Yeah it’s just the analogue side of it I was using
Good luck. Maybe you’ll have a better time with it than I did
This is really a special instrument. Either you like it or you don’t.
I love my Tempest!
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Tempest is a modern classic. I’m glad I still have mine. Having said that, I wouldn’t buy one with problems unless it was heavily discounted.
This track is 100% tempest plus a few effects in ableton, one take.
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lovely tune
This is not an expensive fix. Get ahold of sequential. They will send you the board to swap out. You send the old one back.
Ok that is great to know! I am in contact with them right now, doing the normal troubleshooting. So well see how this turns out.
Thanx mate!
Imo Tempest blows Rytm out of the water. The only real thing Rytm got over Tempest is trig conditions. Tempest sequencer is different but also great with heavy focus on time signature very easy maneuvers to copy, erase and undo.
My favorite way of using Tempest has been to first craft the sounds and then use another sequencer to record the midi data over 8 bars. OP-1 has been my sequencer of choice as of late.
The real downside is that a project only contains 16 sequences. So I fill up the 16 slots with the same drums sounds but different sequences and then play melodic parts from other synths. So I can easily switch up grooves on the tempest.
Rytm imo felt really limited, I was actually kind of let down at how limited it felt on the synthesis front. It’s quiet the opposite with Tempest.
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Tempest has 32 simultaneous lanes with 6 possible at one time. It’s kind of a different way of handling sound locks. You could have 4 “songs” per pattern if you really wanted to.
What the Rytm has over the Tempest has nothing to do with the sequencer and everything to do with how the voices are designed. In the Rytm they are designed for making percussive sounds. In the Tempest they are not
The Tempest is not really a drum synth
You can turn a few knobs and find very quickly that your drums sounds are completely unrecognisable - which makes it useless for live tweaking
Most drum machines (like the rytm, 808, 909 etc…) have voices that are designed for percussive sounds
The Tempest voices are not tuned in this way - they are more like you would find on any other poly synth
Unless you know how to make drum sounds from scratch - this is not very useful
This is interesting. I came to learn to like the Rytm analog machine, something that in the begining i really didn´t. I now really like the kicks, claps and hats/cym from the rytm. But one thing that i always felt, and still do, is that is somewhat limited. Well, its limited to drum sounds i guess 
.
In practice i´ve used the rytm for the ocasional notgoinganywhere jam, and 99% of the time for sampling. So the sequencer is fun to mess around but i just cannot get organized to play with more than one sequencer at one time (I use M+ as my main instrument).
In this case do you (or anybody else) thinks that the tempest is a better source for sampling? In papper it, seems. But there is some sample handling that i am used to do on the rytm that it doesnt seem possible on the tempest . For example controlling sample lengths independently from the amp envelope, bitcrunch, etc. Also, what about the caracter? Finally, what about A4/AK vs tempest, as a source for sampling?
The A4 is simply one of the most interesting and versatile synths of the last 20 years
It can make a far broader palette of sounds than any analogue synth I know of bar a modular setup
It’s because of the integration with the sequencer
There really aren’t that many pieces of gear that have this kind of relationship between the sequencer and the synth
The Tempest certainly doesn’t. There’s nothing particularly special about its sequencer
Plus the compressor and distortion on the output of the Tempest are a joke
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What Tempest REALLY miss is midi CC control over sound parameters. There’s off course BEAT control for all sounds at once but it doesn’t get you precise per sound control and automation.
I don’t understand how they made this mistake: )
Anyway still have mine and use it more as a „modular in the box“ type of thing.
If only they could fix this and some other minor things (loopable envs, more mod destanations ).
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Ooh straight up. The midi cc omission is just mind boggling
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The Tempest absolutely is, in every conceivable way, a drum synth. In fact, that’s entirely the point. It’s an open-architecture synth, with everything you need for designing percussion sounds, *provided that you know what you’re doing.
For how much it costs, why anyone would own a Tempest if they don’t know from drum synthesis, is beyond me. Don’t get me wrong, if you’re into happy accidents and can afford it, have at 'er; but not if you’re going to complain about it simply because you don’t know what you’re doing. 
For the record, I’m not talking to you directly here, Cocker. I’m just saying…
The RYTM is an awesome drum machine, to be sure; but it is not a drum “synth” per se. If all the parameters are decided for you, such that you can’t miss, it’s not really a synth—not to my mind anyway. To that end, I find that sort of thing frustrating. The Tempest, on the other hand, has allowed me to build up an entire library of drum sounds, custom-tailored by me to the finest detail, to be repeated by no one. Indeed, I’ve used those sounds to populate every sampler I own, and deliver productions to my clients that are unique and stand out from other productions, if only by virtue of the fact that owning a Tempest doesn’t mean you can sound like me or artist ‘X’. Therein lies the merit and reward of taking the road less traveled.
