Doktor Avalanche

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

The good Doktor is renowned as the only member of The Sisters of Mercy to have remained with the Andrew Eldritch through the many incidents of in-fighting, splits and new line-ups.

The Doktor has gone through a number of incarnations during his career, beginning life as a Boss DR55 'Doctor Rhythm' machine. The Doktor became a Roland TR606, then a TR808, and, briefly, a TR909. The Doktor transformed into an Oberheim DMX for the band's first album. By the time of "Floodland", the Doktor became a Yamaha RX5 to accompany Andy's new computer and sequencer combo. By the time the album was recorded, the Doktor transformed into an Akai S900 sampler. These days, the Doktor maintains two forms, an Akai S1000 sampler onstage and an Akai S3200 in the studio.

When not providing the band with their characteristic drum sounds, the Doktor also writes the Dear Doktor column on the band's homepage.

http://www.the-sisters-of-mercy.com/misc/deardok.htm
http://www.the-sisters-of-mercy.com/tech/doktors.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sisters_of_Mercy#Doktor_Avalanche
http://gps.tsom.org/history.html