen: the functions of the

pads, a grid showing drumbeat or play list events, Sound settings, or

Mixer settings. Play List plays a programmed list

of beats.

Select Value

Mod Src Expr Pdl1

Quickly erase

or copy sounds

or beats, undo

last edit, turn click on/off, a

menu of editing

functions,

save/load to internal flash or MIDI/USB, and

system settings.

Expr Pdl

120 Off 120

System

2 Quick Start

Dave Smith Instruments

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, lters,

VCA, envelopes, LFOs, and more. If the

the sixteen pads to play the Sound in the selected Beat. After you create a Sound,

you can save it as a Sound le for later reloading into another Beat.

A Beat is a collection of all settings needed to produce a drumbeat—a note sequence up to eight measures of 4/4 time, thirty-two Sounds (sixteen in pad bank A and sixteen in pad bank B), mixer settings, effect settings, and more. Tempest holds sixteen beats in memory at one time. If the pressed, you can use the sixteen pads to play the sixteen Beats that are loaded in

memory. After you create a Beat, you can save it as a Beat le for later reloading

into another project.

Tempest allows you to record up to 128 sixteenth notes (8 bars in 4/4 time).

A Project is a collection of nearly everything in memory: all sixteen Beats (each containing its own thirty-two Sounds), four Play Lists, and various project-related settings including the playing tempo.

16 SoundS key is pressed, you can use

16 BeatS key is

Tempest includes 928 factory Sounds, 64 Beats, and 16 Projects.

Going Deeper

There is important information throughout the manual, but pay particular attention to “The Pad Function Keys” on page 4 to gain a greater understanding of Tempest’s pad modes and how to use them, and “The Screens Keys” on page 14 to learn how to access and interact with the various types of data on the graphic display. It is highly recommended to read “Save/Load” on page 57. It is extremely important and could save you a lot of grief!

Tempest Operation Manual

Quick Start

The Pad Function Keys

16 Beats

If  B is pressed, the sixteen pads are used to play the sixteen Beats in memory. This

is useful for live arrangement and manipula tion 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.

PadS key (in the Screens section) is lit, the following screen will be

If the displayed, showing the beat assigned to each pad, plus related information and controls:

Soft Knob 1:

Beat Quantize

When switching

between beat pads

while playing, the

transition will be delayed until the next bar, ½ note,

etc., set here.

Quantizaton can also

be set to “Off.”

BtQuant: End Swing: 50.0%

BtQuant: End BtRoll: 8thSwing: 50.0%

Proj: Saturday night gig

Intro

SwgBt

Intro

SwgBt

Busy

Break

Busy

Break

Pad Hold: O

Project & Beat

Displays the current

Project name (everything in memory) and

selected Beat name.

Soft Knob 2:

Swing

Varies the selected

Beat’s 1/16 note

Swing amount

from 50% (straight

1/16s) to 66%

(triplet swing) and

more.

SloFil

4Kicks

SloFil

4Kicks

On2&4

BigBt

Soft Key: Pad Hold

If on, beats play only

as long as you hold

down a beat pad.

The Play key is also

momentary.

FillBt

Quiet

Soft Knob 4:

Beat Roll

Hold the Roll key for a Beat Roll, a stutter

effect in which a small

portion of the beat loops. This setting

controls the duration

of the beat roll.

4hats

S wGrv

HlfTm

PwrBt

Brkbt

Endng

Short Names

Short names for each of

the 16 pads are shown

here. You can edit these

short names by using

the Edit function.

4 The Pad Function Keys

Dave Smith Instruments

16 Sounds

If  S 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.

PadS key (in the Screens section) is lit,

If the 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. This is also used for the

Note Roll rate, plus the

step size for the ‘Beat

Events’ screen and the

‘16 Time Steps’ pad

function.

Soft Knob 2:

Swing

Varies the selected

Beat’s 1/16 note

Swing amount from

50% (straight 1/16s)

to 66% (triplet swing) to 75%

(extreme swing).

54-58% gives a

relaxed 1/16 feel.

Soft Knob 3:

Sound Type

The center area

shows the

Sound Types

(Kick, Snare, etc.) for

the 16 Sounds in the

selected bank.

This knob permits

changing the

assigned sound type.

Quantizaton can also be

set to “Off.”

Quant: 8th

Tamb

Shaker

Revert Snd

Claps

Block

Swing: 50.0% Sound Type Load Sound

Rim

Snare

SftSnr

Kick

HhOpn

HhTite

TomHi

Ride

TomMid

Crash

TomLo

Splash

Selected Beat & Sound

Displays the pad number and name of the currently selected Beat and Sound.

One sound pad is always selected, indicated by being dimly lit. Press a pad to select it, or H St+pad to select it without hearing its sound. The sound

controls in the upper half of the panel (oscillators, lters, mixer, etc.) always

apply to the selected sound. Note the arrangement of sound types in the above screen, which is optimized for playing the drum kit sounds with your hands

placed in the center of the pads. We suggest that you create your beats using this same arrangement.

Tempest Operation Manual

The Pad Function Keys

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 between banks A and B.

Sound Bank B to toggle

• 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.

Selecting Sounds by Category

For convenience, the sounds in Tempest’s internal sound set are grouped into categories. This makes it possible to quickly navigate through these categories

to select the general type you’re looking for (kick, snare, etc.), then the specic

sound within that category.

To navigate the list of sounds by category:

1. In the Pad funCtion section, press the 16 SoundS button.

2. In the

3. Tap the pad to which you want to assign a sound.

4. In the display, turn soft knob 4 (

5. Repeat for additional pads as desired.

SCReen section, press the PadS button.

load Sound), then turn soft knob 3 (Sound

foldeR) to select a category. Turn soft knob 4 again (load Sound) to select a

sound within that category.

6 The Pad Function Keys

Dave Smith Instruments

16 Mutes

If  M is pressed, the sixteen pads act as sixteen mute switches for playback of the sixteen Sounds in the selected Sound bank (A or B). is 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.

PadS key (in the Screens section) is lit, the following screen will be

If the displayed, showing the assignment of each pad and related controls:

Beat & Sound

Displays the selected

Beat and Sound. To change the selected

sound, hold Shift while

pressing the pad that

holds the desired sound

in the 16 Sounds screen.

Tom1

Splash

Tom2

Crash

All On

Soft Key: All On

Pressing this soft key

unmutes all 16 Sounds in

the active bank.

When 16 Mutes is selected, the Real Time FX sliders and sound controls

affect beat-wide effects, just as they do when 16 Beats is selected.

Soft Knob 2:

selected Beat’s

1/16 note Swing

amount from

Swing: 54%

Tom3

Ride

Snare

Bass

Swing

Varies the

Beat Roll

Hold the Roll key for a

Beat Roll, a stutter effect

in which a small portion

of the beat loops. This

Soft Knob 4:

50-75%.

setting controls the

duration of the beat roll.

BtRoll: 8th

HatOp

HatCl

Snar2

Bass2

Shaker

Claps

Tamb

Clave

Sound Types

The center area shows the Sound Types

for the 16 loaded Sounds, which can be

changed in the 16 Sounds screen.

Tempest Operation Manual

The Pad Function Keys

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.

PadS key (in the Screens section) is lit, the following screen will be

If the displayed, showing the assignment of each pad plus related controls:

Soft Knob 1:

Quantize

Same as the Quantize

setting in the 16 Sounds

screen, in this case it

sets the Time Step size

for the 16 pads to a value

The screen can show only a portion of the

entire beat. For example, if Quantize=16th, the

16 pads show 1 bar of 4/4. Turning this knob

moves between displaying (seeing) sequential

time blocks within the beat. The circular icon

at right appears if LoopScreen is on.

Soft Knob 2: See

between 8th notes

through 32nd triplets.

Quantizaton can also be

set to “Off.”

Quant: 16th

Bt: 14/Swing beat 100 bpm Snd: A12/Boomy Kick

1.1.1

1.3.1

1.1.7

1.3.7

All O 120.0 1.1. 1 16 Steps

See: 1.1.1

1.1.13

1.3.13

Selected Beat & Sound

Displays the pad number and name of the currently selected Beat and Sound.

Shift + Soft Knob 2: Loop Screen

If on, the time steps shown in the screen

are played in a loop.

1.1.19

1.3.19

1.2.1

1.4.1

1.2.7

1.4.7

1.2.13

1.4.13

1.2.19

1.4.19

Time Locations

This area shows the Time Location

of each of the 16 pads in

Bar.Beat.Tick format.

Note that it is often more useful to view the Beat Events screen while step programming your beats. See Beat Events on page 15.

8 The Pad Function Keys

Dave Smith Instruments

16 Tunings

If  T is selected (by pressing the  B and  T S 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.

PadS key (in the Screens section) is

If the 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.

Beat & Sound

Displays the selected Beat and Sound. To change the selected

sound (the sound that plays at

the 16 tunings), hold Shift while

pressing the pad that holds the

desired sound in the

16 Sounds screen.

Soft Knob 3:

Transpose

Selects the root note

of the scale.

Pad Tunings

Shows the tuning for each of

the 16 pads in the selected

scale.

Note that these won’t be the

actual notes played but rather

serves to indicate the relative

tuning between scale notes.

Soft Knob 4:

Scale

Offers a variety of

musical scales for the

16 pads (major, minor,

chromatic, etc.)

MajorQuant: 4th +/- Octave Root: C2

Tempest Operation Manual

The Pad Function Keys

16 Levels

If  L is selected (by pressing  S and  M 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.

PadS key (in the Screens section) is lit,

If the the following screen will be displayed, showing the velocity level for each pad plus related 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. This is also

used for the Note Roll rate, plus the

Varies the selected Beat’s 1/16

note Swing amount from 50% (straight 1/16s) to 66% (triplet

swing) and more. 54-58% gives step size for the ‘Beat Events’ screen and the ‘16 Time Steps’ pad function.

Quantizaton can also be set to “Off.”

Quant: 16 Swing: 50.0%

Bt: 14/Swing beat 100 bpm Snd: A12/Boomy Kick

120.0 1.1.01 16 Levels

104481125612064127

Beat & Sound

Displays the selected Beat and Sound.

To change the selected sound

Shows the velocity level at

which each of the 16 pads will

(the sound that plays at the 16 volume

levels), hold Shift while pressing the

pad that holds the desired sound in the

16 Sounds screen.

Soft Knob 2:

Swing

a relaxed 16th note feel.

Velocity Levels

play the selected sound.

10 The Pad Function Keys

Dave Smith Instruments

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.

If Pad Function = 16 Sounds, 16 Tunings or 16 Volumes:

While playing, if Roll is on and a sound pad is held, repeated notes will be

(Set in the 16 Sounds screen). Varying pad pressure varies the velocity

level of the repeated notes. Use 1/32 or 1/32 Triplet quantize for rolls, or

1/16 note quantize for natural-sounding 1/16 note hihat parts.

If Roll key is held, the beat stutters, looping a short portion until released.

The roll rate of repeat is set by the Beat Roll setting in the 16 Beats screen.

The Roll key is normally momentary (on while held). However, a quick

press will toggle between on and off states.

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.

Roll

created at the Quantize rate

If Pad Function = 16 Beats:

(Select 16 Beats and Pads.)

Tempest Operation Manual

Pad Options

Reverse Playback

R 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. While recording a Beat in 16 SoundS mode, notes recorded with ReveRSe on will record and play in reverse.

Note: Reverse can also be programmed as a Note Event in the Beat Events

screen and can be turned on or off for individual notes. For details about the Beat Events screen, see “Events key: the Beat Events screen” on page 15.

While playing a Beat in 16 BeatS mode, ReveRSe causes all of the Sounds in a Beat—but not the Beat itself—to play in reverse.

