Mandala Drum Forums

Im just about ready to place my order for the mandala but im not sure how many pads to order. 1,2, or 3. So...... I like that you get a discount by buying multiple pads at once. I would hate to buy one and love it and then buy another one or two more without saving money by buying in bulk. But lets say i buy 2 or 3 and find im only using 1, then i would have the pads sitting around. I would probably sell them on ebay but by buying in bulk i only recieve one copy of the virtual brain which i would imagine might be a problem with resale.

So if you are using the mandala drum what is your opinion on this? How many pads are you using? Do you feel the need for more? Are my concerns for resale valid? All opinions are welcome. Thanks

So i went ahead and ordered the Mandala. Just one for now. Can't wait, supposed to receive it on wednesday!!!!!

I am still very interested in other peoples setups who are using the Mandala Drum. How many pads? What type of music? Live rigs? Programs you are running with the pads? Whatever you would like to share really.

I have 3 mk2.9's going into a MacBook with audio coming out of an M-Audio MobilePre USB audio interface to a mixer. I run the Virtual Brain program and sometimes Battery 3.

Would you recommend picking up Battery 3? I have read some reviews where the user has found it (battery 3) difficult to use? What has been your personal experience with it?

I'd recommend Battery 3. You can set up the matrix in the program to represent Mandalas and their zones. Make each matrix column a specific pad and then each row in the column is a zone on the pad. I have 6 rows: center, mid-in, mid-out, edge, rim, xstick.

Battery is pretty easy to get rolling if you understand MIDI. There's potential to take things really far with the features of the program (velocity crossfades/voice groups/effects) but you don't have to. It can stay simple.

You can see Battery 3 running on Danny Carey's computer while he plays Mandalas in the interview video they just put out. He does all the Tool stuff on Battery with Mandalas.
http://synesthesiacorp.com/Mandala_Drum ... iew_Series

Is Battery 3 still available? It seems like they have stopped production on it? I have found some used copies on ebay. Is there a "replacement" out there for this program or should i grab a used copy?

Nevermind I found it. So $199 new or $99 used? Does it make a difference?

I'm with Launch54321, I'd recommend Battery 3 as you can configure up to 16 pads and have an arsenal of samples and parameters for your sonic indulgence.

I just picked up a used mandala 2.0 off of ebay that came with a copy of battery 3. So I will be running 1 mk2.9 and 1 2.0 mandala drum with battery 3.

Can the Native Battery 3 work in conjunction with the Synapse? Is anyone reaping the benefits from the Sunapse on this blog? Or have one at least?