DSI Tetr4 synth

I’m digging through my analog synths right now and taking stock of stuff. I have a bunch of boxes that I bought four tabletop/live pa use. I’m getting kind of philosophical about the things that I own right now and trying to find the reasons that I should have them. I don’t generally sell anything. I usually regret selling things. Sometimes I regret buying them though. I’m waiting on a new Ableton Move after buying so so many grooveboxes. I was also on a kick buying hardware synthesizers.

I started by purchasing a used Access Virus, which is a synth I always lusted after back when I coudn’t afford it. I got a good job and started buying some stuff starting with the Elektron Machinedrum and the Virus.

Ok that’s a side note. What I want to talk about here is the synths that I actually pull out. I really really love the sound of the Moog Minitaur. It has just enough knobs to make it useful on the tabletop. I kind of wish I had a full Moog keyboard though. I have the Slim Phatty and find it uninspiring.

How does the DSI Tetr4 fit in here? It’s a beautiful analog synth that has 4 voices. I was originally going to buy a Mopho but I had the opportunity to buy the Tetr4 for about the same price.

The problem with these synths is that editing patches is pretty difficult. It’s one of those things where it’s useful for having it in a setup if your sounds are already done. I went around looking for an editor. The only one that seems to work for me is a commercial piece of software from SoundTower.

I’m messing with this right now and it’s honestly not working all that well for me. It’s pretty fiddly.

So the Tetr4 has some kind of interesting features when it comes to “combos”. There are these little analog drum grooves in the factory sounds that are unlike any of the other analog synths that I have. The Wagnerian patch is a classic DSI sound. Apart from that I’m not sure this box really stands out for me.

I think I will always have it in my collection as an example of the Dave Smith sound, but I don’t know if I will buy another flagship synth from them. Maybe a Mopho X4 or something modest. The depths of sound design for these synths is pretty epic, but I’m thinking that I probably only need one of this type of synth.

Turning on multi mode lets you trigger the different voices individually. So the drum combos can be triggered separately.

Click to access TetraManualv.1.3.pdf

I’m not sure about this synth for sound design. I just can’t get an editor working correctly. It sounds amazing and has interesting sounds in the combos. I love that many of the patches respond nicely to aftertouch. I’m always going to keep this box but I don’t know if it’s a go-to for many things.