Here's the free samples and Kontakt Instrument: bit.ly/SimmonsSDS3 Enjoy!

My CB handle has been SDS-1 since 1999 and I've never ever heard of these things till now.

The Brazilian fusion band Azymuth had some cool tracks with that high tomish sound long descending pitch tone that I liked since it was so unique and fit into the feel of the track so well. Many years ago I was working on a pop record in LA and wanted to have that Simmons sound so I called a bunch of equipment rental places but nobody had Simmons drums anymore. To the last guy I asked I did my best vocal impression of that descending tone and the guy said "why don't you just make that sound yourself?". So with a good laugh I set out to do just that and nailed it quickly. Nothing to plug in and no knobs to adjust and nobody knew that my voice was not a Simmons drum and nobody really cared anyway.

I like the bend down schetting, if you know what I'm schaying.

It looks and sounds amazing. The control knobs with the big arrow pointers are really cool, it looks like it could have come off the set of 'Space 1999'.

That thing sounds awesome

I used to love the 80s Simmons hexagonal kits on Top of the Pops - never seen the earlier SDS-3 before - great video.

I have been watching a few videos on drum machines and none have shown this one, so clever

Omg, this sounds so freakin good, this is juice to my ears.

The aesthetics of this are amazing, with a sound to match! Those colors and knobs! GAAH! I need one!

I was really frustrated when I couldn’t find really any channel that was dedicated to real retro music tech and theory. It is all just synthwave and all that, but my god your 80s chord progression video has introduced me to this wonderful channel and I can’t get enough!

Thank you for mentioning Bill Bruford. The stuff he was doing with his Simmons SDX influenced me to buy my first electronic kit. I recently sold my old, well-used- hex pads for a surprisingly high amount. My hands were covered with blisters after my first gig playing on those hard things!

Mate....!! I can’t believe the timing of your review! Basically I’m about to design a syndrum unit loosely based on the SDS3. All of the other videos I’ve seen on here are just hands trying to replicate a 808/606 type sound. You’ve just demonstrated that this unit is much more capable of making more sounds than that. A brilliant review of a true classic. Dave Simmons is a big influence on me and I think people don’t realise what a pioneer he was and way ahead of his time. Well done and I look forward to (hopefully) some more of your reviews on drum synthesisers and drum machines!!

Dude I was JUST watching videos of this thing last night. Your timing is impeccable!

I have the biggest grin on my face watching this instrument tour. I love the way this sounds so much, and the interface is glorious. Thank you for this awesome overview!

Try to make a video of the Simmons SDSV, believe me you can make really amazing sounds with it, I still got mine after all these years (1984), still today the king of analog electronic drums.

Kraftwerk already used drumpads with a metal stick on a metal plate in 1975

Thank You for the pack!

Man, i love the look and sound of it, especially those knobs

The sample pack is awesome! Thank you so much.

Fantastic video for a fantastic machine! Thanks for the sample pack!!

It looks so nice with the color bands. The sounds are also great. Thanks for the samples!

GORGEOUS piece of kit! Thank you for sharing :)

Everybody needs a little "bweep bwoop bwap sweeep pew pew boom" in their arsenal.

that is just the most beautiful piece of kit.

Excellent review as always 😊

EXCELLENT thorough exploration, Alex! Thanks!

Great, great sound. Thanks for your vids mate

very nice.

I was desperate to find this sample. Thank you for providing it. Saved me a lot o f time.

Another great video Alex!

Great video Alex, the SDS3 sounds amazing. I have a SDSV, would love to see one on that too.

Such a great channel. brilliant work sir !

Sick design, great vid

Fantastic video! What a beast! :)

I wasn't expecting Dave Mattacks's name to come up. He's a bit of a legend as a session drummer, I had no idea he reviewed as well.

WOW. Standing ovation. What a sound.

great channel - great videos

Now that Behringer is short before releasing a clone of the SDS-3 I bet this video will get many new viewers beforehand. Good luck!

Man thank you for the video 😍

thank you Alex !

Many thanks for the samples. Awesome fun :-)

I loved this! SDS-V next please ;) Big thanks for the sample pack too!

