digitalDrummer_May 2019.

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Edition 38 • May 2019 US$10

Back to
where it
all began

Pearl
Ben ToddEM1 Andydebuts
NAMM Selway YamaHUGE
Emily D. Davies
 LIKE
NOTHING
ELSE.
mfg

U.S.A.

www.dwdrums.com
©2019 DRUM WORKSHOP, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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welcome
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CREDITS
DAVE SIMMONS’ NAME comes up very often in conversations
DigitalDrummer
with people in the e-drum business. There’s no doubt that he
ABN: 61 833 620 984 has left an indelible mark on drumming, but the Simmons
30 Oldfield Place influence goes far beyond the kits distinguished by their
Brookfield Q 4069 hexagonal pads.
AUSTRALIA Much of the technology still used today can be traced back to
editor@digitaldrummermag.com Simmons. ‘Innovations’ like sampling and positional sensing
were around in Simmons kits more than 20 years ago.
www.digitaldrummermag.com
Editor & Publisher But perhaps the biggest impact of the Simmons company was
the team who worked with Dave on both sides of the Atlantic.
Allan Leibowitz
Many of them went on to make significant contributions to
Sub-Editor electronic percussion – and music in general, and it was a real
Solana da Silva pleasure catching up with them for this special edition of
digitalDrummer. As this magazine heads towards its 10th
Contributors
anniversary, we look back more a decade before we began
Knut Amundgaard publishing, to the end of the Simmons era. To do so, we invited
Ralf Mersch the key ex-Simmons staffers to a virtual reunion and asked
about their memories of that special time. I’m sure you will find
Andy Selway
their recollections fascinating. And the most notable revelation
Norman Weinberg for me was how few of the Simmons people held onto their
Raul Vargas gear. Many are kicking themselves today, not just because of
Cover Photo
the rising value of ‘vintage’ gear, but because of the personal
memories associated with their instruments.
Simmons
Speaking of the end of an era, I wonder if we’re seeing another
Design and layout one with the plight of the Musikmesse show in Frankfurt,
‘talking business’ Germany. Every year, we have included a report on the show,
Support digitalDrummer including a number of new products which have made their
global debuts there in the past. Our correspondent has noted
thinner crowds each year, and this time, with no big e-drum
companies represented, he didn’t even bother to attend. Yes,
If you like what you’re reading, that’s right. No Roland, no Yamaha, no big names. Period.
please make a donation.
And, while we’re talking about correspondents, I’d like to
.
welcome Norm Weinberg to the digitalDrummer crew.
Weinberg recently retired as the Director of Percussion
Studies at the University of Arizona, a role which brought him
Founding member to our attention a few years ago. In fact, we included an article
on his CrossTalk ensemble in our February 2012 edition. That
group was the world’s first fully electronic percussion band and
exposed music students to leading-edge technology in a hands-
Copyright or wrong: on performance environment. You can see Norm’s first
Forget the legalese and just play digitalDrummer review on page 16.
fair! We work hard to produce I hope you enjoy this Simmons-centric edition and some of the
digitalDrummer. Please respect
non-Simmons articles featured this month.
that and don’t rip off our content. In
this age of electronic publishing, it’s
obviously tempting to “borrow”
other people’s work, and we are
happy to share our stuff — but
please ask first and be sure to
include a link back to our website
on anything published elsewhere. editor@digitaldrummermag.com

digitalDRUMMER, May 2019 3

 inside
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digitalDrummer May 2019

6 Back to where it all began

It was 20 years ago that Simmons drums were silenced. To
mark the passing of an era, digitalDrummer rounded up some
of the old gang for a virtual Simmons reunion.

16 Pearl expands electronic arsenal

Digital mallet instruments used to be a rarity, but as Norman
Weinberg reports, there is now another option.

A true multipad
22
Is it a drum pad, a keyboard or a video controller? As Allan
Leibowitz reports, the Sensel Morph is all of those – and more.

E-drums absent from Messe

25
MusikMesse, once the window into e-drums in Europe, almost
slipped under the radar this year.

YamaHUGE
26
And now for something a bit different – a kit believed to be the
biggest ever assembled. Yamaha’s German demonstrator, Ralf
Mersch, explains.

28 Profile: Wolfgang Stoelzle

One of the largest private collections of Simmons gear is
housed in a residential home in Monheim, near Cologne in
Germany. But collector Wolfgang Stoelzle is not an introverted
hoarder – he shares his collection with fans around the world
“virtually” through his online Simmons Museum.
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How I use e-drums

34
Electronics have taken Andy Selway full circle in his
performance and recording career.

Giving the TD-17 added appeal

36
The options for after-market sound enhancements have
increased with drum-tec producing stand-alone sound packs for
Roland modules. digitalDrummer checked out some options for
the TD-17.

Add Bluetooth to your module

38
Tired of using cables to connect your phone to your module? A
cheap Bluetooth transmitter offers wireless convenience.

Switched on
40
A membrane switch adds a second zone or a choke to e-
cymbals.

Feelin’ groovy
42
Raul Vargas funks it up in this month’s training lesson.

44 My Monster Kit
Knut Amundgaard shares his kit from the village of Lalm in
Norway.
digitalDRUMMER, May 2019 5
feature
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Back to where
it all began

It was 20 years ago that Simmons drums were silenced. But

the legend lives on, with many kits still being played and the
hexagonal pads and characteristic sounds indelibly etched
into music culture.
To mark the passing of an era, digitalDrummer rounded up
some of the old gang for a virtual Simmons reunion.
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Some Simmons ads from the Simmons Museum archive

Glyn Thomas: US Distributor

Glyn Thomas was a key figure in Simmons’ success, having set up
Simmons USA Inc, the American distributor.
He recalls being contacted by Dave Simmons who, at the time, was
an unknown electronics engineer with a small workshop in Saint
Albans, Hertfordshire, England.
“I was a pro drummer doing gigs and sessions in London. Dave
contacted me and asked me if I would try an SDSV kit on a session
and give my evaluation of it. The session was a total success, so
much so that I was convinced that the kit was destined to be ‘hot’
and I totally believed in it.”
After selling Simmons gear in the UK, Thomas
moved to Los Angeles to set up Simmons in the
US – on his own and totally self-financed.
“I formed Simmons USA and set about
introducing the kit to drum dealers and
drummers all over the USA. I set up a small
studio with an SDSV kit at my office and invited
the drummers in LA to come try it,” he says.
He now recalls that what Dave Simmons and the
team started was not just a business: “We
started the whole electronic drum revolution.”
Thomas, who is mentioned by so many of
the Simmons alumni as a key figure in the
brand’s profile, is now “happily retired in a
beautiful Georgian house in a little village in the
Chilterns, England” – with no Simmons gear in
sight. Like so many of his colleagues, Thomas
didn’t hold onto any of the equipment which has
retained its appeal and still has a cult following.

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Robb Davenport at a Simmons demo

Robb Davenport: US Distributor
Robb Davenport’s introduction to Simmons came in 1980 at a London music store
when a rep brought in an SDSV. A year later, he co-founded The Electric Drum
Shop as the exclusive Simmons dealer for London and southern England.
In the early ‘80s, business partner Glyn Thomas took a Simmons SDSV kit to
retail stores in the USA to test the market, leading to the establishment of
Simmons Group Centre, USA.
“In 1983, Glyn contacted me and invited me to join him in California. I arrived in
the US in April 1983. I had a multitude of
responsibilities including national sales manager for
North America, artist relations, clinician, manager of
clinic tours, national/international trade shows,
established service departments nationwide and
expanded retail dealerships.”
Davenport remained with Simmons
until 1989, working directly with
Dave Simmons for the last two
years, after Simmons took back
the distribution in the US.
“Working for Simmons gave me
the opportunity to meet and work
with many great drummers and
artists,” he recalls, rattling off a list that includes
Pink Floyd, Bill Bruford, Terry Bozzio, Peter Erskine,
Eddy Van Halen, Dennis Chambers and “many others
that have inspired me throughout my lifetime”.
For Davenport, Simmons’ major contribution was “enabling drummers to
be part of the electronic drumming and programming of the drum tracks in
the recording environment and live”.
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“During the late 1970s and early 1980s, due to the advent of drum machines, keyboard
players tended to be responsible for programming drum tracks and drummers were being
replaced by drum machines. This happened mostly in the recording studio, out of
convenience. The results were usually bland and robotic recordings. Once drummers
adopted the idea of taking back the control of the drum programming and playing of
Simmons electronic drums, they reinstated their long-held invaluable position in the band.”
Davenport’s current gear collection includes the SDSV, the ClapTrap, SDS7 pads, the
Trixer, TMI, two SPM Digital Mixers and Drum Huggers. “They are all working products that
I continue to use today in my home recording studio.”
Davenport’s musical career continues as owner of Pinegrove Recording Studio in Mount
Shasta, California. He works as a drummer, producer and songwriter and as a drum tech.

