Anyone ?
I made an offer for a second hand Tempest but really need to figure this out before actually buying the unit.
Can’t help but I sold mine for the poor midi implementation (nearly non existent) and the rudimentary sequencer.
It’s not something I’d buy to keep tied to a DAW, especially for the price I see around. You can buy a used Rythm mk1 + A4 mk1 + Digitone for that money, way more powerful in every aspect and better use of your money 
.
Having said that, I’d buy one (at a decent price) for the hand-on experience and sound, really well designed and fun.
Doesn’t have kits per se, but sounds per pad are tied to the pattern. So only sequencing pattern changes from the DAW will change them remotely.
This device is severely crippled in multiple ways. External MIDI control is very limited.
Got rid of mine very happily, and even watching the price go up to almost twice what I let it go for hasn’t stimulated a shred of regret.
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As an MPC3000 user it’s very hard to be critical of Mr Linn (I blame Dave Smith for most of the shortcomings and lack of development), but having watched all the videos in which he discusses and uses the Tempest, and then owned and used one myself, it’s hard not to conclude that he did very little research into what contemporary drum machines were already capable of when he was developing it.
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Well. MIDI (non) implementation is a no-go for me.
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Look, the Tempest is probably the most under-developed kit out there since the dawn of time, when it comes to midi. Even if it did what you asked in this thread, it’d fail you in other ways down the road. If midi is important, don’t get the Tempest.
It’s a funky as hell, ballsy kind of attitude machine. And like most people with that kind of personality, it’s about so so in interaction with others
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Dave Smith and MIDI… he’s supposed to be one of the inventors, right ? But his machines have so poor MIDI implementation…
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I know. The irony.
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In French we have a saying for this : ‘Les cordonniers sont les plus mal chaussés’.
(The shoemakers are those who wear the worst shoes).
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He’s not a user of his own products. That simple.
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Sweden got a version of that - we call it Skomakarnas barn. Literally meaning the Shoemaker’s kids. It’s implied that everyone has great shoes except for those who really know the craft and their kids. They just can’t be bothered, being busy with other stuff.
I honestly think Dave is just kind of bored with the usual suspects when it comes to features. The Tempest is a very creative and innovate instrument, it does a lot of things no other kit can copy and it sounds great when you learn how to work it. It’s just no good at the standard stuff.
But that which it does well, I can’t think of any other kit that can match it.
He certainly made a racket on it in his demos………i felt he would rather be playing his guitar through the Adrenalinn……Still would like to have one some time.
Just thinking its about as far away from the MPC3000 as you can get…….]
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America has a version of that - we call it Dave Smith 🫠 (jk <3 Dave).
Does it handle MIDI clock and external notes?
If so, it would still be good for studio work.
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Clock, yes.
Midi notes, yes, but for polyphonic play, only one patch. You can map each other drum
sound to a note number, though, to sequence it externally.
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I need to make some videos with my tempest. I never use it as a drum module, but I have set up some racks in ableton for just that.
With the 16 lane mod matrix and 5 envelopes, you can make patches that are extremely velocity responsive. It’s kind of hard to overemphasize how deep you can get in making sounds on this thing.
The tempest has 32 sounds per best, and 16 beats per project. That’s 512 sounds available at any given time. Tempest always boots with the last project active, so you can have a pretty good kit read to go. It’s best to disable tempest’s sequencer if you are using it this way, however, which means losing the ability to use its pads, which are the best pads I have ever used. But you can send midi data to all the pads no problem.
However, tempest truly shines by using it with a mixer and a few effects, making a pattern and playing the mutes/sliders. It somehow sounds more raw than any other gear. The roll effect can be beat-wide, and it’s quantized to the clock. This plus reverse is so fun.
All the drums in this track are tempest, done in one live take:
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Thanks but can you confirm that you cannot change Beats with midi if you set the incoming midi notes to trigger sounds ? It’s either/or.
I had the guy selling it on the phone and he was confirming it 99%.
It’s just a no-go for me if that’s so.
Pretty sure you can’t change beats with midi, though I never use it like that because it’s kind of missing the point of the device IMO.
Don’t get it if your aren’t going to be hands-on.
🫣