Cool drum machine 🥁

Great video as usual! :D

Great introduction to this wonderful piece of kit. My unit (and it's little brother SDS-IV) sends their greetings. :)

Thanks! I'm working on rebuilding pads and a rack for a Simmons SDS8, which I have a solo project based around, and am actually playing the pads like a drum kit. I have the original pads, but they suck for recording, as I'm also using live cymbals. Also bulkier and heavier than necessary, which can be a pain when playing gigs. Also have a Synare Sensor in this kit. The 8 doesn't filter the noise setting with the pitch knob, but it also doesn't have an LFO at all, whereas the synare has two. I'm not knowledgeable enough about electronics to design circuits, but my DREAM synth kit would have everything the SDS8 has, plus LFOs on both pitch and amplitude per channel, Distortion/OD (especially a bit crusher) and Octave up/down buses with individual sends. Range trim pots on the tune knob, so you can more easily hit specific notes. The 8 has a problem where only about 2/3rds of the range of the knob are in audible ranges. Individual delays would be nice too, but not a must. Would also like to be able to sync the LFOs with one button. Also, it needs to send and receive MIDI. I know you could build this with a massive wall of modular, but that eliminates the practicality of playing shows, as well as being ridiculously expensive. I know I could also fake this in software, and with a mixer, but then I can't easily control it while performing, and I'm adding components that are likely to fail during shows. Similar things could be said about having a full rack of fx units or a massive pedalboard. I did install a Translator 2 in my brain rack, though it seems to eliminate all dynamic range when sending signals back into the Simmons, and I had to do some creative cabling in order to still have dynamic range when performing, and still get trigger signals into the Translator. Remains to be seen what I can get sending triggers from computer.

Those tones you got doing the ben up/bend down. That is a familisr sound from my simmons pads from the 80s Great video

You Sir, are too cool and too kind! I learn so much!

Simmons started using Roman numbers on the first models like the SDS-III, SDS-IV and SDS-V.

We need a reissue!! That thing sound fantastic

I lived within a couple hundred yards from Simmons in St Albans, not knowing they were based there. I only found out ladt year!

New to your channel! Excellent stuff! That gizmo looks cool as! Also, you could use that very creatively in conjunction with acoustic drums! Good stuff!

Nice to see this in action, a Simmons product I was aware of but knew little about. Thanks for this, any plans to do any stuff about SDSV or any others?

Great video!

Ooohhh i love this what you did

Beautiful. Very "The Residents" vibe.

Those Simmons pads were hard as a table top

great video!

I like this drum machine sds3, if i will go to compose music, greetings from Panama. PD Thanks for downloading

Never heard about this. Awesome and fun video. Spacesounds for everyone! XD

I’m always curious why someone would go out of their way to downvote a video like this? There’s nothing to hate and if you weren’t interested surely you’d just go and watch something else. Very interesting video in my opinion.

I got a synare myself, lovely

Awesome!

This is amazing

Finally a decent SDS3 sound demo!

THIS is the sort of thing that has completely inspired me to dive deep on synth DIY, as if I were Alice chasing the white rabbit!! I couldn’t afford these great drum synth voices, but I figured I could study up and grab a soldering iron and some printed schematics, and learn how to build something akin to a few of these units. I feel as though I have literally dropped off of the face of the earth. I guess I have literally dropped out of society at large and left that behind, all in my efforts to own the baddest beat kit and be able to say that I built the friggin thing myself! Now, it’s been 5 years since I set off on this mission, and although I’ve got a pretty kick ass setup, I’m only just realizing that the end game for me hasn’t been at all about owning anything. That’s definitely a work in progress, and as refined as it gets, It will likely always remain a work in progress. But to attain some really deep understanding of electronics. To find such a rewarding hobby that has earned me such a skill set. To be able to make things that I couldn’t explain how or why they work but to make them and make them work. That’s the real thrill in picking up an interest in DIY through electronics. There’s limitless potential out there, so I don’t see why everyone can’t share some really thrilling times, and actually accomplish some big feats through electronics. THANKS FOR SHARING ABOUT THIS!! Your Simmons gear sounds great!!

