A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals, and sometimes other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The drummer typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks, and uses their feet to operate hi-hat and bass drum pedals.
Spandau Ballet were an English pop band formed in Islington, London, in 1979. Inspired by the capital's post-punk underground dance scene, they emerged at the start of the 1980s as the house band for the Blitz Kids, playing "European Dance Music" as "The Applause" for this new club culture's audience. They became one of the most successful groups of the New Romantic era of British pop and were part of the Second British Invasion of the Billboard Top 40 in the 1980s, selling 25 million albums and having 23 hit singles worldwide. The band have had eight UK top 10 albums, including three greatest hits compilations and an album of re-recorded material. Their musical influences ranged from punk rock and soul music to the American crooners Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett.
John Leslie Keeble is an English pop and rock drummer. He is best known for his membership of the 1980s new wave band Spandau Ballet.
Electronic drums are a modern electronic musical instrument, primarily designed to serve as an alternative to an acoustic drum kit. Electronic drums consist of an electronic sound module which produces the synthesized or sampled percussion sounds and a set of pads, usually constructed in a shape to resemble drums and cymbals, which are equipped with electronic sensors to send an electronic signal to the sound module which outputs a sound. Like acoustic drums, the pads are struck by drum sticks and they are played in a similar manner to an acoustic drum kit, albeit with some differences in the drumming experience.
The DTX range consists of electronic drum kits and percussion controllers manufactured by the Yamaha Corporation. They currently cover levels from entry-level to pro-range. DTX kits use sampling for their sounds, meaning each kit has built-in digital recordings of real drums, and cymbals. When the drum or cymbal pads are hit, the digital recordings are played back to replicate what is being played. On all kits, the sounds are editable – the pitch can be made higher or lower (tuned) and many other features. The higher the range of the DTX, the more functions there are editable.
Akira Jimbo, also transliterated as Akira Jinbo, is a Japanese jazz fusion drummer, best known as the drummer for the Japanese jazz fusion band Casiopea in 3 separate stints. Aside from his work with Casiopea, Jimbo has also participated in side projects with Keiko Matsui, Shambara, and Brian Bromberg.
Robert B. Rivkin, better known by the stage name Bobby Z., is an American musician and record producer, most known as being the original drummer for Prince's backing band The Revolution from 1978 to 1986.
Warren Reginald Cann is a Canadian drummer, drum machine programmer and songwriter, best known as a founding member of the British new wave band Ultravox, for which he was one of the main songwriters.
V-Drums are a line of electronic drums by Roland Corporation Introduced originally in 1997.
Simmons is an electronic drum brand, which originally was a pioneering British manufacturer of electronic drums. Founded in 1978 by Dave Simmons, it supplied electronic kits from 1980 to 1998. The drums' distinctive, electronic sound can be found on countless albums from the 1980s. The company closed in 1999 and the Simmons name is currently owned by Guitar Center.
Kombi is a Polish musical band from Poland, founded in 1969 in Gdańsk by Sławomir Łosowski. In the beginning, the group played mostly experimental, jazz music. In second half of the 1970s they turned into funk rock, later their style turned towards synth-pop. They used such musical equipment as Commodore 64 as a MIDI sequencer, Prophet 5, Yamaha DX-7 synthesizer, Simmons SDS-V electronic drum kit and Roland TR-808 drum machine. The band was known for its characteristic sound, based on state-of-the-art electronic instruments programmed by Łosowski, distinctive vocals and guitar playing by Skawiński and Tkaczyk's bass slapping style. Their most popular songs include "Słodkiego miłego życia", "Nasze randez-vous", "Black and White", "Kochać cię – za późno", "Za ciosem cios", "Nie ma zysku", "Przytul mnie", "Królowie życia" and "Nietykalni – skamieniałe zło".
Richard James Burgess is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, composer, author, manager, marketer and inventor.
An electronic drum module is an electronic or digital music device in an electronic drum kit that serves as the central processing unit and sound module. The drum module creates or produces the drum kit sounds or other sounds selected by the drummer. By itself, a drum module cannot play or sound drum beats. It only produces drum sounds when a performer strikes electronic drum pads or acoustic drum kit instruments that have electronic "triggers" attached to them. When the electronic drum pads or trigger-equipped instruments are struck, this sends a signal to the drum module, which produces the corresponding electronic drum sound. Even when drum pads and/or triggers are connected to a drum module, the drum module by itself does not make any audible sound. Like other electronic instruments such as the synthesizer, the drum module only outputs an electronic signal. The performer can hear this signal by connecting headphones to the drum module or by plugging the drum module into an amplifier and loudspeaker or PA system for audible practice or live performances. The drum module's output signal can also be patched into an audio console for concerts or sound recording. The nomenclature varies. For example, electronic drum modules are called "percussion sound modules" in the case of Roland Corporation, or sometimes simply modules. A common colloquial term for this device is drum brain..
Diamond is the second studio album by English new wave band Spandau Ballet, released on 12 March 1982 by Chrysalis Records. As with their debut album, Journeys to Glory, all songs were produced by Richard James Burgess and written by band guitarist Gary Kemp. The music was inspired by a variety of genres, including the renewed interest in funk around Soho, American film scores with roots in eastern Europe, the second side of David Bowie's Low album, Pink Floyd records and the mood pieces of another English new wave band, Japan.
"Chant No. 1 " is a song by the English new wave band Spandau Ballet, released on 10 July 1981 as the first single from their second album, Diamond. The band's guitarist/songwriter, Gary Kemp, wanted to pay homage to the latest London hotspot, Le Beat Route, by emulating the funk music that was popular there and even using the club as the location for the music video, all in order to show that the band was still part of the trendy Soho scene. Except for the remix of the song from the album's box set, "Chant No. 1" received good reviews, and the 7-inch single became their third top ten hit in the United Kingdom, peaking at number 3 on the UK Singles Chart.
John "Willie" Wilcox is an American drummer, vocalist, producer, recording engineer, sound designer, composer, and senior audio director. He is best known for being a member of the band Utopia. He also has been the senior audio director for Bally Technologies and Scientific Games in Las Vegas, Nevada from 2010 to 2020.
The Roland DDR-30 "Alpha Drum" is a digital PCM drum module built by Roland, in early 1985. It was introduced during 1985 Summer NAMM industry trade show in New Orleans.
The Yamaha PTX8 is a digital sample-based percussion tone generator built by Yamaha, in late 1986. It was included in the Yamaha D8 electronic drum kit.
The Korg DRM-1 Digital Rhythm module built by Korg, in late 1987. It was introduced during 1987 Summer NAMM industry trade show in Chicago.
