Ever wonder what it sounds and feels like to hit a Mandala Drum?  Well, LA’s ‘Massive New Music Compound’ called Bedrock, located in Echo Park, has a room of Mandalas set up for you to try, rent and buy.

The site, a former jewelry manufacturer at 1623 Alessandro Street, is called Bedrock Rehearsal Studios (bedrockla.com).  It’s a multipurpose complex offering professional rehearsal spaces, recording studios, equipment rental and repair.  Future plans call for an onsite brewpub featuring live acoustic performances, a walk-up café and three guest suites.  The Bedrock slogan is “rehearse, record, and relax” and that is exactly what they will help you do.

Bedrock is now the exclusive showroom dealer of Mandala Drums.  There is a room devoted to percussion with Mandala Drum hardware and software set up all the time.  The Mandala rig can be moved to your rehearsal room for rental, and Bedrock has Mandalas in stock for purchase at $349.

“Bedrock is a great fit for us,” says Vince De Franco of Synesthesia Corporation. “ It is a tough time to be a small business in California.  Capital is hard to come by and customers are tough to win.  This space attracts the music talent LA is known for.  These are the musicians we want exposed to our equipment.”

Rehearse – Fully equipped rooms acoustically treated with the proper mix of hard and soft surfaces to get a great sound.  Repairs and rentals from a dizzying array of classic and cutting edge equipment, including Mandala Drums and software.

Record – Let our team of producers and engineers create a world-class recording for a reasonable budget.

Relax – (coming soon) a coffee shop, a brewery, a rooftop garden and hotel suites.

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Links:  http://bedrockla.com

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John Emrich helps define state-of-the-art drumming using both acoustic and electronic instruments.

More info on John at http://www.johnemrich.com

Thanks John!

We recently had the opportunity to sit down with one of our prime endorsees here in Los Angeles.  Ryeland Allison has been composing, arranging, performing and playing music since he was a wee lad and over the years he has contributed his musical talents to some of the biggest blockbusters of all time.  Here are a few things we talked about…

When composing music for a soundtrack, what is your primary goal?

My primary goal is to serve the film always.  I’ll work with the film director, producers and editor to establish the emotion of the characters and of the story line.  Music can enhance their vision to create emotional depth. The viewer doesn’t need to be overtly aware of the music. Music supports the film. 

How does your goal differ from that of, for example, a Bernard Herrmann (Citizen Kane, The Birds)? 

I don’t know if I could say that my goals “differ” in the broad sense.  I would say that styles differ.  Time periods and techniques differ.  Each composer has his or her own style. One thing that is important is theme.  A character on the screen can have a melody or a phrase that you will come to associate with them. I worked with Hans and James on music for The Dark Knight.  Heath Ledger’s performance and the character of the Joker demanded a strong theme. Hans created a masterful thematic idea from two notes that enhanced the anarchy he was creating in the film.

I also think every composer brings his own bag of tricks. For some music from the Iron Man score I looked at the recklessness of Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) I played to some of my strengths and embraced more electronic and percussive sounds, as opposed to Orchestra.

Does technology play a role in how you compose? If so, what role?

Definitely.  Given the sophistication of software and studio equipment available today we can develop sounds quickly.  We can try new ideas and know if they will work and how well. At one time you had to compose at a single instrument and sort out your ideas on paper before you heard the finished sound.  Technology allows for infinite demos and changes before final mix. In my opinion, every composer can work with the same 12 notes, but technology has allowed a greater range of exploration of new timbres.  It’s an exciting journey.

How does the Mandala Drum help you?

The Mandala has an incredibly expressive range as a controller. It has allowed me more freedom than other electronic drum controllers. Until the Mandala I preferred a keyboard to trigger drum sounds, not any more.  I get to play the parts as I would play them while sitting at an acoustic set. You think a lot differently and come up with better ideas that way.

We used the Mandala on The Dark Knight score and right now I am working with an extremely talented percussionist, Satnam Ramgotra, on Angels & Demons.  The Mandala allows us to travel from melodic to abstract and back again. And the difference between how Satnam uses it and how I utilize it shows just how wide the range of expression can be with this new technology.  The Mandala has allowed me to participate successfully in what I think is going to be an exceptional score. If Hans wins an Oscar for Angels and Demons I’ll make him carry a Mandala up to the podium!

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The great success of NAMM (National Association of Music Manufacturers) this year was due in large part to its stated purpose coinciding with a great economic need. In a time when companies across all industries are hoarding cash, cutting back and shedding employees the music instrument industry is no different. However as bleak as that sounds it brought out the best in the industry at the NAMM trade show. 

For those of you who don’t know, NAMM is the music instrument industry’s premier trade show. It is an annual gathering where all musical instrument manufacturers show the world what they have been working hard on all year. The official NAMM site summed it up this way:

Despite Unpredictable Economy, Exhibitors and Buyers Report Good Business in Anaheim

Themed ‘Come Together’, the show offered attendees the opportunity to reunite with industry peers, learn the latest business and marketing tactics and trends at daily NAMM University sessions, and ultimately make their biggest business deals for the year ahead.

