Simmons (electronic drum company)

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The SDS5 Electronic Drum Kit, ca. 1981.

Simmons was a pioneering British manufacturer of electronic drums that supplied electronic kits from 1980 to the early 90's. The drums' distinctive, electronic sound can be found on countless albums from the 80's.

Certain musicians of the time were keen users of the new technology, such as Howard Jones (via an SDS6 drum sequencer), John Keeble of Spandau Ballet, Thomas Dolby, Phil Collins, Neil Peart, and Bill Bruford.

Simmons also made a special kit for Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen following Allen's loss of his left arm in a car accident. Allen and Simmons spent over a year developing a kit that used foot pedals to compensate for the missing arm.

1 History
2 More Models
3 The SDX and the End of Simmons
4 Notable Users
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] History

Single-pad analogue drum synthesizers, including the Pollard Syndrum and the Synare, were introduced in the 1970s, but their highly stylized sound made them generally more suitable for use as a percussion effect than as a replacement for traditional drums. They became a popular element in disco records, especially after the release of music from Star Wars, and can be heard on songs by the Jacksons and Rose Royce.

Simmons was started by Dave Simmons around 1978 specifically to design and build advanced electronic drums that could compete with a traditional drum set. Their first model was the SDS-3, which featured four drum channels and a noise channel; its drum pads were round, with wooden frames and a real 8-inch drum head.

Their next model, the SDS-V (5), was introduced in 1981. The world's first fully electronic drum set, the SDS-V featured the famous hexagonal pads and distinctive "dzzshhh" sound heard in countless songs by 80s bands, including Duran Duran and Rush. The standard configuration consisted of an expandable rack-mountable "brain," containing the various drum sounds, and pad modules for bass drum, snare, and three toms. Two spare slots were available so that cymbal or extra tom modules could be aded; many drummers, however, chose to use acoustic cymbals rather than the Simmons sounds, which were often compared to that of a trash can lid. Connections to the unit were by XLR plugs, and it could be interfaced with a drum sequencer. Its sturdiness and high sound quality have helped to keep the SDS-V a sought-after device even today.

The SDS-V's biggest disadvantage was the solid polycarbonate heads on the pads. Simmons chose this material for its durability, but the heads' lack of "give" often resulted in wrist pain for users. Soon after, Simmons began shipping pads with soft rubber surfaces.

The SDS-V became an instant hit, with Simmons endorsing several drummers, and the distinctive pad shape becoming an icon of the 1980's.

[edit] More Models

During the lifetime of the SDS-V, Simmons also produced a compact trigger unit, about the size of a briefcase, containing seven small pads. Used in conjunction with the SDS-V brain, this allowed players to add Simmons sounds to an existing acoustic kit without incorporating a set of full-size pads. This unit was used extensively by New Order at the time.

Also available at the same time was the SDS-6 drum sequencer, used to great effect by artists such as Howard Jones.

Following the success of the SDS-V, Simmons expanded their range in 1983, replacing the V with another modular rack-based brain called the SDS-7, which featured digital sounds on EPROM for the first time, expandable up to twelve modules, and redesigned pads, featuring a skin of rubber to make playing a little easier. The unit used 8-bit samples and a programmable memory, but often lost its settings, making it unpopular in a live context.

They also produced the cheaper analogue-only SDS-8, which featured a single, non-expandable desktop-style brain. The SDS-8 kit was supplied with four tom pads and a bass pad, using similar hardware to the earlier SDS-V, but in a more budget style, such as using jack leads instead of XLR connectors. The sounds were the same as the SDS-V, but, to the discerning ear, not up to the same quality.

Also available at the time were a number of smaller devices, such as an EPROM "blower" to write samples onto the chips, a "Digital ClapTrap" unit, which, as its name suggested, was a digital clap sound device, a sound very popular in 1980's music.

Smaller pads and kits became available, such as the SDS-1, which was a single pad with a built-in EPROM reader for playing a single sampled drum sound. The SDS-200 had only two analogue channels and two pads with a single stand, and was aimed at acoustic drummers who wanted to a couple of Simmons pads to their kit on a budget.

Following customer feedback, Simmons produced a new series of drum pads in 1985, using "floating" drum heads and changeable shells. The snare drum had an extra trigger for the rim. Again, this improved the playability of the kit. The new brain was called the SDS-9, and was, in effect a non-expandable version of the SDS-7, using that unit's EPROM features, but only on three channels. This kit was yet another well received product for Simmons, as it combined realistic sounds in an inexpensive, compact brain.

Another brain was introduced in 1986 called the SDS-1000, and was, in effect, the same sounds as an SDS-9 (without the ability to change the EPROMS) in a slim 1U, MIDI-enabled, rack mountable unit.

[edit] The SDX and the End of Simmons

In 1987, after the SDS-9, Simmons decided to enter into the high-end professional market, and created the revolutionary but unsuccessful SDX. It had features unheard of in other electronic drums, like zone intelligence. It was the first drumset to ever have it, even though most credit the Roland TD-20 with being the first to use it. It also had pad layering, allowing smooth buzz rolls and cymbal swells. It also had a built-in sampler, floppy disk drive, and a 9" monochrome computer screen. It also had new cymbal pads, called the "Symbal". It had a rod that allowed it to sway like a real cymbal. Sales of the SDX were limited due to its high price, at around $10,154. Only about 280 kits were made, of which few remain.

A final kit was released in 1990, called the SDS-2000, featuring sounds from the SDX library, digital effects, further refined pads, and a new last-ditch company logo. This system failed to catch on, as competitors such as Roland and Yamaha were creating better, less expensive kits. The music scene of the early 90's was very different from the late 80's, and the Simmons' sounds, often associated with pop, synth-driven tunes, couldn't find a serious market response in the simplified, more acoustic drumming trends of the grunge and rock styles of the time. Simmons attempted to enter new markets with the Silicon Mallet and Drum Huggers, but these were failures, and Simmons was losing momentum. Simmons officially closed its doors in 1994. In 2005, Guitar Center acquired the rights to the Simmons trademark (not according to Dave Simmons who has sought legal advice about this matter) and began marketing entry-level electronic drumkits under the Simmons name and retro logo. These kits have no relationship to the original company.