Malcolm Holmes

"Mal Holmes’ percussion complex consisted of a big Tama bass drum, large Pearl snares and conventional Paiste hi-hat alongside an array of electronic percussion pads triggering the aforementioned Korg MS20 and a pair of Pearl Syncussion units which controlled two percussive timbres each."

Malcolm talks about playing Simmons SDS-V drums in this interview.

"I’m now using a Roland TD-20 for the electronic toms and the cymbals."

"I did some Linn Drum programming on ‘Junk Culture’ but it was mostly playing on top of the Fairlight and the Linn Drum."

"Previously, cheaper synths either had presets like Paul’s little Korg which restricted the number of sounds they could make, or they would have no memory like their Korg MS20. Synths like the latter were largely impractical for live use as a keyboard although Mal Holmes had the MS20 to generate fixed sounds for percussive effects triggered by his drum pads."

"So when I first joined OMD, I’d been coming from THE ID so we were playing Electricity and some of those early songs on a regular kit which my brother bought me when I was 16, this Tama kit."

At 0:04, a Roland CR-78 can be seen behind Malcolm Holmes.

At 1:35, a Synare 3 drum pad can be seen in Malcolm Holmes' setup.

" I loved the SDSV and the SDSVII which had an EPROM blower which could blew my own sounds onto the chips."

Malcolm Holmes (drums and general hitting-things) recently bought a rather large Sonor kit. Yes, he got a deal from them. "I thought well, the band's got far too much money, might as well spend a bit of it," he explains. Sonor kits are great for live work, this endorsee finds, praising their big, deep, powerful qualities in this respect. Drum companies seem keener than most on doing deals, don't they? Mal agrees, mentioning the Japanese makers as especially eager and pointing out that their government finances such activities. Sonor, a Germany company, dont't give kits away, however, so he settled for trade price, less a bit. "And a T-shirt," he adds. "I met this drummer who'd been down to the trade fair and he'd got a deal with Tama. They'd given him this huge 45-million-drum pink kit. That's what he came away with from the trade fair. I got a Sonor hat and a Sabian T-shirt." Ahhh.

In the music video for "Messages" by Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, Malcolm Holmes is seen with a Remo Practice Pad, primarily used as a prop rather than as an instrument.