Muff's Modules & More

shreddoggie · Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2011 2:26 pm Post subject:

OK - made a new one. Used the PCM-41 on one of the outputs in the spirit of getting closer to how I might actually use it.

Current stuff: still wrestling with the gain structure / voice stealing / dedicated outputs and the internal (Tempest) mixer at 16 x 16..... also not getting the switch between sequences solid enough - sometimes my timing is not there, it takes the tiniest anticipation to arrive on the beat + sometimes it glitches with odd behavior either cutting off a voice or releasing a parameter when another pad is hit - you can hear occasional squeaks as the filter goes weird when a new beat suddenly kills the current one.... me no likie angry

http://soundcloud.com/swamp-sound-system/tempest-test-004-techno

also: why is the soundcloud embed so fussy? The last one worked fine now this one is giving me way too much grief... seriously, i just don't get it

b3nsf · Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2011 12:21 pm Post subject:

Dang that machine has got many flavors under the hood, and sounds a bit grungy too, that's a good thing I think! cool

b3nsf · Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2011 12:37 pm Post subject:

shreddoggie · Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2011 8:12 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the thought B3NSF ---- With utmost respect I wonder what it REALLY is? I don't doubt what you hear -- but I would seriously doubt that its the actual midi events and their exact position in time since (my guess would be) that the differences are WAY WAY to subtle for anyone to tell the difference. I mean if you could compare synched clocks and the actual digital events BEFORE THEY BECOME AUDIO I would seriously doubt that they would show any difference. It doesn't make sense that we can stay on a certain BPM all day long but all the events along the way are slipping and sliding around - it seems like if this were true then the overall BPM would slow down / speed up over time or probably more likely gradually drift either faster or slower. Does it make sense for the circuit to stay solid in one respect while being sloppy in another?

I wonder if it has more to do with the circuits which handle those events on their way through whatever transistors and capacitors and op amps and transformers they hafta go through before they go out through some cable and into the next array of electronics before FINALLY reaching your ear? This would make sense to me in that I believe one reason we like analog circuits is that all those transistors and resistors simply cannot do what they do exactly the same every time - they just are not that accurate and were not meant to be. Thus we get a nice SUBTLE variation in the sound - a sort of soft math if you will - which defeats some robot-ness because every articulation is ever so different. I see no reason why timing should not be subject to such small fluctuations as the signal travels through all those circuits thus giving you a built in 'humanize' function.

So now that I have derailed MY OWN THREAD going OT d'oh!

maybe someone who knows more about electronics in these machines (more than me would be almost everyone) could opine on the subject. I would certainly be curious. In the meantime I will do a 16th note Tempest experiment in an attempt to bring this thread BACK ON TOPIC very frustrating

shreddoggie · Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2011 9:42 pm Post subject:

...and Voila! the eagerly anticipated "how robotic are the 16th notes?" test...

applause

3 variations:
1 = all VELOCITIES played by me and quantized to the Tempest's 16th grid
2 = all EQUAL VELOCITIES step entered on the Tempest's 16th grid
3 = all EQUAL VELOCITIES step enterd on the Tempest's 16th grid then manually edited for variation based on the strong weak weak weak pattern

BTW: the kik and snare were step entered so as to be exactly the same in each and not distract form the very important science of the hat pattern.

verdict? I will wait to see what you say but I have my opinions... (big surprise) d'oh!

[s]http://soundcloud.com/swamp-sound-system/tempest16ths[/s]

Vcoadsr · Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2011 6:30 am Post subject:

b3nsf · Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2011 10:45 am Post subject:

pretty nice 16th notes, no complaint here... cool

Hainbach · Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2011 5:21 pm Post subject:

I hear some glitches, could that be data compression or are those in the original? I prefered number three.

shreddoggie · Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2011 8:22 pm Post subject:

Pym · Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2011 11:40 pm Post subject:

Figured I'd chime in about a couple things, just to give you guys an accurate picture of what the Tempest development cycle is looking like...

The first update is already in beta and I'll be releasing a copy to the dsiforum.org Tempest forum probably by the end of the week. I have decided to skip vacations for the next few months to work on the OS. I do nearly all of the code and will be solely responsible for getting updates out, so if you need somebody to yell at, I'm here. The first OS update addresses the following (probably more by the time I'm done), among other various bug fixes:

Master volume only goes half as loud as it should be (one of those "how the hell did we miss that" type things). The SNR will improve accordingly and it should address the 'weak/cloudy' sound
MIDI IN Sync
Basic MIDI playback modes (note-to-pad and synth mode, each one using a separate channel, so both can be used at the same time)
4 Pad velocity curves
'TimeShift' variable on each note event, allowing you to move it +/- 3 ticks @ 96ppqn
Pad LEDs flash as sounds are triggered in 16 mutes mode to make it easier to figure out what you're muting

I'm going to try to get sound previewing working by the first update as well, that's a big one for me, feels clunky. Kits shouldn't be too far off after that's working. Likely will get polyphonic playback from 16 tunings or MIDI keyboard working in the first update as well.

