‘The Mandala is the Best and Most High-Definition Way to Control All the Pro Audio Software Out There,’ Says Mandala Inventor Vince De Franco

Laurel Canyon, Calif. – Showcasing the Mandala’s unprecedented ability to control pro audio software, Synesthesia Corporation today released 50 Native Instruments Battery 3 presets for the Mandala 2.0, along with an HD Black Beauty Battery 3 Player for Mandala.

They are available now to anyone via free download from the company’s website at http://www.mandaladrum.com

The presets configure drum sampler Battery 3 for use with the Mandala (Battery 3 required, and is not included with the Mandala), using only samples from the Battery 3 12GB library of more than 100 drum kits with more than 23,000 individual samples. The presets configure the Mandala pad as a straightforward MIDI controller. The Battery 3 presets also:

* Assign samples in up to seven circular trigger zones across the Mandala pad.

* Extensively use the Mandala’s 128 circular strike zones to change triggering and effects parameters as drummers play, for true HD drumming.

* Cover playing styles from straightforward grooves to experimental sonics.

The HD Black Beauty Battery 3 Player for Mandala offers drummers the most accurate digital representation of an acoustic drum, via 3,360 samples of a single vintage 1970s 5×14 Super Sensitive Ludwig Black Beauty Snare Drum.

A drummer’s sound changes with every strike anywhere on the surface of the Mandala, just like with an acoustic snare. Four separate players include: (1) Snare On, and (2) Snare On with Rim, each consisting of 10 zones center to edge, 20 velocity layers and 6 round robins; (3) Snare Off, and (4) Snare Off with Rim, each consisting of 4 zones center to edge, 20 velocity layers and 6 round robins.

“The Mandala drum controls pro audio software with unprecedented resolution,” said Vince De Franco, Synesthesia founder and CEO, and inventor of the Mandala.

“These Battery presets really just provide an example of what drummers are capable of accomplishing with this instrument. Our goal has always been to give drummers and musicians a way to experiment and let their imaginations fly, while never losing the basic functionality that they’re already comfortable with.”

The Mandala works seamlessly with most major music software as a USB MIDI controller. In addition to Battery, it works with Reaktor, FXpansion BFD, Ableton Live, Propellerhead Reason and Apple GarageBand.

Mandala’s Virtual Brain software is available online for free download at http://www.mandaladrum.com. Even without buying the Mandala, anyone can download the software and tinker with it – on its own, or with other PC or Mac-compatible musical devices.

Synesthesia also is producing a series of video tutorials for beginner, intermediate and advanced levels. The company will make them available on its website and on YouTube later this year. The series of videos will walk users through the entire process of using the Mandala – from physically connecting the drum to a computer, to using the EZ software, on through to setting up advanced audio techniques using the pro version of the Virtual Brain software.

The Mandala 2.0 retails for $349, and is available online at http://mandaladrum.com . Each Mandala is hand-crafted and thoroughly tested before it is shipped.

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.



By: Eric de Fontenay

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Music is a wonderful thing. It can make people laugh, cry or feel happy or sad. It can calm a crying baby, or even motivate a person to exercise. There are all types of music, too: Rock, rhythm and blues, jazz, gospel, and many other genres as well as sub-genres. And everyone listens to some type of music. Whether it’s classic rock or gangster rap, there is a type that appeals to every person in the world. But what makes a person like a certain type of music?

Some people claim that environmental factors have a lot to do with the type of music a person prefers. Most of the time, this is true, but not necessarily. Most music buffs have diverse tastes when it comes to what they prefer to listen to. They may have grown up in a predominantly urban area where almost everyone listens to gangster rap, jazz and R & B, but grow up preferring to listen to rock and county.

Why do people find it so strange for someone of a certain race to listen to what they consider another race’s type of music? This is stereotyping. Just because a person grows up in a rich family and lives in a big, plush home in the suburbs doesn’t mean that they can’t enjoy listening to rap music. And there isn’t a thing wrong with it, either. Just as there is nothing wrong with a person who grows up in the inner city, and chooses to listen to alternative rock music. Music has no color. If it sounds good, people will listen, no matter what race, age, sex, or socio-economic status.