Tim Root: Clinician

Tim Root was hired in 1984 in the Simmons warehouse in the US.
“Within a few months, I began playing the demos while Glyn Thomas did the talking. My
big break at Simmons came when I was put in as the replacement for Bill Bruford for the
1984 PASIC show clinic. I went on to play a duet with Vinnie Colaiuta in front of 1,500
drummers.”
After that, marketing manager Dave Levine dubbed him
‘Texas’ Tim Root and sent him on a six-month Simmons
clinic tour throughout the US and Canada.
Root’s fondest memory: “When
Bill Bruford and I did a 10-city
clinic tour throughout the US
playing two SDX kits, I played the
Silicon mallet and an SDX
standing up and Bill played the
SDX kit.”
For Root, Simmons’ greatest
achievements were all the early
innovations like the SDSV, SDS7,
e-prom burner and SDS9.
“Simmons was way ahead of its
time.”
Root didn’t hold onto any of his
Simmons gear and really regrets
selling his Silicon mallet.
After Simmons, Root has had a
35-year career in the electronic
drum industry, working with
Dynacord, Roland and, until
recently, for Alesis, where he was
director of global sales for the
electronic drums division. “And it
all comes from the opportunity
that Dave Simmons and Glyn
Thomas gave me in 1984.”

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John P. DeChristopher:
Regional Sales Manager
DeChristopher joined Simmons Group Centre in
Calabasas, CA in 1985, initially in marketing/artist
relations with Dave Levine, before moving into the
sales area until 1986, when he accepted a position at
Drum Workshop.
His highlights include “working with some of the greatest,
most talented, hard-working and fun people I’ve ever had
the pleasure of knowing - and meeting some of my
biggest drum heroes, who became some of my best
friends.
“It was during the time when Simmons was the
hottest and coolest brand - you couldn’t turn on MTV
without seeing a Simmons kit, or turn on the radio
without hearing one.”
He remembers the arrival of the SDS9, the first MIDI
Simmons kit, with the first shipment of 500 kits from England sold out
almost before it had landed.
“Without a doubt, Simmons revolutionised the music industry and in a short
period. Simmons created the concept of playing an entire electronic kit, which, prior to that,
didn't exist. Besides the functionality of having multiple sounds at your disposal, the unique
analogue sounds of the SDSV quickly became the sound every producer wanted for
records, movies, jingles, TV commercials, etc. And not only that, Simmons Drums looked
cool and every drummer wanted to be seen playing them.”
Like most of the Simmons team, DeChristopher no longer has any of his original gear. “I
owned an SDSV and later an SDS7, but, sadly, I no longer own any Simmons gear. Every
now and then, I'll see an SDSV on eBay or
Reverb and am tempted to buy one for
nostalgia’s sake. I still may do that.”
Electronic drums came back into
DeChristopher’s career at DW when it became
the US distributor for Dynacord.
In May 1989, he moved to Zildjian, where he
worked for 24 years, reaching the position of
vice president, artist relations and event
marketing worldwide. Although he retired in
2013, DeChristopher is still heavily involved in
drumming, and says, “I now represent some of
my best friends and legendary drummers,
Steve Gadd, Peter Erskine, Rick Marotta and
Danny Seraphine.” He also plays drums semi-
professionally in a band, and presents clinics
on working in the music industry.
“Working at Simmons ultimately paved the way
for a successful 30-year career in the drum
industry, as well as making many lifelong
friends.”
DeChristopher’s Simmons write-up
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Dave Levine: Marketing Director

Dave Levine was marketing director for
Simmons Group Centre, Simmons' US
distributor, from about 1984 to 1986.
“During my time, I was responsible for promoting Simmons drums and
artists and also helping create new electronic drum and percussion
instruments, as well as the use of e-drums in marching bands and drum
corps,” he recalls.
Levine describes working at Simmons as “a golden age within a
golden age”. There was a lot of energy and momentum in the drum
and music markets at that time and Simmons was definitely a leader,
he explains. “That was a time when we could both see and shape the
future of drumming and percussion. It was fun going to work every day.
Plus, I had the privilege of working with some of the greatest drummers
of the era.”
Levine’s memories of the period include making and delivering purple drum pads for
Prince's Purple Rain tour in 1984, being backstage at the Grammy Awards in 1985 with
artists like Sting and Cindy Lauper, and organising and attending a Mississippi river boat
party at Summer NAMM 1985 in New Orleans with JR Robinson and the Neville Bros.
“Also in 1985, we published a book that documented Simmons’ impact. It was called 25
Drummers Who Electrified The World and featured a who's who of the top drummers of the
day: Vinnie Colaiuta, Phil Collins, Bill Bruford, Peter Erskine, Omar Hakim, Dave Garibaldi,
Tommy Lee, Harvey Mason and more. However, my favourite story from the project is
about the one drummer that didn’t make it into the book. I wanted to include a 26th
drummer who would represent the next generation and who I felt was destined for
greatness, but he wasn’t on the same level as the rest of the drummers — yet. But it was
decided to leave the youngster out of the book. To this day, no-one else has seen it but I
still have the original photo we shot of Josh Freese when he was 13 or 14. While that was
probably the right decision at the time, there’s no doubt he’d be in the book today.”
Like Davenport, Levine believes Simmons' major long-term achievement was re-
establishing the validity and importance of the drummer and the drum set. “You have to
remember that, at the time, the dreaded drum machine
was seen as an existential threat to drummers and the
drum business. Simmons put drummers back in charge of
drumming. That legacy continues today.”
Levine doesn’t have any Simmons gear today. “I guess
that's my one regret. I hear that stuff is now worth a
fortune.”
Levine has continued to work in marketing in the drum
industry, having consulted to Remo, Craviotto, Hudson
Music, Modern Drummer, Percussion Marketing Council,
PAS, Kickport, Puresound, Cympad and DW. “Today,
among other projects, I own TRX Cymbal Co. and I'm the
executive director of the Hit Like A Girl global contest for
female drummers.” Levine also established the Electronic
Percussion Industry Council with digitalDrummer editor
Allan Leibowitz and “remains an advocate for the
development and expansion of e-drums and e-drum
education and proficiency for all drummers, percussionists
and beat makers”.
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Reek Havok: Clinician

Reek Havok’s first encounter with Simmons was less than encouraging: he put money
down on the first SDSV to hit LA, only to have Guitar Center sell the kit to Queen’s Roger
Taylor who was on a shopping spree for a new tour.
Despite that experience, he befriended Glyn Thomas when he set up Simmons’ distribution
in the US and became the brand’s first US demonstrator.
Like so many ex-Simmons people, Havok sees the SDSV as its greatest achievement. “To
produce a kit that had the impact and substance to even be considered a
replacement for an acoustic kit was monumental,” he says.
His abiding memory of the era was the “avalanche of interest”.
“This was the ‘80s and new sounds and new
technologies had an enormous impact on the new
music we were hearing.”
The technology also led to business opportunities
for Havok: “I was the first person to have a kit to
rent to the studios and bands, and I would get
brought in as a programmer. Suddenly, I went from
a studio drummer, doing small sessions, to synth
programmer working with everyone from Motley Crue
to the Pointer Sisters,” he recalls, adding that his
work resulted in five platinum albums.
Unlike his former workmates, Havok still has
some original gear. “I still own my two ClapTraps,
one analogue and one digital. The analogue
ClapTraps are extremely rare and highly sought-
after.”
Havok has also ended up with his original SDSV. He
was asked to repair the kit and saw his signature in the module when he opened it. Of
course, he bought it back and it’s now part of his Eurorack synthesizer set-up. “I also have
my original, custom-painted Reek
Havok bass drums.”
Since leaving Simmons, Havok
has worked as a sound designer.
“After the studio work started
dying down, I took the knowledge
and studio experience I had and
went into doing sound for film.
Since then, I’ve done sound
design work for some of the
biggest companies around,
including Microsoft and Disney,”
he says.
“I still play electronic drums. My
current kit is a 2box Drumit5,
which, in my opinion, is the best-
playing, best-sounding and most
musical kit out there.”