‘The 2009 NAMM Show was perhaps one of the most important industry gatherings in memory’, said NAMM President and CEO Joe Lamond. ‘Our Members once again demonstrated their determination and persistence as the best and brightest from around the world gathered to experience four days of new products, NAMM University courses, networking and great live music.’

NAMM members showed up in the true spirit of business. The focus was not as directly on money, sales and investments, but rather on affiliations. This year’s show focused on handshakes agreeing to do business together.

The Mandala was well represented at the show. Danny Carey was there to promote his endorsements and Sonor was kind enough to include three Mandalas in their recreation of Danny’s full kit. Our good friend John Emrich, at FXpansion software, spent all weekend demonstrating a Mandala teamed impressively with their BFD package. Some high profile drummers approached us about joining the Mandala family (we’ll be announcing who soon).

We went to NAMM to raise awareness of our product and were proud to find that everyone had heard of us and wanted to talk. So as we have done before we must thank our loyal and talented customers. The word is out and the Mandala you have is going to become an even more capable and more amazing tool in the months ahead. USB, software driven, and position sensitive is the drum of the future. Clearer now than ever, the Mandala will do even more for drums than what the pickup did for guitars.

Now I have only alluded to our developing affiliations here. While I cannot yet reveal these affiliations I want to make it clear that the Mandala 2.0 is the future and anything we develop in the future will be compatible and expandable. We are growing and we are dedicated to maintaining excellent service and quality matched only by our commitment to drum technology.

Many thanks to our friends, customers, endorsees and affiliates who made this NAMM a success for us.

LUKE

Lieutenant Major Scott Carpenter (USN) wished “Godspeed” to friend and colleague Lieutenant Colonel John Glenn (USMC) as Friendship 7 launched from Cape Canaveral on February 20, 1962. It was the first U.S. manned orbital mission flight. Ever since, “Godspeed” has been the salutation to astronauts on the launch pad. And so today we wish Godspeed to our fellow Mandala Drum player, Captain Christopher Ferguson (USN), and his crew. Captain Ferguson will command the space shuttle Endeavour mission STS-126 targeted for launch on November 14, 2008.

Endeavour will carry a reusable logistics module that will hold supplies and equipment essential to sustain a crew of six on the International Space Station, including additional crew quarters, a regenerative life support system and a Resistive Exercise Device (RED). In Ferguson’s words, “It’s moving day.” The module is in essence a new kitchen, bathroom and bunk room so that the International Space Station can support a larger crew. We here on earth can only speculate as to whether the new digs will have a recreation room complete with a Mandala setup. It’s possible!

Captain Ferguson is the drummer for the all astronaut rock band, Max Q. In recent correspondence with Captain Ferguson, he had great things to say about his Mandala and added that his son is learning to play the drums using it. We’ll do our best to get everybody a sound clip and a playing schedule for Max Q sometime after the Captain’s return. Until then let’s ALL focus on pushing the boundaries of what is possible.

Godspeed, Endeavour STS-126

Chances are good that even if you have never heard of the Mandala Drum, you have heard it played. The Mandala’s presence across the media production industries is so vast that film composers, recording engineers, game developers, sound designers and other content creators are changing the world with it. The position sensor in the Mandala Drum has empowered the imaginations and creativity of artists in every media at every level.

It is well documented on our site mandaladrum.com that the Mandala was invented by Vince De Franco for Danny Carey of the rock band TOOL. Carey needed an electronic drum pad that could be durable and accurate in live and studio settings. It would have to translate each strike of his sticks into high definition sound and effects within milliseconds. For more than six years now Carey has incorporated 7 Mandala Drums into his kit on stage and in the studio. The Mandala played prominently in many songs on TOOL’s recent multi platinum CD 10,000 Days, and Mandalas performed flawlessly on the road during TOOL’s two year world tour to promote 10,000 Days.

Synesthesia Corporation is lucky to have another important endorsee in friend Ryeland Allison. Allison is a composer at Hans Zimmer’s Remote Control Productions. “My musical roots are in percussion. Before the Mandala I needed more than the limited resolution electronic drums were offering, and when it came to drum programming, keyboards could only take me so far. The Mandala represents a progressive instrument that has broadened my creative reach,” says Allison. Allison’s music credits include such mega hits as The Dark Knight, Iron Man and Madagascar to name only a few. Even Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard jumped on the Mandala bandwagon performing with the Mandala on stage at the Dark Knight movie premiere in New York. Here are some great photos from that event.

Those are just a couple of examples of the pros at work. What about you? You are the content creator of your world. Are you creating? The latest think tank research on content creators holds that 62% of content viewed online is created by someone the viewer knows. More and more videos are constantly showing up on sites like YouTube and MySpace. We call the Mandala the “smartest thing you’ll ever hit with a stick” but its turning out that the smartest thing about Mandalas is the people who use them. In the coming days and weeks we will tell you about where else you can hear the Mandala and who is playing it. For now think about how the Mandala can change your life and the way you create.