High-definition electronic drumming with 128 strike rings for sound variations every millimeter.

The Mandala detects where and how hard you hit and translates that information into sound and sound controllers for your playing pleasure and exploration. The capabilities of the Mandala and its first brain range from surface membrane strike sensitivity to position and velocity resolution to all-out multizone playing.

The essential components of the high-resolution 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"-diameter strike area that uses patented membrane sensor technology to detect exactly 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 ultrafast triggering and controller info on a per-zone basis with up to 7 assignable zones and a high-resolution position controller made up of 128 concentric strike rings from pad center to edge.

The Mandala also offers full functionality as a programmable realtime MIDI controller intended to manipulate external MIDI-compatible gear such as synths, computers, samplers, tone modules, etc. using MIDI notes, velocity controller, position controller, and pedal controller.

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.

Danny Carey of Tool says, "I am surrounded by Mandalas every night onstage. This technology is the only way I can trigger and control all the sounds I want to play. Helping develop these pads was definitely worth the time and effort."

Synesthesia Mandala Drum Features:

• 1 Mandala Drum Pad
• 1 Mandala Brain component (v 1.0)
• 1 Dual footswitch for program change
• 1 Pad-connection cable
• 1 DC power supply

Discover the true potential of electronic drumming with the Mandala. Order today.

Synesthesia Mandala Drum Specifications:

• Mandala Drum Pad
• Color: black and red
• Sides: 9
• Strike zone diameter: 11"
• Enclosure width: 12"
• Depth: 2"
• Weight: 4 lbs. 3 oz.
• Resolution position: Analog
• Resolution velocity: Analog
• Pad output: TRS connector
• Brain outputs: MIDI; 1/4" left and right audio; headphone; dual footswitch, expression pedal
  
  Mandala Brain (v1.0)
  
  Scales: major, minor, diminished, whole tone, indian, gamelan, ryuku, pentatonic major, pentatonic minor, blues major, blues minor, combination diminished, melodic minor, chromatic.
  
  Display: Reverse Backlit, 20 character, 4-line
  
  Zones: 1-7 Concentric
  
  Modes: ionian, dorian, phrygian, lydian, mixolydian, aeolian, locrian
  
  Dimensions
• Length: 7.38", 188mm
• Width: 4.70", 120mm
• Depth: 2.05", 52mm
  
  Inputs
• TRS from Pad
• Dual Footswitch (included)
• Expression Pedal (optional)
• DC Power In
  
  Outputs
• MIDI
• Audio L (1/4")
• Audio R (1/4")
• Headphones
  
  Pad Signal Conversion
• Position: up to 1024 resolution (10-bit)
• Velocity: standard 128 resolution
  
  Instruments
• 118 wavetable
• +47 drum (channel 10)
  
  Scale Patterns (one advance per hit)
• Upwave, uprep, downwave, downrep, centerwave up, centerwave down, velocity up, velocity down, random
  
  Assignable Controllers
• Position (0-127 range)
• Velocity (0-127 range)
• Pedal (optional) (0-127 range)
  
  Latency:
• MIDI Note Out: 1.5ms
• Internal Sound Out: 3.0ms
  
  Presets
• 83 factory
• 57 user assignable
  
  Per-Zone Attributes
• Instrument (0=none, 1-118)
• Note (0-127)
• Channel (1-16)
• Mod (0-127)
• Pitch (0-127)
• Volume (0-127)
• Pan (0-127)
• Scale type (0=none, 1-14)
• Scale pattern (1-10)
• Scale range (0-127)
• Scale step (1-12)
  
  Global Parameters
• Volume
• Pan
• Pitchbend range (1-24 semitones)
• MIDI Note Off Activation (turn this on for instruments with infinite sustain)
• MIDI Note On Time (0-8 seconds)
  
  Effects
• Modulation
• Pitch
• Pan
• Reverb
• Delay
• Chorus
• Flange
• EQ: 4-band L, 4-band R
  
  Effect Parameter Control
• Effects parameters controllable real time by Position, Velocity, Pedal
• Up to 10 total paramenters controllable per patch
  
  Power Supply
• AC adaptor (DC12V)
• US, UK, EUR, AUS available

Synesthesia Mandala Drum

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Average of 4 User Ratings

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Customer Reviews

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not practical

Posted by jason from charleston sc on Nov 15, 2007

Experience w/product: I own it

Reviewer's Background: active musician

Reviewer's Play Style: electronic, hip hop, funk, fock, groove jazz

very unusual sounds, and not practical for any musical situation unless you are danny carey. i have not met many musicians who play all the weird scales that this thing does, so playing with a band you will be out of key. in addition you can not really contro what note you will be playing most of the time, so its pretty random...you cant just hit the tonic note in time.

the bottom line is that this thing has to be the basis for a song and everyone will have to work around it. its cool to mess around with, but not practical....i exchanged it for a roland handsonic

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don't stop!

Posted by El-Berto from Austin, TX on Jun 9, 2007

Experience w/product: I own it

Reviewer's Background: Active Musician

Reviewer's Play Style: Rock

Now that I have a Mandala Pad my other electronic drums feel like ancient technology. I want more Mandalas! I plugged the pad into the brain and put on some headphones and went through the presets for hours when I got it (some awesome and some okay). The whole 11 inch surface can play the part of dozens of other pads all together and the possibilities seem endless. It's very sensitive to where you hit it and the velocity respose is excellent. Now I have it going through an amp and mounted to my acoustic kit and it's brought my setup to a new level. Time to connect the Mandala's MIDI output to my computer for sample and synth triggering. I heard this pad is a limited edition. I seriously hope not. Keep making these things!

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Best Drum

Posted by Anonymous Musician from Deltona, FL on Dec 27, 2006

Experience w/product: I own it

Reviewer's Background: N/A

Reviewer's Play Style: N/A

By far the best electronic drum you can get. All diffrent kind of crazy stuff you can do with this. I wish they would have made more percussion insruments though(djembes, tablas, etc.). Other then that this thing is awesome, really sounds works good for recording too.

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true innovation

Posted by oZborne from San Diego, CA on Dec 24, 2006

Experience w/product: I own it

Reviewer's Background: musician

Reviewer's Play Style: progressive

If you want to do something truly different with your drumming, look into this product. More personal than the Roland V-drums, which I also own, and more innovative.

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Synesthesia Mandala Drum

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