It’s likely that you’ve never seen anything quite like Donner’s MEDO (pronounced may · doh). That’s okay, because once you see what it looks like and hear what it can do, you’ll probably want to add it to your collection of music-making gadgets.
Here are the basics: It’s a very compact and portable musical instrument that combines a sampler, synthesizer, looper, MPE MIDI controller, and a built-in speaker that looks a bit like a game controller. Literally anyone can quickly learn to use it to capture inspiration and create music anytime and anywhere. Oh, and I would be remiss not to mention that you can get one of your own for a price of ＄179.99, and you can enjoy a discount of over 30% during the year-end promotion season. If you’re a musician or just a creative person, get ready to be inspired.
MEDO’s Key Features
The tiny MEDO can do many things, but let’s look at the major features. First, it’s a sampler. Equipped with a built-in microphone and a robust sound engine, the diminutive MEDO can record up to five seconds of high-quality audio, allowing for quick sound sampling. Whether you're a creative professional or simply love collecting and using samples, this compact and portable device is sure to ignite your inspiration as the musical sketchpad. But the MEDO can do much more than grab and play samples. Users can easily switch between its various modes, including SCALE, DRUM, BASS, CHORD, and LEAD, that allow even beginners to start making music in the studio, at home or on the go. Pocket Your Inspiration!
Once you’ve got your sounds going, you can capture the elements of your songs using MEDO’s built-in 128-bar loop recording utility. This opens up a wide spectrum of possibilities for making music. And, it’s designed to be used by beginners and professional musicians alike. There’s even a quantize feature to ensure that your performance is automatically synchronized perfectly to the beat, to take care of timing intricacies.
That’s a lot of creative power, right? But as you explore MEDO, you’ll find that it doesn’t stop there. Your little MEDO becomes even more versatile when used with the MEDO Synth desktop software and the Donner Play app. These allow users to easily toggle between various preset sounds, including 15 sets of drum kit sounds by Loopmasters, and benefit from a powerful sound engine that combines subtractive synthesis and authentic samples. So if beat-making is your thing, you’ll have everything you need and more.
If you’re more about performance control, you’ll love that MEDO offers eight control methods including gestures to adjust and enhance your performance: Click, Press, Slide, Slap, Tilt, Shake, Wiggle and Move. Try the beat maker function with various gestures or control synth variables like filter cut-off and resonance or other effects. The combinations are almost endless.
Let’s not forget about portability–an important feature for creative people on the go. With MEDO, the world is your studio, because you can take this clever device anywhere. It weighs only six ounces (170 grams) and fits nicely in your hand, measuring only 3.4"D x 3.4"W x 1.5"H. Equipped with a 2000mAh lithium-ion battery, it offers three full hours of battery life and supports Bluetooth MIDI and Bluetooth audio connectivity. Plus, with a 3.5mm headphone jack, you can use it to create anytime, anywhere.
Something that Donner does mention is that your MEDO cannot be connected to an external controller, but it can be used as a controller to control external devices. Plus, MEDO can be seamlessly connected to any popular DAW software and hardware, providing advanced music production tools and gameplay options. MEDO is compatible with most MIDI applications and all major digital audio workstation software that supports MIDI.
Learning MEDO
If that all sounds like a lot, you’re right. There’s a lot to learn and Donner knows it, so they have provided a series of helpful professional videos in a collection called MEDO Classroom. The instructional videos are available on YouTube and cover the following topics:
- HOW TO GET STARTED WITH YOUR MEDO
- INTRODUCTION TO THE FUNCTION PANEL
- PRE SELECTED KEYS
- TONE MODE
- GESTURE CONTROL
- LOOPER
- OTHER SHORTCUTS
- FACTORY RESETS
- HOW TO MAKE A SIMPLE DEMO
- SOUND DEMONSTRATION & PRODUCTION PROCESS
- OSCILLATOR AND GLOBALS MODULE
- RESONANT FILTER MODULE
- VCA MODULE
- GESTURE MAPPING MODULE
There are plenty of other instructional videos and demos, too, including guides to how to use MEDO with the Donner Play app and how to use MEDO with the desktop MEDO Synth Software. If you want to see the MEDO in action, Donner has partnered with a unique musical artist called Yukes (Justin Scholar). Originally from the United States, Yukes has a deep passion for traditional Chinese instruments, and has created a series of experimental and inspiring demonstration videos for MEDO where he often combines traditional Chinese instruments such as the guzheng, xiao, and hulusi with samplers, synthesizers, beatboxes, and other Western electronic music conventions. His approach is free-spirited and experimental, which aligns perfectly with the creative philosophy that MEDO espouses.
Get Your Own MEDO
Okay, it’s time for you to explore your creative side with your own MEDO, but first let’s do a quick review of what you’ll have at your fingertips:
The MEDO MIDI keyboard controller doesn’t look like a traditional keyboard, but has a sound library that boasts real instrument samples, subtractive synthesis, and built-in modes (Bass, Chord, Lead, Drum, Sample). With 100+ presets, it's a powerful, portable synth for versatile music creation.
There’s a built-in looper and synthesizer right onboard so you can use loop recording for instant creation or explore the 128-bar built-in recording possibilities. There are three auto-quantization modes that can aid users in creating, editing, and capturing their inspiration anytime, anywhere.
If you want to create samples of your own, you can capture unique sounds (about 5 seconds worth) in an instant with your MEDO, no problem. Then, sculpting sounds with the MEDO SYNTH app offers endless sound possibilities, allowing you to create unique tones and integrate them into your performance.
Finally, MEDO is both compact and lightweight with a rugged, element-resistant silicone finish, so it is suitable for both indoor and outdoor creative sessions. Keep it with you to use wherever and whenever inspiration strikes.
Don’t wait. Get your own MEDO from Donner Music and start on your creative journey today.