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Good as new - Ralles’ original SDSV with seven modules

Chris Ralles: Service Technician

Chris Ralles’ first encounter with the Simmons US distributor came in 1983, when his
SDSV pads were playing up. He visited the service department in Calabasas,
discussed the problems with technicians Roy Rahl and Timothy Drury, and suggested
some fixes he had devised. ”They offered me a job and I started in the shipping dept in
1984.” He soon moved into the service department and then worked as a product
specialist between 1984 and 1987.
“My fondest memories of working at Simmons are how fun a day job could be.
Everyone that worked at Simmons Group Center
was a pleasure to work with,” he recalls. “Very
funny, extremely talented and very professional.
Many of the people that worked there are still
close friends.”
Ralles has huge respect for the SDSV as
Simmons’ greatest achievement. “Many
companies tried to copy it. None of them ever
beat it.”
Ralles still owns an SDSV with seven modules –
a bass, snare, three toms, a hi-hat and a
cymbal. ”This kit is a museum piece in perfect
condition,” he says.
Today, Ralles is a touring drummer and
currently playing on the Pat Benatar 40th
anniversary tour. He has also played with Don
Felder, Kenny Loggins, Christopher Cross and
Maia Sharp, but has not used e-drums since 2005.
“Between 2002 and 2005, on the Kenny Loggins tours, I used a
drumKAT to trigger an Akai S1000 for drum and percussion
sounds and loops. I am hopeful that I will be able to use my
SDSV on a tour sometime soon.”
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Sibi Siebert: European Clinician

Sibi Siebert recalls his horror
when he tried the SDSV in
1981. Distributor Wolfgang
Düren of PPG Synthesizer
asked for his help and
Siebert says his first
impression of the kit was
that “Wolfgang had gone
mad”.
Siebert tried the kit and “the rest
is history – I sold my big Ludwig kit”.
Between 1982 and 1987, Siebert demonstrated
Simmons Drums all over Europe, including
MusikMesse Frankfurt and NAMM Chicago, often with Bill Bruford.
Having used Simmons gear live with his band, Twelve Drummers
Drumming, Siebert says Simmons’ greatest achievement was “giving the
drummer something absolutely new”, enabling them to create other noises and effects.
Siebert continues to demonstrate Simmons gear at enthusiast gatherings in Germany with
his old SDSV and a few modules once owned by Bruford and some white SDSV pads.
When he’s not using his own Simmons gear, Siebert can tap into the huge array owned by
his friend Wolfgang Stölzle, owner of the Simmons Museum (see page 28), “so I always
have toys to bash on”.
These days, Siebert runs a percussion products distribution company, Box of Trix, and is
still recognised as the “European Simmons guy” when he attends music industry events
and trade shows.

Siebert continues to demo Simmons gear whenever he can

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Of course, the last word goes to the man
who started it all, Dave Simmons.
Looking back over the Simmons Drums
era, the founder says an unforgettable
highlight was seeing his kit on Top of the
Pops for the first time with Einstein A Gogo
by Landscape. “It was Richard Burgess
with the now infamous ‘head kit’. I got a
death threat from an American lady who
said the kits were the ‘work of the devil’.
Interestingly, we got the inspiration for
them from Mount Rushmore,” he says.
Simmons fondly recalls Bill Bruford at
various trade shows and events. Another
notable artist was Billy Cobham who
demonstrated the SDX in 1987. “Billy was
a joy to work with. He’d never seen the
SDX and he came to (the factory at) St
Albans and agreed to play the SDX at the
London Music Show. After playing the
‘standard’ sampled kits for a while, and
understanding that the kit could sample
and assign up to nine samples per pad, he
wanted to do something different. He
laughed, chuckled and giggled into the mic
and the samples were instantly available to
play on the pads. He started to play. He
was one of the few musicians who could
instantly change his playing technique to
suit the sounds coming out of the
speakers. He spun those laughs and
giggles into a mesmerising weave of
intricate sound, instantly picking up the
rhythm of his sampled voice, and triggering
them accordingly.”
Not all the memories are fond, however,
and going through his photo collection,
Simmons was struck by a series of trade
show pictures. “They say
imitation is the sincerest
form of flattery. Well, in
1986, the world was
full of
digitalDRUMMER, May 2019
Simmons almost-clones. Every bloody
stand I looked at had a copy of the kit. At
the time, I was angry and scared. Now I
look back and am flattered.”
While acknowledging many people who
helped establish Simmons as the icon of
electronic drumming, the founder has
special praise for Glyn Thomas “for taking
the SDSV and building the reputation and
market for the drums in the USA”.
“He was key in the success of Simmons
and gets little recognition for it. He was
tireless, and had the honour of selling the
first kit to Guitar Center in Hollywood.”
Simmons kept very little of his own product
and is amazed to see the prices for the old
gear today. “I recently bought an SDX from
Bruce Mason. He scours the world for
them and refurbishes them. He supplies
them with removable disk drives so the
memory limitation isn’t so much of a
problem. The old girl powers up and
sounds pristine!”
Reflecting on the industry he created,
Simmons is struck by how little has
changed in e-drumming. “At the time, we
wanted to do something different. In the
end, we were trying to make a facsimile of
an acoustic kit, but with enough scope to
keep a wider sound design palette
available, but drummers don’t seem to be
interested. They still want now what they
did then - a practice kit that feels and
sounds like an acoustic kit, but is
acoustically quiet so they can practice.
“Now the difference is that they want it to
look like an acoustic kit as well. Personally,
I still don’t see the point of spending
hundreds of dollars on ply shells and
chrome hoops. I’d much rather see the
money going into the electronics.”
digitalDrummer has reported on Simmons’
battle to get his brand name back from US
retail giant Guitar Center. That battle is
over and the two have been working
together for a couple of years.
“It’s very early days with Simmons, me and
Guitar Center. I’m really hoping that we can
create something new and innovative for
drummers,” he says.
15
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Pearl expands
electronic
arsenal

