Mandala Drum Blog

It is becoming clear to us here at Synesthesia that Mandala owners are a unique segment of people made up of early adopters and innovators. All of you together are leading the way. You are pioneers exploring the frontiers of music and technology and our hats are off to you. We’re all in this together and your confidence is helping blaze the trail. Here are some things we are learning along the way…

First thing to mention is that Mandala technology has not changed since Danny Carey started using the original prototype seven (yes, seven!) years ago. The patented position-sensitive membrane switch is simply a musical controller, as it was always meant to be. It is in the form of a drum pad made up of 128 circular zones. The closest thing available to it on a similar electronic drum is just 3 zones. Now, in order to make use of any musical controller it must be connected to a sound source. Other electronic drum companies actually create their own ‘brain’ as this sound source. We ourselves used to take that very approach, however, now we have decided that the home computer is finally up to the task of being a competent drum ‘brain’. Making this jump to home computer as electronic drum ‘brain’ is the source of the main issues I would like to discuss.

There are two things to have a handle on when it comes to operating a Mandala, or any computer input peripheral for that matter. One is its connection to the computer, and the other is the output of the system it interacts with. In the case of the Mandala, on one hand there is the pad’s USB connection to the computer, and on the other hand the computer’s capability to sufficiently output sound. Regarding the pad’s connection to the computer, just like plugging a little 24 key musical keyboard or a digital camera into a USB port, first the connection must be established and then it must be verified. The Mandala is ‘class compliant’ which means Windows and OSX have built-in drivers that establish a connection with the Mandala by simply plugging it in. Looking in the Device Manager in Windows or in Audio MIDI Setup in OSX will then provide verification the connection has been made. Sounds easy, right? Well, the very few problems users have encountered in this department have been a result of their OS being corrupt because of something they’d done in the past or because they have forced XP onto a machine made for Vista. Keeping the home turf clean will make for a smooth connection with peripherals. This issue could also confuse someone if their system sees the Mandala but software such as the Virtual Brain does not list the Mandala as an input device. This would be a sign of the same corruption mentioned above. Restoring the OS to the way it belongs can fix the problem.

Now onto the realm of computer sound output. Everyone has a unique home computer configuration. Think of the possibilities…different manufacturers, operating systems, processors, peripherals, RAM, speed, software, etc. The sky’s the limit. Pro audio software needs a pathway out of the computer for the sound it generates. That sound essentially originates in the pro audio software then goes through a software audio driver for the computer’s built-in audio interface and then out its sound port to the speakers. A Macintosh out-of-the box provides a wide pipeline for that sound from the software to the speakers. A PC provides a wide pipeline too if one installs the free software audio driver called ASIO4ALL available at http://asio4all.com (unfortunately and for some odd reason the drivers included with Windows, called DirectSound and MME, are slow and not very powerful). Regarding speed, when a stick hits the Mandala the pad reports where and how hard it’s been hit in less than one half of one thousandth of a second! After that the computer takes over and churns out sound through its audio pathway. On both platforms, Mac and PC, sound latency should be unnoticeable if the systems are configured correctly.

If users technically want an even smaller latency or a more professional audio port from their computer besides the little headphone jack they always have the option of purchasing a 3rd-party professional audio interface which will take over the tasks of their computer’s built-in audio capabilities. These units connect through USB, firewire or internal slots and can cost as little as $79 or as much as $1000. They each come with their own special software audio driver and they all work very well, but they should not be necessary for the Mandala. Several problems users have dealt with in this department are when they are using a 3rd-party audio interface which they haven’t configured properly and it causes software to crash. Please note there is much data flowing quickly between audio software and an audio interface. Appropriate settings in software and hardware driver windows as well as properly routed physical connections are essential in creating a stable environment. A breakdown in communication along those pathways can bring a computer to its knees. Users should have a good understanding of these points if they are using a 3rd-party professional audio interface and find themselves troubleshooting their Mandala’s hardware or software operation.

The issues I’ve discussed affect the musical instrument industry as a whole. We are talking about controllers and pro audio software capabilities as they relate to operating platforms. Sales of music production software are growing at an unprecedented rate. The writing is on the wall. The future is increasingly powerful audio software for more powerful computers being played by more powerful controllers. Almost every question we answer is a derivative of one of the issues discussed above. Most importantly, as with anything new and mind expanding the further you dive in the more you will become enabled and realize infinite possibilities. You’re taking your first step into a larger world!