Author Topic: My Email To Simmons Drums Just and Idea what do you think?  (Read 2379 times)

Simmons Retro Drums, well just SIMMONS Drums.

Hi Simmons Drums. I am aware I am just some nobody musician but I have a suggestion.

Re-release original Simmons Drums, or boutique versions.

 With the popularity of Electronic music (EDM, Trance, Dub, ShoeGaze, Ambient, DJ's ETC) 

It would be great to have live kits that work with these genres.

I have built some "Stand Up" percussion stations for this purpose. Think of a set up like "electronic timbales" I built my pads from cut down acoustic shells with hand made internal piezo triggers. I could not attach pics here.

I like the look of your original 80's kits and then I saw your synthesized drum brains!

I searched and saw your new kits starting at 100 dollars for an SD2000 and then your old style  kits from 2,500 to 8,000.00!

As I am sure you know there has been a resurgence of analog synthesis. Roland has released versions of their 808, 909 drum machines and 80's synth's. Korg has released boutique versions of there own classic synth's as well as ARP and Yamaha, they are even marketing a new drum synth (Volca Drum). Behringer is releasing clones of everybody's original analog stuff.

I would think that re-releasing your original style pads (The one that everyone loves, no mesh, Hexagon, bright colors) with a "new" Drum synth brain with some updates like MIDI, a simple sequencer, Clock and memory recall for sets and some effects.

Combine this brain with two pads and two cymbals on a Timbale like stand as an electronic stand up percussion station marketed towards modern electronic music.

Then a 3 pad version and a of course a full kit that is the original set form the 80's with the new brain.

I would not market them as "Retro, Classic, Boutique, etc." Just market them as "Simmon's Drums" We're back!
« Last Edit: May 03, 2019, 01:28:25 PM by ralis »

Offline Hellfire

Re: My Email To Simmons Drums Just and Idea what do you think?
« Reply #1 on: May 05, 2019, 12:29:39 PM »
Hi Ralis,

I originally saw your idea over at SDdrummer.com. :)
You have a lot to unpack in your idea. I think some of your idea has merit, other parts of it would be difficult to pull off in todays environment of edrumming.

I agree that Simmons should have some kind of true analog synthesis. After all, that’s what put them on the map…

Something to keep in mind: Edrummers are a niche of drumming in general. And the vast majority of those edrummers (meaning 90+%) want perfect acoustic emulation. This is why the Pearl Mimic is thought of as the gold standard. Those that want true analog synthesis is a small minority. So we are talking about a niche of a niche. That alone is tough to base any kind of business model around.

As to re-releasing the original 1980’s hex pads, let’s start with the playing surface.

…Mesh has already won the war.

The majority of edrummers today believe (rightly or wrongly) that rubber pads suck and are no good. Therefor, no serious edrummer plays on rubber pads. Ironically, they do (i.e. Cymbal triggers) and yet don’t consider that a problem.  ::)

Can rubber pads be made to feel great? Sure, the Simmons SD1500 (the kit before the SD2000) had great feeling rubber pads. Yamaha has incredible feeling silicone based rubber pads but again, the majority of the edrummers have spoken and they want mesh.

I agree the original hex pads have an awesome iconic look to them. But the issue with that exact look is, most associate that look with the 1980’s. It’s no different than shag carpet and faux wood panelling with the 1970’s. These things by themselves aren’t bad, they are just too heavily associate with a specific decade. That’s a hard one to shake.

I don’t know if you know this or not but the first hex pads by Simmons were not fun to play on. They had a hard acrylic surface. I assume you like the second gen of hex pads which had a rubber surface? There isn’t much to those pads. They are just plywood with a very thin sheet of rubber over top of them. Even back in the day players thought it was too hard of a surface to play on.

Because of everything I listed above it doesn’t make for a very good business module to re-release these with no special branding. To just say “Simmons Drums We’re back!” Would give an impression to most modern edrummers that Simmons isn’t capable of evolving. Not only that it wouldn’t command the prices that you see for legacy equipment and in the process would drive down the value of the true legacy equipment.     

With that in mind, (IMHO) the best way for Simmons to go forward is to incorporate true analog synthesis along with sample based acoustic emulation in the same module. That way the two can be used together (or layered) to create new/innovative/different sounds. If they can do in a very innovative way they would have a much bigger influence on the market. As to hex shaped pads…They need to evolve to be accepted today. I think the new SD2000 pads was a good attempt at this. They are really well made, unfortunately the module held back the rest of the kit and because of that edrummers were not ready to accept Simmons as a major player yet. (A little color on the pads might have helped too).

So, could Simmons do what you suggest? Sure, but they would need to be very careful how they go about it. And I’m sorry to say they would have to brand them as “Retro”, “Classic” or something to denote what they are or else it could end up shooting themselves in the foot.
« Last Edit: May 05, 2019, 12:35:34 PM by Hellfire »

Re: My Email To Simmons Drums Just and Idea what do you think?
« Reply #2 on: May 07, 2019, 06:27:00 PM »
All very good points!

you are correct I was thinking of the rubber Hex pads and marketing to the electronic musicians of today as a live instrument.

