Simmons

Simmons is an electronic drum brand, which originally was a pioneering British manufacturer of electronic drums. Founded in 1978 by Dave Simmons, it supplied electronic kits from 1980 to 1998. The drums' distinctive, electronic sound can be found on countless albums from the 1980s. The company closed in 1999 and the Simmons name is currently owned by Guitar Center. The SDS 5 (or SDSV; notated as SDS-5) was developed in conjunction with Richard James Burgess of Landscape and released in 1981. The first recordings of the instrument were made by Burgess, on From the Tea-rooms of Mars ...., "Chant No. 1" by Spandau Ballet, and "Angel Face" by Shock. After Landscape and Spandau Ballet appeared on Top of the Pops with the instrument, many other musicians began to use the new technology, including A Flock of Seagulls, Howard Jones, Jez Strode of Kajagoogoo, John Keeble of Spandau Ballet, Roger Taylor of Duran Duran, Darren Costin of Wang Chung, Steve Negus of Saga, Bobby Z., Rick Allen of Def Leppard, Thomas Dolby, Prince, Phil Collins, Neil Peart of Rush, Bill Bruford, Talk Talk, Tangerine Dream, Cameo, Jonzun Crew, Depeche Mode, Jean-Michel Jarre, Donna Summer and Vangelis. History Single-pad analog drum synthesizers, including the Pollard Syndrum and the Synare, were introduced in the 1970s, but their unrealistic 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. Around 1978 while working for the company Musicaid in St Albans, Dave Simmons developed a device with similar capabilities to the Syndrum and Synare, which he called the SDS-3. The SDS-3 featured four drum channels and a noise generator; the SDS-4 was a functionally similar two-channel version. At this juncture, the drum pads were round, with wooden frames and real 8-inch drum heads. Musicaid was also the distributor for the Lyricon wind synthesizer as played by John L. Walters of Landscape. Walters introduced Richard James Burgess to Simmons and Burgess began using the SDS-3s and SDS-4s live, on stage, with Landscape. Recognizing the potential for a fully electronic drum set that could replace the traditional acoustic set rather than supplement it, Burgess began collaborating with Simmons. They mocked up the sounds and flowchart using an ARP 2600 synthesizer.