One of the shortcuts that I added (I snuck a good number of these things in and will continue to do so, luckily Dave lets me get away with it) is if you hold down the 'Osc Select' button, it will select all 4 oscillators. There you'll see the screen assigns the soft knobs to pitch of all 4 on the same screen so you can match pitch without having to select each one individually. The second screen does the same with levels (Osc 1/2 mix, Sub Osc Level, Osc 3 Level, and Osc 4 level). If you change the pitch encoder in the oscillator section it will change the pitch of all 4 oscillators at the same time, the other 2 encoders are disabled while all 4 Osc are selected.

One other thing I saw noted... the Note FX (slider param changes on an individual sound) are currently event based. This was to keep consistency between the sound as you're recording, so what you hear when you record is how it will play back. There is no reason I couldn't add a flag as a system param that would allow them to modulate things in realtime, although recording and sequencer playback would obviously still be event based. I think it's a worthwhile addition. I'll try and get it in the first or second update.

I know how frustrating it is getting a product that feels like it's still in beta and I wish I could have spent another month or two on development before release... but we lose money with hardware sitting around in storage and the decision had to be made. I spent a majority of the final weeks of development time fixing as many bugs as possible so things felt 'solid' rather than buggy. I'm of the opinion that it's far better to have thing solid and waiting for a few features than having a full feature set and finding little bugs all over the place, waiting for those to get fixed. So far the people I've talked with about it tend to agree, but only time will tell if the decision we made was a wise one.

Right. So to sum up, I'm committed to working on the OS (nearly exclusively) for the next 9-12 months, minimum. I have a ton of additional features and ideas for improvements that I've already started to sketch out. I do listen to comments and criticisms and I am very active on the forum, plus if you're in SF you could always just drop by and get an OS update while laying down some beats with us.

Matos · Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2011 11:52 pm Post subject:

Pym
I don't own a tempest but I find your attitude and dedication inspiring. Guinness ftw!

StepLogik · Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 7:51 am Post subject:

Pym

Thanks for updating us and keep up the good work! I know the work is brutal and the job is often thankless but people really do appreciate it.

I think about what a pain it is to write a simple MIDI processor for the Arduino and realize what a huge challenge you have.

This is fun!

Weston Underwood · Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 7:15 pm Post subject:

Dear Pym

You and all the rest of the Linn/DSI team have already done a really great job. The Tempest is a superbly inspiring machine. I absolutely love it.

Its fantastic to get the level of support and communication with users that we have had so far. I also have a Cirklon and its a similar situation. Superb hardware, almost endless potential and a developer who chats with the users to put together a product that meets the communities needs.

I'd much rather have the machine in my hands and know it will continue to get better than wait a bit longer and get a device who's development will be basically ended like the average device from the bigger players.

Finally. We all need a holiday and work more efficiently sometimes after one! We all want you keen and mean!

The next set of updates tick a large number of my boxes (other than bar numbers/length and playlists). Looking forward to it already.

All the best.

WU

Pym · Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 7:57 pm Post subject:

It's always very welcome to get feedback on the work we're doing. I'm really glad you guys appreciate the effort that's gone into this thing and that, overall, people are really happy with what we've created. It's certainly been a long time coming. I've never built a product that inspired my creative side like this; that's one of the nice things working here, lots of freedom to change things if they don't feel just right. Plenty of that to come.

I just posted the first update to the Tempest forum as a beta here since I'm ahead of schedule. Updates should be coming out pretty regularly over the next couple months to address the remaining issues and maybe a couple easter eggs.

Münster · Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2011 2:40 pm Post subject:

Hi,
at the moment I am looking after a nice addition to my TR-909 and Machinedrum (I wrote about it in my thread in the General Gear section) and came up with the idead of buying a Tempest.
Like said in the other thread I am (among ohter drum sounds) after some 808ish sounds.
So my question is, can the Tempest produce such sounds (without using the internal 808 samples)? And can it have the punch or power of the old drummachines like a 909 or a newer Xbase? Of course it doesn´t have to sound extacly like these, but I like this old "punch" a lot.
Thanks!

Vcoadsr · Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2011 3:13 pm Post subject:

chando · Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2011 8:48 pm Post subject:

Münster · Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2011 4:13 am Post subject:

Hey,
thanks for the demos! They sound really interesting and there are some cool 808ish sounds!
The aspect to get more into sound design/architecture when creating drum sounds would be nice too.
I think I have to sell some things in the next weeks to make myself a nice christmas present... hihi

jenamu6 · Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2011 4:15 am Post subject:

I was skeptical at first....but I'm beginning to see the potential in the sequencer.

BUT....onwers please tell me.....does it have the punch or not?

Every demo I heard, sounds like a flat synth, trying to sound like a drummachine. So I thought might be youtube....so I tried soundcloud....same. Don't tell me it's because of those sites compression....other movies or clouds do sound punchy.

I have GAS for this......but I want the punch.....can it deliver.

Please more demo's....with punch please