I know they have the other sets with mesh pads and acoustic emulations out there already for the current edrummers. Keep those and continue to develop them.

I was hopping for a release of the rubber pad Hex drums with an updated analog module that would come in different configurations like buy two pads, cymbal and a module. 4 pads 2 cymbals and a module and if you want a 5 piece kit with cymbals, stands and module.

Being an electronic musician I do not want imitation acoustic instruments, I want electronic instruments. Just thought instead of thinking classic or retro it could be more modern and futuristic.

Thank you for your thoughts and opinions

Offline Hellfire

Re: My Email To Simmons Drums Just and Idea what do you think?
« Reply #3 on: May 08, 2019, 08:49:38 AM »
All very good points!

you are correct I was thinking of the rubber Hex pads and marketing to the electronic musicians of today as a live instrument.

I know they have the other sets with mesh pads and acoustic emulations out there already for the current edrummers. Keep those and continue to develop them.

I was hopping for a release of the rubber pad Hex drums with an updated analog module that would come in different configurations like buy two pads, cymbal and a module. 4 pads 2 cymbals and a module and if you want a 5 piece kit with cymbals, stands and module.

Being an electronic musician I do not want imitation acoustic instruments, I want electronic instruments. Just thought instead of thinking classic or retro it could be more modern and futuristic.

Thank you for your thoughts and opinions

Don't get me wrong. I think your idea has merit. It's how Simmons goes about it that matters.

Having small pad stations is a good idea (and I don't mean multi-pad single units). I'm not sure if you are familiar with Nord Drum?
They actually have a very nice analog drum synth system (they are up to Nord 3 I believe).



This is what Simmons would be competing with.

I think this is possible, but they would need to add the ability of some acoustic emulation to get it more market appeal. This way it can also be used for auxiliary percussion (i.e. bells, blocks, bongos, etc.).

The hex pads would work but they would need to be smaller. Maybe 6-8" around. You could them sell them in 2,4, or 6 pad configurations. Call it something like "LegacyX" or "LineageX" line. I think they would need to stay away from terms like Retro, or Classic. These term are way over used in todays market.   

Re: My Email To Simmons Drums Just and Idea what do you think?
« Reply #4 on: May 09, 2019, 05:54:42 AM »
Wasn't there a version of the hex pad with mesh heads?

Offline Hellfire

Re: My Email To Simmons Drums Just and Idea what do you think?
« Reply #5 on: May 09, 2019, 01:50:06 PM »
Wasn't there a version of the hex pad with mesh heads?

Yes, It's called the Simmons SD2000 and it was released in 2017:



The older non-mesh version was called the Simmons Hexahead (from the 90's):


Re: My Email To Simmons Drums Just and Idea what do you think?
« Reply #6 on: May 22, 2019, 02:55:38 PM »
Both of those still have round heads just in a hex shell, I bit awkward if yo ask me. I would prefer the original hex pads with and updated rubber

Re: My Email To Simmons Drums Just and Idea what do you think?
« Reply #7 on: October 07, 2019, 02:31:37 PM »
E-drums are becoming more popular in a lot of venues due to the fact that volume can be controlled, I went to the local casino a couple of weeks ago and was surprised to see that all 3 bands playing had Alesis Strike kits. I can recall where I saw this other one, local bars were asking the bands to preferably have an electronic drum kit for volume control as well, I don't remember if it was in Dallas or other state, i am in the military I have moved a lot in the last 17 years...We all know that an E-kit doesn't really need to be tuned (too much) is way more versatile than any acoustic can ever be, and you have way more control over your sound. (screw you shitty sound guy)  I have played many live gigs with the old roland... Td4 I think, it never let me down, and besides the look, nobody ever missed the acoustic set, it sounded just right for what we played, I also played many gigs with acoustic sets, and  the only time when I felt that the sound was perfect, I was playing the venues high end DW set, perfectly tuned and miced, because it never moved from there! drummers are starting to realize the power and convenience of E-kits, and the touring musicians are of course getting custom kits and VST's.
Check out Shakira's drummer Brendan Buckley setup: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vdGhW1O_1A   Of course he isn't the only pro doing this, just the one I found that actually plays VSTs and not the module's sounds.

Offline ChrisK

Re: My Email To Simmons Drums Just and Idea what do you think?
« Reply #8 on: October 10, 2019, 04:00:33 AM »
Check out Shakira's drummer Brendan Buckley setup: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vdGhW1O_1A   Of course he isn't the only pro doing this, just the one I found that actually plays VSTs and not the module's sounds.

Sadly edrum as full main kit are not used in Pro tour for most band in the word, and still most local band use acoustic drum compare to edrum. Hybrid are more popular.
« Last Edit: October 10, 2019, 04:08:47 AM by ChrisK »

Re: My Email To Simmons Drums Just and Idea what do you think?
« Reply #9 on: October 10, 2019, 10:48:26 AM »
Because when you are a pro drummer, and have a Pro sound guy, you have a great acoustic set, you can add any percussion you want, and the only reason to add electronics is for space saving. or in the case of Brendan Buckley to be able to switch an entire kit based on the songs played. but you won't see rock or metal bands ever needing that versatility, however a lot of metal bands trigger their bass drums.