10
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Digital mallet instruments used to be a rarity,
but as Norman Weinberg reports, there is
now another option.
I’VE BEEN AT this for a pretty long while.
My very first product review was the
Yamaha D8 electronic drum kit back in
1989. During these 30 years, I don’t think
that I’ve ever seen an electronic
percussion product that has caused quite
as much buzz in such a short period of
time. It was just over a year ago, at the
2017 PASIC convention, that Pearl had a
product demo of a new mallet controller:
three octaves, adjustable playing range,
USB connection into your computer or
tablet, and a list price of under a grand. At
the following Winter NAMM show, there
was one of these malletSTATIONs in the
Pearl booth, and I was able to play around
on it for a few minutes. It worked: playing it
felt better than I expected, and I was
impressed right off the bat with the
dynamic sensitivity. For those PASIC and
NAMM shows, the malletSTATION was the
answer to the perennial question: “What
have you seen that blew your mind?”. As
you might imagine, there were a lot of folks
who wanted to buy one “right now”, but it
would be late June before anyone could
get their hands on one. They are now
available and shipping.
The EM1 is the result of a partnership
between Pearl and Keith McMillen
Instruments. KMI has a history of making
unique controllers for electronic musicians
that are both original and creative, as well
as reasonably priced. Their other
percussion instruments are the BopPad
(for sticks) and the QuNeo (for finger
drumming). With such a dynamic duo
producing the new instrument, I was
excited to get my hands and sticks on one
for an extended period of time.
digitalDrummer, May 2019
Set-up
The EM1 sent for review shipped with a
short (four page) Quick Start Guide and a
USB cable. Since it’s powered by USB, it
doesn’t need any sort of external power
supply. It’s not too heavy at just above 16
lb. (7 kg), but due to its size, I set it up on a
small table. And, with the single USB jack
connected to my laptop, it was only a
matter of opening my soundware program
and starting to play. Since the EM1 is USB
class-compliant, it needs no drivers or
special software. Once I opened Ableton
and assigned a sound to the first track, I
could play on the EM-1 without any issues.
Now the only thing left to do is to
determine the range I wanted to use.
Many acoustic mallet instruments have
different ranges as well as different lowest-
notes. For example: a marimba could be a
4.0, 4.3, 4.5, 5.0 or even a 5.5 octave
instrument. In most cases, the top note of
these instruments is going to be three
octaves above middle C; and it’s the
expansion of the lowest note that extends
the range downward for larger-range
instruments. Xylophones are often 3.5
octaves with the lowest note being F, but
four-octave xylophones are pretty common
and their lowest note is C. The vibraphone
is most often a three-octave instrument
with the lowest and highest notes being F.
The EM1 is a three-octave instrument and
that physical range can’t be adjusted. But,
Pearl and KMI did a brilliant thing: they
gave the EM1 a variable low note and
added the accidental notes (black notes on
a piano) for every possible lowest note in
that three-octave range. With so many
17
digitalDrummer_May 2019.qxp_Layout 3 12/4/19 3:11 pm Page 18
accidentals, they also created “Gap Caps”.
These are small silicon covers that easily
slip over the unneeded accidental positions
so that the instrument can always have the
proper 3/2/3/2 or 2/3/2/3 layout to
correspond visually with the lowest note in
the instrument’s range. To assist with the
selection of the lowest note and the
instrument’s range, the front-panel controls
include dedicated octave-up and octave-
down buttons, and a pair of dedicated
buttons to change the lowest note. A small
light instantly shows you which note is the
lowest note of the EM1.
Connections and controls
The EM1 has only five jacks at the back of
the instrument: a USB out, three pedal
inputs and a KMI expander port. The
expander port is designed to be used with
KMI’s $590 MIDI Expander to offer both
MIDI-In and MIDI-Out capability. Since the
EM1 has no internal sounds, there are no
audio jacks. They simply aren’t needed for
what the instrument is designed to do.
Just to the right of the keys are the controls
for the EM1: two vertical sliders, one
horizontal slider and four buttons. These
are all “soft” controls, as you can program
them to be somewhat traditional — mod
wheel or pitch bend for the sliders — or
assign them to any other controller
number. The four buttons default for
selecting between the four on-board
patches, and they are also programmable.
But, there is no interface on the EM1’s
surface for actually programming the
instrument.
18
Rather than programming the EM1 from
the device itself, programming can only be
done via software or via the web. The
software is free and versions are available
for Mac, PC and web-based use. Once
downloaded, the program can adjust every
feature of the instrument.
Good things to know right off the bat: the
software works perfectly and the user
interface is extremely easy to understand.
From the software, you can:
1) Determine the low-note shift.
2) Set the split and zones allowing for two
unique or overlapping zones.
3) Adjust the sensitivity of the keyboard.
4) Determine if strokes after the initial
stroke are going to act as a dampening
command or as aftertouch.
5) Set a note duration between note-on
and note-off messages (from 10-150 ms).
6) Adjust the dampening threshold (value
range of 1-30).
7) Select the velocity curve (seven internal
curves and four user-definable curves).
8) Determine the function of the three
faders (pitch bend, or CC with CC number,
and MIDI channel).
9) Determine the function of the three
pedal inputs (sustain, switch, or CC with
CC number, and MIDI channel).
10) Determine the function of the four
buttons (selection between the four
presets, or other functions such as sending
a note, a program change, or a Continuous
Controller).
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digitalDrummer_May 2019.qxp_Layout 3 23/4/19 8:51 am Page 19
How it plays
My experience of playing with the EM1
was extremely positive. It didn’t take very
long to become comfortable with the touch
and physical feel of the pads. And I was
very taken with how sensitive the dynamic
range was right out of the box. Like many
electronic percussion instruments, the
dynamic range was easier to control when
I wasn’t pounding on the instrument. But if
you’re a heavier player than I am, you can
adjust the sensitivity along with the velocity
curve to find your sweet spot. Depending
on the sounds I was using, the EM1 could
create a very realistic tonal gradation
between softer and louder playing. As with
any MIDI controller, the realism you
achieve is going to be very dependent on
the realism of the software sounds. A
poorly sampled and edited vibraphone that
skimps on memory is not going to please
the ear as well as a heavily multi-sampled
patch, created with care and attention to
even the smallest details. What I can say is
if you’ve got some amazing sounds, the
EM1 can control them well. The
instrument responded well to the
techniques of playing dead strokes,
10
digitalDrummer, May 2019
dampening notes or sending aftertouch
messages.
No matter what type of controller you’re
using, striking the pad or the keys will
create a certain amount of acoustic sound
when your mallet hits the surface. I found
that the acoustic volume of the EM1 was
typical of other electronic drum pads. It’s
not absolutely quiet (of course), but it’s not
nearly the volume of an acoustic
xylophone or vibraphone.
Comparison
At first, you might think that, even with all
of these various soft controls on the EM1,
it’s not as powerful and flexible as its main
competitor, the MalletKAT. It is true that the
MalletKAT can do some things that the
EM1 simply can’t do. For example, the
MalletKAT holds 128 different programs (or
patches if you prefer that term) in its on-
board memory, while the malletSTATION
has only four programs. However,
depending on how you use the EM1 and
what software you’re controlling it with, you
may not need more than four different
programs. If you plan on using MainStage
(for example) as your sound engine on
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digitalDrummer_May 2019.qxp_Layout 3 23/4/19 8:51 am Page 20
your Mac, you can set two of the EM1’s
buttons to move forward and backward
through an unlimited number of programs
that can be programmed inside the
software.
The MalletKAT has the ability to execute
some tricks with the generation of MIDI
messages that the malletSTATION just
can’t do by itself or even with the current
generation of sound-producing software.
For one example, the KAT instrument can
be programmed to send messages on
discrete MIDI channels, depending on
whether you play a chord or play single
notes. While this is indeed a unique
feature, you may or may not ever need to
use something so specialised.
Keep in mind that to hear the EM1, you
must connect it to another device that will
actually produce the sounds. It might be a
computer or even an iPad running music
software, but since it has no onboard
sounds of its own, it’s going to need some
additional outboard gear. As mentioned
earlier, if you’re looking for a mallet
controller that contains sounds, the
MalletKAT with the optional internal sound
card is your only current choice.
To say that one instrument is “better” than
the other is a difficult call. It really depends
on how you intend to use the controller in
your studio or on stage and how “feature-
packed” you want your instrument to be.
Perhaps a logical comparison would be
that of two different SLR cameras that both
digitalDrummer
welcomes
Norman
Weinberg to
our team.
Norman recently
retired as the
Director of Percussion Studies
at the University of Arizona and
has been writing for magazines
and journals for over 30 years.
20
take excellent photos. One might have a
faster shutter speed, a wider aperture or a
larger selection of available film speeds.
But, do you need those features? It’s not
an easy “one-answer-fits-all”. The EM1 is
the simpler and less expensive of the two
models.
Additional information
Along with the downloadable editing
software, once you’ve registered your EM1,
you can download the product keys and
installation information for Presonus Studio
One Artist. This free download includes
malletSTATION-specific sound libraries for
both Mac and PCs. The manual states that
there are downloadable templates for
“many of the standard audio applications”
at the pearlmalletstation.com website.
However, I only found templates for Apple’s
Mainstage and the Studio One Artist
software.
All in all, I was very impressed by the
malletSTATION. It’s a great piece of gear. If
you’re looking for a mallet controller to
expand your electronic percussion
inventory, you now have another choice.
Specifications
Controls
43 1.75” (4.4 cm) x 5” (12.7 cm) soft
silicone keys
3 MIDI assignable faders
4 MIDI assignable buttons
3 MIDI assignable ¼” pedal inputs
Bottom Note Range Shift up/down buttons
Octave up/down buttons
Connections
USB 2.0 Type-B jack
Mini-USB for connection to KMI MIDI
Expander (sold separately)
3 ¼” pedal inputs (1 expression, two
switch)
Included accessories
Gap Cap accidental note covers
3m USB Cable
Street price: $999
www.digitaldrummermag.com
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DIY DRUM TRIGGERS KTR-7 E-KICK IMPROVE YOUR 2BOX KIT

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DRUMMING
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gear
digitalDrummer_May 2019.qxp_Layout 3 29/4/19 9:07 pm Page 22

A true
multipad

Is it a drum pad, a keyboard or a video controller?

