Interview -- UK Press Release - Rick Allen

Richard Allen - How he does it

Much attention has been focused on the drum kit used by Richard on tour. Surprisingly, it’s not that unusual, just standard electronic drums but used in a unique, creative and rather special way. It’s really two drum kits combined. One kit is played by electronic foot pedals and the other with sticks on electronic drum pads.

The reason it sounds so good has much to do with the way it’s played as what equipment is used. To understand this, you need to know a few drumming truths. First, it is possible to play some simple rhythms using just feet, if your technique is good enough. Conventionally it’s something most drummers don’t do. Secondly, as most drummers will tell you, the average drummer’s left foot is under-used. It usually just keeps time in a relatively simple way on a pair of Hi Hat cymbals.



But Richard’s left-foot technique lets him play complex drum patterns with remarkable ease. It’s possible to play very simple rhythms on just the top kit too. But here’s the bonus: combine both kits and the playing potential becomes immense. By triggering the same sounds from either kit some ‘impossible’ licks become possible.

The first kit (the ‘top’ kit), is five small Simmons electronic drum pads. The ‘bottom’ kit is four specially constructed foot-pedals and a Simmons Bass Drum pad. None of these drums produce sound - only electronic pulses or ‘triggers’ which are sent to a controller or "Brain". It is this that produces the sounds.



The ‘Brain’ is a Simmons SDS7, where sounds are ‘Sampled’ onto a silicon chip, loaded into a brain, and when triggered, reproduces the sound like a piece of magnetic tape. Richard is using a blend of SDS7 Library Samples and samples taken from his own recorded drums.

Each drum in each kit sends a trigger to the brain, five sounds on the top kit and the same five sounds on the bottom kit. Ten triggers, five sounds - Bass Drum, Snare Drums and three Tom Toms.



The system also includes a switching device called Simmons MTM. This switches pads and pedals so that any sound can be triggered from any pad or pedal at the flick of a switch - any pad, any pedal, any kit, any sound.

Suddenly it’s no longer an ordinary kit, but a precise and flexible electronic instrument offering incredible versatility. Combine it with a totally original playing technique and you’ve got Def Leppard’s drums.

Article 1987. Refers to the first kit used by Rick on the Hysteria Tour.

Picture Key:

1&3: (cymbals)

A: 14" Zildjian.
B: 14" Zildjian.
C: 21" Zildjian Ride.
D: 14" Zildjian High Hat.
E: 14" Zildjian
F: 15" Zildjian.

1&3: (drum pads)

1: Simmons SD69 PAD to SDS7/AKAI S900 Bass (played with Right-Foot Pedal).
2: Simmons SD69 PAD to SDS7/AKAI S900 Snare.
3: Simmons SD69 PAD to SDS7/AKAI S900 Tom 1.
4: Simmons SD69 PAD to SDS7/AKAI S900 Tom 2.
5: Simmons SD69 PAD to SDS7/AKAI S900 Tom 3.

1,2&3: (Top Bass Drum & Foot Pedals)

1a: Simmons SD69 PAD to SDS7/AKAI S900 Bass.
2a: Shark Foot Pedal to SDS7/AKAI S900 Snare.
3a: Shark Foot Pedal to SDS7/AKAI S900 Tom 1.
4a: Shark Foot Pedal to SDS7/AKAI S900 Tom 2.
5a: Shark Foot Pedal to SDS7/AKAI S900 Tom 3.
© Phonogram 1987.