Product Review - Synesthesia USB Mandala Drum 2 : August 2009
information £299 including VAT.eDrum +44 (0)131 333 4500. $349.Synesthesia +1(323) 650-8082. December 2009
Other recent issues: | Product Review - Synesthesia USB Mandala Drum 2Article Preview :: Percussion ControllerPublished in SOS August 2009 Reviews : Electronic Drumkit The Mandala is a drum pad with a difference: it has a Virtual Brain and its manufacturers claim that it’s “the smartest thing you’ll ever hit with a stick.”
Synesthesia are a company who specialise in technologies that use touch and movement to control sound and light using infra-red light sensors, variable-position touch sensors and software. The Mandala is a drum-like instrument and in terms of sophistication it reminds me in some ways of the old Drum Kat, which could use pad hits (and even hand pressure) to manipulate and trigger MIDI data. But whereas the Drum Kat was all hardware with a very obvious multi-zone playing surface, the Mandala looks like a simple electronic drum pad with no controls or displays whatsoever. However, in addition to being a surprisingly sophisticated controller, the Mandala also includes an impressive sound library, the secret ingredient being the included ‘Virtual Brain’ software. Essentially, this puts all of the features and controls you’d expect to find in an electronic drum brain (and some you wouldn’t!) into software that runs on your Mac or PC. Your New Virtual Brain Despite its misleadingly simple appearance, the Mandala can provide up to seven concentric, velocity-sensitive sensor zones, each of which can be used to trigger a different sound via the Virtual Brain or, alternatively, to trigger other MIDI devices or software instrument plug-ins within your DAW. Perhaps its name provides some clue as to this structure, as one meaning of Mandala is a ‘spiritual diagram’ presented as concentric circles. The Mandala connects to the computer via USB, which also powers it. Installation is very straightforward, but once the Virtual Brain software has been copied to your computer’s hard drive, it should be left with its folder setup intact so that the support files can be recognised. Mandala v2.0 features four gigabytes of sound samples, if you include the Ludwig Black Beauty snare samples that come on a second disc. ...
Published in SOS August 2009 
| Saturday 21st November 2009 December 2009
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