Behringer BDS-3 Review: The Forgotten Simmons Drum Synth Reborn
Starsky Carr
24,440 views
Patreon: starskycarr
Before hex pads. Before 80s pop clichés. Before electronic drums went mainstream… there was the SDS-3.
In this video, I take an in-depth look at Behringer’s BDS-3 (originally labelled SDS-3), a modern Eurorack recreation of the 1978 Simmons SDS-3 — one of the very first analogue drum synthesizers ever made. Long before the famous SDS-5 kits, the SDS-3 was designed to augment acoustic drums using mic triggers, analogue filters, envelopes, noise and pitch modulation.
I explore how the original worked, why it wasn’t a commercial success, and why that actually makes it such an interesting instrument today. Then I put the Behringer BDS-3 through its paces: sound design, MIDI control, mic triggering, Eurorack use, modulation tricks, and how those four identical analogue voices interact as a single instrument
You’ll hear everything from deep sub kicks and MiniPops-style tones, to metallic blips, noise-based percussion and evolving analogue textures — plus why this design still feels surprisingly modern almost 50 years later.
In this video:
The history of the Simmons SDS-3 (1978)
Why it failed commercially but shaped electronic drums
Why Behringer renamed it BDS-3
Analogue drum synthesis explained
Mic triggering vs MIDI triggering
Eurorack integration
Filter sweeps, pitch envelopes, noise & modulation
Real musical examples and sound design demos
If you’re into analogue drum synths, Simmons history, Behringer clones, or unusual ways of creating electronic percussion, this one’s for you.
👉 Subscribe for more deep-dive synth history, demos, and no-nonsense reviews
👉 Support the channel on Patreon for patches, samples & tutorials
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Thomann https://thmn.to/thoprod/629902?offid=...
Signal Sounds https://www.signalsounds.com/?ref=STA...
Perfect Circuit https://www.pjtra.com/t/SENKTExLTUtDS...
Sweetwater https://sweetwater.sjv.io/9LERj4
Other places you’ll find me:
► Instagram: Instagram: starskycarr
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► Twitter: Twitter: starskycarr
► Bandcamp https://starskycarr.bandcamp.com/rele...
► Clubbing TV From the Studio:
From The Studio
0:00 intro demo
1:38 What's an SDS-3?
3:44 Mic input
4:46 How the voices work
10:37 The Secret Sauce: LFO can modulate all 4
13:20 RUN!!
17:36 Minipops CR-78 stylie
#behringer #sds-3 #review #demo #drums #musicproducer
20 Comments
Run time - still trying to figure out what this originally was. Seems like sample and hold of a sine wave LFO that's reset after a certain number of hits. It gives a series of different pitches going down, then up again, then down etc. Makes one tom channel sound like a set of toms, which is handy as it means you only need one tom channel for lots of toms.
Love all your videos
Great work! I reaaaally want to but this now… 🤣😆🤣
Thanks for the demo!
Behringer BDS-3 Review: The Forgotten Simmons Drum Synth Reborn
Starsky Carr
24,440 views
Patreon: starskycarr
Before hex pads. Before 80s pop clichés. Before electronic drums went mainstream… there was the SDS-3.
In this video, I take an in-depth look at Behringer’s BDS-3 (originally labelled SDS-3), a modern Eurorack recreation of the 1978 Simmons SDS-3 — one of the very first analogue drum synthesizers ever made. Long before the famous SDS-5 kits, the SDS-3 was designed to augment acoustic drums using mic triggers, analogue filters, envelopes, noise and pitch modulation.
I explore how the original worked, why it wasn’t a commercial success, and why that actually makes it such an interesting instrument today. Then I put the Behringer BDS-3 through its paces: sound design, MIDI control, mic triggering, Eurorack use, modulation tricks, and how those four identical analogue voices interact as a single instrument
You’ll hear everything from deep sub kicks and MiniPops-style tones, to metallic blips, noise-based percussion and evolving analogue textures — plus why this design still feels surprisingly modern almost 50 years later.
In this video:
The history of the Simmons SDS-3 (1978)
Why it failed commercially but shaped electronic drums
Why Behringer renamed it BDS-3
Analogue drum synthesis explained
Mic triggering vs MIDI triggering
Eurorack integration
Filter sweeps, pitch envelopes, noise & modulation
Real musical examples and sound design demos
If you’re into analogue drum synths, Simmons history, Behringer clones, or unusual ways of creating electronic percussion, this one’s for you.
👉 Subscribe for more deep-dive synth history, demos, and no-nonsense reviews
👉 Support the channel on Patreon for patches, samples & tutorials
Affiliate Links:
Thomann https://thmn.to/thoprod/629902?offid=...
Signal Sounds https://www.signalsounds.com/?ref=STA...
Perfect Circuit https://www.pjtra.com/t/SENKTExLTUtDS...
Sweetwater https://sweetwater.sjv.io/9LERj4
Other places you’ll find me:
► Instagram: Instagram: starskycarr
► Facebook: Facebook: starskycarr
► Twitter: Twitter: starskycarr
► Bandcamp https://starskycarr.bandcamp.com/rele...
► Clubbing TV From the Studio:
From The Studio
0:00 intro demo
1:38 What's an SDS-3?
3:44 Mic input
4:46 How the voices work
10:37 The Secret Sauce: LFO can modulate all 4
13:20 RUN!!
17:36 Minipops CR-78 stylie
#behringer #sds-3 #review #demo #drums #musicproducer