IK Multimedia Debuts UNO Drum – An Analog / PCM Drum Machine

At Superbooth this week, IK Multimedia is introducing UNO Drum, the newest member of its UNO series.

Designed in collaboration with Italian analog specialist Soundmachines – the same team behind IK’s UNO Synth – UNO Drum offers a sonic palette combining analog sounds with digital flexibility and convenience. It’s designed with a wide range of programming and live performance features and controls, to make it easy for musicians, producers and DJs to add drum grooves to their music.

True analog tone and PCM flexibility

Six warm, rich, true analog drum sounds – two different kick drums plus snares, claps, and hi-hats – form the essential core kit for creating analog beats. Additional PCM elements (with 54 samples to choose from) provide deeper sonic possibilities. They include toms, rims, cowbells, rides and crash cymbals for creating complex, unique rhythm tracks. Up to 12 elements can be used in total between analog and digital sounds, with 11-voice polyphony available.

The analog and digital elements can be freely swapped, for sonic options that go beyond the pre-set combinations.

A wide range of drum elements is organized in UNO Drum’s 100 pre-programmed and fully editable drum kit presets, a first in its class. All sounds can be stored and recalled on the fly.

Top panel in-depth editing controls allow for adjustment of key parameters of each sound element. Users can tweak the Tuning of their kicks, adjust the Snap for EDM drums, push the Decay for industrial sounds, and more.

Analog audio effects with character

UNO Drum also offers two analog master audio effects: Drive and Compressor. User settings can be saved along with drum kits for instant recall.

Easy to play and program

UNO Drum features 12 touch-sensitive pads with two velocity zones, for more expressive live playing and easier programming. The pads can be used to play entire beats live with a pad-style feel, or to easily add live additions on top of pre-programmed rhythms. These pads are also used to select individual drum pattern elements. Each element’s pad can be used to edit parameters for that specific drum sound, in real-time, as patterns play. For added performance convenience, a dedicated Tap Tempo pad is also included.

Flexible programming options

The UNO Drum 64-step sequencer allows users to program in patterns one step at a time, using the 16 buttons across the bottom of the panel, or record a pattern in real-time. Up to eight parameters can be automated per step, to add more variation to their grooves. The Song mode lets users chain up to 64 patterns together to create extended grooves. Any of the stored sequences can be triggered on the fly, in any order desired.

UNO Drum also comes pre-loaded with 100 drum patterns (in addition to the 100 drum kits). Sounds can be swapped out or adjusted, and patterns can be saved for later.

Performance effects

UNO Drum offers five performance effects on the programmed patterns: Stutter (from subtle repetitions to DJ style loops), Roll, Humanize (slight randomization of velocity, timing and volume to emulate a live drummer), Swing (timing and accent adjustments) and Random (brand new pattern creations).

Integrate into any live, studio, or mobile set-up

UNO Drum can integrate into regular live set-ups, computer DAW-based studios, or mobile rigs centered around an iOS device. It offers USB and traditional MIDI via 2.5mm jacks (cables included) for use with Mac/PC, iOS devices or traditional outboard MIDI gear, to pair in any rig. UNO Drum also offers an audio input to daisy chain directly with IK’s UNO Synth or any other gear, routed through its internal compressor, with no need for an additional mixer.

On-the-go music making

UNO Drum is lightweight (only 400g) and small enough to fit in a backpack, but sturdy enough to hit the road for gigging. It can also be used as a “portable sketchpad” to create grooves and songs.

UNO Drum can be powered by 4 AA batteries or via the USB port, either from a computer or a battery pack.

Pricing and availability

The UNO Drum is available for pre-order from the IK Multimedia online store and for pre-order from IK authorized dealers worldwide, for $/€249.99 (plus tax). Shipping is scheduled for June 2019.

For more information about UNO Drum, see the Unodrum site. The new drum machine will also be available at Superbooth 2019.

36 thoughts on “IK Multimedia Debuts UNO Drum – An Analog / PCM Drum Machine

    1. Yea, that’s a weird place to cut a corner, as they could have made it a stereo in and stereo out in the same space. But I guess they worked out their priorities and that’s that.

    2. Thank you guys for chiming in. I will make sure the team hears this feedback. Please note, this decision was made to keep the UNO Drum at a price point under most multi-output drum machines (These normally start around $499+ just for stereo output). This also allowed us to stay inline with the vintage drum machines whose vibe UNO Drum aims to capture while adding more performance and programming power.

      Remember, this is a mono-summed output, so you can split this 3.5mm port out to 2X 1/4″ cables. There will be signal on both pins.

    3. I have quite a few beat boxes, (just got the Volca Drum last month), IMHO for the $$$ this little guy offers a lot, I can work around a mono output.

      I sync my electribes, volcas and Yamaha boxes all together anyway through a 14 channel mixer and then mix and match beats and patterns as I want so yeah, a mono output is not a concern for me and how I would use it.

      Was going to add their Uno synth a few months back but bought the DM12 desktop instead. I may go ahead and get this little box and the Uno as well this time.

