Nord Introduces Drum 3, Drum 3P At Musikmesse 2016

Musikmesse 2016: Swedish synth-maker Nord has announced two new modeling percussion synthesizers in advance of Musikmesse this week.

The new Nord Drum 3 and “super compact” Nord Drum 3P build on the capabilities of the Nord Drum 2.

New features include Reverb and Delay effects, a simplified sound selection mode and new Sound Banks for quickly creating custom kits on the fly.

Nord_Drum_3Nord Drum 3 Key Features:

  • 6-channel Percussion Synthesizer
  • Nord Drum 3P with integrated multi-pad, kick pad input and MIDI NEW
  • Nord Drum 3 with 6 generic trigger/drum pad inputs and MIDI
  • Simplified user interface with easy sound selection NEW
  • Advanced sound engine with Resonant Synthesis, Subtractive synthesis and FM-synthesis
  • Reverb and Delay Effects NEW
  • Drive, Crush and EQ-effects per channel
  • MIDI in/out and full CC-control
  • Stereo Output with improved output level
  • Headphone Output with improved output level

Nord_Drum_3PSimplified sound selection and new sound bank (new). The new Sound Select-feature allows the user to browse a wide selection of “great sounding” drum sounds, which are assigned to each pad individually. The percussionist can easily and quickly replace toms, cymbals or kicks by selecting from Nord Drum 3’s preset library.

The new factory sound bank features ten categories* of preset sounds that can be assigned to any of the six pads/channels, and is a starting point in rehearsal situations when it is necessary to find the right sounds in a matter of seconds.

Pricing and Availability. The Nord Drum 3/3P will be in stores in June 2016 with pricing to be announced. More information is available at the Nord website.

Nord will be exhibiting the new Nord Drum 3 and Nord Drum 3P in Frankfurt later this week at Musikmesse.

*The categories include Kicks, Snares, Toms, Claps, Cymbals, Hi-hats, Melodic, Effects, Materials and Synth.

17 thoughts on “Nord Introduces Drum 3, Drum 3P At Musikmesse 2016

  1. That demo shows that it is pretty playable and has some nice basic tones. It’s a little hard to tell how well it responds to dynamics as they didn’t really highlight that in either of the two songs.

    I expect there is or will be other demo material that will show the sonic range more effectively. That was a kind of nice little teaser– even if the music doesn’t suit everyone’s tastes.

  2. depends on price..it’s competing with alesis sample pad pro, yamaha’s aging and discounted but still cool dtx multi 12 with extra inputs for pads and capable of being plays with hands and fingers as well as sticks… PLUs ROLANDs octapad and spdx sample pads… from looking at the back of the nord, it only has 1 kick input pad…midi in and out…usb and stereo output and headphones..it’s gonna have to be cheap or sound insanely cool compared to the demo above.

    my thoughts currently the one with the pads rrp around £299…much higher than that and it will sit in the shop on the shelf as the yamaha is only £350 ish and the alesis £250

    7 drum sounds (6 pads and 1 kick input) is the smallest amount on the market currently.
    lets hope it has a few tricks up it’s sleeve,

    1. It’s a completely different animal… You’re comparing it to samplers and romplers. This is an actual synthesizer with deep sound design capabilities. If you want to compare this to anything you might want to look at JomoX.

      Now, if you’re simply looking for a performance tool to enhance an acoustic kit. Maybe you want to toss a sub drop into a breakdown every once in a while… This wouldn’t be the thing for you. I would direct you to one of the samplers that you mentioned.

      The Nord Drum line lends itself to rapid sound creation. Imagine being in a studio, writing a new song and wanting to add some percussion. Rather than flip through a pre-crafted sample library, you could grab a stick and start hitting pads with one hand while building your sounds from scratch with the other.

      Are you more of a sound designer or live performer? That’s the real question.

      1. yeh it’s a ‘drum synth’ with 6 pads, 1 input for kick…depends on what it can offer sonically..i have a roland TD30 kit and i’m looking myself for something like this, the alesis ,yamaha roland offerings..but i also have a wealth of synths i can create my drum sounds from too soa drum ‘sampler’ is just as valid…so…it’s interesting..trying something different but for me personally if it’s £600 plus there’s no way i’d be interested with only a klick input… bottomline more demo’s and a full review would be when i’ll make a final decision…you never know i might fall in love with the sounds…the U.I is not mega hands on like my minibrute, system1 or boutiques…just sayin what i’m thinking!…i have been known to get stuff that’s a bit left of field!

      2. The o.advisory :Interesting comment. But if you read the Nord forums, all believe Nord instruments are made for live use. Not studio/tweakers, so suggestions for rack sound modules are shot down

  3. Sounds great but it doesn’t seem to add much to the Nord Drum 2, just reverb, delay and a new sound browser. The noise section now has it’s own buttons but I was really hoping for some more knobs for the price this things going to retail at.

  4. ^ yeah. Hurrah, it’s a drum synth! A nice one even. But it’s a drum synth _with a single knob_. Even the demo is “Hey, look at me adjusting the reverb!” I’d have hoped the v3 of this would have introduced knobs, more outputs and/or more polyphony.

    No doubt, Nord makes quality stuff and the new features are welcome but it’s hard to imagine any existing owners upgrading to get them. It’s also hard to imagine those on-the-fence would be customers finally buying one because of these new features. If anything, it means fence sitters will have access to cheaper used ones!

  5. Yeah, doesn’t seem aimed at current Drum 2 users, unless they’re behind a drum kit and want the integrated pads, which is much more convenient than separate modules (as on the Drum 2). I personally love the Nord Drum 2. Like all things Clavia, there are some perverse choices on what is and isn’t included, but once you adjust to that, it is a very unique, beautiful sounding machine that’s a lot of fun to play with.

    Like so many have pointed out, the lack of individual outs is frustrating. I’ve often wished there was an option to turn the trigger inputs into outputs, but again, once you deal with it, the limitations can inspire new ideas. Sometimes I’ll pan the kicks to the left and the rest to the right and send them to individual mono channels for recording or processing.

    For those wondering about velocity – you can set the velocity to control several parameters, and the unit responds perfectly. (Haven’t used the pads before, but the consensus seems to be they are very well-built.) what is seldom mentioned is that the Nord Drum can act as 6 monosynths as well. It’s not intended to be used that way, so you can’t do everything you can do an a traditional monosynth, but you can do other things on the more drum you can’t do on a “regular” synth. Finally, the individual triggers can be used in a modular setup to receive CV.

    1. > I’ve often wished there was an option to turn the trigger inputs into outputs,

      I dunno if it’s technically possible but that’s a brilliant idea.

  6. I create a lot of percussion sounds with NordModular and NordLead2x, for that reason I’m sure the NordDrum3 must be a Joy to use if designing sounds from scratch and without samplers its your thing.

    1. A joy to use with a single knob? 🙂

      The synth sounds awesome. Think most probably use a computer or something to really get at the guts, sadly.

  7. Okay, maybe a little foolish there at the end of the vid bearing down on a 1-knob tweak, but…love the hybrid setup! That was tasty. 🙂

    Seems to have its own place among e-drum devices. Only thing that might compete imho would be a used DrumKat as far as routable midi options go and good feel. (A DrumKat also gives you 10 playing surfaces, not including kick & hihat!)

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