Roll with Arpeggiation

Tempest’s Roll feature includes an arpeggiator. If you press and hold multiple pads, the arpeggiator will play a repeating pattern based on the pads held. There are several arpeggiation modes (up, down, random, etc.) that control the order in which playback of the pads is repeated.

16 tuningS mode, the arpeggiator will play a single sound but different

• In pitches depending on the pads held (and the individual tunings of each pad).

• In

16 SoundS mode, the arpeggiator will play different sounds according to the

sounds assigned to each pad held. (A good way to create random drumbeats!)

• In

16 levelS mode, the arpeggiator will play different velocities according to

the levels set on each pad held.

12 Pad Options

Dave Smith Instruments

To use the arpeggiator:

1. In the Pad funCtion section, press the 16 tuningS button (or 16 S ou nd S or

16 levelS, depending on your purpose).

2. In the

3. In the

4. Use soft knob 3 (

5. Use soft knob 4 (

6. Hold down multiple pads and press the

SCReenS section, press the PadS button.

Pad oPtionS section, press the Roll button.

mode:aSSign) to set the arpeggiator mode.

oCtaveS) to set the arpeggiator’s octave range (0, 1, 2).

Roll button The arpeggiation rate is

controlled by the

retrig is the default arpeggiator mode and is Tempest’s original Roll behavior.

BPm knob.

Arpeggiator Parameters

Mode: Assign:

Retrig Retriggers the sound on the pressed pad. (Tempest’s original roll behavior)

Up Plays from the lowest-numbered pad to the highest-numbered pad

Down Plays from highest-numbered pad to the lowest-numbered pad

Up + Down Plays from lowest to highest and back to lowest

Assign Plays in the order the pads were pressed

Random Plays in random order

Sets the order in which notes play. See the table below.

Octave Range: 0 Octave, 1 Octave, 2 Octaves—

Set to 0, the sounds are repeated only within their original octave. Set to 1 Octave, the sounds arpeggiate in their original octave and one octave above. Set to 1 Octave, the sounds arpeggiate in their original octave plus one and two octaves above.

octave range applies to arpeggiated synth sounds, not drum samples.

Tempest Operation Manual

Pad Options

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.

The Play List key

This function allows

you to create 4 lists

of up to 99 Beats

each that play back

in sequence.

The Pads key

A 2 x 8 matrix is

displayed, showing the

function of each of the

16 pads.

Different information is

displayed depending on which of the 6 Pad Functions is selected. See the description of

each Pad Function to

learn about each

screen.

Mixer and Effects

(press Pads and Sounds together)

One of four screens is

displayed, showing the

various mix param-

eters. To see and learn

about these screens,

read the Mixer and

Effects section of the

manual.

The Sounds key

One of many screens is displayed, showing

the various parameters

for oscillators, filters, VCA, envelopes, LFO and modulation paths.

To see and learn about

these screens, read

the Sound Controls

section of the manual.

14 The Screens Keys

Dave Smith Instruments

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. The height of this rectangle indicates the velocity level of the note.

The grid acts as a window into the larger beat, showing four Sounds/rows out of thirty-two, and sixteen time locations from the total Beat’s length. To view the previous or next block of time, press the higher or lower rows of Sounds, turn the Row soft knob.

To Edit a Note Event:

• Press Shift + turn Soft Knob 3 (Quantize) to adjust the size of each time step (column) from 8th notes to 32nd triplets.

Page uP or Page down keys. To view

• Use the

Row and Column soft knobs to select the note’s row and column.

SeleCt PaRam Soft Knob to select which of the note parameters you

wish to view for editing: Velocity, Duration, Tuning, Note FX1, Note FX2,

Note FX3, Note FX4, Time Shift or Reverse).

• The selected parameter of the selected note will appear in the Soft Knob 4 rectangle. Edit the value with Soft Knob 4.

• To play only the displayed region in a loop, hold

Shift and turn Soft Knob 2

to the right to turn on Loop Screen.

• The Soft Key is used either to insert a new note in an empty cell, or to delete an existing note.

Note that the Beat Events screen can be displayed while any of the six Pad Func

tions is selected. It is especially useful for step programming when Pad Function is set to 16 time StePS.

Tempest Operation Manual

The Screens Keys

Note Event Parameters

The nine note event parameters are described below:

Velocity

•

- note veloCity value to be used by various modulation

destinations in the synth engine (0-127).

•

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).

•

FX1, FX2, FX3, FX4 - note fX 1-4 directly control the note fX

deStinationS as assigned in the Note FX menu. (See “Note FX” on page

47 for additional details).

•

Time Shift - Tempest’s sequencer resolution is 96 PPQN.

time Shift allows a note to be shifted +/- 3 parts. At 120 BPM, 1 part equals about 5.2 milliseconds.

•

Reverse - ReveRSe allows you to reverse individual notes in a Beat.

Reverse causes Sounds—even completely analog, non-sample-based Sounds—to play in reverse by reversing the envelopes.

16 The Screens Keys

Dave Smith Instruments

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.

Soft Knob 2: Column

The columns represent time

locations. Turn this knob (or press

the left/right arrow keys) to select a

time location, shown as a

bar.beat.tick number in the Soft Knob

2 rectangle. To view the previous or

next block of time, press the Page

Up/Down keys. The circular icon

indicates the Loop Screen status.

Shift + Soft Knob 2: Loop Screen

If on, the contents of the screen plays

in a loop, useful for fast editing. If on,

the Loop Screen icon appears

whether Shift is on or off.

Row: 2

A1/HatOpn A2/HatCls A3/Snare A4/Bass

Insert 120.0 1.2.01 Beat Events

Soft Key:

Insert or Delete

If no note exists at the

selected grid cell,

this key inserts a new note.

If a note exists in the

selected cell, it deletes it.

The Play Cursor

This horizontal line moves

as the beat plays, indicating

the current playing location

(same as the Location

display) within the beat.

NOTE EVENT CALLOUTS

Select Param Vel: 67Col: 1.1.1

Soft Knobs 3 & 4: Select Param & Edit

Each note event contains 9 data: velocity,

tuning, duration, FX1, FX2, FX3, FX4, time

shift and reverse. To edit the note event at

the intersection of the selected row and column, use soft knob 3 to select one of

these 9 parameters, then use soft knob 4 to

edit the current value of the selected

parameter.

Shift + Soft Knobs 3&4: Quantize & Swing

Quantize sets the time resolution of the grid, from 8th notes to 32nd triplets. Triplet values

show 12 columns instead of 16. This also

sets the note value for real time quantize

recording, Note Roll and the 16 Time Step

pad function.

Tempest Operation Manual

The Screens Keys

Play List

PlyList EvntsInsert Step 120.0 1. 1. 1

Step BarsBeat End

2 5/Basic 4-count beat

1 12/Four hihat ticks

7 bars (Bar 2) 1 bar (Bar 9)

1 bar (Bar 1)

3 3/Basic beat with fill 4 -

Play List: 1/Favorite arrangement End: Loop to Step 2

Soft Key

Insert

Pressing this will insert a new step into

the play list before the selected step.

All subsequent steps will be moved up

(down on the screen) by one step to

make space for the new step.

Soft Knob 1:

Select Step

Turning this knob changes which step is selected

for editing. The selected step is highlighted. Turning

the knob past the bottom or top of the screen

scrolls the screen contents to reveal higher or lower

numbered steps. You can also select a different

step by using the Up and Down Arrow keys.

Soft Knob 2:

Beat

Turning this knob

changes the beat number

for the selected step.

The pad associated with

the selected beat is

illuminated.

Soft Knob 3:

Bars

Turning this knob

changes the number

of bars that the

selected step’s beat

will play.

Soft Knob 4:

End

Turning this knob selects what

will happen when the play list

plays to its end. The options

are Stop or Loop To Step x

(any step within the 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. Each step contains a beat number (1-16) and the number of bars that beat will play. Each play list can be set to either stop or loop back to an earlier step

when it plays past its last step. Play lists can not be saved as a separate le, but rather are saved as part of the project when the project le is saved.

The

Play liSt button toggles Play List mode on or off. If off, the selected beat

will play when Play is pressed. If on, the selected Play List will play when Play is pressed.

The Play List screen

To view the Play List screen, press the Play liSt button, then press the eventS button. Note that if Play liSt is off, pressing the eventS key displays the Beat Events screen. If Play liSt is on, pressing the eventS key displays the Play List Events screen.

18 The Screens Keys

Dave Smith Instruments

If Shift is on, the soft key and soft knobs 3 and 4 change their function as shown below.

Soft Knob 3:

SHIFT ON

Step Select ListBeat 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)

4 -

Select List

Turning this knob allows

you to select one of the

four Play Lists.

1 bar (Bar 9)3 3/Basic beat with fill

PlyList EvntsDelete Step 120.0 1. 1. 1

Soft Key

Delete

Pressing this will delete

the selected step from

the play list.

All subsequent steps will

be moved up by one step

to fill the deleted step.

When Real-time Record is Off, Play Lists can only be created

manually by entering data into the Play List screen.

When RT Rec is On, you may create a Play List by recording a

live beat arrangement, described on page 18.

This is a System parameter so it always remains as set even

Note: Keep this set to Off when not recording real time play lists,

in order to prevent accidentally overwriting your play list steps.

Soft Knob 4:

RT Record Off/On

after loading a new Project file.

The center area of the screen displays a scrolling window of 4 steps within the selected play list. Each step contains the beat number (1-16) and its name, the number of bars it will play, and the calculated start bar for that step. A triangle on the left edge of the screen indicates which step is currently playing. The high

lighted step indicates that it is selected for editing. The Location eld (bottom of

the screen) displays the bar.beat.tick location within the play list instead of within the beat.

Tempest Operation Manual

The Screens Keys

Creating a Play List by Manually Entering Steps

To create a play list manually:

1. Press

2. If the play list contains steps, either a) delete all steps one at a time [

Play liSt to turn on Play List mode. Display the Play List screen by

pressing the

eventS key.

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

4. Using the

5. Using the

SteP soft knob, select step 1.

Beat soft knob, select the beat you wish to play during this step.

BaRS soft knob, select the number of bars you want this step to

play within the play list.

6. Using the

SteP soft knob, select the next higher step.

7. Repeat steps 4 through 6 for each additional step you wish to add to the play list.

8. Using the

end soft knob, select either a) StoP or b) looP to SteP X [any earlier step], depending on what you wish to happen when the play list plays past the last step.

9. Press

Creating a Play List by Recording a Live Beat Arrangement

Play to play your new play list.

One of Tempest’s performance features is the ability to switch between beats during performance by simply pressing beat pads. As an alternative method of creating a play list, Tempest can automatically record these live beat arrangements, recording each beat change and its duration into successive steps of the play list. Here’s how to create a Play List in this way:

1. Press

2. Press

16 BeatS.

Play liSt to turn on Play List mode. Display the Play List screen by

pressing the eventS key.

3. Set soft knob 4 (

end) to looP to SteP 1 so that when the new play list plays

past its end, it will automatically loop back to step 1.

4. With

20 The Screens Keys

Shift on, set soft knob 4 (Rt ReC) to on, then turn Shift off.

Dave Smith Instruments

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

7. Press

ReCoRd button to turn Record mode on.

Play to start recording your live beat arrangement into the play list.

The selected beat will automatically be entered into step 1 of the play list.

8. When you want to hear a different beat, press a new beat pad. Notice that the previous step’s

BaRS duration is now set to the number of bars that the previous beat played, and the next step’s Beat eld has been lled with the new beat you just selected.

The new beat will start playing at the next Beat Quantize boundary. When recording live beat arrangements into play lists, if Beat Quantize is set to anything shorter than Bar, it is internally forced to Bar. This is because the play lists can

change between beats only at bar boundaries.

Repeat step 8 for each additional beat change that you want your play list to contain.

