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Play drums? How about in the office -- via USB?

By | April 22, 2008, 7:04am PDT

Summary:  Sure, this isn’t the most serious item on this blog, but for the office worker who moonlights as a rocker, this is big news. May the cubicle emancipation begin! Synesthesia Mandala has hooked up with Tool drummer Danny Carey, of all people, to create a USB drum pad that hooks up to a computer via a USB [...]

 Synesthesia Mandala USB Drum PadSure, this isn’t the most serious item on this blog, but for the office worker who moonlights as a rocker, this is big news.

May the cubicle emancipation begin!

Synesthesia Mandala has hooked up with Tool drummer Danny Carey, of all people, to create a USB drum pad that hooks up to a computer via a USB cord to pound out the jams through your CPU’s speakers or sound system (office suggestion: don’t forget headphones!)

The company says the pad has the ability to assign different sounds and effects to different concentric circle “zones” on it.  It also comes with software that allows you to modify things like meter and effects, but the fine people over at Popular Mechanics report that the software is needlessly complex. (I imagine that Pro Tools veterans wouldn’t have a problem.)

The price tag? $350.  Go get ‘em, Bonham.

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Pad, USB, Andrew Nusca

Andrew J. Nusca is editor of ZDNet and SmartPlanet.

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Andrew Nusca

Andrew J. Nusca does not hold any investments in the technology companies he covers.

Biography

Andrew Nusca

Editor

Andrew J. Nusca is an editor for ZDNet and SmartPlanet. As a journalist based in New York City, he has written for Popular Mechanics and Men's Vogue and his byline has appeared in New York magazine, The Huffington Post, New York Daily News, Editor & Publisher, New York Press and many others. He also writes The Editorialiste, a media criticism blog.

He is a New York University graduate and former news editor and columnist of the Washington Square News. He is a graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He has been named "Howard Kurtz, Jr." by film critic John Lichman despite having no relation to him. He lives in his native Philadelphia with his wife, cat and Boston Terrier.

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Great. Now how about...
bpolhemus@... 22nd Apr 2008
...something very unobtrusive for bassists? Of course, "guitards" need not worry about "unobtrusiveness." "Obtrusive" is how they roll.

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