Making Music reported the MTX9’s British Music Fair launch in July 1986 as a three-channel expansion for MIDI or drum-pad triggers. Period reviews later place it in the SDS9 orbit but also show it escaping that role: a sampled-percussion rack module that could be played from pads, MIDI or other trigger sources.
Sources (4)
Three channels beside another kit
The July 1986 fair report introduced the MTX9 as an SDS9 expander accepting MIDI and drum-pad triggers. Henrit’s later review describes its three sampled-percussion channels: another set of voices that could join a player’s existing percussion setup.
British Music Fair — Simmons Stretch Out ↗ Simmons MTX9 — DrumCheck ↗
A harder hit can bend the pitch
Rowland describes Sample, Pitch, Decay and Shift controls. Shift links playing strength to pitch change: a harder pad strike can move the note higher or lower, depending on its setting.
Eleven printed, thirteen heard
Henrit’s 1986 review describes eleven samples. In July 1987 Rowland reports thirteen, explaining that Simmons added Mega Tom and Snare late enough to miss the printed eleven-voice labels. The dated accounts need not describe identical finalised sample lists.
Simmons MTX9 — DrumCheck ↗ Simmons MTX9 — Percussion Voice Expander ↗
A module or a complete System
Henrit’s late-1986 module RRP was £399. Rowland’s July 1987 MTX9 System cost £520 including VAT with three pads and leads; the stand was extra. The packages gave the rack module two ways into a musician’s setup.
Simmons MTX9 — DrumCheck ↗ Simmons MTX9 — Percussion Voice Expander ↗
An echo for each voice
Delay is stored separately for each channel within a kit. Rate spaces the repeats, Number selects up to fifteen, and Decay controls their fade. One pad stroke can therefore set a small repeating figure in motion.
Keep three sounds together
Rowland describes twenty factory kits and twenty user locations. Each kit assigns one sound to each channel, so a player can prepare combinations and recall them rather than rebuild the setup between pieces.
Sources
The visual archive