During the last bar of your beat arrangement, do one of the following:

• Press S

toP, then press ReCoRd to turn Record mode off. Press Play and your

newly created play list will start playing from the beginning.

• Press

ReCoRd to turn Record mode off. At the next Bar boundary, your

newly recorded play list will loop back to step 1.

Tempest Operation Manual

The Screens Keys

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, lters, envelopes,

LFOs, and more. This section provides a detailed description of each of these settings, and is divided into subsections for each of the principal synthesis blocks:

• Oscillators

• Lowpass Filter

• Highpass Filter

• VCA (voltage controlled amplier)

• Envelope Generators

• LFOs (low frequency oscillators)

• Modulation paths

Many of these parameters have dedicated front panel controls, but many others are accessed only in special Sounds screens. All sound parameters can be visually edited by pressing the key (in the Screens section.)

SoundS

There are a total of sixteen different sound parameter screens. To move between them, press the four arrow keys.

On the following two pages is a picture of all sixteen screens, with arrows show ing which arrow keys to use to move between them. On subsequent pages is a detailed description of each of the parameters shown in these screens.

Undo Sound / Revert Sound

If you press Shift + undo Snd, the selected sound will be restored to its last loaded or saved status, undoing any edits since then.

Also, if both group) are selected, the soft key allows you to ReveRt Snd. Pressing it performs the same function as Shift + undo Snd.

Tempest Operation Manual

16 SoundS (in the Pad funCtion group) and SoundS (in the SCReenS

The Sound Controls

If the SoundS key is pressed, one of the following screens appears. Use the four arrow keys to move between the screens.

24 The Sound Controls

Dave Smith Instruments

Use the four arrow keys to move between the screens.

Pre/Post Filter

Tempest Operation Manual

The Sound Controls

AMP

VOLUME

VCA

PAN

FEEDBACK LOOP

FEEDBACK LEVEL

26 Oscillators

SUB OSC LEVEL

OSC 1

SUB OSC

LPF HPF

OSC

MIX

OSC 2

FILTER

PRE-POST

OSC 3 LEVEL

OSC 3

OSC 4 LEVEL

OSC 4

Dave Smith Instruments

Modulation routing omitted for clarity

TEMPEST VOICE ARCHITECTURE

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.

Oscillators 3 and 4 are digital and generate various sample-based sounds, includ

ing different types of noise, samples of acoustic and electronic percussion, and

single-cycle waves from the Prophet VS. The digital oscillators are converted to analog and pass through the same analog sound-shaping circuitry—lters, VCAs,

etc.—as the analog oscillators.

The Oscillators section contains the most commonly used controls for Tempest’s oscillators. However, there are additional parameters accessed via the display and its related controls. When the Oscillators screen is displayed, use the 3and 4 keys to view all the available parameters and the 5 and 6 keys to switch between the different oscillators (and other edit screens).

The Analog Oscillators

Shape:

—

Osc Off, Sawtooth, Triangle, Saw-Tri, Pulse 0% ... Pulse 99%

Selects the oscillator waveshape.

Sawtooth

Triangle

Saw-Triangle

Pulse 50%

Tempest Operation Manual

Oscillators

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. At the extreme values, the pulse goes completely at,

which allows for some interesting possibilities with pulse width modulation.

0 99

1/2 Mix:

100/0…0/100—

Mixes the outputs of oscillators 1 and 2 in varying

Pulse Width

amounts. A setting of 100/0 is 100% oscillator 1 and 0% oscillator 2. A setting of 0/100 is just the opposite. A setting of 50/50 is an equal mix of both.

Pitch:

C0…C10—

Sets the base oscillator frequency over a 10-octave range,

from 8 Hz to 8 kHz, in semitones. C3 is middle C, the rst octave is 0 (C0, C#0,

etc.), the second octave is 1 (C1, C#1, etc.), and so on. Note that noise samples cannot be tuned.

Fine:

-50…+50—

Fine tune control with a range of a quarter tone up or down.

Zero is centered. Steps are in cents (50 cents = ½ semitone).

Glide:

0...127—

Sets the oscillator glide (portamento) rate. Glide is set indepen-

dently for each oscillator. Low values are faster. See also Glide Mode.

Sync 2 >1:

Off, On—

Turns oscillator hard sync on. With sync on, whenever

oscillator 2 resets, oscillator 1 is forced to restart.

Oscillator 1

Oscillator 2

Oscillator 1

synced to

Oscillator 2

Sub Osc:

0...127—

oscillator 1.

28 Oscillators

Controls the level of a square wave pitched one octave below

Dave Smith Instruments

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:

oscillators respond when

FixRate: e time to transition between notes varies with the interval

•

FixRate, FixRate A, FixTime, FixTime A—

glide is on.

Determines how the

between the notes; the greater the interval, the longer the transition time. e glide rate is xed.

•

FixRate A: The same as FixRate, but glide is only applied when playing

legato. That is, glide only occurs when a note is held until the next note is played. This effectively allows glide to be turned on and off just by playing staccato or legato.

•

FixTime: Glide is set to a xed time, regardless of the interval between

notes.

•

FixTime A: The same as FixTime, but glide only occurs when playing

legato.

Key Follow:

Off, On—

Turns keyboard tracking o or on for oscillator 1 or 2. When o, the oscillator plays at its base pitch and will not transpose when played from the pads or via MIDI.

Wave Reset:

Off, On—

When off, the oscillator is free-running and may be at any point in its cycle when the voice is gated on. Most analog synthesizers behave this way. The most noticeable effect is that the attack may vary slightly at very fast settings, adding a slight, variable click that can be desirable for some sounds. When

wave ReSet is on, the oscillator is restarted—reset to the zero

crossing at the start of its cycle—every time a note is gated on.

Tempest Operation Manual

Oscillators

The Digital Oscillators

Sample:

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:

Also, if level is set to 0, the oscillator is effectively off; modulation applied to the oscillator level will have no effect.

Pitch:

or down in semitone increments. A setting of 0 indicates there is no offset and the oscillator plays at its base pitch.

Off, sample name 1, sample name 2, …—

0…127—

Volume level can be set, or affected by modulation, at several points in the signal path, so clipping distortion may occur if the levels and/or modulation amounts are set high. If clipping is undesirable, simply turn the level and/or mod amount down

until it stops clipping.

-24…+24—

Note: A few of the sounds—for example, some of the noise types—are of a

Sets the volume level of oscillator 3 or 4.

Osets the base oscillator pitch as much as two octaves up

Tempest contains

xed pitch and do not transpose, either from the PitCh control, the pads, or via MIDI.

Fine:

-50…+50—

Fine tune control with a range of a quarter tone up or down. Zero is centered. Steps are in cents (50 cents = ½ semitone). fine settings are also reected in the PitCh value. For example, if PitCh is set to 0, but fine is set to

-50, the displayed PitCh value is -0.50 (-50 cents).

Glide:

0...127—

Sets the oscillator glide (portamento) rate. glide is set indepen-

dently for each oscillator. Low values are faster. See also “Glide Mode,” below.

Reverse: Reverses the playback of the sampled waveform.

Pre/Post Filter:

0...127—

Oscillators 3 and 4 can be processed by Tempest’s

low- and high-pass lters, completely bypass the lters, or be set to a mix of the

two. A value of 0 means all of the output from oscillators 3 and 4 goes through

the lters, 64 is an equal mix of ltered and unltered signal, and 127 bypasses the lters entirely.

30 Oscillators

Dave Smith Instruments

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: e 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 xed.

•

FixRate A: The same as FixRate, but glide is only applied when playing

legato. That is, glide only occurs when a note is held until the next note is played. This effectively allows glide to be turned on and off just by playing staccato or legato.

•

FixTime: Glide is set to a xed time, regardless of the interval between

notes.

•

FixTime A: The same as FixTime, but glide only occurs when playing

legato.

Key Follow:

Off, On—

Turns keyboard tracking off or on for oscillator 3 or 4.

Tempest Operation Manual

Oscillators

Lowpass

Frequency: 0...164—Sets the lter

cutoff frequency over a range of more than 13 octaves. This control steps in semitones when turned slowly, but smoothly controls the

lter without steps when turned at a

faster rate.

4 Pole:

On, Off

—Selects the lter conguration. When on, the lter is in 4-pole mode. A 4-pole, low-pass lter rolls off frequencies above the cutoff frequency at a slope of -24dB/octave. When off, the lter is in 2-pole mode and has a slope of

-12dB/octave and a more gradual roll-off of the higher frequencies.

Resonance:

0...127

—Emphasizes a narrow band of frequencies around the

cutoff frequency. In 4-pole mode, high levels of resonance can cause the lter to

self oscillate. In 2-pole mode, resonance is much more subtle.

Audio Mod:

0...127

—Controls the amount of audio from oscillator 1 used to modulate the lter cutoff frequency. For lter-only audio, set 1/2 miX in the Oscillators section to 0/100, oscillator 2 Shape to Off, and oscillator 1 Shape to the desired waveshape. This is useful for bell-like FM sounds. A wide range of sounds can also be made using audio mod with the oscillators routed normally

through the lter.

Key > Freq:

0...127

—Sets the amount of modulation from the note number—

from either the beat, the pads, or via MIDI—to the lter frequency. Sometimes

called key tracking in keyboard synths, because the cutoff frequency “tracks”

notes played on the keyboard. A setting of 64 will step the lter in semitone

increments for each successive note, 32 is quarter tones, and so on.

32 Lowpass

Dave Smith Instruments

Highpass

Frequency: 0...127—Sets the lter cutoff frequency for the

2-pole high-pass lter. 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 lter cutoff frequency.

Sometimes called key tracking in keyboard synths, because the cutoff frequency “tracks” notes played on the keyboard.

Tempest Operation Manual

Highpass

Amp

Feedback:

0…127

—The left audio output of each voice

can feed back into the signal path pre-lter. 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.

Note: Because the feedback loop is taken from the left output, pan settings

and modulation will affect the behavior and level of feedback, so be careful (and maybe turn down your monitors/headphones while tweaking?)!

Volume:

0…127

—Sets the volume of the current sound before it is sent to the

mixer.

until it stops clipping.

34 Amp

Dave Smith Instruments

Envelopes

Tempest has ve six-

stage DAPDSR (delay/ attack/peak hold/decay/ sustain/release) envelope generators for each of its six voices. Two of the

envelopes are “hard wired” to specic destinations: low-pass lter and amplier (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.) Additionally, any of the envelopes can modulate any destination using the modulation paths. (See “Modulation Paths” on page 40.)

The envelopes can also be switched to a two-stage APD (attack/peak hold/decay) type suited to percussive sounds simply by turning

ad mode on.

Envelope Generators:

Pitch, Lowpass, Amp, Aux1, Aux2—

Choose one of

the ve envelope generators to edit.

AD Mode:

Off, On—

Percussive sounds typically have a fast attack and then decay to silence with no sustain. When ad mode is on, only the attack and decay portions of the envelopes are used, hence “AD.” ad mode affects all ve envelopes.

AD Mode is effectively the same as setting

SuStain to 0 and ReleaSe to the same

value as deCay, so the same effect can be achieved when ad mode is off.

Delay:

0...127—

Sets a delay between the time the envelope is gated on and

when the attack portion actually begins.

Attack:

Peak:

0...127—

0…127—

Sets the attack time of the selected envelope.

Peak is short for peak hold. Normally, the decay stage of the

envelope begins immediately after the attack stage reaches its ultimate value.

Peak briey holds the envelope at its peak value, delaying the transition from

attack to decay. This can add extra punch to a Sound’s attack.

Decay:

0...127—

Sets the decay time of the selected envelope.

Tempest Operation Manual

Envelopes

Sustain:

0...127—

SuStain has no effect.