As Allan Leibowitz reports, the Sensel Morph is
all of those – and more.
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digitalDrummer_May 2019.qxp_Layout 3 23/4/19 8:51 am Page 23
INCREASINGLY, DRUMMERS ARE using
things other than “drums” to make music,
and electronics have further freed
percussionists to explore different media.
There’s a new solution tapping into this
divergence, the Sensel Morph.
What’s in the box
The Sensel Morph consists of an iPad-
sized base surface which, when connected
to a computer or tablet, effectively acts like
a giant touchpad.
That, in itself, is nothing new. Where the
Sensel really steps up is with its overlays –
a collection of special mats that sit on top
of the touchpad and transform the Morph
into a MIDI controller, drum set, piano,
typing keyboard and more.
In action
I tested the Morph system with a bunch of
overlays, but obviously spent most time
testing the drum controller. This rubber
overlay has seven drum “pads”, six of them
dual zone.
There are also some control buttons on the
top assigned to actions like record, play
and stop as well as back/forward and loop.
The Morph can be connected either via
USB or via Bluetooth (if the USB is not
plugged in).
I tried the Morph with OSX and iOS, and
found pairing to be straightforward with
both.
There is a free Sensel app (OSX and
Windows) that can be used to configure
the device, editing MIDI notes and
changing the functions of the embedded
control buttons.
Any edits can be saved to the Morph and
will then apply wherever it is used.
Using the drum overlay with apps like
GarageBand and LogicX was simple, and
it was possible to start playing using the
default MIDI map and settings. The dual-
zone snare pad triggers head and rim
sounds, the hi-hat pad plays open and
closed hats and the ride pad can play bow
and edge sounds. The dynamic range,
played with fingers, was impressive and
digitalDRUMMER, May 2019
while I have seen video demos using
sticks, I would find it hard to hit the tiny
targets with anything other than my digits.
I suspect the Morph will get more use with
tablets and phones than with computers,
so I gave it quite a workout with my iPad
Pro.
Connecting via Bluetooth was quick and
easy, provided you remember to unpair
from its previous connection.
The Morph was plug and play with
GarageBand, which uses a GM MIDI map.
The dynamic range, especially of the
snares, was particularly impressive.
I also tried the device with DM1 which
required some MIDI remapping, but once
that was done, it performed perfectly.
The Morph was an absolute delight with
Pete Lockett’s DrumJam, especially with
some of the richly sampled hand
percussion instruments like the cajon and
hang drum, which felt amazingly
expressive.
I also tested the Morph with an app
released after our last iPad drumming
update – X Drummer. I was part of the
beta-test of this app from Positive Grid
before its launch and am now running the
full production version.
Keeping in mind that X Drummer has been
developed for guitarists rather than
drummers, I note strong similarities to
GarageBand’s artificial intelligence
drummer. The X Drummer version listens
to a track and learns the rhythm, matching
it to a groove and drum sound – with
varying degrees of success. Musicians
using this as a “drummer in a box” can
modify the automatic drum track with drop-
in fills and bridges, for example.
My focus, of course, was on the sounds
and the triggering and the Morph gave me
an opportunity to revisit X Drummer.
The app features a five-piece kit with four
cymbals – hi-hat, ride and two crashes. It
comes with a “standard kit” and five
specialty kits (80s Rock, Modern FX, Jazz,
Progressive Metal and Indie Rock) which
are available as in-app purchases for
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digitalDrummer_May 2019.qxp_Layout 3 23/4/19 8:51 am Page 24
around $6 each. And each of those comes
in a few variants – dry, fat and punchy -
alongside the stock version.
The snare has two sounds – head and rim;
the hi-hat has open and closed sounds,
while the ride has bow and bell sounds.
Since the Morph has fewer “pads” than the
X Drummer kit, I didn’t test the crashes
with the device, but was able to trigger
them by tapping the screen and they were
rich and full, with a decent decay.
Each kit piece has a menu with which you
can swap instruments (eg, you can use a
jazz snare with a rock kit). In addition, you
can change the head (coated, clear,
double and vintage, for example), choose
from a few dampening options, adjust the
pitch quite dramatically, and change the
attack and volume. These features are
unique among iPad drumming apps and
certainly allow you to fine-tune the drum
and cymbal sounds.
The sounds are good, but there seems to
be a paucity of samples, particularly at the
top end, and it’s pretty easy to get
machinegunning if you’re hitting fairly hard.
On the other hand, using the Morph, ghost
notes were easily played.
For those more into aesthetics, it’s also
possible to edit the appearance of the
virtual kit in the app, with several
wrap/finish options to choose from as well
as some choices of chrome finishes for the
hardware.
Anyone interested in X Drummer can grab
it at the AppStore for $19.99.
24
Bottom line
Back to the Sensel Morph, which is a
super-sensitive trigger surface that works
almost effortlessly with most drum apps
when combined with the drum overlay.
It’s easily connected to a computer or iOS
device and even works wirelessly with
Bluetooth.
Easy as it is to use out of the box, a free
companion desktop program allows for
further tweaking, allowing you to edit the
MIDI map and change a range of
parameters to ensure the device works
with any drumming app.
The compact size is a blessing in terms of
portability (it’s the same size as an iPad),
but the flip side is that the striking surface
is pretty small – less than half a square
inch in the case of some of the rim
divisions. Another limitation is the number
of ‘drum pads’ on the overlay, as there are
not enough for an ‘average’ kit with a
couple of crashes. While you may see
videos of people playing the Morph with
sticks, I don’t think it’s a realistic
expectation for most players, given the tiny
targets.
How could I see this being used? If you
need to build some MIDI drum tracks on a
long flight, you could whip out the Morph
and tap away almost silently. I don’t see
this being used for performance or
practice, but rather for quick and quiet
composition or drum track creation, for
which it’s well suited.
It’s well designed, easy to use and fun to
play, but the $250 price tag means it’s not
quite an impulse buy. Sensel has added a
few free samples and MIDI packs as a
sweetener, and there seems to be some
promise of more developer tools in the
pipeline. Additional overlays cost $35 each
– and if you play other instruments, it may
be a worthwhile investment. For me, the
typing keyboard was a no-brainer (part of
this review was written using that tool), and
it works extremely well.
So, it’s a good idea executed extremely
well, but for a very specific niche market –
or niche markets.
www.digitaldrummermag.com
gear
digitalDrummer_May 2019.qxp_Layout 3 23/4/19 8:51 am Page 25
E-drums absent from Messe
GEWA’s Marcel Messner and Dennis Pelz gets the MIPA award.
MusikMesse, once the window into e-
drums in Europe, almost slipped under the
radar this year.
Had it not been for the fact that I was on
the jury for the MIPA awards, I might not
even have been aware that the event was
running in Frankfurt.
The MIPA award for the best electronic
percussion product for 2019 went to the
GEWA Drum Workstation G9. The Pearl
eMerge e-drum system and Roland TM-1
drum trigger module were runners-up. The
G9 was also a runner-up in the innovation
category.
In other awards, the Yamaha FP9 bass
drum pedal, which made its debut at
digitalDRUMMER, May 2019
PHOTO: MESSE FRANKFURT
Winter NAMM, won the accolade for best
drum accessory/hardware.
The studio software gong went to
Steinberg Cubase Pro 10 – Digital Audio
Workstation.
Before the show, digitalDrummer checked
the exhibitor list, but couldn’t find any of
the big names. In fact, the only e-drum
suppliers on the list were relatively obscure
Chinese manufacturers.
Without the presence of Roland, Yamaha,
Alesis, Pearl, ATV or any other notable
suppliers, our local correspondent did not
attend – for the first time in many years.
25
gear
YamaHUGE
digitalDrummer_May 2019.qxp_Layout 3 23/4/19 8:51 am Page 26

And now for something a bit different – a

kit believed to be the the biggest ever
assembled. Yamaha’s German
demonstrator, Ralf Mersch, explains.

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digitalDrummer_May 2019.qxp_Layout 3 23/4/19 8:51 am Page 27

USUALLY, I PLAY a very simple set-up: 40 x DTX Cable

bass drum, snare, a hanging tom, a floor 2 x XP100SD
tom and a few cymbals. But after Yamaha 1 x XP120SD
asked if I could imagine and design a huge 3 x XP100T
e-drum kit, I was immediately hooked. It 3 x XP120T
was one thing to design it on paper, but 2 x KP100
when the delivery came in a big truck, I first 6 x XP70
realized I needed help. Luckily, two friends 4 x TP70
helped me to unpack the parts. The set-up 4 x TP70S
took three days. 3 x PCY155
The two DTX900M modules handled most 4 x PCY135
of the pads, and I used DTX502 module for 4 x PCY100
the smaller mono pads. The multipad was 1 x RHH135
used to run an extra snare pad and an 3 x KU100
additional kick. Hardware
3 x SS662
After its debut at MusikMesse Frankfurt 2 x FP9500C
last year, the kit was on show at a large 1 x HS740A
music store. 3 x CH755
I am very grateful to all Yamaha employees 8 x CH750
and a big thank you to Claus Kruse and 1 x DS840
Nobuaki Ebisu San!
And if you’re curious about what went into
the kit:
2 x DTX900M, DTX502 and DTX Multi-12
100+ Hex rack parts, clamps, holder, rods See the building of the kit here.
digitalDRUMMER, May 2019 27
profile
digitalDrummer_May 2019.qxp_Layout 3 12/4/19 3:11 pm Page 28

PHOTO:ALLAN LEIBOWITZ
Keeping the
Simmons
legend alive
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digitalDrummer_May 2019.qxp_Layout 3 23/4/19 8:51 am Page 29

One of the largest private collections of Simmons gear

is housed in a residential home in Monheim, near
Cologne in Germany. But collector Wolfgang Stoelzle
is not an introverted hoarder – he shares his collection
with fans around the world “virtually” through his online
Simmons Museum.

