Posted by soundsmusic2@gmail.com on 10/17/07 02:12

Email: ken@edgecommunicationsinc.com
Url: http://www.synesthesiacorp.com
For Immediate Release

Now With Computer Link and Lower Price, Still Fastest Trigger and
Precise Strike Detection Across Entire Pad; Developed with Drummer
Danny Carey of Tool

LAUREL CANYON, Calif. (Oct. 3, 2007) - Musical ingenuity once again
emerges from the hills of Laurel Canyon, as Synesthesia (
http://www.synesthesiacorp.com ) today announced Mandala 2.0 - a new
version of its wildly popular, patented high-def drum and synthesizer,
co-developed with professional drummer Danny Carey of the progressive
rock band Tool.

Now a computer peripheral - its USB cable plugs into PC or Mac - the
Mandala 2.0 is the only electronic drum that truly emulates an
acoustic drum. It offers drummers and musical explorers the only drum
pad that knows exactly where it's hit and how hard, across seven
assignable zones - with an immediate trigger delivering the fastest-
traveling sound possible.

A new kind of synthesizer, the Mandala 2.0 packages a musical range so
wide it simultaneously offers players the top of the line, most
accurate model of a physical drum (via 3,000 professionally created,
proprietary samples of the Black Beauty Snare Drum) - along with a
library of sounds derived from more than 100 other instruments. In
all, the Mandala 2.0 features four gigabytes of sound samples. It's a
synthesizer with drumsticks, with a drum pad so sensitive it responds
even to a fingertip touch.

"The Mandala is anything you want it to be - it can be the best drum
you've ever had, or any other instrument you can imagine," said Vince
De Franco, Synesthesia founder and CEO, and inventor of the Mandala.
"Use it as a compositional tool, or to create any sonic reality your
heart desires - it's the smartest thing you'll ever hit with a stick.
It literally will be a different product for everyone who buys it, as
simple or as complex as you want. Its lightning-fast trigger and ultra
sensitivity help drummers play faster, more evenly and more
expressively. Those who've used it tell us it helps them reach new
levels of their talent, discover nuances in their playing and reignite
their passion for drumming and for music."

Whereas most electronic drums have one zone in the middle that detects
the strike, Mandala's creators invented and patented a technology that
enables the drum pad to detect the exact location and strength of
every point of contact across the entire pad. With 128 concentric
rings from the center to the edge - each offering its own sound
variation - the Mandala offers unprecedented musical breadth. This
high-def drum and synthesizer is bringing to percussive music-making
the same kind of high resolution experience that HDTV has brought to
viewers.

The Mandala 2.0 retails for $349, and will be available November 1
online at http://mandaladrum.com and www.musiciansfriend.com. Each
Mandala is hand-crafted and thoroughly tested before it is shipped.
Expect two-week delivery.

Other key features:
* The accompanying software lets players synthesize a host of new
sounds and expand their drum kits and sample libraries at will. The
software automatically accommodates up to five separate drum pads.
It's also designed to inspire and facilitate composition - along with
the included instruments, players can add their own samples to the
library, and use the effects to mold and create their own sounds.

* The Mandala works seamlessly with most major music software, like
Native Instruments Battery and Reaktor, FXpansion BFD, Ableton Live,
Propellerhead Reason and Apple GarageBand.

* The Mandala offers full functionality as a programmable real-time
MIDI controller able to manipulate external MIDI-compatible gear like
synths, samplers, tone modules, etc., using MIDI notes, velocity
controller and position controller.

* One Mandala drum pad can accommodate from one to seven different
zones of sound - each of which can be configured as a separate
instrument, with an array of specialized settings. Players can have a
snare, a bass and a cymbal (or a harp, marimba or organ, or any other
instrument) - all in the same drum head, all at the same time. One
Mandala can act as one drum, as an entire drum kit, or as an eclectic
combo.

Drummer Meets Physicist
Inventor and physicist Vince De Franco developed the Mandala with
professional drummer Danny Carey from the progressive rock band Tool.
Carey uses seven Mandalas every night on stage because, he said, it's
"the only way I can trigger and control all the sounds I want to play.

"I told Vince I wanted an electronic drum that would trigger
immediately, and that would let me load a gigabyte of sound samples,"
said Carey. "What he created is the most advanced electronic drum I've
ever seen. And now this new version blows the last one away."

Carey used the Mandalas to trigger many of the sounds on the band's
latest album, 10,000 Days. Every percussive sound in the track,
Intension, is produced as a result of hitting a Mandala. Other
professionals using the Mandala include Pat Mastelotto of King
Crimson; Will Calhoun of Living Colour; Lol Tolhurst, co-founder of
The Cure; and Matt Chamberlain - who has played with Pearl Jam, David
Bowie, Tori Amos, and many others.

To see the original version in action, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tt87SjSHIv0,
or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FC5Wcs0AKnU. For more YouTube links,
go to http://mandaladrum.com (the links are about half-way down the
page).

For an evaluation unit, email ken@edgecommunicationsinc.com.

About Synesthesia
Synesthesia Corporation ( http://www.synesthesiacorp.com ) is
exploring new sonic terrain with the Mandala, its patented high-def
drum and synthesizer - the only electronic drum that faithfully
emulates an acoustic drum, and then transcends it. A new kind of
synthesizer, the Mandala offers the world's fastest trigger, precise
strike detection across the entire pad, and a musical range so wide it
can be the top of the line Black Beauty Snare Drum or virtually any
other instrument imaginable. The Mandala plugs into PC or Mac via USB
cable, and works seamlessly with most major mixing programs. Co-
developed with professional drummer Danny Carey of Tool, Mandalas are
used by professionals and hobbyists the world over. Vince De Franco -
inventor, physicist and musician - founded Synesthesia to develop his
state-of-the-art electronic sensor technology and to use it to create
products that inspire imagination and exploration. Based in Laurel
Canyon, Calif., the company currently has several other products in
development.

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