Sets the sustain time of the selected envelope. In AD Mode,

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. The modulation amount can be positive or negative, allowing for inverted envelope control. The Amp envelope is an exception, with a range of only positive values (0-127), since

VCA gain can’t be negative!

Velocity Amount:

0...127—

For most Sounds, the velocity with which the pads (or an external MIDI controller) are struck should be used to modulate the envelope amount. For example,

veloCity amount (and not amount) routed to the

amP envelope will use the drum pads’ velocity sensitivity to control the volume

of the Sound.

amount and veloCity amount work in combination. If amount is set to 127, veloCity amount will not have any effect regardless of the setting or the velocity

with which the pad is struck because the modulation amount is already maxed out.

When using sensitive sounds,

veloCity amount to control the envelope amount of velocity-

amount can be used to set the minimum peak level of the

envelope when note velocity is 1 or close to it. For example, let’s say you wish to create a drum sound in which the softest-played notes produce a volume ¼ that of the loudest notes, but when using veloCity amount alone, the softly-played notes are nearly silent. In this case, you would set the

ity amount to 127 and its amount to around 32. For this reason, when creating

amP envelope’s veloC-

touch-sensitive sounds, you might think of the amount parameter as “Minimum Envelope Amount.”

Velocity is ignored when 16 levels in Pad Function or Fixed level in Pad

Options is on. See “16 Levels” on page 10 and “Pad Options” on page 11 for

more information.

Destination:

Off, mod destination 1, mod destination 2, …—

Envelopes

PitCh, auX1, and auX2 are assignable to any of Tempest’s modulation destina- tions. For a complete list, see “Modulation Destinations” on page 79.

36 Envelopes

Dave Smith Instruments

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 func tion. But that curve—and, therefore, the envelope’s shape—can be altered with modulation.

For example, gure 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. Figure B shows what happens when the envelope in gure A is

used as the modulation source and the mod destination is that same envelope’s

decay, with a mod amount of -60; gure C is with a mod amount of 60.

Modulating an envelope segment also changes its length (time). In the previ-

ous examples, gure B’s decay time was decreased and gure C’s decay time was

increased.

LFO 1 & 2

Tempest has two low frequency oscillators (LFOs). The LFOs can be freerunning or synced to the beat.

LFO2:

Off, On—

LFO 1; when on, LFO 2.

Rate:

0...162—

to very fast—at 90 (8 Hz, C-2) and above the speed steps in semitones, up to 162 (523 Hz, C4 or an octave above middle C).

Amount:

Tempest Operation Manual

0...127—

Chooses the LFO to edit. When off, the panel controls affect

Sets the LFO frequency. Speed ranges from slow (30 seconds)

Sets the amount of LFO routed to the destination.

Envelopes

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—

quarter notes, regardless of the time signature.

When on, the LFO syncs to the beat based on multiples of

Rate displays the values in the

following table.

Display Cycles per Quarter Note(s)

32 Qrtr One LFO cycle lasts 32 quarter notes

16 Qrtr One LFO cycle lasts 16 quarter notes

8 Qrtr One LFO cycle lasts 8 quarter notes

6 Qrtr One LFO cycle lasts 6 quarter notes

4 Qrtr One LFO cycle lasts 4 quarter notes

3 Qrtr One LFO cycle lasts 3 quarter notes

1/2 Note One LFO cycle lasts 2 quarter notes

Qrtr Dot One LFO cycle lasts 1.5 quarter notes

1 Qrtr One LFO cycle lasts 1 quarter note

Qrtr Trip Two LFO cycles every three quarter notes

8th Two LFO cycles per quarter note

8th Trip Three LFO cycles per quarter note

1/16 Four LFO cycles per quarter note

16 th Tr ip Six LFO cycles per quarter note

32nd Eight LFO cycles per quarter note

64th Sixteen LFO cycles per quarter note

Use sync to modulate a parameter in time with a beat. For example,

for a beat in 4/4, an LFO set to a triangle wave and a rate of 16 Qrtr can modulate

the lter frequency for a sweep that repeats every 4 bars, precisely.

38 Envelopes

Dave Smith Instruments

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. Press the Page Right (right arrow) soft button to display the

ReStaRt param-

eter for the LFO’s wave cycle.

4. Turn soft knob 4 (

ReStaRt) and set the chosen LFO’s wave cycle to off.

(Conversely, choosing note, Beat, or Play causes the LFO’s wave cycle to restart each time it receives the selected trigger.)

To use free-running LFO’s you must assign a sound to a voice. To do this, press the 16 sounds button, then press the sounds button in the Screens section. Next, tap a pad to select the sound you want to assign to a voice. Finally, press the Mod Paths button in the LFO section, then press the Page Down button once. Turn soft knob 3 to assign the voice.

Tempest Operation Manual

Envelopes

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. The modulation amount can be positive or negative, allowing for inverted control.

Destination:

Off, mod destination 1, mod destination+ 2, …—

Sets the modulation destination for the selected mod path. See “Modulation Destinations” on page 79 for a complete list.

40 Modulation Paths

Dave Smith Instruments

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. Use the whenever this sound plays. If desired, use Choke 2 to specify a second choke Sound/pad.

voiCe aSSign restricts a Sound to playing on only one of Tempest’s six voices. By default, Tempest uses dynamic voice allocation. That is, if a voice is already occupied with playing a Sound, new notes will play on the next available voice. When all six voices are in use, new notes will steal a voice from one of the Sounds already playing, causing that Sound to be cut off. Assigning a Sound to a

specic voice guarantees that voice won’t be stolen, at least not by the remaining

dynamically allocated voices. Multiple Sounds can be assigned to a single voice and will still steal the voice when two or more notes play simultaneously.

Again, using a high-hat as an example, assigning the different high-hat articula tions to a single voice will guarantee that the high-hat will always sound and its voice will not be stolen. If a Beat has a steady 8th- or 16th-note pattern, it will be pretty obvious if the high-hat’s voice is stolen, even for one note.

Be aware, though, that some Sounds—particularly Sounds with longer decays

like crash or ride cymbals—can benet from the voices being dynamically

allocated. These Sounds tend to sound better or, at least, more realistic, if they’re allowed to overlap and not be cut off by voice stealing, so it may take some planning and tweaking to achieve a good balance between Sounds assigned to

specic voices and Sounds that use the remaining pool of dynamically allocated

voices.

Choke 1 Soft Knob to choose the Sound/pad that will be choked

voiCe aSSign also assigns a Sound to a specic voice output. For example, if the

kick drum is assigned to voice 1, the kick drum will be available for separate

processing via the Voice 1 jack on the rear panel. Inserting a plug in one of the

individual voice output jacks removes that voice from the main outputs. The voice output jacks are stereo, and so retain any pan settings.

Tempest Operation Manual

Choke and Voice Assign

To Assign a Sound to a Specic 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.

42 Choke and Voice Assign

Dave Smith Instruments

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 Reso

nance, Audio Mod, Highpass Frequency, VCA Feedback, Envelope Attack and

Envelope Decay. For each of these eight parameters, moving the knob causes the playback of all sounds to be altered simultaneously. Because the parameter values can be very different for different sounds, the individual parameters are moved proportionally in a way that results in the overall change sounding very natural.

If the

SoundS key (in the Screens section) is pressed, one of the following two

screens is displayed:

OSC Pitch LP Freq LP Reson Audio Mod

Proj:

Saturday night gig Beat: 14/Uptempo beat

OSC PITCH LP FREQ

50+0 50

Revert 120.0 1.1.1 Beat FX1

HP Freq Feedback Env Attack Env Decay

Saturday night gig

50+0

HP FREQ FEEDBACK

Revert 120.0 1.1.1

LP RESON

Beat: 14/Uptempo beatProj:

ENV ATTACK ENV DECAY

AUDIO MOD

50+0

Beat FX 2

Notice the

ReveRt Soft Key. After any of the Beat-wide parameters is changed, this soft key appears. Pressing it reverts the beat playback to its original state before any controls were changed.

Tempest Operation Manual

Beat-wide Parameters

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.

You can change the mixer settings by adjusting the controls in the Mixer section of the panel, or by selecting and SoundS together), which causes the Mixer screen to appear.

miXeR in the Screens section (pressing PadS

Use the

Page uP and Page down keys to switch

between the four mixer screens below:

Mute: Off Solo: Off Pan: C

Mixer

Amt: 0 Delay On

Mixer Del

Delay Rpts Delay Time

DELAY REPEATS

Distortion Compression

DISTORTION

44 Mixer and Effects

1/8 Dot

DELAY TIME

COMPRESSION

Delay

Comp/Dist

This screen adjusts

volume, Pan,

mute, and Solo for each sound pad.

This screen adjusts

delay amount

and delay on/off for each sound pad. Note that sounds must be velocity-sensitive for the delayed notes to have volumes other than full.

This screen adjusts

delay RePeatS

and delay time for the delay send mix.

This screen shows the Beat’s settings for the panel’s

diStoRtion and

ComPReSSion controls.

Dave Smith Instruments

Compressor Envelope

The Compressor has its own set of envelope controls that allow you to ne 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:

Peak Hold:

0...127—

0…127—

Sets the attack time of the Compressor.

Normally, the decay stage of the envelope begins imme-

diately after the attack stage reaches its ultimate value. Peak briey holds the

envelope at its peak value, delaying the transition from attack to decay. This can add extra punch to a Sound’s attack.

Decay:

Amount:

geR (see below) to the Compressor. Use amount if you don’t want the Sound to

0...127—

-127...127—

Sets the decay time of the Compressor.

Sets the amount of modulation from the enveloPe tRig-

use the velocity sensitivity of Tempest’s drum pads. The modulation amount can be positive or negative, allowing for inverted envelope control.

Envelope Trigger:

Off, Sound A1...A16, Sound B1...B16—

Selects a Sound from Sound Bank A or B to act as a trigger for the Compressor’s envelope. This functions like a side-chain on a traditional compressor and allows a signal other than the main input to control the amount of compression.

Attack Peak Hold Decay Amount

Saturday night gig

640

ATTACK PEAK HOLD

120.0 1.1.1

Tempest Operation Manual

Beat: 14/Uptempo beatProj:

DECAY AMOUNT

Comp Env

064

Mixer and Effects

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 move- ments 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. Select the

16 BeatS key, press a beat pad and press Play. Now press

either of the sliders and move your nger up and down. Hear how your nger

movements alter the sound of the Beat. Now hold Shift and press the left latCh on key, then move your nger on the left slider as the Beat plays. Notice that

you hear a different sound change, because you’ve just selected the alternate FX3 function for the left slider.

Here’s what the keys do:

Playback key

The Playback key is always on.

Shift + Playback: Assign

This displays the Beat FX Assign

screen, permitting the viewing or

editing of the Beat FX assignments.

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.

Shift + Latch On: FX1/FX3 or FX2/FX4 Select

Pressing Shift + the left Latch On key toggles the left slider between its FX1

and FX3 functions. Pressing Shift + the right Latch On key toggles the right

slider between its FX2 and FX4 functions.

46 Real Time FX

Dave Smith Instruments

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 Amount Destination

Beat: 14/Uptempo beatProj: Saturday night gig

Beat FX1: Slider1 Pos +/- 15 BW All Osc Freq Beat FX2: Slider2 Pos +/- 42 BW Lowpass Freq Beat FX3: Slider3 Pos +/- 0 BW All Env Dec Beat FX4: Slider4 Pos +/- 24 BW Highpass Freq

120.0 1. 1. 1 Beat FX

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.

Soft Knob 3: Amount

This control varies the amount of

modulation from -127 to 127.