Cheers!
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I promise I’m not taking personal shots at you, Cocker, I’m just clarifying some things for those looking on.
What is special about the Tempest’s sequencer (which also happens to be the same reason why I bought an MPC Live) is its ability to handle odd time signatures and musical subdivisions outside of the realm of 4/4 and straight 16th notes on the grid. And it does so effortlessly, as any musician accustom to playing a real instrument might expect. Want triplet eighths inside a 7/4 beat? No problem. That’s not trivial.
As for the compressor on the Tempest; again, it is widely misunderstood, as most compressors are. It’s a linear compressor with a fixed attack. What this means is, the knee frequency of the loudest sound (and that could be something as tiny as a shaker, the attack on a hi-hat, a blip of noise, etc.) will “drain” the compressor, and effectively sump the mix of all other frequencies. What that means in practice is, your hi-hat could be defeating the bass in your kick, if you don’t know how to mix. You have to feed a linear compressor a proper mix; unlike a multiband compressor that can, in some ways, “fix” a bad mix. To this end, the compressor on the Tempest works well, as expected, and can deliver all manner of compression effects.
And the distortion is similar. It is an analog rectifier style distortion, which will push back in a very particular way, depending on what it is fed. So again, it really depends on your sound design. You have to feed it according to how it’s going to respond to certain frequencies and gain structuring. There are perfectly useful and compelling results to be had there (all a matter of taste, of course), if you know what you’re doing and what you’re after.
Cheers!
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This is just plain wrong. What the AR is not is a drum keyboard. 
The terms can be swapped unwittingly, the common mistake of calling every keyboard a synthesizer. The AR synthesizes sounds, so it is very much so a synth, which is tailored to drum synthesis. It’s limited options may irk you, but that don’t make it synthesize any less.
Love your input on the Tempest, though. Did not know the sequencer had so much freedom for unconventional time signatures.
Well, to be fair, I did try to make the distinction. What I’m referring to is open-architecture synthesis, wherein one can command any parameter to do their bidding; as opposed to drum machines like the RYTM which, despite using synthesis to create drum sounds (over samples, let’s say), do not allow you to change the architecture of each voice or the behaviour, source, or destination of the otherwise fixed parameters you are given. The kick “machine” is entirely different than the hi-hat machine, and only capable of making certain sounds, mostly within the kick domain.
An 808, for instance, “synthesizes” its sounds, but is doomed to always sound like an 808, because the user does not have finite control over the structure of each voice. Now, the RYTM is far more flexible than an 808, to be sure, but a fixed architecture nonetheless. Therefore, I personally do not consider it a drum “synth” per se.
It’s all good though. Both machines have their merits. Indeed, we are spoiled with the tech at our disposal these days. Not arguing, just making conversation. 
Cheers!
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I do not misunderstand the compressor and distortion on the Tempest
I’ve 20+ years experience working as a sound editor/technician
I work daily using my ears and have been an avid gear collector and musician in this time also
The Tempest compressor/distortion are a poorly implemented afterthought haphazardly tacked on to the output stage of the synth
They sound shit
It’s not hard to believe DSI washed their hands of the Tempest. It was too much hassle for them to maintain.
Discontinued and unsupported after a notably short period
Meanwhile elektron pumping out quality updates for machines as old as the OT Mk1
Okay, well, fair enough.
All I’m saying is, I’ve gotten plenty of use out of the Tempest, over the years; and I work with a very discerning clientele. Is it the best compressor? Of course not. And distortion, in general, is decidedly a matter of taste and application.
Just doing my best to lend a little perspective and objectivity to some hardline criticism, from the perspective of someone who uses the Tempest in a professional context, both live and in the studio, and was closer to its development than most. And few people have been harder on DSI for the Tempest’s shortcomings than me, so you can be sure I’m not pandering.
Your mileage may vary.
Cheers!
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It had some good points
It’s a great layout and the pads were awesome (really wish elektron pads were more like that) and overall the build was quality. No complaints there
As mentioned the analogue synth engine sounded great but it was just too easy to find yourself way outside drum territory in just a few knob turns
Does that make it more versatile as a synth in general? Maybe… but it doesn’t make it a good drum machine
IMHO a jammable drum machine has voices that focus on drum sounds
I have a bunch of euro stuff and while it’s fun to synth my own percussion using OSC, VCF and VCA it’s way more practical and “go to” to just have drum modules (like the basimilus or the Mutant drums) that are tweakable and stay in drum territory. This is also what the Rytm does best
That’s not to say you can’t make very unique sounds with the Rytm. Far from it. It’s the simplicity with which the voices are designed that makes them so flexible if that makes sense
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