Simmons Drums: C or D?

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http://www1.musikmachen.net/basics/drm_perc/gfx_drum/gfx_edrm/simmons2.jpg

They were The Coolness when I was maybe 14. How I longed to get rid of my cranky old '70s Rogers kit (in the butcher-block wrap, no less) and outfit myself with those spacey hexagonal dealies that went doo! doo! doo! on records by the Cars.

― The Mad Puffin (The Mad Puffin), Wednesday, 6 July 2005 19:33 (twenty years ago)

I HAVE SOME! FUN! I need to do some work on the connections in mine because the sounds are all scratchy as hell.

I'm kinda curious how different the later models were from the earlier ones (I have an SDS7 brain).

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 6 July 2005 19:36 (twenty years ago)

I like/am-frustrated-by the sound expansion technique (put in huge megaloid new "card", plug new drum in the back). It is arcane and interesting and tedious and retarded, all at once.

I can't think of hardly any tracks that have these prominently displayed in obvious roles.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 6 July 2005 19:43 (twenty years ago)

they look cool. where can i pick one up for cheap these days?

― Savin All My Love 4 u (Savin 4ll my (heart) 4u), Thursday, 7 July 2005 00:10 (twenty years ago)

How is this not a startrekman thread?

― walter kranz (walterkranz), Thursday, 7 July 2005 00:39 (twenty years ago)

Ya stealin' my idea....:-)

The simmons drum has a unique sound to it, for example, listen to Jeffrey Osborne "Stay with me tonight". Keep in mind that Simmons is not a Drum Machine but an Electronic Drum Kit.

I actually heard that playing the simmons was hard, the pads were made of the same stuff that is used in riot shields.

― startrekman, Thursday, 7 July 2005 04:05 (twenty years ago)

Ha ha. It would be interesting to hear the sound of the Simmons being beaten on by an angry mob!

― walter kranz (walterkranz), Thursday, 7 July 2005 05:13 (twenty years ago)

Everytime someone throws a rock at the riot shield a snare or bass sound comes out... This is a new technology designed to actually let police know that someone is hitting them with rocks.

― startrekman, Thursday, 7 July 2005 05:44 (twenty years ago)

The snare sends out a little pffft burst of tear gas while the kick send out a specially designed low frequency crowd control blast right to the rioter's gut.

― walter kranz (walterkranz), Thursday, 7 July 2005 05:48 (twenty years ago)

Simmons did make a drum machine though. I recall some crazy Linn 9000/MPC type sequencer/drum machine/computer called the SDX I think, from the mid/late 80s. Probably very expensive and rare.

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Thursday, 7 July 2005 10:59 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, the drum head surfaces are HARD, and when you hit them with sticks it's LOUD. When I set mine up I usually throw a t-shirt or something over them. Still get the dynamics (these things have no business having such dynamic volume/filter-tweak levels), but without the TTHBPPP.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 7 July 2005 11:40 (twenty years ago)

The oft-maligned later Genesis records have a lot of Simmons drums, especially "Invisible Touch." Dooo! Dooo! Dooo!

― The Mad Puffin (The Mad Puffin), Thursday, 7 July 2005 13:12 (twenty years ago)

Holy crap, it totally is in "Invisible Touch".

I like how you can set up filter sweeps that react to how hard/soft you hit the drums.

The most fun I've had with mine yet was incorporating a couple of the Simmons pads + brain into an acoustic drum kit. HYBRID, BITCHIZ.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 7 July 2005 13:15 (twenty years ago)

nickalicious, do the pads work with any old drum brain? I'm given to understand that they will not, but I could be wrong.

But you can put a piezo trigger in anything. If the Simmons brain is cranky and the electronics in the pads eventually die, surely one could hollow them out, put in new triggers, and then use them to trigger samples of the old Simmons sounds via a newer and less clunky brain?

Savin--I had exactly the same thought. check eBay.

― The Mad Puffin (The Mad Puffin), Thursday, 7 July 2005 13:18 (twenty years ago)

The Simmons drums pads use XLR connections (like a microphone). You can use them to trigger sounds in other drum brains, but you need an XLR->1/4" adaptor.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 7 July 2005 13:23 (twenty years ago)

four years pass...

I wish they still made the hexagon pads

― Elvis Telecom, Friday, 8 January 2010 01:37 (fifteen years ago)

Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti? Ok, no then.

― PaulTMA, Friday, 8 January 2010 02:22 (fifteen years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe4EGz1RW74

― Monophonic Spree (Paul in Santa Cruz), Friday, 8 January 2010 06:48 (fifteen years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyQxu7vqWqs&feature=related

― François de Roobabe (Capitaine Jay Vee), Friday, 8 January 2010 13:19 (fifteen years ago)

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