Soft Knob 4: Destination

Options are all Beat-wide sound

parameters: All Osc Freq,

Feedback, Lowpass Cutoff,

Resonance, Audio Mod, Highpass

Cutoff, All Env Attack, All Env

Decay and Beat Roll On/Off

Beat FX slider movements are for live performance only and cannot be recorded. However, Note FX (described in the following section) does permit recording of slider movements, and Note FX sliders may be assigned to Beat-wide sound parameters.

Note FX

If Pad Function is not set to 16 BeatS, Note FX mode is active, in which slider movements affect the sound of a single sound pad, altering one of its sound parameters. Unlike Beat FX, these movements can be recorded into the Beat.

Try it out. Select the

moving your nger on one of the sliders. Notice that the sound changes as you

move the slider. (If nothing happens, try another sound pad because the one you selected may have no Note FX assignment.) Now hold Shift and press the left

latCh on key, then move your nger on the left slider as the Beat plays. Notice

that you hear a different sound change, because you’ve just selected the alternate FX3 function for the left slider. If you move the sliders while recording a sound pad into a Beat, the value of the slider at the moment the pad is played will be recorded into the new note, and these parameter changes will be heard when the Beat plays back.

Tempest Operation Manual

16 SoundS key, then press a sound pad repeatedly while

Real Time FX

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.

Shift + Latch On: FX1/FX3 or FX2/FX4 Select

Pressing Shift + the left Latch On key toggles the left slider between its FX1

and FX3 functions. Pressing Shift + the right Latch On key toggles the right

slider between its FX2 and FX4 functions.

To view or edit the Note FX assignments, select Note FX Assign by holding Shift while pressing either PlayBaCk key:

Soft Knob 1:

Select Row

Select one of the 4

Note FX channels

(within each note event) for editing.

Soft Knob 3:

Amount

Select the amount

of effect the slider movement has on

the destination

parameter.

Select Row Source Amount Destination

Bt: 14/Swing beat 100 bpm Snd: A12/Boomy Kick Note FX1: Slider1 Pos +/- +64 Osc Pitch

Note FX2: Slider2 Pos +/- +25 LP Freq Note FX3: Slider3 Pos + +43 LP Reson Note FX4: Slider4 Pos +/- +51 Env Decay

120.0 1.1.1 Note FX

Soft Knob 2:

Source

This selects the input for the selected

Note FX channel (1-4) within each note.

This selects the destination for the

Note FX channel within each note.

Options are Slider FX1-4 Position

(either positive or bipolar) or

Slider FX1-4 Pressure.

48 Real Time FX

Beat & Sound

Each of the beat’s 32

sounds has a unique

set of 4 Note FX

assignments. Those

displayed apply only to

the selected sound.

Soft Knob 4:

Destination

A variety of voice modulation

destinations are available.

Dave Smith Instruments

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. Pressing undo ReC will undo all recording changes made during the last recording pass (since

the moment you started the Beat playing with ReC on) and will turn off the light. Pressing it a second time will Redo whatever was removed by pressing undo ReC. This is a single-level undo.

Holding will restore the selected sound to its last loaded or saved status, undoing any edits since then. This is a single-level undo.

Shift while pressing undo ReC invokes the undo Sound command. This

The Erase key

All notes in a Beat can be erased easily in either 16 SoundS or 16 BeatS mode.

In either all noteS soft key. All notes in the current Beat are erased.

Tempest Operation Manual

16 SoundS or 16 BeatS, press and hold eRaSe, and then press the eRaSe

Rec/Edit Keys

To quickly Erase All Notes of a single Sound Pad from a Beat:

1. Press 16 SoundS.

2. While holding

To Erase All Notes of a single Sound Pad from Sound Bank B:

eRaSe, press the sound pad to be erased.

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

3. Hold both

ReCoRd on and press Play.

Shift and eRaSe, then during the time that the notes to be erased

are playing, also hold the sound pad for those notes.

The Copy Key

Tempest’s Copy function allows you to be selective about copying other elements associated with a Sound or a Beat.

For Sounds, you can choose to copy (or not copy):

• the sound’s program parameters

• a sequence associated with the sound

• Note FX associated with the sound

• mixer settings associated with the sound

For Beats, you can choose to copy (or not copy):

• a Kit associated with the Beat

• a sequence associated with the Beat

• parameters associated with the Beat

• Beat FX associated with the Beat

50 Rec/Edit Keys

Dave Smith Instruments

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

3. In the

SCReenS section, press the SoundS button.

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 (

- Setting an element to

Sound, SequenCe, notefX, miXeR).

on will include it in the copy operation.

off will exclude it.

5. Tap the pad you want to copy from.

6. Tap the pad you want to copy to.

7. When nished, release the

When choosing a destination for a copied Sound, tapping the same pad twice

swaps Sound layers A+B.

Sound: On Seq: Off NoteFX: Off Mixer: Off

COPY FROM

Mode: Copy 120.0 2.1.1

CoPy button.

Snd: B1/BasicBt: 1/Intense Bt

Hit pad to select sound to copy...

COPY TO

Copy Sound

The copied sound is not permanently saved in memory until you save the Beat and commit the new sound position to memory. To save a Beat, press the save/load button, use soft knob 1 to scroll to item 2 (save Beat), then press the next button and

use soft knob 1 to select the Beat to save.

Tempest Operation Manual

Rec/Edit Keys

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

3. In the

SCReenS section, press the SoundS button.

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 (

- Setting an element to

kitS, SequenCe, PaRamS, BeatfX).

on will include it in the copy operation.

off will exclude it.

5. Tap the pad you want to copy from.

6. Tap the pad you want to copy to.

7. When nished, release the

CoPy button.

52 Rec/Edit Keys

Dave Smith Instruments

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 ash 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 elds that are edited using the 4 soft knobs. Once the elds are set correctly, pressing the Soft Key performs the edit

ing function.

1. Copy Sound

This copies a Sound (in any Beat) over another Sound within the same or a different Beat. Enter the Source Beat and Sound, the Destination Beat and Sound, then press the Copy Now soft key.

Note that while Pad Function is set to anything other than 16 Beats, the Copy key can also be used to copy one Sound pad over another.

2. Initialize Sound

This initializes any Sound (in any Beat) to default settings. Enter the Source Beat and Sound to initialize, then press the Init Now soft key.

3. Rename Sound

This permits you to rename a Sound (in any Beat). Select the Beat and Sound to rename, use the Select Char and Edit Char soft knobs to enter the new name, and press the “Rename Now” soft key.

Note that while this screen is active, the Page Up key becomes Insert Char, inserting a new character into the name, and the Cursor Up key becomes Delete Char, deleting a character from the name.

Tempest Operation Manual

The Edit Function

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 specied 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. Rename Beat

This permits you to rename both the long and short names of any beat. Enter the Beat to rename, use the Select Char and Edit Char soft knobs to edit the Name and/or Short Name (the name that appears in the 2x8 matrix of 16 Beats screen), then press the Rename Now soft key.

Note that while this screen is active, the Page Up key becomes Insert Char, inserting a new character into the name, and the Cursor Up key becomes Delete Char, deleting a character from the name.

7. Copy Bars

This copies a range of bars from one Beat to the same or a different Beat, either inserting into or replacing the destination Beat’s bars. There are two screen pages.

On the rst screen, enter the Source Beat and First and Last Bars to copy, then

press the Next soft key.

On the second screen, enter the Destination Beat and set the Copy Mode to either Replaces, Insert Before or Insert After. The middle parameter is used to specify either the First Bar to Replace, the Bar to Insert Before or the Bar to Insert After. To perform the copy, press the Copy Now soft key.

8. Insert Bars Into Beat

This inserts blank bars into a Beat, using the Beat’s time signature. Enter the Beat, the Blank Bars to Insert and the Bar to Insert Before, then press the insert Now soft key.

54 The Edit Function

Dave Smith Instruments

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 ll the new space. You can also

change the number of bars in the beat. If the new number of bars is greater, the notes in the earlier bars are copied to the new bar(s) at the end. Or if the new number of bars is lesser, the ending bars are deleted entirely.

To change time signature, enter the beat, new time signature and number of bars, then press the Set Sig Now soft key.

11. Rename Project

This renames the currently loaded project. Use the Select Char and Edit Char soft knobs to edit the name, then press the Rename Now soft key. Note that while this screen is active, the Page Up key becomes Insert Char, inserting a new character into the name, and the Cursor Up key becomes Delete Char, deleting a character from the name.

12. Initialize Project

This initializes the entire Project in RAM memory, erasing all 16 Beats and all of their Sounds, and resetting them to default settings! To perform the initialize, press the Init Now soft key.

13. Rename Playlist

This utility allows you to Name or Rename one of the four Playlists. Select the Playlist number to rename, use the Select Char and Edit Char soft knobs to edit the Name, then press the Rename Now soft key.

14. Copy Playlist

This utility copies one of the four Playlists to another, in order to rearrange the order or to edit an existing Playlist.

Tempest Operation Manual

The Edit Function

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.

56 The Edit Function

Dave Smith Instruments

Save/Load

Pressing Save/load presents a menu of functions related to saving or loading

les. 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 edit-

ing. Tempest uses ash memory for non-volatile storage.

It is important to understand the distinction between RAM and ash. As with most PC-based software applications, edits to les in RAM must be saved to ash to be recalled later. But, like most synthesizers, Tempest will not prompt you to save changes when powering down or loading another le. It would be

pretty annoying if in the middle of a frenetic, knob-twisting, performance, a prompt came up asking you to save changes every time you switched Beats or

loaded a le! But, while you are making beats and sounds, it’s good to get in

the habit of saving your work often and, occasionally, backing your work up via MIDI.

Beats include all Sounds used in them and Projects include Beats, which, in turn, include all Sounds in each of the Beats. See “Sounds, Beats, and Projects” on page 3 for a general explanation of the relationship between Sounds, Beats, and Projects.

Project and Beat Compatibility with Older OS Versions

Tempest’s internal le format changed with OS version 1.4. This affects project

and beat compatibility with older versions of the OS.

Please be aware of the following:

• Projects and Beats made on a previous OS versions will load and play correctly on OS 1.4.

• If Projects and Beats made on a pre-1.4 OS are modied and saved, or exported from a Tempest with OS 1.4, they will not be compatible with a Tempest with a pre-1.4 OS.

• If Projects and Beats made on a pre-1.4 OS are NOT modied and saved, or exported from Tempest with OS 1.4, they will still be compatible with a Tempest with a pre-1.4 OS (if you downgrade your Tempest OS to an older version, for example).

Tempest Operation Manual

Save/Load

Saving Sounds, Beats, and Projects

Sounds are saved to one of several folders in Tempest’s ash 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. Enter the name using the

edit filename Soft Knob to choose characters

and the left and Right cursor keys to move the cursor.

6. Press the

inSeRt ChaR Soft Key to insert a blank space before the cursor. Press

the delete ChaR Soft Key to delete the character highlighted by the cursor.

7. Press the

Save now Soft Key.

Sounds are saved to one of several folders in Tempest’s ash memory. They can

also be exported and saved as system exclusive MIDI data. See page 62.

To Save a Beat to Flash:

1. In 16 BeatS mode, tap a pad to choose the Beat to save.

2. Press

Save/load, choose Save Beat, and press the Next Soft Key.

3. The current source Beat is displayed and can be changed, if desired. Press the Next Soft Key.

4. Select the destination Beat folder.

5. Enter the name using the

edit filename Soft Knob to choose characters

and the left and Right cursor keys to move the cursor.

• Press the

inSeRt ChaR Soft Key to insert a blank space before the cursor. Press the delete ChaR Soft Key to delete the character highlighted by the cursor.

6. Press the

Save now Soft Key.

Beats are saved to one of 10 Beats folders in Tempest’s ash memory. They can

also be exported and saved as system exclusive MIDI data. See page 63.

58 Save/Load

Dave Smith Instruments

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.

