MusicTech on UNO Drum: “Delivers beyond its weight”
“An impressive amount of beat action to be had from this diminutive box”
MusicTech‘s editor at large, Andy Jones, recently took the opportunity to get up close and personal with UNO Drum. He was impressed by its analogue richness and performance features.
Here are some of his key comments:
“The analogue sound will hit you right between the ears straight away, the first kick having a huge, rich and rounded tone.”
“You should never judge a hardware instrument on its weight.”
“Interestingly, the digital PCM sounds are all recorded at 32kHz and 12-bit to give UNO Drum ‘an old-school vibe’ which I quite like – both the idea and the results.”
“With all of the Matrix options in place, you can see that using the various parameters does introduce a lot of variation. Even using UNO’s tuning feature alone, for example, you are massively expanding its sonic reach.”
“There is an impressive variety of kits, from the more robotic-like number 80 to many an 808/909-alike, to even the odd almost acoustic-like kit, although the emphasis is, as stated and perhaps expectedly, very much on the electronic side of music production.”
“Overall, the sequencer really is one of the most powerful parts of UNO Drum, yet surprisingly easy to get your head around.”
“UNO Drum is a more sonically flexible piece of hardware than you might initially think. You can certainly manipulate each of its 60 available kit sounds to an impressive degree to produce a huge variety of beats – and the sequencing and programming options are both deep and easy to employ.”
Andy’s final verdict is:
“There is an impressive amount of beat action to be had from this diminutive box and I can see it working well linked and sync’d up to the UNO Synth. The performance options are also very hands-on and usable and give UNO Drum some flexible live credentials. UNO Drum is another small and lightweight piece of IK hardware that delivers beyond its weight.”
Key Plusses:
+ Feature-packed drum machine
+ Lightweight and portable
+ Buss or battery powered
+ Good performance options
+ Sequencer is dead easy to use
+ Lovely analogue sounds
+ Impressive sonic flexibility