Many people, especially children and teens, would find it hilarious if their parents were to listen to ‘young people’s music.’ Yet there is no such thing as this type of music. All people have different preferences, and if a 40-year-old prefers listening to Staind over Led Zeppelin, then what is the big deal? Just as music has no color, it also has no age. Lots of young people prefer listening to classic rock and oldies but goodies, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with this.

Again, it is just their personal preference. It doesn’t matter if they grew up listening to a totally different type of music, because once they reach a certain age, they will start listening to different radio stations and watching music videos. This will introduce them to a whole new world of music diversity, and they just may discover that they like totally different music than their peers. This is not a bad thing; it just proves that everyone is an individual and likes their own personal genre of music.



By: Taisha Grant

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Three (3) Hip Hop Abs Ultimate Results Workouts

A perfect, flat abdomen is what everyone desires! Patience in repeating sit-ups is the key to it. But above all, it entails some dedication to either do it at home or any fitness club. Among several ways to do it, dance has become a sought-after. By dance, the hip hop genre is mostly fitting to get your body grooving and shaking.

A whole new level of dance excitement can be achieved by getting yourself oriented with the three (3) Hip Hop Abs Ultimate Results Workouts. You might choose any of these advanced routines that will help you cast off more pounds and give you more endurance.

1.Fat Burning Cardio 2

High-energy and heart-pounding moves will get you to a momentum of ultimate fat-burning technique. It will take you 40 minutes to immerse yourself into some enjoyable cardio or calorie-burning dance steps. This dance album allows you to start from the basic routines down to the most exhaustive ones. One thing’s a sure hit in this one: Extra fat no more.

2.Ab Sculpt 2

A well-built abdomen isn’t far to achieve by getting into this more entertaining way of workout. This gives you a road towards abs sculpting, so to say. Merely targeting your abs in 35 minutes, this can be done easily even without doing the torturing crunches but still getting the same results. Overworking your muscles cannot be too good, but in this one, you only have to enjoy dancing hip hop and execute the core exercises as if you’re doing 200 crunches. By then, you will achieve the curvaceous body and tight abs you aim for.

3.Total Body Burn 2

A 50-minute dance workout isn’t bad at all especially when it targets all the muscle groups of your body. If you are aiming to burn extra fats in a faster way, better than a 1-hour tread mill run or kickboxing session, this suits you. It’s surely to give you a full-body strike. Sweat some more and renew your entire body after a few weeks of melting those fats out.

With consistency and discipline, you’ll get that 6-pack abs you want in your life after a few weeks. Trimming down and sculpting your abs cannot be done overnight, certainly not. These workouts are to give you ultimate results in time. Either for plain fat burning or abs shaping, you ought to get the momentum moving before your body gains more calories that are unwanted. Do it yourself to see ultimate results.



By: Jesse Miller

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When you walk into an open dance studio where dancers go to practise it’s very easy to separate the hip-hop dancers from the ballet dancers and the hip hop dancers from the b-boys and b-girls from the way they dress.

The hip-hop dancers in their baggy shorts or pants and cool caps. The ballet dancers in their perfectly arranged outfits and the breakers in their loose clothing, hats and protective pads.

If you want to be taken seriously as a street or hip-hop dancer is it important to dress in a particular way? Well let’s take a look at the way they dress.

In ballet everything is tucked away neatly with shoes designed for maximum function. In hip-hop dance there’s lots of baggy clothes. You could say it’s less to do with function although of course trainers are a lot more suitable considering that it can be a very bouncy and energetic dance style.

The way street dancers dress is more to do with where the dance emerged from. It’s part of hip-hop so it would make sense that they dress in a hip-hop fashion albeit without all the bling which might not be suitable for dance!

However it’s by no means necessary to dress the way most hip-hop dancers dress. If that’s not you or you feel uncomfortable dressing that way you don’t have to follow what everyone else does. It’s about the dancing and how you express yourself through that.

In many fields a particular clothing is used either because it helps with the job or because it is part of the culture and where it emerged from. With hip-hop it is less about the clothing helping you but rather that a lot of early hip hop pioneers dressed this way.

