Electronic drums that allow users to create a variety of sounds in addition to those that can be created with traditional acoustic percussion instruments have been around for many years.
Mandala Drum V3 System is an advanced take on electronic drums — a drum head pad that can trigger 100,000 sound samples via its software, according to its Indiegogo campaign. Mandala is based on a patented position sensing membrane switch that its makers say is able to sense where the user is striking the drum and how hard.
That information is used to determine a coordinate and assign a sound sample to that coordinate. Mandala’s sound files are a matrix of sound samples that its makers say can acoustically replicate any drum ever conceived. The drum system ships in July at about $350, but early bird backers can get a starter pack for as low as $269. Its makers are trying to raise $150,000 by Dec. 17.
Mandala may be appealing to owners of traditional drum kits who want to experiment by adding an electronic pad. The huge number of samples it can provide seems to be a major selling feature. But it’s hard to tell from the campaign how easy it is to use the system.