digitalDrummer: Why the interest in Simmons
gear?
Wolfgang Stoelzle: I was born in 1970 and
the first time I saw Simmons was at the
beginning of the '80s when I was 12 or 13. I
was very interested in learning drums, but I
couldn't afford either acoustic drums or
electronic drums, so I built a drum kit from
wooden cigar boxes. It's pretty funny. And I
played along to pop music because it was
easier - all those bands played Simmons
drums - Kajagoogoo and Paul Young. Of
course. I was very excited about the hex-
shaped drum pads. In around 1983, I went to
my local music store and asked about the price
- and it was totally out of reach. So, I had to
wait another five years, when Simmons was
doing badly (I didn't know anything about that
at the time), but I got my hands on the SDS
200 - the two-channel piece with two pads. And
it was like Christmas. But then I forgot about
Simmons for quite some years. Then, probably
15 years later, in 2003, I had a studio job,
playing drums in the studio in Cologne, and, in
the toilet, there was a Vintage Drummer
magazine with a hybrid kit consisting of a
Ludwig kit with two Simmons SDSV pads. I
don't remember the drummer, but I remember
the drums. And that same evening, I jumped
onto eBay, and found a kit in Switzerland and
bid on this particular kit, but I lost. And that was
the beginning of the end for me!
At the same time, I was studying media
technology, programming home pages with
databases. And the Simmons Museum thing -
the home page with the database and the
content was originally just for practising
programming skills, but when I checked the log
files, I was surprised to discover that people
were interested.
digitalDrummer, May 2019
dD: And the leap from a database to a
museum? How did that happen?
WS: Well, I started with three or four Simmons
kits, which had been quite cheap back in
2003/2004 when you didn't have to pay so
much money for vintage electronic drums. And
I drove around Germany and picked up this
and that and, suddenly, I had about 15 or 20
kits and the database grew bigger and bigger.
Then, I added manuals and schematics to
keep those nice vintage pieces alive.
dD: And where did you find the kits?
WS: About half were from eBay, and then there
were some from Gumtree, but sometimes I
was offered kits because people got to know
me and they knew what I was doing. People
from all over the world would contact me about
the vintage pieces of electronic drums they had
lying around their house. And whenever
anyone was selling Simmons gear, I would
always ask if they had anything else which
would be interesting for me.
dD: What's the furthest you've had to travel to
find a piece?
WS: I think it was London, which is around 600
kilometres away - and you have to cross the
channel. So, that's a 10-hour journey each
way. And I’ve done that a few times - 24-hour
return trips without any rest. One of those was
the SDSV kit which was previously owned by
Trevor Horn and used in his studio. Another
one was built for the drummer of Dexys
Midnight Runners. He had worked as a
journalist back then and he was reviewing one
of the very first Simmons kits and the pads
were still built of solid wood. He was
complaining about it to Dave Simmons
because the bass drum was so heavy - it even
seemed to be heavier than a 24 inch bass
29
digitalDrummer_May 2019.qxp_Layout 3 12/4/19 3:11 pm Page 30
Stoelzle with digitalDrummer editor Allan Leibowitz and former Simmons clinician Sibi
Siebert during a 2016 visit to the Simmons Museum
drum. And Dave Simmons was very upset
about this, as I was told, so he built a custom
kit made of lightweight plastic lunchboxes. And
so this kit went down in history as the one-of-a-
kind lunchbox kit.
dD: So how big is the collection now? How
many pieces do you have?
WS: At some point I stopped counting, but I
think it's around 40 kits. 40 full kits. That
means about 160 or 170 pads and 30 to 40
brains.
dD: All different?
WS: If you consider different colours, then yes,
all different.
dD: And all functional?
WS: No, not all, but most of them are. And a
good friend of mine who is located only 200
kilometres from here is a Simmons genius and
can fix everything.
dD: So, what do you consider the rarest piece
in the collection?
WS: Well, the very first Simmons kits were the
SDS3 and SDS4. The original kits before those
were only prototypes. About 100 to 200 of the
3 and 4 were produced and probably 10 or 20
still remain - the rest are gone. Of course, the
rarest piece is the lunchbox kit because it's the
only one. Next is the SDX which is very rare
because only 250 were built. I have two SDXs
and one is still fully functional. They were very
30
expensive - the most expensive drum kit of all
time, I think. As far as I know, SDX was the
very first electronic drum system with real
positional sensing based on FSR technology, a
hi-hat providing intermediate states between
open and closed or even cymbal choking - all
new features in the e-drum world.
dD: And do you have a favourite?
WS: Of course, the SDSV because it’s the kit
that started it - the first full electronic drum kit,
designed and assembled by a handful of
visionaries in a tiny, picturesque mill north of
London. Dave Simmons did not invent
electronic drums. But he started full kits and
this was the first hi-hat that could be opened
and closed, it had a bass drum and it had a
cymbal which also supported the bell and it
had that fat analogue sound, which is really
cool and really unique.
dD: Speaking of sounds, you are one of the
few people who can boast that their samples
are in a VST library. Can you share that story?
WS: In 2011, XLN Audio (producer of Addictive
Drums) asked me to help with an electronic
expansion pack with vintage electronic drums
like Linn Drum, OBX and SDSV kits. As I have
a recording studio in my basement, I offered to
do the raw sampling with all of the dynamic
levels. And so they told me what they needed
and I sampled some kits and adjusted some
sounds and they did the rest.
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digitalDrummer_May 2019.qxp_Layout 3 12/4/19 3:11 pm Page 31

Wolfgang with a Simmons Suitcase Drum - one of only 15 ever made.

dD: Did you have to hit each pad at different
levels and that sort of thing?
WS: Actually, there was no hitting at all. I'm a
programmer and programmers are lazy guys! I
used the Simmons MTM (MIDI to trigger to
MIDI converter) and programmed all the
dynamic levels in Cubase and let the MTM and
SDSV do the rest and they worked perfectly. I
delivered a variety of my favourite sounds from
which the final samples were chosen.
dD: Looking at your collection, what's missing?
What are you still looking for?
WS: Of course, prototypes, but they mostly
don't exist anymore. I did an interview with
Dave in 2011 and he told me that once the
prototypes were working, he took them apart
and used the elements to make new ones. He
never imagined that 30 years later, some nerd
would be interested in that stuff. But there are
some interesting pieces like a handful of 19
inch analogue ClapTraps, but you will never
find something like that or, if you find it today,
they will go for huge money.
dD: So, has the market become more
competitive and are more people realising the
value of Simmons and chasing pieces when
they do appear on eBay?
WS: Sure, but it's not just Simmons stuff.
People are very interested in vintage gear. I
may have played a part in making people more
digitalDrummer, May 2019
aware of Simmons Drums, and that probably
also affected the prices, but who knows?
dD: You mentioned a couple of interesting
people you have met through the Simmons
collection. Are there others?
WS: Well, there's Sibi Siebert, who had been
the Simmons distributor in Germany and did
clinics for Simmons at the music trade shows
and MusikMesse. Actually, one of the first
Simmons kits I bought on eBay was from him.
He happens to live in my hometown,
Leverkusen. When he realised that there was
somebody collecting Simmons in his
hometown, he started doing clinics and
workshops again and everybody remembered
him.
And I have also heard from lots of workers
from the former Simmons company and they
all said they had the time of their life and
Simmons was like a family for them.
The Simmons collection has also allowed me
to get to know some amazing people like John
Keeble from Spandau Ballet. I had a chance to
meet him and to do an interview with him. And
this is nice. This is probably even more
important than the collection itself. The
collection is great, but meeting those people
and getting opportunities to do those
workshops is very, very cool.
31
digitalDrummer_May 2019.qxp_Layout 3 23/4/19 8:51 am Page 32
Plenty of pads: Some of the museum’s 150-plus pads
dD: How much traffic does the museum get
these days?
WS: I haven't checked the traffic for some time
now, but the last time I did, it was about 2,500
visits per month, which is pretty cool for gear
that has been out of production for 20 years.
Now, I am not the only site for Simmons fans.
You have social media, you have Facebook
where you can find one or two dedicated
Simmons groups or there's a group on Yahoo
where people help each other and upload
binaries from early eproms or manuals. So,
there's a handful of very, very interested guys
like me, probably 20, and there's another
group of probably 200 to 500 people who are
very interested in Simmons drums and own
one or two pads. And, of course, everybody
remembers them. Everybody who was born
earlier than 1970 and plays drums remembers
Simmons because it was so big.
dD: I'm lucky enough to have visited your
basement and seen some of your treasures,
but are there any plans to ever have a physical
museum where people can come and visit and
touch and play?
WS: Not yet, but I have always taken my
drums out whenever I got the opportunity; for
example, to workshops like the one I am doing
next weekend. I take some of my gear, present
it, talk about it and play it. A physical museum
would need a lot of space, but in the
meantime, I have given two drum kits to
musical instrument museums in Berlin and
Ludwigsburg in Germany.
dD: Is there any other vintage electronic gear
in your collection?
32
FS: Oh, no. And I am sure that my wife agrees
that keeping the focus on Simmons only would
be a good idea!
dD: Because there is a heap of other stuff out
there. Many manufacturers started copying
Simmons in their day, and then, of course,
there are all the Eastern European and Soviet
Union knock-offs.
WS: That's right. I have probably four or five
pads from eastern European bold rip-offs
which are part of the collection because they
have a relationship with Simmons because of
the hex shape. Over the years, I have had
Dynacord pads and vintage Roland pads, just
for research purposes, but I didn't keep them.
dD: How much use do your Simmons kits get
these days?
WS: Actually, I have one project at the moment
with sounds similar to Depeche Mode and with
German working class lyrics, and in this
particular project, I play an SDSV, but I don't
use any other Simmons gear in any other
situation. But this year, I have already had two
requests from young pop bands that wanted to
use Simmons gear in their music videos. So, I
lent them some kits which appear in their
video, and that’s really fun.
dD: And it's come full circle then because a lot
of those '80s bands were actually playing
acoustics but on the music videos they were
using Simmons because it was cool.
WS: Exactly!
www.digitaldrummermag.com
1294334_DigitalDrummerAd_vertical.indd 1 4/17/19 8:40 AM
performance
digitalDrummer_May 2019.qxp_Layout 3 23/4/19 8:51 am Page 34