Of course if you’re performing in a dance troupe or have a show of some sort then it may be appropriate to dress a certain way to make it obvious what type of dancer or character you’re portraying.

In practise though you can wear what you like. It’s not the fancy trainers, or the cool oversized clothes or fancy makeup that makes a great dancer, it’s the dancer that makes the dancer. Image is part of the package you offer and can make you seem like the real article but it’s not everything.

It could be compared to business. The fanciest suits cannot hide a terrible businessman but a brilliant businessman will be successful even with the discount-store suit.

If Michael Jackson wore clothes that worn torn and ripped from head to toe, that wouldn’t stop people noticing what a great dancer he is. Use image to compliment yourself not as a crux.



By: Kevin Shwe

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You may not be able to find many places to get Iphone Music downloads, and when you do may find the music selections are limited or not vary good. I have searched many places were I can get all sorts of the Iphone downloads that I would need and want. When I came across the Iphone Nova site, there was more than just Iphone Music downloads.

The Iphone nova site has downloads for games, movies, TV shows, music, software and much more. Here I can get all of the downloads I need for a one time only membership fee. Other sites charge per download, the Iphone Nova site gives you unlimited downloads for life 24 hours a day with just a one time only small membership fee. Click Here

They offer free 24 hour technical support witch is second to none. If you ever have any questions or problems, you can contact them with any technical questions. They will walk you step by step, through any problems you may be having with your Iphone music downloads.

The downloads are very fast with no restrictions. You can download as many songs, music, games, music, software, ebooks and wallpaper as you want. They give you a very easy software that is very quick and easy to install. Their media selection is huge and covers every variety of movies, music, movies and games.

While providing a huge selection of digital Quality movies, music and games they come with excellent quality. The Iphone Nova site also provides you with DVD to PC to Iphone software, along with Step-by-Step Tutorials to get you started immediately.

One very nice benefit this site offers is you can start downloading your Iphone music downloads within minuets after joining. I have not come across any sites that offers this much, you get what you pay for here. I have seen sites pop up all over for other products but this is truly the only site I have found that is geared only towards the Iphone.

Because this site is only for the Iphone they have covered all the bases for easy fast downloads of your movies. I would give the Iphone Nova site a very high rating. This site here is a no brainner if you enjoy Iphone music downloads and fun stuff on your Iphone. There are a couple other sites that I am still in the process of reviewing. If you would like to take a look at the site. Click Here



By: Paul Schmitt

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You could have the most sophisticated recording studio in the world at your fingertips but if you don’t have the inspiration to make great music then it’s all worthless. The real musicians and beat-makers that have the spark and creativity to move people have something that they tap into that sets them apart from the rest. 

I’m going to show you how easy it is to make hip hop beats instantly using something you already have right now. Worry about the drum machines, beat-making programs and synthesizers in a minute, but for now just hear me out. 

Hip hop and rap music are deeply rhythm based music styles. All of the great hip hop and rap songs are driven by the beat. The drum beat is absolutely the most important part of the hip hop song. If the beats are good enough they will tap into that invisible, powerful thing that makes everyone who hears them start to do the same thing – MOVE! If you can’t help but at least bob your head, clap your hands or move around a little when you hear a song you know you’ve got a great beat to work with. That’s my standard to make great hip hop beats to. It must move people. 

Need proof of this? Try putting on a great song at a party full of people having fun — they will all react. Everybody will scream out, sing along and dance instantly. But if you put on some dry song with uninspiring, limp beats, you can literally watch the energy evaporate from the room. Bummer dude. Your song sucks.

So how do you make a great hip hop beat instantly? It’s even easier than trying to come up with an amazing rhythm idea out of thin air. Here’s how you do it: you have to stand up, imagine yourself at a party or crowded club, and start dancing FIRST. It will only take about one or two seconds of moving your body before your brain starts to create something for your hips to react to. It’s almost impossible to dance to absolutely no music at all without instantly hearing something great in your head that your body really wants to dance to. Try it and you’ll see that it’s true. But don’t be lazy about it – you really have to move and get into it. 

