Recording my DIY mellotron : Any Advices?

[Slouching Raymond]

The samples have a nice lo-fi character to them.

 

[DiodeMcRoy]

The samples have a nice lo-fi character to them.

Thanks! I was hoping to get that kind of sound from the start. I wasn’t sure if cassette would sound lo-fi enough, but recording each sample onto some old tape seems to do the job for that “Mellotron” vibe — even though, from what I can hear, a real Mellotron has a bit more high-end presence.


I'm already thinking about another patch I could make using the same process, but based on a sound that’s never been used on a Mellotron before. Wine glasses maybe? Or something weirder... Let me know if you have any ideas.

 

[Papanate]

I wish there was a worthwhile free Mellotron VST for Mac, that you could record your own samples to... in fact I was looking for one yesterday, no luck.

For playing samples use Kontakt - and if you are after a specific tone - like tape wow and flutter and semi decreased frequency response - just build it into your samples.

 

[TalismanRich]

I don't think the chorus added much to the samples. The bare samples with just a touch of reverb would be the way to go. The samples already have enough wow and flutter that they don't need any more. The Mellotron was never a "Hi Fi" sounding instrument. It was an easy way to add some "orchestra" texture without paying a bunch of studio musicians.

 

[DiodeMcRoy]

For playing samples use Kontakt - and if you are after a specific tone - like tape wow and flutter and semi decreased frequency response - just build it into your samples.

Thanks, I've been using DirectWave from FL Studio, I should look into Kontakt. Is it free? Would you prefer this over the one I used? Also before making it in DirectWave, I wanted to make in in DecentSampler I discovered through David Hilowitz YouTube Channel (I warmly recommend its channel), but I still have to figure how to use it.