If the Project le name already exists, you will be warned that you are about to

overwrite the existing Project le.

4. Press the Save now Soft Key.

Projects are saved to one of 10 Project folders in Tempest’s ash memory. They

can also be exported and saved as system exclusive MIDI data. See page 64.

Loading Sounds, Beats, and Projects

A Sound is loaded into RAM from ash and assigned to one of Tempest’s pads.

Sounds can also be imported via MIDI. (See “Importing Sounds, Beats, and Projects” on page 66.)

To Load a Sound:

1. In 16 SoundS mode, tap a pad to choose the destination Sound.

2. Press

Save/load, choose Load File (Sound/Beat/Project), and press the

neXt Soft Key.

3. Choose the Type, Folder, and File, and press the

neXt Soft Key.

4. The selected destination Beat and Sound are displayed, but can be changed, if desired.

5. Press the

6. Press the

load now Soft Key.

again Soft Key to load another le or Save/load to exit.

The Sound is loaded into the destination pad. Any unsaved edits to the previous Sound will be lost. Press

Save/load again at any time prior to pressing load

now to cancel the operation.

Tempest Operation Manual

Save/Load

A Beat is loaded into RAM from ash 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 ve options to determine what data gets loaded.

Load Options Dest Beat

Load Beat “A Bouncy C”:

Normal

BEAT LOAD OPTIONS

14/Fast beat #2

DEST BEAT PAD TO REPLACE

Free 2.5MBLoad Now 120.0

Normal

Sounds + Mixer

Sounds Only

Sequencer + Note FX

Beat FX

To Load a Beat:

—All Beat data will be loaded into the destination Beat.

—Only the Sounds and mixer settings will be loaded.

—Only the Sounds will be loaded.

In Tempest there are no separate “Sound Kit” or “Drum Kit” les. Instead, you

can use this option to load only the sounds from any Beat le. This has the advan-

tage that any Beat le can be used as a sound kit le.

—Only sequence and Note FX settings will be loaded.

—Only the Beat FX settings will be loaded.

1. In 16 BeatS mode, tap a pad to select the destination Beat.

2. Press

Save/load, choose Load File (Sound/Beat/Project), and press the

neXt Soft Key.

3. Choose the Type, Folder, and File, and press the

neXt Soft Key.

4. Choose the Beat Load Option: Normal, Sounds + Mixer, Sounds Only, Sequencer + Note FX, or Beat FX.

5. The selected destination Beat is displayed, but can be changed, if desired.

6. Press the

60 Save/Load

load now Soft Key.

Dave Smith Instruments

7. Press the again Soft Key to load another le 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 ash 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. (See “Importing Sounds, Beats, and Projects” on page 66.)

To Load a Project:

1. Press Save/load, choose Load File (Sound/Beat/Project), and press the neXt Soft Key.

2. Choose the Folder and File, and press the

3. Press the

4. Press the

load now Soft Key to load the Project.

again Soft Key to load another le or Save/load to exit.

neXt Soft Key.

Loading a Project replaces all the Sounds and Beats in RAM with the Sounds and Beats in the Project. Press

ow to cancel the operation.

Save/load again at any time prior to pressing load

Saving and Loading Sound Kits

Tempest doesn’t actually use sound kit les. Instead, you can choose to load only the sounds from any beat le into the beat you’re working on, so any beat becomes the equivalent of a “sound kit” le.

Loading sounds quickly from the Pads screen

Sounds can also be loaded directly from the Pads screen in 16 SoundS mode. The load Sound parameter enables Sounds for the selected pad to be auditioned and

changed.

Tempest Operation Manual

Save/Load

Quant: 16th Swing: 50.0% Sound Type Load Sound

Bt: 14/Swing beat 100 bpm Snd: A12/Boomy Kick

Tamb

Shaker

Claps

Block

Rim

Snare

SftSnr

120.0 1.1.01 16 Sounds

Kick

HhOpn

HhTite

TomHi

Ride

TomMid

Crash

TomLo

Splash

In Pads view, strike a pad to select a Sound and then turn the load Sound soft

knob clockwise to load the rst available Sound for the current Sound direc

tory. Continue scrolling through the list to audition different Sounds or use the

Sound diReCtoRy soft knob to change to a different directory of Sounds. Press the ReveRt soft key to revert to the saved Sound.

revert is available until another pad is struck in 16 sounds mode. Pads can be struck in any other Pad Function mode, but once another Sound pad is struck, revert is unavailable. To return to the saved settings, reload the le. revert sound

always resets the sound to the last loaded or saved setting of it’s Beat.

Exporting Sounds, Beats, and Projects

Sounds, Beats, and Projects can be exported over MIDI to a computer application or hardware device capable of recording SysEx data. Most modern MIDI sequencers are capable of recording SysEx and there are standalone applications like SysEx Librarian for Mac OS and MIDI-OX for Windows that make it very

easy to record, name, and store SysEx les. SysEx data can also be dumped

directly from one Tempest to another using a single MIDI cable.

Exporting directly from RAM or from saved les in ash memory yields slightly

different results. Sounds, Beats, and Projects exported from RAM contain no information about their source or destination. If Sounds/Beats/Projects exported from RAM are later imported, they are loaded into RAM and must be saved to

ash or they will be lost when power is cycled. Sounds/Beats/Projects exported from saved les will import into ash in the same folder location from which

they were exported and do not need to be saved. But, they do need to be loaded into RAM if you want to play them.

62 Save/Load

Dave Smith Instruments

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 sufcient 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. The current source Beat and Sound are displayed and can be changed, if desired.

5. Choose the destination (MIDI and/or USB).

6. Enable the receiving device to receive and record SysEx.

7. Press the

eXPoRt now Soft Key.

8. The device records the SysEx data, which can then be named and saved for backup and importing into Tempest.

9. Press the

To Export a Beat from RAM over MIDI:

again Soft Key to export another le or Save/load to exit.

device’s MIDI in is sufcient for exporting.

2. In

16 BeatS mode, tap a pad to choose the Beat to export.

3. Press

Save/load, choose Export Beat in RAM over MIDI, and press the

neXt Soft Key.

4. The current source Beat is displayed and can be changed, if desired.

5. Choose the destination (MIDI and/or USB).

6. Enable the receiving device to receive and record SysEx.

7. Press the

eXPoRt now Soft Key.

8. The device records the SysEx data, which can then be named and saved for backup and importing into Tempest.

9. Press the

Tempest Operation Manual

again Soft Key to export another le or Save/load to exit.

Save/Load

To Export a Project from RAM over MIDI:

device’s MIDI in is sufcient 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. Choose the destination (MIDI and/or USB).

4. Enable the receiving device to receive and record SysEx.

5. Press the

eXPoRt now Soft Key.

6. The device records the SysEx data, which can then be named and saved for backup and importing into Tempest.

7. Press the

To Export a Sound/Beat/Project from Flash over MIDI:

again Soft Key to export another le or Save/load to exit.

device’s MIDI in is sufcient for exporting.

2. Press

Save/load, choose Export saved le over MIDI (Sound/Beat/Project),

and press the neXt Soft Key.

3. Choose the Type, Folder, and File to export.

4. Choose the destination (MIDI and/or USB).

5. Enable the receiving device to receive and record SysEx.

6. Press the

eXPoRt now Soft Key.

7. The device records the SysEx data, which can then be named and saved for backup and importing into Tempest.

8. Press the

64 Save/Load

again Soft Key to export another le or Save/load to exit.

Dave Smith Instruments

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.

• If exporting a Beat from RAM, put both Tempests into

16 BeatS mode, tap

a pad on the master to select the source Beat, and tap a pad on the slave to choose the destination.

• If exporting a Project from RAM, put both Tempests into

16 BeatS mode.

Since there is only one Project in RAM at a time, there is no source or destination to select.

2. On the master, press

Save/load and choose Export Sound/Beat/Project in

RAM over MIDI or Export Saved File over MIDI (Sound/Beat/Project) to transfer the data. The slave does not need to be enabled to receive the transfer. Just press eXPoRt now when ready. Exports from RAM load into

the slave’s RAM; exports from ash load into the slave’s ash.

3. Press the

To Export Tempest’s entire le contents for backup (Beats, Projects, Sounds):

again Soft Key to export another le or Save/load to exit.

1. Connect Tempest to the receiving device (computer running MIDI application, 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 sufcient for

exporting.

2. Press the

3. Use Soft Knob 1 to select item 8, “

4. Press the

5. Use Soft Knob 4 to select “

6. Press the

7. Use Soft Knob 3 to select the appropriate MIDI port (

8. Press the

Tempest Operation Manual

Save/load button.

eXPoRt file oveR midi.”

neXt Soft Key.

all.”

neXt Soft Key again.

midi or uSB).

eXPoRt now Soft Key.

Save/Load

Importing Sounds, Beats, and Projects

Importing data from SysEx les 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 les from a MIDI sequencer or

SysEx utility. Files exported from RAM load into the current Sound/Beat/Proj-

ect in RAM; les exported from ash load into ash in the same location from

which they were originally exported. The display will give you the status of the

process and let you know when the le has successfully been saved.

• Keep in mind that importing data exported from RAM replaces the current Sound, Beat, or Project in RAM. If edits to the current Sound/Beat/Project

have not been saved to ash or exported, they will be lost.

• Files imported into RAM need to be saved to ash or they will be lost when the power is cycled.

• Files imported into ash need to be loaded into RAM in order to play or edit them.

Important: Import Notes

Importing a Sound/Beat/Project to ash with the same name as one already in ash will overwrite the le, so always back up your work before importing a le if you are not absolutely certain of the imported le’s contents.

Due to the time it takes for Tempest to save a Sound/Beat/Project to ash, you must have a minimum one-second pause between SysEx les transmitted to the unit. Otherwise you will get errors from the ash system. SysEx Librarian and MIDI-OX can both be congured to add a pause or delay when sending multiple SysEx les.

SysEx les for Projects can be large and take twenty seconds or more to load.

Press the

66 Save/Load

CanCel Soft Key if you wish to stop a SysEx import.

Dave Smith Instruments

Renaming Files

Any of the les 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

3. Use

SeleCt ChaR (Soft Knob 3) and edit ChaR (Soft Knob 4) to select

neXt.

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. When the name is complete, press

5. Press

again to rename another le or Save/load to exit.

Rename now.

Deleting Files

Any of the les saved to Tempest can be deleted.

To Delete a File:

1. Press Save/load, choose Delete File (Sound/Beat/Project) and press the neXt Soft Key.

2. Choose the Type, Folder, and File to delete and press

3. Press

4. Press

delete now to delete the le

again to delete another le or Save/load to exit.

neXt.

Deleted les cannot be recovered. To cancel a delete operation, press save/

oad again prior to step 3.

Tempest Operation Manual

Save/Load

System Settings

Select Line Offset Category

System: General

1. Master Transpose +0

2. Fine Tune +0

3. Click Level 120

4. One bar count in Off

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. Use soft knob 4 to select the Category, soft knob 1 to select the Line within the category, and adjust

the Parameter Value using soft knob 3.

System Categories

• General

• Foot Pedals

System

• MIDI Remote Pad Play

• MIDI Polyphonic Keyboard Play

• MIDI Clock

• MIDI System Exclusive

• BPM/Swing/Comp/Dist Sources

• UI Preferences

• System Actions

System: General

1. Master Transpose: -12…+12—

step increments, as much as one octave up (+12) or down (-12).

2. Fine Tune: -50…+50—

Transposes the pitch of all voices in one cent incre-

ments, as much as a quarter-tone up (+50) or down (-50).

68 System Settings

Transposes the pitch of all voices in half-

Dave Smith Instruments

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. Pad Velocity Curve: 1…4—

Sets the overall velocity response curve for Tempest’s pads. The velocity curves allow you to tailor the response of the pad to your personal playing style. The default value is 2.

