The Instruments

Traditionally performed in the dark city squares of Coimbra and Lisbon, fado is always accompanied by the metallic plucks and graceful slides of this special and timeless lute guitar. Also known as the Portuguese guitar, it has twelve steel strings set in pairs. With roots in old medieval music, it was played by troubadours and wandering musicians alike, spreading to the theater and taverns, and now used not only in Portugal but across South America.

Cavaquinho is the mother of a whole family of smaller-sized strumming instruments. It brought to the world the ukulele, and still serves as the primary bringer of joy and rhythm in songs across Latin America, especially in Brazil and Venezuela, and remains very important in samba and choro music. It was introduced to Brazil by the Portuguese, and from there reached across the world, becoming a treasure in island cultures from Cape Verde to Hawaii.

Colors Menu

The 12 individual color presets provide even more possibilities to sculpt your sound. All colors are radically different in character and incorporate various effect settings and multiple impulse responses. While each MAD preset has an assigned color, you can combine everything at will, resulting in over 1000 predefined combinations.