THATS VERY GREAT OF YOU TO HELP FOLKS ON THE SAMPLES AND KONTAKT PLAYER..!!

The designer of the Grafical display and intuitively laid out box really out did themselves.

Loved this, I still have an SDS 400, it's lined up for a major re-capping soon!

this is one of my favorite drum machines EVER

I use a lot of Simmons equipment and some of them still with me today. Use to have an SDS-8, SDS-9 and one SDS-1, those are gone, I just kept the TMI (Trigger to MIDI interface) and of course the SDSV with white pads. Please Dave, make and SDSV mkII with MIDI, all seven modules and electronic memory storage for kits, very simple!

best freaking channel on youtube now!

Wow this kicks ass!

very good!

damn, that thing sounds insane!

Alex, I know this is a couple of years late, but not every unit came with the multi pin connector, we bought ours brand new back in the day (yep I'm that old hahahahahahahaha) and we got 4 jack to jack leads with the pads, in fact to be honest I never saw one for sale at Carlsboro in Sheffield (where we got ours) that had the multi pin connector. just a bit of added history for anyone who might want to know.

Cool piece of kit bro

Certainly not used on many p#rn soundtracks! These sounds are so familiar! I think the reviewer got it right when he said the sounds could be mis-used. How often was that the case? Great review as always - thanks for reminding us where so many of today's sounds originated.

Cool and crazy machine. Will we get to hear it in a complete mix any time soon?

what a beautiful instrument. electro drums with depth. i'm surprised this sound wasn't all over everything from 1978 on. my sense is it took music a long time to really embrace the electronic drum sound. i know this kit was embraced by musicians, some of whom you mention, but still. . . many 80s tracks with those terrible gated shotgun snares would have been better served with this, i think. and i'm amazed at how conservative so much 80s rap production was, based on breakbeats, or drum machines emulating drumkits. i know there are tons of counterexamples/exceptions. . . .

And not just that, it has one of the greatest designs of that time and still is to these days.

Any mention of Mr Dolby makes you alright in my book :)

I was thinking of saying "Man you should put out a sample or loop pack from this" - and you've done one better, a kontakt instrument.. Thank you!

Rusty Egan had one of those

I'm led to believe that the SDS3 & 5 were both potentially capable of emulating a wide range of drums and other percussion stuff, even though they weren't so frequently used for it.

Ironically, I recently used my Korg clone of the ARP Odyssey to grind out individual drum tones for my current (for February/March 2020) recording project. Great to hear that it was the original ARP synth line which motivated the initial manufacturing of the SDS line. Didn’t Moody Blues drummer Graeme Edge also have this module during the Ling Distance Voyager sessions? You can sort of hear it during the first two cuts, “The Voice” and “Talking Out of Turn”.

Looks so modern, I first thought it was a new gear.

super cool

An LFO up to 1,000 Hz? Wow, FM synthesis. In 1978. Impressive.

The "Drumfire" by In-Line Effects was a killer also. Mad sounding unit.

7:18 and 7:50, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Toccata right there (about five minutes in though i suspect they’ve been using it throughout that piece)

You need to teach or create your own online BA / Masters degree program. Competent composer with terrific music technology knowledge and a good sense of humor. This is the modern composer and teacher's essential skillset.

Nice one

I feel like these give me ideas I can do on the Volca Drum

Sounds like something from out of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. It reminded me of Blake’s 7 weapons fire.

A machine fit for Wolfgang Flür I'd say

That sounds (and looks) like and epic piece of kit! I have an SDS-V which compared to this , sadly cuts back significantly on modulation options. Perhaps because the SDS-V, in it's own very unique way, was marketed as a classic Bass, Snare, Toms setup whereas the SDS-3 was meant to "complement" acoustic drums. Btw, the slightly annoying "White Noise filter VS Pitch" design seems to have carried on to the SDS-V too... You can kind of find a sweet spot but it has a very narrow range indeed... Great video as always!

Great video Ball. Where do you get all these incredible toys?

yellow magic orchestra!