7. Local Control: Off, On—

Local Control performs a similar function to MIDI Local Mode on keyboard synthesizers—it internally disconnects the drum pads from the sound generator. This is useful, for example, if you are using Tempest with an external MIDI sequencer and wish to avoid sounds playing twice for each pad hit, due to notes being sent and rerouted back over MIDI to Tempest. When Off, the pads transmit note and velocity messages via MIDI as normal, but will not cause Tempest’s internal sounds to play. By default, this is set to On.

System: Foot Pedals

1 & 3. Pedal 1/2 Mode:

Open

2 & 4. Pedal 1/2 Assignment:

inputs can be congured to work with either momentary footswitches or expression pedals to control various functions.

Use Pedal Mode to choose the input device: Controller for an expression pedal, Switch, Norm Open for a normally open footswitch, and Switch, Norm Closed for a normally closed footswitch.

Mod Source Pedal 1 or 2 routes an expression pedal directly to the Foot Pedal 1 or 2 modulation source. (See “Modulation Paths” on page 40 for more infor

mation.) Master Volume routes an expression pedal directly to master volume.

Tempest Operation Manual

Controller, Switch: Norm Closed, Switch: Norm

See table— Tempest’s two Pedal/Switch

System Settings

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 channel for MIDI note-to-pad playback and recording. The note-to-pad mapping is programmed using the MIDI Note : Pad mapping described below.

2. Remote Pad OUT Channel: Off, 1…16—

Sets the channel on which Tempest’s pads transmit MIDI note and velocity data. The pads transmit MIDI data in 16 Sounds, 16 Tunings, and 16 Levels modes. When 16 Sounds is selected, pressing a sound pad sends the MIDI note number assigned to the Pad in “4-35 MIDI Note: Pad A1-B16” described on the following page. When set to Off, note and velocity messages are not transmitted (but clock and start/stop/ continue messages are).

Note: When ‘16 Tunings’ is selected, the same MIDI note number is sent

for all 16 pads, using the note number assigned to the sound pad playing from all the pads. However, it is possible to send MIDI note numbers in the selected tuning as played from the 16 pads in ‘16 Tunings’ mode. To do this, go to the “MIDI Polyphonic Keyboard Play” screen and set “MIDI: Synth Sound” to the same sound pad as used in “16 Tunings,” then set the “MIDI:Synth IN Channel” to a channel other than the one selected above.

3. Pad to Note Mode: Follow Pad Func, Sounds, Beats, Mutes—

Incoming MIDI Note messages can be used for playing the pads, triggering sounds, selecting beats, or muting sounds. The 4 options are:

•

Follow Pad Func: Incoming MIDI notes will control whatever is selected

by the Pad Function buttons, exactly like the pads.

•

Sounds: Incoming MIDI Notes will always trigger sounds.

•

Beats: Incoming MIDI Notes will always select one of the 16 beats.

•

Mutes: Incoming MIDI Notes will always be used to mute/unmute the 32

sounds [16 each in banks A and B].

70 System Settings

Dave Smith Instruments

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.

The following table shows the General MIDI standard drum mapping.

Note MIDI Note GM Inst

A4 69 Cabasa

F#3 54 Tamborine

E2 40 Electric Snare

D2 38 Acoustic Snare

A#3 46 Open Hi Hat

D3 50 High Tom

B2 47 Low Mid Tom

G2 43 High Floor Tom

F5 77 Low Wood Block

D#2 39 Hand Clap

C#2 37 Side Stick

C2 36 Bass Drum

F#2 42 Closed Hi Hat

D#3 51 Ride Cymbal 1

C#3 49 Crash Cymbal 1

G3 55 Splash Cymbal

Tempest Operation Manual

System Settings

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. It responds to note messages and the “standard” controllers (pitch bend, mod wheel, aftertouch, channel pressure, etc.), provided that the Sound has those modulation sources routed to some destination.

When used to record notes to Tempest’s sequencer, the external keyboard or controller controls the note’s pitch, but otherwise acts much the same as record

ing from a pad: only one note can be recorded at a time. Velocity and duration

are also recorded. Timing is subject to the current Quantize setting. Because the sequencer is event-based, continuous controllers such as pitch bend, mod wheel, and aftertouch are ignored.

IMPORTANT! The MIDI: Synth IN Channel must be set to a different

channel than Remote Pad: IN Channel in order to function properly. If they are set the same, the note-to-pad mapping detailed under “Remote Pad: IN Channel” overrides the MIDI: Synth functionality.

Notes played via MIDI are prioritized higher than notes played by Tempest’s sequencer, so the sequencer should not steal voices while notes are playing via MIDI. Notes played by the pads have the same priority as MIDI notes, so they can

steal voices from MIDI notes and vice versa.

2. MIDI: Synth Sound:

A1…A16—

Used to choose the pad—and its assigned Sound—that plays on the MIDI: Synth IN Channel. Because this is currently a system-level setting, MIDI data will be routed to the chosen pad, regardless of the loaded Beat or Project.

3. MIDI: Synth Root Note:

C0…C10—

Sets the note at which the external MIDI controller plays the Sound at the same pitch as playing it from the pad in 16 Sounds mode. For example, the pad plays the sound as an A. In order to play the Sound from a MIDI keyboard without transposing, MIDI: Synth Root Note should also be set to an A, perhaps A4 or A5 to play in close proximity to middle C on the keyboard.

72 System Settings

Dave Smith Instruments

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:

Tempest transmits MIDI clock and start, stop, and continue messages.

In Slave mode, Tempest syncs to incoming MIDI clock and responds to start, stop, and continue messages. When slaved to an external MIDI clock, Tempest’s

Tempo display is preceded by “EXT.” The master BPM (beats per minute) is not transmitted via MIDI as a numerical value, so Tempest must calculate the BPM from the incoming clock, and the value displayed by Tempest is subject to round ing and the accuracy of the master clock. In other words, Tempest’s displayed BPM value may be slightly different from the master’s, even though they’re perfectly synced.

In Slave Thru mode, Tempest syncs to MIDI clock and forwards incoming MMC

and clock messages to the MIDI Out port.

In Slave and Slave Thru modes, if no MIDI clock is present at the selected

input, Tempest will not play.

Off, Master, Slave, Slave Thru—

In Master mode,

When clock mode is set to Off, MIDI clock is neither transmitted nor received.

2. MIDI: Clock IN Cable:

None, MIDI Port, USB—

MIDI Clock data from another synthesizer or sequencer can be received through either the MIDI Port or the USB cable. If set to “None” MIDI clock data is ignored.

3. MIDI: Clock OUT Cable:

None, MIDI Port, USB, MIDI•USB—

MIDI Clock data can be sent out via the MIDI Out port, the USB Port, or both MIDI and USB. If “None” is selected, MIDI clock out is disabled.

Tempest Operation Manual

System Settings

System: MIDI System Exclusive

1. MIDI: Sysex IN-OUT Cable:

you to select either the MIDI port or USB connector for MIDI Sysex data trans fers. If “None” is selected, Sysex will be neither transmitted nor received.

USB Sysex transfers are only supported with Mac OSX and Windows 7.

None, MIDI Port, USB—

This control allows

System: BPM/Swing/Comp/Dist Sources

1. BPM Source:

(in beats per minute or BPM) but there is also a single tempo setting for the Project. If you wish to use the Beat’s tempo setting (and have the tempo change when

a different Beat is selected), set this to Beat (factory default). If you wish to use the Project’s tempo setting (so that the tempo stays the same regardless of which Beat is playing), select Project. Saving a Beat with BPM Source set to Beat saves the Beat with the current BPM. Saving a Project with BPM Source set to Project saves the Project with the current BPM.

Project, Beat—

Each Beat has its own unique tempo setting

2. Swing Source:

Project, Beat—

Each Beat has its own unique swing setting (50% to 75%) but there is also a single swing setting for the Project. If you wish to use the Beat’s setting (and have the swing amount change when a different Beat is selected), set this to Beat (factory default). If you wish to use the Project’s swing setting (so that the swing amount stays the same regardless of which Beat is playing), choose Project. Saving a Beat with Swing Source set to Beat saves the Beat with the current swing setting. Saving a Project with Swing Source set to Project saves the Project with the current swing setting.

3. Compression Source:

Project, Beat, Pot Position—

Each Beat has its own unique compression setting but there is also a single compression setting for the Project. If you wish to use the Beat’s setting (and have the compression amount change when a different Beat is selected), set this to Beat. If you wish to use the Project’s swing setting (so that the compression amount stays the same regardless of which Beat is playing), choose Project (factory default). If you wish

the Compression setting to always reect the position of the Compression knob,

choose Pot Position. Saving a Beat with Compression Source set to Beat saves the Beat with the current compression setting. Saving a Project with Compression Source set to Project saves the Project with the current compression setting.

4. Distortion Source:

Project, Beat, Pot Position—

Each Beat has its own

unique distortion setting but there is also a single distortion setting for the

74 System Settings

Dave Smith Instruments

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 reect the position of the Distortion knob, choose Pot

Position. Saving a Beat with Distortion Source set to Beat saves the Beat with the current distortion setting. Saving a Project with Distortion Source set to Project saves the Project with the current distortion setting.

System: UI Preferences

1. Solo/Mute behavior:

Mute functions always affect a pad that is physically pressed (as well as any sequenced data for its associated sound). In Seq only mode, Solo and Mute func- tions affect only sequenced data, allowing you to trigger a sound when a pad is physically pressed.

Seq+Live, Seq Only—

In Seq+live mode, Solo and

2. Sounds slider mode:

Step, Realtime—

In SteP mode, note FX data input

from Tempest’s Sound Sliders is recorded per step. This does not allow for auto-

mating effects such as smooth lter sweeps. In Realtime mode, the two sound

sliders affect Note FX for a sound in realtime during performance. While note FX data is still recorded in step format when sequencing, this allows you to add

non-stepped, uid, realtime control during live performance.

3. Touch Slider Latch Mode: Active Only, All— When set to Active Only

(the default) and latCh on is active, the latched slider value is reset to 0 when switching between FX1 and FX3, playing another pad, or switching between 16 SoundS and 16 BeatS modes. FX2 and FX4 behave similarly.

When set to All and

latCh on is active, the slider values stay latched for a given

Sound, even when switching among FX1, FX2, FX3, and FX4, playing other pads/Sounds, or switching between 16 SoundS and 16 BeatS. Turning latch off resets all latched values to 0.

For details about the touch sliders, see “Real Time FX” on page 35.

4. Latch Button behavior:

Normal, Shift Switched, Disabled—

In Normal

mode, the touch slider remains at the last value when latCh on is active.

In Shi Switched mode, the un-shifted and shifted behaviors are swapped. That

latCh on buttons now switch between FX1 and FX3 or FX2 and FX4.

is, the Shift + latCh on turns latch on and off.

Tempest Operation Manual

System Settings

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

5. Envelope Amount Encoder behavior:

Shift Switched mode, the un-shifted ( behaviors are swapped. That is, when

latCh on, see “Real Time FX” on page 35.

Normal, Shift Switched—

amount) and shifted (veloCity amount)

Shift is off, the encoder controls veloCity

amount and when on, amount.

6. Select Sound behavior:

behavior is Sound, hold

Shift Held + Pad. To select a Sound for editing without playing the

Shift down and press the desired pad. When set to Shift Held + Pad,

the pads can still be played when

When set to Shift On + Pad,

Shift On + Pad, Shift Held + Pad—

The default

Shift is on.

Shift must either be on or held down to select the

Sound.

7. Tap Tempo behavior:

Shift On + Play, Shift Held + Play—

With Tempest’s default behavior (Shift Held + Play), must be held to tap the tempo. Otherwise, Play starts/restarts the Beat, whether Shift is on or not. When set to Shift On + Play, Play is used to tap the tempo when Shift is either on or held down.