To make it even easier, stand up, start moving and dancing a little and sing the beats and melody out loud while you get into it. You might feel stupid at first but who cares? I’d much rather be a great musician who does a corny warm up than a really cool tough guy who makes crappy, boring beats that nobody wants to dance to. 

the reason this works is that your mind and body are connected and what you do with one affects the other. Don’t sit in a chair at your computer or drum machine and try make great beats by staring at the buttons and lights, that’s not going to get you anywhere. Get your booty up and stroll around the floor like you would at a bangin party and your mind will fill in the music that your body is moving to. THEN go over to the drum machine and bang out the beat — but don’t sit down until you’re done. 

 



By: dale rogers

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Hip hop music or also known as rap, is a kind of music genres which consists of rap backing beats. The rise of hip hop is because of the change in united states urban culture especially in 1970s. Most important is the low cost involved in getting started, living cost was quite cheap, and the chances for anyone to MC with popular hip hoper.

There is a difference between Rap and MC, Rap means talk to girl or speak to someone, it was used by Rappers Delight, Sugar Hill Gang, and become the title for hip hop recording, while MC, is a word to describe a hip hoper hosting a jam and rhyming on the mic or master of ceremony.

There are important volunteers of hip hop :

1. James Brown, his dancing, musical feel and his break beats, influenced the born of hip hop genres.

2. Capoeira, see how the dances, its the root of hip hop dances. As we know capoeira is from angola, it is a kind of african dance, capoeira movement and style influenced hip hop dances.

3. Salsa, latin communities who lives in New York have special dance called salsa or bombi plena, this kind of dance also give important influence on hip hop culture.

Hip hop name is comes from rapper, named Keith Cowboy, through Dj Hollywood, but the first one who create hip hop terms is from Black Spades which is a member of Afrika Bambaataa gang.

In 70s, a lot of hip hop clubs appears, there are Hevalo Club, Twilight Zone, Executive Play House, The Fever, Savoy Manor, Boys Club, Over The Dover, Bronx River Center, Penny Lounge,Celebrity Club, Black Door, Sparkle, Skate Key. The pioneers of hip hop Dj are, Charlie Chase, Whiz Kid, Grand Wizard Theodore, Kool Herc, Bug Starski, Johny Thunderbird, Eddie Cheeba, and Tony Tone.

Now, Hip-hop has globalized into a lot of cultures in the world. We can find hip-hop in every corner of the globe, especially at the South Bronx. Hip hop has emerged globally as an movement of art with the uses of technology, speech and body. Music will always continue to embrace, hip-hop’s inspiration differs depend on each culture. Although hip-hop is sometimes taken for permitted by Americans, it is not so elsewhere, especially in the developing countries where it has come to reflect the empowerment of the disenfranchised. Hip-hop music has reached the cultural corridors of the globe and has been absorbed and reinvented worldwide



By: Sayid Aksa

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Most people do not really realize what a huge impact that music from Memphis has had on the sounds that are heard on the radio today. Although many people have heard of Jay Z, Bruce Springsteen and various rhythm and blues artists, few know that without people like W.C. Handy, B.B. King and Memphis Minnie the modern music we know today would not be nearly the same. In fact, music from Memphis has arguably had more of an impact on popular music than any other genre.

This is because the soulful sounds that define music from Memphis were created by the founding fathers of the sound. Without W.C. Handy, it is possible that the syncopated rhythms that his music was comprised of would have never been created. Out of all of the music from Memphis that was created during the early to mid 20th century, W.C. Handy probably created the most important. This is probably why Bruce Springsteen mentioned him in the song Walking in Memphis, asking him to watch out over him as he walked along Beale Street. The fact that Springsteen wrote the song nearly 30 years after his music from Memphis giant died just goes to show how influential the artist really was.

Beale Street was where most of the music from Memphis was created. The musicians of the time used to sit along Beale Street, blowing into their jugs to make a sound similar to that of a bass guitar, strumming washboards to add a unique tone to the music from Memphis. People would walk by, sometimes throwing money into the open guitar cases (when the musicians could afford one).

