DSI Tempest: An Analog Drum Machine for the Digital Age
How the DSI Tempest Blends Analog Power with Digital Precision
A groundbreaking creation in the world of drum machines, the DSI Tempest combines classic analog warmth with innovative digital control. Designed by Dave Smith and Roger Linn, this hybrid device offers unique synthesis, performance tools, and a powerful sequencer.
Let’s explore why it’s still cherished by musicians and producers alike.
A Drum Machine Built for Performance and Precision
If there’s one drum machine that stands out for its bold combination of analog depth and digital control, it's the DSI Tempest.
Created by two legends in electronic music—Dave Smith, the mastermind behind MIDI and the Prophet synthesizers, and Roger Linn, the force behind the LinnDrum, the Tempest brings together a spectrum of features that make it more than a simple drum machine. It’s a performance-focused instrument with a robust analog core and intuitive controls that feel just right for live musicians and producers.
Designed for seamless beat manipulation and an analog signal path, the Tempest arrived as digital gear was overtaking the music world. It offered a tactile, real-time experience and retained the grit and warmth so often celebrated in vintage equipment​.
Analog Heart: The Tempest’s Unique Synthesis Voices
The Tempest houses six analog voices, each featuring an advanced setup that includes dual analog oscillators, a sub-oscillator, and two digital oscillators.
This combination makes it ideal not only for drum sounds but also for producing a wide variety of musical textures, from deep basslines to smooth, evolving pads.
Dual Analog Oscillators: These produce classic analog waveforms (sawtooth, triangle, and pulse) that musicians can use to create everything from punchy, sharp kicks to deep basses. Each oscillator's tuning is highly stable, maintaining pitch accuracy without external adjustment.
Sub-Oscillator: Added to enhance low-end impact, this octave-lowered oscillator is perfect for thickening kicks and bass lines.
Digital Oscillators: With hundreds of samples available, these oscillators provide diverse sounds, from percussion and effects to single-cycle waveforms. The Tempest’s digital oscillators feed through the same analog processing chain, ensuring they integrate smoothly with the analog tones.
This hybrid voice structure also makes the Tempest a capable polyphonic synthesizer, able to be played as a six-voice synth when connected to a MIDI keyboard.
I’ll explore the Tempest’s synth engine and sounds in a future article and video, so subscribe so you don’t miss out!
Real-Time Control and Expressiveness
With 16 pressure- and velocity-sensitive pads, the Tempest excels as a live performance tool. Each pad can be assigned a unique sound, and with up to 32 sounds available per beat, artists have a versatile palette at their fingertips. The Tempest has several pad modes:
16 Sounds Mode: Play a unique sound on each pad, ideal for building layered beats.
16 Beats Mode: Quickly trigger between different beat patterns, useful for live arrangements.
16 Mutes Mode: Toggle individual sounds on and off instantly, creating real-time dynamics.
An exciting feature of the Tempest is its Roll function, which repeats a note at a defined rate when a pad is held, enabling spontaneous fills and rhythmic variations.
Users can even switch pad modes without interrupting their flow—a feature that makes this machine ideal for live performance.
Unique Sequencing and Analog Delay
Unlike traditional drum machines, the Tempest uses its sequencer to create delay effects by repeating note events, preserving its analog sound path.
This approach maintains the Tempest’s analog character while adding a rhythmic, organic delay that’s highly customizable.
It also supports swing and independent time signatures per beat, allowing users to experiment with complex, non-standard rhythms​.
Powerful Sequencing for Deep Beat Creation
The Tempest shines as a sequencer, allowing musicians to move beyond basic beat-making. Its step and real-time recording capabilities provide intuitive ways to layer sounds and develop rich, complex rhythms.
The Tempest supports up to 128 sixteenth notes per beat, meaning users can build patterns that are up to eight measures long in a standard 4/4 time signature​. This length is ideal for detailed compositions, enabling users to mix intricate rhythmic elements with ease.
One particularly engaging feature is 16 Beats Mode, which makes it simple to switch between beats during performance. This mode, combined with 16 Mutes and 16 Sounds, allows for a fluid, performance-oriented workflow where musicians can seamlessly alter their rhythms. Each beat can consist of up to eight measures in length, giving artists the freedom to add substantial complexity and variation to their live performances​.
Analog Delay and Unique Beat Effects
The Tempest also provides a standout analog delay effect generated through sequencing rather than digital processing. Unlike conventional digital delay, the Tempest’s delay is achieved by repeating sequenced notes to produce a rhythmic echo.
This keeps the entire signal path analog, a choice that resonates with musicians who seek that signature analog warmth and authenticity. The delay can be tailored by adjusting parameters like repeat time and feedback, creating effects that feel organic and textured.
For live control, Real-Time FX sliders add layers of expressiveness by letting users tweak beat-wide parameters. Musicians can instantly manipulate aspects like filter cutoff, pitch, and resonance during a performance, opening up unique creative possibilities on the fly.
When combined with other beat and sound-wide effects, this flexibility makes the Tempest an ideal tool for live electronic music​.