System: System Actions

1. Calibrate Analog Oscillators and Filters: Tempest’s analog waveshapes

and lters are calibrated at the factory and should not need to be recalibrated

unless you are experiencing problems.

2. Calibrate Slider 1 and 2 Position: Tempest’s Sliders are calibrated at the

factory and should not need to be recalibrated unless you are experiencing prob

lems.

3. Calibrate Drumpads: Tempest’s Sliders are calibrated at the factory and

should not need to be recalibrated unless you are experiencing problems.

4. Reset System Parameters: Resets all the system parameters to their default

values.

5. Show System Information: Displays the current versions of the operating

systems.

76 System Settings

Dave Smith Instruments

Tempest Operation Manual

System Settings

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

Osc 2 Frequency

Osc 3 Frequency

Osc 4 Frequency

Osc All Freq

Osc 1/2 Mix

Osc 3 Level

Osc 4 Level

Osc 1 Pulsewidth

Osc 2 Pulsewidth

Osc 1/2 Pulsewidth

Sub Osc Volume

Feedback Volume

Lowpass Filter

Resonance

Filter FM

Highpass Filter

VCA

Pan

LFO 1 Frequency

LFO 2 Frequency

LFO All Freq

LFO 1 Amount

LFO 2 Amount

LFO All Amount

Pitch Env Amount

Filter Env Amount

Amp Env Amount

All Env Amount

Pitch Env Attack

Filter Env Attack

Amp Env Attack

Aux 1 Env Attack

Aux 2 Env Attack

All Env Attack

Pitch Env Decay

Filter Env Decay

Amp Env Decay

Aux 1 Env Decay

Aux 2 Env Decay

All Env Decay

Pitch Env Release

Filter Env Release

Amp Env Release

Aux 1 Env Release

Aux 2 Env Release

All Env Release

Mod 1 Amount

Mod 2 Amount

Mod 3 Amount

Mod 4 Amount

Mod 5 Amount

Mod 6 Amount

Mod 7 Amount

Mod 8 Amount

Aux 1 Env Amount

Aux 2 Env Amount

Tempest Operation Manual

Modulation Destinations

Samples

White Noise

Pink Noise

Green Noise

Resonant 4K Noise

So Noise

Cicada

Buzzed

Chain Link

Grinder

420 HighPass Noise

Tight Boom

Porky

Hollow ud

Hollow Head

Mid Kick

Slap Kick

wang Kick

Beefy

Flat

Shorty ud

SCI Tom Cart Kick

LM-1 Bass Drum

LinnDrum Bass

909ish

808ish

Long Time 808

Cut the Mustard

Electron K

Flab

Solid

Early Nineties

DigiBonk

Woosh Kick

Dirty Woosh

Supra Snare

Loose Ring

Trick Snare Rim

Resonant Loose

Cool Rim

Another Edge

Cut Snare

Muted Half Edge

High Edge

Cracker

Light Rim

Dry Rim

Pickle-O

Woody Side

Side Stick

Dead Side Stick

Sharp Side

Resonant K

Boom Kick

Quickick

Punchy Kick

Nice

Short n Sweet

Bumpy

Loose

Solid ump

Upfront

Good Kick

Metallic

Square

80 Samples

Distorted 09

Grain Granny

Bit Reduction

Back Scatter

Crunchy

Distorted Bump

Reversed

Orangey

Snare Add Rim

Mid Head

Acoustic

Good Hit

Some Head

Rim Cut

808 Rim

909 Rim

AcouStick

LinnDrum Rim

Tom Cart Rim

SweetDaOneSnare

808ish

Quickie

Short n Tight

High Short

30 Day Snare

Fat 9009

Dave Smith Instruments

Funk Sn

LM-1 Snare

LinnDrum SD

Basicly

Beatbox

Machine

Twin

Dry

Short Attack

Digi 8

CompuSnare

Plastic

Snare Trash

Bucket

Toy Drum

Abrupt

What Snare?

Canned

Dead Lid

Tom Cart SD

Classic

DR55 SD

Cold hit

Zippy wack

Crumbly

70s Snare

Bit Reduce SD

Distant

Filtered SD

Oil Can

Digital Sweetness

Noisy Click

Splatted Snare

Broken SD

Ghost of a Snare

Video Game

Caved Perc

Reverse Snare

Edge Heavy

Pedal Edge

Pedaled AM

Half Edge

Open Edge

Sharp Closed

Sharp Pedal

Sharp Half

Sharp Open

Zilch Closed

Zilch Pedal

Zilch Open

Pastey

Pastey Half

Heavy Closed

Heavy Open

Boss Closed

Boss Open

Dark Cl

Dark Opn

Amazon Closed

Amazon Half

Trash Hat

Loose Open Hat

Close Foot Pedal

LM-1 Closed

LM-1 Open

LinnDrum HH Closed

LinnDrum HH

LinnDrum HH Open

Close Tambo

Tight Studio Hat

Crack Hat

Accent

HH Dub Plate

Dry Tap

Peace Corp

Old Timer

Blu Pedal

Fake

Open Fat

Abrasive

Tic Tac

Noise Hat

Reversed

Dirty Pedal

Barely ere

Click

Quiet

Shorty HH

One Foot Pedal

8080 HH

8080 Open

808ish Maraca

9009 HH

Tempest Operation Manual

Samples

9009 HH2

Perc Hat

DR55 HH

Right Foot Pedal

Another Perc

Closing HH

Small Hi Hat

Unnatural

Trip Hop HH

Aliens

Silver HH

Kicky Hi Hat

Large Edge Cymbal

Zilch Crash

Gong

Pastey Hit

45 Degree Dust

Bell Crash

Oriental Hit

Higher Cymbal

No Name Crash

909ish

LinnDrum Crash

808ish Crash

Hertz Cymbal

Flat Ride

Medium Bell

Blue High Ride

Small Gong

Smooth Ride

Shortcut

LinnDrum Ride

909ish Crash

Tom Splash Cart

Reverse CY

Res Hi

Res Mid

Res Floor

Nice Hi

Nice Mid

Nice Floor

Punchy Hi

Punchy Mid

Punchy Low

Hi Maple

Mid Maple

Low Maple

Blue Tom Hi

Blue Tom Lo

Tonic Tom Hi

Tonic Tom Low

Acoustic Hi

Acoustic Low

Tom Splat

udd Tom

Wood Wor ld

SCI Tom Cart

LM-1 Hi Tom

LM-1 Lo Tom

LinnDrum TomHi

LinnDrum TomMid

LinnDrum TomLo

808ish Hi Tom

808ish Mid Tom

808ish Low Tom

909ish Tom Hi

909ish Tom Mid

909ish Tom Low

Reverse Hi

Reverse Mid

Reverse Low

Clap 9090

Layered Clap

Slap Clap

Digi Clap

NotDisClap

PerClapsaLot

LM-1 Clap

LinnDrum Clap

808ish

9090

Reverse Clap

How Now

Real Cow

Tang C owbe ll

Dinky Cow

Short Cow

80s Cowbell

LM-1 CowB

LinnDrum CowB

OG 808 Cow

Reverse Cowbell

Cross Stick

82 Samples

Dave Smith Instruments

Light Cross

Low Cross

Jam Block H

Jam Block L

Keys

Guiro

Castanet

Drag at Click

Moon Golf

Real Shaker

Cabasa A

Cabasa B

LM-1 Cabasa

LinnDrum Cabasa

Real Fingers

Cute Drum Robot

Digi Click

Bit-o-Clap

Hot Tabla Lo

Hot Tabla Mid

Hot Tabla Hi

Hot Tabla Highest

Tabla Bounce

Udu Bounce

Udu u Do 1

Udu u Do 2

What Conga

Conga 1

Conga 2

Conga 3

808ish Hi Conga

808ish Lo Conga

LM-1 CongaHi

LM-1 CongaLo

LinnDrum Conga

Tambourine

Tambo Ring

TamB e ll

Metal Tamb

Wood Tamb

LM-1 Tamb

LinnDrum Tamb

Raucous Tamb

Tri HiFi

Short Triangle

Noisy Bell

Flexi A

Flexi B

Stick on Metal

Clank

Sounds Like?

Abrupt Metal

808ish Clave

Rico Clave

Phazey Click

Coming Up

Choked Perc

Hollow Box Lid

Oil Drum

Canned Perc

Half Full

Pla-stick

Punch n Drag

Nutrino

Solar Explosion

Wrinkled

Quark

Particulate

Hadron

Flutter

Broken Toy

Click Reduction

Fazzle

Grunt

Bucket Bottom

Charged Porceline

Brrrrr

Shorted

BeatBox

Tap at

Boxer2

Flat Perc

Flat Click

Filtered Perc

Vacan t

Hybrid Click

SCI Tom Cart Laser

SCI Tom Scratch

Needle On

Outta Time

Sine 130.81 Hz

Sine

Sawtooth

Tempest Operation Manual

Samples

Square

WmBel l

RdBell

R2Bell

W2Bell

FmtBell

FzReed

FmtAOh

FmtAhh

Banjo1

TriP lus

DisBel

Pulse2

Pulse3

SqrReed

Oohh

Eehh

Feedback

Piano1

E.Pno

M.Harm

VS 23

HiTo p

WmReed

VS 26

Hollow

BellOrg

BassBell

Tine1

SynBell

VS 32

Orient

HighPipe

Mass

ReedOrg

OrgAhh

MelOrg

Clarinet

AhhFem

AhhHom

AhhBass

RegVox

Vocal1

Vocal2

Harmony

Bass

Guitar

Nice

WWind

Oboe

Harp

Pipe

Hack1

Hack2

Hack3

Pinch

BellHrm

BellVo x

Hi Harm

Hi Reed

BellReed

WmWhistl

Corn

Flute 2

Med Pure

Tuba

FullBell

Bell

Pinch

Clustr

M.Pinch

VoxP nch

OrgPnch

AhhPnch

PnoOrg

BrReed

NoFund

ReedHrm

LiteFund

MelOrg

Bell Partials 1

Bell

VS 84

VS 85

VS 86

VS 87

VS 88

VS 89

VS 90

VS 91

VS 92

Piano2

Bell Partials 2

VS 95

84 Samples

Dave Smith Instruments

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 lter sounds strange or out of tune.

In the System menu, choose Calibrate Analog Oscillators and Filters.

Note: It is not necessary to run the calibration routine on a regular basis.

You should only run it if you are experiencing problems.

The Real Time FX sliders are not behaving as expected or don’t seem to go full range.

In the System menu, choose Calibrate Slider 1 and Slider 2 Position and follow the instructions to calibrate the sliders.

Still experiencing a problem?

From the System menu, choose Reset System Parameters.

Contacting Technical Support

If you are still having a problem with Tempest, contact Technical Support at

support@davesmithinstruments.com. Please include your Tempest’s serial

number, the versions of the operating systems (from the System menu, choose Show System Information), and the purchase date.

If you have not already reset the Global parameters and run the calibration

routine (see “Troubleshooting,” above), you should do it before contacting Technical

Support. It’s probably the rst thing they’ll ask you to do.

Tempest Operation Manual

Support

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. For your own protection, as well as ours, please do not return any product to Dave Smith Instruments without a return authorization (RA) number. To issue an RA number, Technical Support needs:

• You r name

• Your return address

• Your email address

• A phone number where you can be reached

• Your Tempest’s serial number

• The date of purchase and where purchased

If you need to return your instrument for repair, you are responsible for getting it to DSI. We strongly suggest insuring it and packing in the original packaging.

Damage resulting from shipping a product with insufcient packaging is not

covered by warranty.

86 Warranty Repair

Dave Smith Instruments