Doktor Avalanche

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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 ...