Difference between revisions of "Doktor Avalanche"

Revision as of 19:46, 16 December 2011

The Doktor around 1997

Doktor Avalanche is The Sisters of Mercy's drum machine,

taking over drumming duties from Andrew Eldritch after the first single, Damage Done.

The Original - BOSS Dr Rythum DR55

Originally the Doktor was a Boss DR55 "Doktor Rhythm" featuring
only four sounds, not much of a memory - and one MONO output ...
However, it's there where he's got his name from ...

In the 1990ies, the Doktor was running on a custom rig under DOS 3.3, despite Adam Pearson's desire to run it with "logic" on a Mac.

On recent tours, the Doktor has been intermittently responsible for<vr/> playing bass as well, probably when guitarists' hands got tired.

For elaborate technical details on The Doktor and the whole of his extented equipment
see Doktor Avalanche - The Official Biography on The Sisters Official Site ...

There is in fact an according and also quite informing thread on Heartland Forum as well ...

A Set Of Family Photos ...

Here are a few more pictures documenting the Doktor's development over the years:
(Please click for larger views...)

The Early 1980ies - A Successive Series Of Roland TRs

Roland TR-606 - a bit more memory, a few more sounds ...

Roland TR-808 - really the first serious drum machine

Roland TR-909 - only a short intermezzo with improved cymbals and hi-hats

1984/5 - First And Last And Always

Oberheim 20DX - going Midi, really an improvement

The Sisters of Mercy with their new Oberheim 20DX at the Black Planet video set ...

1986/7 - Floodland Era

Yamaha RX5 - Eldritch's first Hamburg companion...

... by time of the actual recordings replaced with an AKAI S900

1989/90 - Matured ...

AKAI S1000 - A Vision Thing ...

Hard To Find - Post Millennium Live Footage

The Doktor in soundcheck with Near Meth Experience and his nurse in 2005

The Doktor in soundcheck with Near Meth Experience and his nurse in 2005

The Doktor shining through the fog at Le Trianon, Paris in 2011

Always on pace with technical innovations of the time

The Doktor slimmed down visually over the years ...

The Doktor 2006 in Brazil

2011 - The Current Gear

Recently, The Sisters of Mercy have upgraded The Doktor's components with 3 MacBooks Pro ... a stable basis for future experiments ...

The Doktor in 2011 - refreshed and irreplaceable as ever ...