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1981 Musicaid / Simmons Electronics (Dave Simmons, Richard James Burgess)

Simmons SDSV Electronic Drum

The first viable electronic drum kit, whose solid riot-shield-plastic hexagon pads are struck to drive analog synth modules — a sensor-first playing surface with no acoustic shell

MusicInputPercussionSensorSynthesizer
Simmons SDSV Electronic Drum archival photograph

Overview

Deep dive

Media

Simmons SDSV/SDS5 electronic drum with hexagonal pads and drum modules
A Simmons SDSV/SDS5 electronic drum: solid hexagonal pads (the same plastic as police riot shields) driving synthesized drum modules. The piezo transducer under each pad reads the strike. CC BY-SA 2.5, Ben Franske / Wikimedia Commons.
Simmons SDS5 electronic drum in the Deutsches Museum
A Simmons SDS5 electronic drum photographed in the Deutsches Museum, Munich, showing the hexagonal pads and synth modules. CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons.

Sources

  1. Wikipedia — Simmons SDSV
  2. Wikipedia — Simmons (electronic drum company)
  3. Simmons Museum — manuals and pictures