Synesthesia Mandala Drums
Encyclopedia
The Synesthesia Mandala Drum is an electronic drum
Electronic drum
An electronic drum is an electronic synthesizer which mimics an acoustic drum kit.The electronic drum usually consists of a set of pads mounted on a stand in a disposition similar to an acoustic drum kit. The pads are discs with a rubber or cloth-like coating. Each pad has a sensor which generates...

 pad developed by Vince DeFranco and drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...

 Danny Carey
Danny Carey
Daniel Edwin "Danny" Carey is an American drummer best known for his work in American Grammy Award-winning rock band Tool...

 from Tool
Tool (band)
Tool is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1990, the group's line-up has included drummer Danny Carey, guitarist Adam Jones, and vocalist Maynard James Keenan. Since 1995, Justin Chancellor has been the band's bassist, replacing their original bassist Paul D'Amour...

. It has 128 strike position detection rings from its center to its edge, along with 127 levels of velocity sensitivity
Keyboard expression
Keyboard expression often shortened to expression is the ability of a keyboard instrument to respond to the dynamics of the music or change the tone of the sound in response to the way that the performer depresses the keys of the musical keyboard...

. In its current iteration, version 2.0, both values are transmitted via USB MIDI to a computer, where they can be interpreted by any MIDI software. The Mandala also includes its own "Virtual Brain" software. The current USB/software system replaces a hardware brain that the version 1.0 Mandala system had employed. The pad can be struck with drum sticks or fingers and hands.

Technology

The Mandala pad represents membrane sensor technology that was developed over several years by Vince DeFranco and was released to the public in May 2006.

Because a Mandala surface is divided into 128 position rings and can detect 127 strike velocities (greater than 0) it can produce up to 16,256 (128 x 127) individual triggers. For practical playing the pad can be concentrically divided into as little as one or as many as seven playing zones via its Virtual Brain software. The individual zones, position rings, and velocity levels can be used to trigger different instruments, effects parameters, or volume changes.

The newest version of the Mandala, v2.0, is a MIDI controller which uses a computer as its sound source. When the pad is struck it sends a MIDI trigger note with velocity as well as position values across a USB cable into a computer. A Virtual Brain program is included with v2.0 and has a set of included instrument samples and two effects racks. Any parameter of any effect can be controlled by the position (0-127) or velocity (0-127) of a surface strike, resulting in effects such as bending pitch
Pitch (music)
Pitch is an auditory perceptual property that allows the ordering of sounds on a frequency-related scale.Pitches are compared as "higher" and "lower" in the sense associated with musical melodies,...

, changing delay time, or increasing reverb as the pad is played from center to edge, as examples. The position controller can be scaled to the player's liking. Preset sound configurations are included with the Virtual Brain and more can be saved by the user. Drummers can also modify panning
Panning (audio)
Panning is the spread of a sound signal into a new stereo or multi-channel sound field. A typical physical recording console pan control is a knob with a pointer which can be placed from the 8 o'clock dial position fully left to the 4 o'clock position fully right...

 and note settings for each zone. The Virtual Brain program is not required to play the Mandala because the pad is a MIDI controller that can trigger any software that accepts MIDI input.

Version 2.0 demonstrates the resolution of its sensitivity by including over 3000 position and velocity based samples of a single vintage snare drum which get laid out over the Mandala surface for an accurate playing representation.

Version 1.0 of the Mandala included a standalone hardware 'brain' with an onboard sound chip and effects. That version is no longer available.

External links


Endorsers

  • Danny Carey
    Danny Carey
    Daniel Edwin "Danny" Carey is an American drummer best known for his work in American Grammy Award-winning rock band Tool...

     Tool
  • Pat Mastelotto
    Pat Mastelotto
    Pat Mastelotto is a rock drummer who has worked with Mr. Mister and King Crimson, amongst others. For King Crimson he initially formed part of the "double trio" lineup, joining Bill Bruford on drums...

     King Crimson
  • Will Calhoun
    Will Calhoun
    Will Calhoun is an American drummer, who graduated with honors from Berklee College of Music.-Career:...

     Living Color
  • Matt Chamberlain
    Matt Chamberlain
    Matthew Chamberlain is an American drummer, producer and sound engineer. He is currently based in Los Angeles, California.-Early life:...

     Pearl Jam/Bowie/Peter Gabriel/Tori Amos/Critters Buggin +
  • Aaron Harris
    Aaron Harris (Isis drummer)
    Aaron Harris is an American drummer, best known for his career with Los Angeles, California-based post-metal band Isis. He was with the band from its inception in 1997 to its dissolution in 2010...

     ISIS
  • Joe Barresi
    Joe Barresi
    Joe Barresi is an American record engineer and producer who has worked with bands such as Kyuss, The Melvins, Tool, Queens of the Stone Age, Coheed and Cambria, Tomahawk, L7, The Jesus Lizard, Parkway Drive and Bad Religion.-Biography:...

     Producer, Engineer: The Melvins/Tool/Queens of the Stone Age/Weezer/Wolfmother +
  • Jaron Lanier
    Jaron Lanier
    Jaron Zepel Lanier is an American computer scientist, best known for popularizing the term virtual reality .A pioneer in the field of VR, Lanier and Thomas G. Zimmerman left Atari in 1985 to found VPL Research, Inc., the first company to sell VR goggles and gloves...

     Computer Scientist/Composer/Visual Artist/Author
  • Lol Tolhurst The Cure/Levinhurst
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