Synesthesia Presents The Mandala Drum, Designed With Danny Carey Of Tool
May 19, 2006
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In an effort to meet the need for an electronic
percussion instrument with unprecedented sensitivity to human motor precision and
individual performance styles, Synesthesia Corporation has created The Mandala Drum,
now shipping worldwide.
The essential components of the Mandala Drum include the Mandala Drum Pad and the
Mandala Brain v1.0. The Mandala Drum Pad is a dynamic multiple control zone
electronic surface with an 11 inch diameter strike area that uses patented membrane
sensor technology to detect where and how hard a surface strike occurs. The versatile
Mandala Brain is driven by a dual-microprocessor powered circuit with an onboard sound
synthesizer chip containing a library of sounds that are assignable to respond according to
the system's ultra-fast triggering and controller info on a per-zone basis with up to 7
assignable zones and 128 concentric position controller strike rings. The Mandala also
offers full functionality as a programmable real-time MIDI controller intended to
manipulate external MIDI-compatible gear such as synths, computers, samplers, tone
modules, etc.
Extra features include realtime controllable onboard reverb, delay, chorus and flange
effects, as well as 4-band eq, pitch-bend, modulation, volume and panning parameters.
An array of per-zone tonal options, including scales and modalities, root note intonation,
intervallic sequences and programmable range definitions round out the musicality of the
instrument. Also included is a dual footswitch for hands-free preset scrolling, as well as
an input for a continuous controller expression pedal. Showing off many of the system's
capabilities are 83 factory presets for easy out-of-the-box playing. 57 additional slots are
available for user-programmed patches.
Synesthesia Corporation founder Vince De Franco, creator of the Interactive Light
infrared Dimension Beam which was later licensed to the musical instrument world as the
D-Beam, worked closely for 5 years with world renowned drummer Danny Carey to
create the all-new, velocity sensitive, 1024 strike position resolution, 1.5 millisecond
response time Mandala Drum. Carey uses 7 Mandalas as a part of his drum kit every
night on his current world tour with acclaimed rock band TOOL, as well as during the
recording of TOOL's latsest CD release 10,000 Days.
The complete Mandala Package includes the Drum Pad, Drum Brain, dual-footswitch,
power supply, a TRS cord to connect the Pad to the Brain and a 9.5mm L-Rod mount.
Snare stands are also an option for mounting the Mandala. Headphone usage is optional.
$999.00 USD For more information, visit their web site at www.mandaladrum.com.
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