Back in the late ‘70s, the original SDS-3 was released which became one of the first drum synthesizers to appear on the market. And what a drum synth it was. With the ability to trigger effects with any audio signal, the original SDS-3 could effectively turn any mic’d up drum into a cool percussion synth instrument. In today’s synth landscape, the original machine is somewhat of a unicorn, but that isn’t going to stop us. We want to bring back this classic and a fun, unique way to add percussions to your songs. This is the Behringer BDS-3.
BDS-3 is an authentic reproduction of the original circuitry from the ‘70s which means it’s got all the same quirks and characteristics that so many musicians loved with the original release, but we naturally had to update some features to make it compatible with lots of various modern setups.
BDS-3 features 4 identical drum channels that have controls for adjusting different elements of a beat. You can add a click at the start of a sound (similar to a stick hitting a drum), adjust decay, bend a note up or down, change the pitch of a signal coming through as well as the range of LFO and effects from the Master/Effects section. The most fun way of triggering the channels is by mic-ing up a drum to each of the channels and just playing. The inputs are even velocity sensitive and responsive to your playing dynamics.
The Master/Effects section of BDS-3 affects all four channels. Here you can adjust overall pitch, LFO rate, range, shape (between square or sine wave), Run Time and Output Level. Aside from triggering effects via mic input, you can also trigger BDS-3 via MIDI or USB. Combined, everything about BDS-3 allows you to give colour and a lot of personality to your songs, making for an exciting playing and listening experience.
Designed to handle the rigors of life on the road or in the studio, BDS-3 can easily be transferred to any standard Eurorack case for the perfect integration into your setup.