How I use e-drums

34 www.digitaldrummermag.com
digitalDrummer_May 2019.qxp_Layout 3 23/4/19 8:51 am Page 35
Electronics have taken Andy Selway full circle in his
performance and recording career..
I’VE BEEN A member of KMFDM, an
electronic/metal/industrial band for about 16
years. Strangely enough, for such a heavily
electronic-influenced band, I have been
beating the living daylights out of an acoustic
kit at our live shows that entire time - apart
from two weeks at the start of a tour in 2011.
After several years of almost deafening the
band members, myself, multiple sound,
monitor and crew guys, and causing many live
sound mixing headaches, we tried all the
options to quieten things down. The use of
screens in front of the kit, towels around snare
drums and anything we could think of. Around
this time, some bright spark came up with the
idea of triggering.
I actually loved the idea of triggering a kit at
first and was unaware of what a pain it can be!
There was a steep learning curve for myself
and our guitarist, while we tried to figure it all
out. We enlisted the help of several well-known
MIDI experts in the Seattle area when we
started to get lost in the quagmire of e-drums.
Funnily enough though, all we actually wanted
to do was trigger a big, fat-sounding live rock
drum kit - like I’d been playing for years - but
with a volume control and consistency of
sound from venue to venue.
I used one of my old kits, stuffed the shells with
foam from eBay, with ddrum Pro acoustic
triggers mounted on the rims and regular drum
heads. I also had a set of electronic cymbals
(which I shredded to pieces in about three
shows), while triggering Addictive Drums from
PHOTO: JAMIE PEGLER
a laptop originally using a Roland TD-10, but
switched to a TD-20. I tried to get the hi-hats to
trigger properly through an Alesis Midi IO, but
that was a disaster, so by the first day of
rehearsals, I’d switched back to a real ride and
hats. Over the first couple of weeks of the tour,
my limbs were killing me from the padded
shells and things were starting to go wrong on
stage. By the New York city show, I was back
to a full acoustic set. This was not a good start
for e-drums!
Even though it was a rough start, e-drums still
piqued my interest and I realised the potential.
In our past recordings, I would do a lot of drum
programming, which I'd rather play. I feel that
there is something missing when programming
instead of sitting behind the drum set and
playing the parts, such as feel and dynamics.
digitalDRUMMER,May 2017
My next step was getting into sound replacing
software. I would record my parts on my mic’d
acoustic kit and then replace all the sounds
with Slate, Addictive Trigger, or Massey DRT in
Pro Tools, using whichever sounds I required. I
found the issue with this method when trying to
get real drum sounds was my recording space
and the mics available to me.
My studio was not big enough and the mics
were not good enough quality to give me the
monster sounds I needed for artists like
KMFDM, and others that I had been recording
for. While messing around with Superior
Drummer 2, and now 3, I realised the potential
of this software for my recording needs, which
took me full circle back to triggering again!
By this time, I realised that whether I wanted
electronic sounds or real kit sounds, I was
sound replacing everything (even cymbals at
times). So, why would I mic up an acoustic kit
at all to do all this? This led to my long search
for the right triggers, MIDI controller, and mesh
head combos that would work best for me.
This is when I got chatting to Steve at
Magnatrack, as I was intrigued by what they
were doing. We soon realised that we both had
a common goal, which has led to us working
together. After playing their triggers through a
2box DrumIt 5, and discussing my thoughts
regarding the triggers with Steve, I have now
decided to tour with a triggered drum set again!
The next KMFDM tour, I will be playing on a
custom-built acoustic/electronic conversion kit
from Magnatrack.
I am currently recording drum tracks for the
next KMFDM album at my home studio, using
some of their new prototypes and existing
Magnatrack triggers on a converted acoustic
kit with amazing results, and am loving the
constant striving to make this the best
experience it can possibly be.
My knowledge of e-drumming has come a long
way since those first experiences on the road
in 2011, and with Steve’s help, and with this
combined knowledge, we are achieving some
amazing results with a bunch of
groundbreaking ideas coming thick and fast ...
So, there you have it, full circle back to fully
triggering in the studio and soon to be live too!
35
software
digitalDrummer_May 2019.qxp_Layout 3 23/4/19 8:51 am Page 36

Giving the TD-17

added appeal
The options for after-market sound
enhancements have increased with drum-tec
producing stand-alone sound packs for Roland
modules. digitalDrummer checked out some
options for the TD-17.
WHEN THE ROLAND TD-17 was Traditionally, drum-tec has produced
launched, our review noted that it was “special edition sound packs” as a product
unusual in that it sounded great out of the enhancement for the Roland modules it
box. That’s in contrast to many previous sells. It diplomatically states that the
offerings that shipped with sounds that bundled Roland samples “sometimes are
failed to show off Roland’s enormous slightly off from the tastes of the European
onboard editing capability. drum community”.
We noted that the module combined some “We, therefore, started to include the
of the capability of the latest-generation respective Sound Edition with every new
Roland sound engine which debuted in the Roland module purchased at drum-tec as
TD-50 with the ability to import external a gift.”
samples and to blend them with the stock Initially, the additional kits were simply
sounds to increase the sound palette even tweaked versions of the onboard sounds
further. on Roland modules. However, the latest
And that is exactly what German e-drum generation of modules includes the ability
supplier drum-tec has done with its Live to import sounds, giving drum-tec a new
Sound Edition for Roland TD-17 pack. opportunity to add value.
36 www.digitaldrummermag.com
digitalDrummer_May 2019.qxp_Layout 3 23/4/19 8:51 am Page 37
“The samples have been recorded at
Spytunes Studio in Mainz, Germany,”
explains drum-tec marketing manager
Marvin Hemme. Spytunes is owned by Ralf
Schumacher, the drummer regularly seen
in drum-tec’s YouTube channel.
For the TD-17, the free Live Sound Edition
pack features 11 quality acoustic kits,
ranging from a DW Collectors kit to a
vintage Slingerland, as well as nine
additional snares based on drum-tec’s own
inhouse sample recordings.
The pack is already installed in drum-tec
modules, but add-ons are available online,
as relatively small downloads.
The new patches are easy to load if you
follow drum-tec’s detailed step-by-step
instructions.
The rework of the stock kits with the
addition of the imported samples lifts the
module to a new level and broadens the
sound palette of the module.
So, if you’re buying a TD-17, the addition
of the custom sounds makes buying from
drum-tec a logical choice – especially as
the enhancements are free.
But drum-tec is taking this a step further. It
has recognised the demand for its bundled
sound packs and has started selling them
as stand-alone products, especially for
those earlier modules which are no longer
available in its stores. The guys are also
working on a range of packs for specific
genres, with offerings like the Rock
Classics and LA Studios for the TD-11 and
25, and a Top 40 for the TD-30.
The first stand-alone pack for the TD-17 is
drum-tec’s Metal Sound Edition. In the 10
included kits, there’s all the punch and
Before you pull
the trigger
... Check out our reviews
presence you would expect in a metal kit,
and the stock sounds are again combined
with imported original samples.
The Metal Sound Edition includes a Tama
Artstar, Premier Maple, Sonor SQ2, Pearl
Masters, Sakae Trilogy, Tama Star, Ludwig
Rocker, DW Collectors, Sonor Rosewood
and a Pearl Export kit. These may not all
be traditional “metal” kits, but they have
been manipulated to create sounds which
can be easily applied in metal settings.
People tend to baulk at the prices of
Roland kit enhancements because, to
date, they have been tweaks that the end-
user could possibly do him- or herself, with
time and effort. However, the new drum-tec
offerings include more than just expertise
and experience – they have additional
samples not found elsewhere. So, it’s not
hard to justify the €42 (US$47.50) price.
The bottom line
Any module’s stock sounds are just the
starting point and often don’t represent the
full capability of the samples or the
technology. Companies like Vexpressions
have refined the art of module tuning,
achieving what many amateur drummers
would never accomplish and recreating
real kit sounds which are easily loaded and
used.
This enhancement process combines art
and science and drum-tec has used that
well to add value to the modules it sells.
Now, that expertise is available globally for
a modest price. If you’re serious about
getting the best sound out of your TD-17 –
admittedly, a great sounding module – it
makes sense to at least check out the
drum-tec YouTube channel to hear what is
possible.
diy
digitalDrummer_May 2019.qxp_Layout 3 23/4/19 8:51 am Page 38