It was not until Sun Records took notice of the music from Memphis that it really took off and became popular throughout the United States. Instead of being confined to Beale Street and the Memphis region, music from Memphis was being played at school dances and in the kitchens of housewives as they made dinner nationwide. Soon, everyone was familiar with music from Memphis and the musicians that made the music. Today, B.B. King is still alive and touring, just as popular as he has ever been. Pop artists fight to work with him in the studio; many want him as a mentor. New music from Memphis was highly sought after by the people at Sun Records, and many of the artists began to cut albums with Sun.



By: Phoenix Delray

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Memphis soul music is one of the most interesting forms of music around today, with an interesting and rich history that tells the tales of struggle, accomplishment and life. Memphis soul music has also influenced a wide variety of different genres, including rhythm and blues, modern jazz and rock and roll. Musicians that have been dead for more than a half century are still cited as major influences. For example, W.C. Handy, one of the pioneers of Memphis soul music, has been name checked by Bruce Springsteen in the song Walking in Memphis , where he was called to look out over the singer as he walked along Beale Street.

Beale Street was really where Memphis soul music has its roots. The famous street was (and is still today) the epicenter of entertainment and culture of the city. When Memphis soul music was first starting out, musicians would sit out on the street, playing Memphis soul music for those who walked by.

Memphis soul music has an extremely unique sound, thanks largely in part to the improvisational skills of those who played it. Because many of the people involved with Memphis soul music were poor African Americans, they had to use whatever they had laying around the house to make sounds. Since not many people could afford guitars, banjos and violins, everyday household items like washboards, Jews harps, kazoos and jugs were used to make the necessary sounds to accompany the soulful voices singing the lyrics.

After World War II, Memphis soul music began to take on a new sound. This is largely in part to the mass migration of African Americans to large cities, as they were trying to escape the life of poverty associated with living in rural, depressed areas in the South. The migrants brought electric instruments with them, which instantly took over the Memphis soul music scene.

Soon, record companies were lining up to sign popular Memphis soul music musicians into contracts. Sun Records was particularly interested, and soon had artists like Willie Nix, Ike Turner, Howlin Wolf and B.B. King on their lineup. As a result, Memphis soul music went from a regional style of music that not many people outside of the area knew about to a prevailing force in American music. Soon, artists in other areas of music were taking cues from Memphis soul music, altering their sounds a bit to create new hits.



By: Phoenix Delray

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Watch hip hop and Usher videos along with other artists get down on the floor in their popular music videos featuring their best singles. There are lots of artists nowadays that have their music inclined towards the hip hop genre. Some of them are Justin Timberlake, especially with his latest video with Madonna and even artists like Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys have music videos that feature some of their few hip hop singles. There are literally countless hip hop videos that so many people from all over the world have enjoyed for as long as even before music videos were being produced.

The reason why hip hop sells so much to the wanting audience, especially to the young people, is because they enjoy so much this kind of energetic type of dance and music. People like to see how their favorite artists dance to their own hip hop singles. When hit singles like these come out it’s no surprise to see how many hip hop amateurs would want to come up with their own choreography on the beat so they could break it down on the dance floor.

Most hip hop videos now can be seen on the internet through online video streaming, just like any other music video which would also be available in the internet alone with all sorts of videos open for free online streaming. You can watch hip hop videos all day in the comforts of your own computer and watch them as much as you want.

Watch Usher videos and enjoy his great hit singles on Rhythm and Blues and Hip Hop music. Usher is probably one of the most popular Rhythm and Blues and rap artists known by the world in his time, and until now he still continues to attract the vast listening audience from all over the world with his new albums and all the other albums he has released before. Some of the best singles that Usher has been known for is Yeah and Caught Up, while there are other songs where he was featured in such as My Boo with Alicia Keys and other songs with that artist.

Like most Rhythm and Blues Artists, most music videos where Usher is featured involves a lot of hip hop dancing with lots of people in a party and with girls that enjoy dancing at the dance floor too. The beat and music that comes with the music of this artist really takes hold of the fans and keeping them to want more and more or listening to these great songs again and again.

Watch Usher videos for free on the internet through satellite video streaming. One of the good things about this is that you get to watch all of Usher’s music videos for free. Not only that, you also get to watch other music videos of great artists that you might also enjoy listening. The truth is, there is so much to watch in these sites that one day or even a week is not enough for you to watch all of them.



By: Richard Cunningham

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