    1. If you want to trigger your drum machines or drum VSTs with CV, take a look at the options Ladik has available. http://www.ladik.eu – They have a great trigger -to- midi module that ,maps to the respective notes a drum machine uses. I use mine for triggering the digitakt and sometimes D16 drum machine VSTs. works great and cheap as hell.

      Just gotta wait that 3-6 weeks for shipping if your in the USA.

  1. Looks good, you can’t have too many drum machines. But a single mono out is poor and none of these videos so far gives me a good idea of how it really sounds beyond a basic 808 sound. Proper sound demos please.

    1. Then analog drum machines would never have come to life! 😉 All joking aside, we appreciate the comment. We made this decision to stay on the same page as many vintage analog drum machines and also keep the price to an affordable analog/PCM drum machine. Thanks again for joining the conversation.

      1. Would a stereo output really boost the price that much? I was interested until I saw mono out. Big flop in my opinion. Yes vintage drum machines were mono, but that was decades ago. Cars used to not have power steering or seatbelts. Your logic doesn’t hold up.

        1. I completely agree. If you’re going to use a single output today at least allow for the drums to be panned left/right before they come out of the unit. There is so much good stuff going on this cheap affordable drum machine that’s based on performance. Why scrimp on the output?

      2. If i record and mix, do you think i will record everything 4-5 times, just to place things right?
        BD and SD each on seperate mono and stereo for everything else is minimum. My bet, everybody will spend some extra money to have this, so no excuse please. Otherwise grats for a great machine with a great miss. 😉

  2. Vout, check out some of our audio demos at the link below. These show off some more versatility in the UNO Drum’s sound.

    https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/unodrum/index.php?p=media

    As for the mono summed output, we appreciate the feedback here, but we did choose this for a purpose. This was not only to bring an affordable drum machine to anyone interested in making music, at a price point under most multi-output drum machines (These normally start around $499+ just for stereo output) but also to be in line with the vintage drum machines whose vibe UNO Drum aims to capture while adding more performance and programming power.

    1. Thanks for the audio demo link, it gives a much better idea of the machines sound and capabilities. My point about the single output was not about stereo, but about individual outputs for tracking, but I appreciate the need to keep to a price point in this competitive market.

  3. In any defence of the mono decision I’ll just say that this is an entry product meant to be instantly understood and intuitive. 1 output is instantly understood and a good design for those who don’t know any better, or don’t really want to get complicated. And if all you know is “guitar plug” one output so it can hook up to your pedals etc… Is just fine .

    1. You could look at it the other way, too.

      The Uno Drum gives you twice the polyphony of the volca drum and six times as many analog drum voices as the volca kick.

      Different design choices, obviously, but I’m interested in seeing more demos of the Uno Drum.

      1. yeah I am very much interested but will wait for a price drop on it – there have been deals to where the uno has gone to $129 a couple of times – if the drum goes to sub $199 I’ll be thinking about it -I mean I love the uno and it sounds a lot better than people give it credit for.

  4. Because you would most likely not take this on a 6-month European tour, the mini out isn’t such a deal breaker. Its a good candidate for your home arsenal. When faced with mini-jacks, I tape the cord under the case for strain relief and roll with it. Yes, at least 4 Outs would have been helpful, but I look on this as a solid drum VST in hardware form. IMO, that much power is cheap at a mere $249. Its like any other e-music tool now: a lot of appreciable juice with a few quirks that make Synthtopia commenters pee a little. Condition normal!

  5. This looks great to me

    The UNO Synth offers a lot of bang for the buck. If this ends up with a street price like the Uno Synth (around $200), that will be a great deal for a real drum machine that offers both analog synthesis and samples.

  6. If this had the ability to load samples, then it’d be a contender. A little under-baked compared to what’s out there.

    1. What’s the competition for drum machines with 6 analog voices and individual outs?

      The Arturia Drumbrute has the individual outs people want, but costs twice as much and has a more limited sequencer. If you want individual outputs and parameter locks, things like the Analog Rytm cost like $1500.

  7. I like this a lot, but what’s with these color schemes on some of the synths? I think my wife has a device for doing her hair or cooking or something I care even less about, that is white with orange accents.

  8. This plus the Uno Synth will be a great compact combo.

    These run circles around most stuff at this price, especially the sequencer, which seems like they took some inspiration from Elektron, without getting trapped in complexity.

    I’d like to hear demos of the combo.

  9. I wonder if I am the only one who finds the ”hand-flipping-upwards-after-releasing-the-knob” style of performing look annoying?

    1. You are NOT the only one. I cringe every time I see a demo of someone twiddling knobs and snapping their hands away. It smacks of desperation: “Look! I really AM performing live, not just making the sound squelch a little bit!”

      But it seems to be something that people eat up, since it’s in every frikken demo video I see for electronic music tech.

      1. It’s a little bit like watching a composer (as in Classical music / leading an orchestra) kinda-sorta though, right? I also think of it like a chef adding dashes of spice with a little flair as they’re In The Zone while cooking. Ok have I talked anyone out of being annoyed by it at all? (I’m guessing no).

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