Shaping Dynamics: The Compression Knob
Another standout feature on the Tempest is the compression knob, which adds control over dynamics, bringing that extra punch to your beats and letting sounds cut through the mix. Compression is an essential tool in music production, especially for drum machines, as it helps to balance the volume levels of individual hits and glue sounds together.
On the Tempest, this knob is highly intuitive and can be adjusted in real time, perfect for live performance tweaks. A slight turn enhances the punch of each sound, giving kicks, snares, and other percussive elements a satisfying attack without overwhelming the mix.
Turning it up even further increases sustain, making drum sounds richer and more present. This feature is ideal for both subtle tweaks and dramatic effects, giving you plenty of flexibility to craft sounds that are tight and controlled or loud and aggressive.
Using the Compression knob, the Tempest’s sounds can transform from laid-back grooves to powerful, upfront beats that demand attention, letting artists shape dynamics with ease.
Adding Grit: The Distortion Knob
If you want to bring some raw edge to your beats, the Distortion knob on the Tempest is your go-to control. By adding harmonic distortion, it delivers that classic gritty sound often associated with analog gear, allowing users to create everything from subtle warmth to intense, saturated textures.
The Distortion knob affects the entire mix, giving it a cohesive, overdriven feel that’s perfect for adding attitude to your sound. Lower settings introduce a bit of warmth and character, making the beats feel thicker and fuller. Turning it up introduces a more aggressive, in-your-face quality, ideal for genres like industrial, techno, and any style that benefits from a bit of sonic roughness.
Distortion also helps certain sounds stand out in the mix by adding harmonics, giving each beat an extra layer of complexity and depth. On stage, a quick adjustment of this knob can add instant intensity to a performance, making the Tempest’s beats even more powerful.
Whether you’re dialing in a bit of warmth or unleashing a wave of distortion, this knob gives you the power to control the vibe of your beats, making the Tempest a truly versatile instrument for both smooth and gritty soundscapes.
Real-Time Sound Shaping: The FX Sliders
The Tempest’s FX Sliders offer musicians hands-on control over sound parameters in real time. These sliders are highly responsive and versatile, allowing artists to shape and manipulate their sounds with precision during a performance or recording session.
Each slider can be assigned to various parameters, such as filter cutoff, resonance, pitch, or amplitude, giving users immediate access to these essential aspects of sound design.
The FX Sliders provide a tactile way to add expressiveness to each beat, making it easy to build transitions, emphasize certain hits, or create sweeping, evolving textures. By assigning each slider to different functions, artists can experiment with unique combinations, adding a personal touch to their beats.
What’s more, the sliders are especially useful in live settings, where real-time control is key. For example, sweeping the filter cutoff can produce a classic "filter sweep" effect, a popular sound-shaping technique used in electronic music to add drama and variation. Alternatively, adjusting the pitch via the slider can lead to pitch bends or drops, infusing a rhythmic element with a sense of motion.
The FX Sliders make the Tempest highly adaptable, catering to artists who thrive on interactive, hands-on sound shaping. By incorporating these sliders, musicians can take their beats from subtle modulations to dramatic, evolving textures, making every performance feel fresh and unique.
With these FX Sliders, the DSI Tempest not only holds its own as a powerful drum machine but also as an expressive tool for real-time sonic exploration.
Thoughtful Design and Built to Last
From a design perspective, the Tempest captures a unique blend of vintage and modern aesthetics. With its OLED display providing clear feedback and backlit, pressure-sensitive pads, it’s as visually striking as it is functional.
The Tempest’s wood side panels nod to classic synthesizer designs, while its bright display and responsive controls keep it relevant in today’s studio environments.
Dave Smith Instruments clearly intended this machine for serious performance, and the build quality reflects that: it’s robust, feels solid under the hands, and is reliable in both studio and live settings.
The panel layout is carefully considered, giving performers immediate access to key controls. Each pad has a dedicated function, with modes like 16 Levels that adjust volume intensity or 16 Tunings for melodic play.
By offering flexible real-time control, the Tempest becomes a powerful tool not only for drummers but for anyone seeking to craft unique beats with hands-on precision​.
Why the Tempest Still Matters
Despite its initial release in the digital age, the Tempest continues to hold its place in studios and live setups worldwide. The machine’s unique fusion of analog and digital synthesis, combined with its versatile performance features, sets it apart as more than just a drum machine. The Tempest encourages musicians to explore new creative territory, blending the tactile satisfaction of analog control with the precision of digital sequencing.
With its six analog voices, flexibility as a polyphonic synthesizer, and capabilities as a full performance instrument, the Tempest remains relevant for musicians who appreciate the depth of analog sound but also crave the versatility that digital control provides.
It’s an instrument for those who want to experiment with rhythm, melody, and texture in a single, cohesive platform​.
Don’t Miss a Beat!
Love exploring retro music gear and the stories behind them? Subscribe to Retrothusiast on Substack and join a community that lives and breathes iconic instruments, from synths to drum machines, vintage computers, and retro electronics.
Don’t miss exclusive insights, tips, and chats with other retro enthusiasts. Click subscribe and stay tuned for the next deep dive – your vintage gear journey starts here!