In 2012, the famous brand Nord launched a series of drum machines with a short and clear name - "Drum". At first glance, it may seem that Nord Drum doesn’t stand out among the others: the next budget option without a built-in sequencer, but it's not. First of all, the device can be integrated with other devices for convenient performing (using MIDI In/Out). It seems to be designed for percussionists and drummers playing live performances.

Nord Drum is a 4-channel virtual analog synthesizer. In other words, it uses DSP chips and software algorithms that simulate an analog circuit. All 4 channels are absolutely identical, and you can add any drum kits: from kick, snare, hat, tom to 2 kongas, bells and cymbals, at your discretion. The range of drum sounds varies from authentic analog to extremely acoustic. Its simple interface becomes accessible and extremely intuitive after only a few minutes of use.

The mixer is divided into 3 sections: Click, Noise and Tone. Click generates a click at the attack phase, and has 3 kinds of waveforms to use as a starting point. The noise generator has a decay/gate, as well as a low-pass filter with 7 types of resonance and a simple velocity envelope. The "Color" function opens a wide range of timbres. The main section of Tone contains a large selection of waveforms: 3 analog (sine, saw, square) and 14 harmonic waves. From the point of view of application, programmability, flexibility and sound, Nord Drum, definitely, is a stunning success.

Tags: digital synthesizer