About Synesthesia
Synesthesia designs expressive electronic instruments that respond like instruments, not buttons.
We believe technology should extend a musician’s touch, not get in the way of it. Every product we create is built to translate movement, position, and intention into sound with precision and feel.
Our goal is simple:
Help artists communicate their vision more clearly.
The idea behind Synesthesia comes from the phenomenon of experiencing one sense through another, hearing color, seeing rhythm, feeling sound as motion.
That translation between senses inspires how we design.
We build hardware and software that turn touch into control, movement into modulation, and instinct into music. Our platform stays open and compatible with the tools you already use, because your workflow should evolve, not be replaced.
Music is universal. Your technology should be too.
Founder Vince De Franco began in physics and signal processing before pivoting into professional audio engineering at the Record Plant in Hollywood.
While working with leading artists and engineers, Vince developed an infrared MIDI controller called the Dimension Beam. That technology was later adopted by Roland Corporation and became the D-Beam, appearing on keyboards and sequencers worldwide.
The through-line was clear from the start:
Translate human movement into expressive control.
A creative partnership with drummer Danny Carey led to the development of the Mandala, a patented electronic instrument that senses both strike position and strike force with ultra-low latency. It expanded the vocabulary of hybrid drumming and opened new approaches to learning and performance.
From the original Mandala in 2006 to successive refinements and the launch of Pipes, each generation has pushed further into expressive control and precision sensing.
Mandala V3 represents the culmination of decades of studio work, live performance experience, engineering refinement, and relentless iteration.
It was shaped in home studios, high-end recording sessions, clubs, arenas, and inside our own lab.
Synesthesia remains intentionally small and deeply hands-on.
Vince leads product design, engineering, R&D, and development.
Luke Henderson joined in 2007 to help build the company’s operational and financial foundation after a 15-year career on Wall Street and an adventure sailing around Cape Horn.
Together, we design, test, refine, ship, and support every product ourselves.
No layers. No distance.
We believe:
• Instruments should respond with nuance
• Technology should expand creativity
• Musicians deserve tools that grow with them
We are proud to build instruments for innovators around the world.
Have Fun. Do More. Be Great.