Add Bluetooth
to your module

Tired of using cables to connect your

phone to your module? A cheap Bluetooth
transmitter offers wireless convenience.
WHEN ROLAND LAUNCHED its TD-17 So far, the TD-17 and Medeli’s YoDrum are the
module, one of the notable innovations was the only modules with this feature – although we
inclusion of Bluetooth. This means you can expect more to follow as Bluetooth becomes
play backing tracks wirelessly from your more prevalent.
iPhone. That’s even more relevant for those
But a lack of onboard connectivity doesn’t have
whose phones don’t have a headphone jack –
to be a game changer, and for less than $5,
or those who simply have enough cables and
you can add Bluetooth functionality to almost
wires on their rig.
any drum brain.
38 www.digitaldrummermag.com
digitalDrummer_May 2019.qxp_Layout 3 23/4/19 8:51 am Page 39
The hack
All that’s required is a Bluetooth receiver with a
stereo jack. Connect the receiver to the
module’s Aux In jack, pair your sending device
and, in theory, you should be good to go.
I tested this with the cheapest receiver I could
find – a $4 Bluetooth V4 Transmitter Receiver
Wireless A2DP 3.5mm Stereo Audio Adapter,
sourced from eBay. There is a broad array of
similar offerings on most online tech stores,
and they reach up to $20 or more, depending
on their sophistication.
One word of warning: make sure you order a
receiver rather than a transmitter. There is a
difference. The transmitter takes an audio
signal from its stereo jack and sends it via
Bluetooth to a computer, phone or tablet. We
need the opposite – something that receives
the signal and translates it into audio out. (This
cheapie actually does both!)
In action
The adapter comes with a USB cable and a
3.5” audio cable. You connect the audio cable
digitalDrummer, May 2019
to the module’s Aux In and the USB is needed
to power the device. You can either use a
phone charger or, if you have a new, high-end
module, you can use the brain’s USB socket to
power the unit.
I connected the adapter to a mimicPRO, using
the module’s USB slot for power. After
connecting, all that was required was holding
down the reset button on the adapter for three
seconds, after which it was discovered by my
iPhone 7. I hit connect and it synched perfectly.
When I selected a song on the phone, it was
automatically routed to the Bluetooth device
and the audio played through the Aux channel
on the module.
Bottom line
If you’re not a fan of additional cables in an
increasingly wireless world, a Bluetooth stereo
receiver is a cheap and effective hack. It is
very easy to set up, and if you have a newish
module with a USB slot, you won’t even need a
power source.
For $5, this is a no-brainer.
39
diy
digitalDrummer_May 2019.qxp_Layout 3 12/4/19 3:12 pm Page 40

Switched on

A membrane switch adds a second zone

or a choke to e-cymbals.

40 www.digitaldrummermag.com
digitalDrummer_May 2019.qxp_Layout 3 23/4/19 9:07 am Page 41
FOR THOSE BUILDING their own e-cymbals,
the biggest challenge is generally triggering a
second zone or allowing the cymbals to choke.
The main sensor is easy to make – either a
piezo applied directly to the cymbal or mounted
in a project box (which is a more secure, long-
lasting solution).
To date, there have been several DIY choke
solutions involving thin metal plates. Back in
the early days of e-drums, DIY pioneer Michael
Beatnik was extolling the virtues of a
membrane switch by Tapeswitch Corp – a
straight bar that cost over $16 each and
required a sizeable minimum order.
Fast-forward more than a decade and British
enthusiast Adam Robertshaw set out to find
membrane switches suitable for cymbals.
He now offers these on eBay (under the seller
name Myrk-Instruments) in a variety of sizes to
suit cymbals from 7” to 18” – and designed to
replace failed Roland CY-13 and CY-14
membrane switches.
The FSR switches certainly look neat and
professional and come with double-sided
mounting tape on the back.
The contacts are neatly designed, with hollows
that accommodate the leads which need to be
connected and the drop of solder to keep it all
in place.
digitalDrummer, May 2019
Robertshaw is more than helpful with advice
on fitting and wiring and the switches can be
either fitted on top of the cymbal for edge
triggering or below as a choke. It is
recommended that they are covered with foam
or rubber to protect them.
I found them to work perfectly as a choke, but
was less impressed with their use for a second
zone. But, given that it was a DIY effort, that
may be purely down to poor implementation!
There seem to be enough people who have
used them with good results as edge triggers
with a variety of modules, so with some
patience, trial and error, and guidance from the
developer, I am sure it can be done.
-Allan Leibowitz
Got a DIY question or
would you like to share a
hack or tip?
Send us your question or
comment and if it’s chosen for
publication, you’ll win a
free DIY product
from Stealth
Acoustics.
41
training
digitalDrummer_May 2019.qxp_Layout 3 23/4/19 9:31 am Page 42

Feelin’ groovy
This month, Raul Vargas funks it up.
I’VE BEEN WRITING for digitalDrummer since 2016 and this is my first
transcription.
In this lesson, I run through some funk grooves. Please watch the video and
note how I’m playing. You’ll see that it’s not straight 16th notes. Try to add a
swing or shuffle feel to these grooves and see what a difference it makes to
the feel.
I recommend starting slow, with a focus on ghost notes or unaccented snare
drums. I should warn that it’s not so easy to stay in the pocket!
Once you’ve mastered the grooves, try to apply some variations and add
your own flavour.

> > > >

4 ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ œ¿ œ¿ ¿ œ¿ ¿ œ¿ ¿ ¿ œ¿ œ¿ ¿ œ¿ ¿ œ¿ ¿ ¿ œ¿ œ¿ ¿ œ¿ ¿ œ¿ ¿ ¿ œ¿ œ¿ ¿ œ¿
/4œ œ œ œ
3
> > > > >o
¿¿¿¿ ¿¿¿ ¿¿ ¿¿¿ ¿¿¿ ¿ ¿¿¿¿ ¿¿¿ ¿¿ ¿¿¿ ¿¿¿ ¿
/ œ œ œœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœ œ œ œœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

5
> > > >
¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ œ¿ œ¿ ¿ œ¿ ¿ œ¿ œ¿ ¿ œ¿ œ¿ ¿ œ¿ ¿ œ¿ œ¿ ¿ œ¿ œ¿ ¿ œ¿ ¿ œ¿ ¿ ¿ œ¿ ¿ ¿ œ¿ œ
/ œ œ œ œ œ
7
> > > > > o > >
¿ œ¿ œ¿ ¿ œ¿ œ¿ ¿ œ¿ ¿ œ¿ ¿ œ¿ œ¿ œ¿ ¿ œ¿ ¿ œ¿ œ¿ ¿ ¿ œ¿ œ¿ ¿ ¿ œ¿ ¿ ¿ œj œ œj œ
/ œ œ œ œ
Mexican drummer Raul Vargas recently joined the Berklee
College of Music and Berklee Online faculty as an
international mentor. Since being voted E-drummer of
the Year in digitalDrummer’s Readers’ Choice poll,
Vargas has been appointed to the Percussive Arts
Society International Committee.

42 www.digitaldrummermag.com
digitalDrummer_May 2019.qxp_Layout 3 12/4/19 3:11 pm Page 21

PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY DIGITALDRUMMER

gear
digitalDrummer_May 2019.qxp_Layout 3 23/4/19 8:51 am Page 44
MONSTER
My
Knut Amundgaard shares his kit from
the village of Lalm in Norway.
Knut’s kit
drum-tec pro-s walnut roots kit: 14"x5.5"
snare, 22"x18" bass drum, 10"x 8" tom,
two 12"x9" toms, two 14"x14" floor toms,
four drum-tec 6"x5" FX drums.
Roland PD-140DS digital snare drum
Roland TD-50 sound module, QSC K10.2
monitor
Nord Drum 3P drum synthesizer
Roland CY cymbals and VH-13 hi-hat
Hardware:
Tama and drum-tec stands
drum-tec DP-2007TWP double bass drum
pedal, drum-tec T-2000 drum throne.
44
kit
Knut’s story
I first started to play drums in a band
together with friends in the mid to late ‘70s,
but stopped in 1985 when I moved out of
my childhood home.
Early in 2018, I decided that I had to start
drumming again and the choice to go
electric was very easy to make when I
soon discovered how much further
electronic drumming and hardware had
come in the later years.
I contacted drum-tec, seeking information
on their drum sets and ended up with an
extended drum-tec pro-s model.
www.digitaldrummermag.com
digitalDrummer_May 2019.qxp_Layout 3 12/4/19 3:12 pm Page 45

Share
your kit
digitalDRUMMER, May 2019 45
digitalDrummer_May 2019.qxp_Layout 3 12/4/19 3:12 pm Page 46

gearGuide
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Visit us at Convertible Percussions.com or search
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46 www.digitaldrummermag.com
digitalDrummer_May 2019.qxp_Layout 3 12/4/19 3:12 pm Page 47

gearGuide
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digitalDRUMMER, May 2019 47

digitalDrummer_May 2019.qxp_Layout 3 12/4/19 3:12 pm Page 48

Our greatest hits

... in one volume

Over the years, digitalDrummer has reviewed scores

of products and produced a number of market-leading
head2head comparisons, helping you choose the most
appropriate solution.
Of course, all our back issues are available
online, but to save you the time and trouble of
searching, we have compiled our reviews into single
volumes, ready to access with just one click.
From triggers to mesh heads and VSTs, to download
your preferred compilation, click here.

Everything you need - just a click away.