Mellotron - do you, don't you, would you, won't you ?

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grimtraveller

grimtraveller

If only for a moment.....
Does anyone here use the mellotron in their songs ? Or is it seen as 'strictly past tense' ? And has anyone ever played an actual mellotron ?
Any favourite mellotron pieces ?
 
Not me Grim. It's hard to make out your new avatar. Is that you on a double bass?



:cool:
 
Analog Sample Player

The classic Meletron stuff (to me) was Moody Blues, all the "Nights in White Satin" stuff.

Around 1977, I tried one in a music store. When you lifted up on the notes you could hear the tape being rewound (if that's what it does) back into place. It sounded like tape recordings of strings for some odd reason. :rolleyes:

For me, for what it does, I wasn't drawn to it. It had the reputation as being a maintenance headache. In a way I'd rather have an Arp String Ensemble 'cause I like those cheezy strings they used on disco and Bee Gees songs.

I have two Oberheim Matrix 1000's. To me that's a much better place to start. That thing has not even been tapped 1%. The Melotron is a lot of weight to do not that much. I haven't seen anything that holds as much promise for future space exploration as the Oberheim.
 
we carried one on the road in the early 70's.

It was a PIA!

For one thing you had to have voltage regulation or it'd be wildly out of tune.
It was truly awesome back then to have strings available to a band and we didn't have string patches. Hell ..... electronic keyboards didn't really exist back then.
So it was amazing and we still left it behind next time we went out because it was so much trouble.

I can't imagine any reason to use one instead of modern keys ...... technically, all it was was a tape based sampler although you couldn't make your own samples.
Well, actually I guess you could have ........ taped something on all the notes and then cut it up and mount the tape.
But the point remains ...... piece of crap ..... no reason to use one nowadays.
 
I heard that people had put some other sounds on certain keys, like up on the highest notes or lowest notes they'd put tymp rolls or bird sounds.

http://www.zzounds.com/a--2676837/item--GFOMTRONPRO

There's some vids on the GForce and original on YouTube, the GForce sounds pretty good, has a grainy, rich sound that I like.



The GFOrce is probably way lighter... :o
 
dintymoore said:
I heard that people had put some other sounds on certain keys, like up on the highest notes or lowest notes they'd put tymp rolls or bird sounds.
Click to expand...
yeah ..... you certainly could do that.
And there were other sounds you could get from the factory than the stock ones that came with it.
 
moresound said:
Not me Grim. It's hard to make out your new avatar. Is that you on a double bass?



:cool:
Click to expand...
Yeah. I had one for a number of years and then I heard a sampled one back in 2004 and the quality of it was amazing and as space was an issue (my wife was expecting our second child} I figured I'd sell it and use a double bass sample. The irony is that once sold, I couldn't recall where the sample I heard came from and every one I've ever had as a VSTi has been unimpressive ! I'm currently experimenting with a fretless acoustic bass guitar but it's not the same. I'm toying with getting an electric double bass at some point but the ones I've tried out just sound like fretless bass guitars.
 
Lt. Bob said:
we carried one on the road in the early 70's.

It was a PIA!

For one thing you had to have voltage regulation or it'd be wildly out of tune.
It was truly awesome back then to have strings available to a band and we didn't have string patches. Hell ..... electronic keyboards didn't really exist back then.
So it was amazing and we still left it behind next time we went out because it was so much trouble.

I can't imagine any reason to use one instead of modern keys ...... technically, all it was was a tape based sampler although you couldn't make your own samples.
Well, actually I guess you could have ........ taped something on all the notes and then cut it up and mount the tape.
But the point remains ...... piece of crap ..... no reason to use one nowadays.
Click to expand...

I love that account ! For some reason, I've loved the various sounds of the mellotron since the 70s as a kid, I think I first noticed it on "Space Oddity" by David Bowie, though I didn't know what it was at the time. By all accounts, it was a pain in the patootie, as heavy as a Hammond but not as enduring. But I just love what many artists did with it. I'm currently reading this book about it's history and it is fascinating. I realize I'm not the only worthwhile thing to have come out of Birmingham in the early 60s. :D :p

dintymoore said:
I heard that people had put some other sounds on certain keys, like up on the highest notes or lowest notes they'd put tymp rolls or bird sounds.

http://www.zzounds.com/a--2676837/item--GFOMTRONPRO

There's some vids on the GForce and original on YouTube, the GForce sounds pretty good, has a grainy, rich sound that I like.



The GFOrce is probably way lighter... :o
Click to expand...

I have a soft spot for pretty much all keyboards, even piano and harpsichord. I understand Lt Bob's point about there probably being no need for mellotrons nowadays but I do find they're unique in their sounds. I have this G Force M-TRON, the one that was about in 2004. It's got tons of sounds, most of which I can't say I care for. But the ones that are useable really are the Mama Ojo !
 
grimtraveller said:
... I have this G Force M-TRON, the one that was about in 2004. It's got tons of sounds, most of which I can't say I care for. But the ones that are useable really are the Mama Ojo !
Click to expand...

I'd like to try that one. As usual, there's never really anything like the real thing.

It funny but I've always noticed that every time I "upgrade" that there's always a few things lost that aren't ever quite as good again. The DX7 had an electric piano called Rash Rhodes that Bo Tomlyn made, and I used to play it through a cheap Ibanez stereo chorus stomp box. It was beautiful, you could play it soft and it was cool & muddy and when you hit it hard it would fart out. I've never had that as good since.

The synth bass on my Sequential Circuits Six-Trak still beats any Moog bass sound I've heard since. Talk about fat.
 
grimtraveller said:
I understand Lt Bob's point about there probably being no need for mellotrons nowadays but I do find they're unique in their sounds.
Click to expand...
ya' know ....... that's an absolutely valid point. If that's the sound you want then that's the only way to really get it.
Kinda like a B-3.
Yes ..... there are emulations that come close but ultimately the complex combination of spinning toothed wheels in front of magnetic pickups and then the distortion of the B-3 amp plus the added distortions and doppler effects of the Leslie ....... they just can't quite get it all, so if you want to be picky about the sound there's nothing quite like an actual B-3 and I suppose there's nothing quite like an actual Mellotron.

Hell, that's why I still prefer vinyl ...... subtleties of sound make a difference to those who really listen.
 
Lt. Bob said:
ya' know ....... that's an absolutely valid point. If that's the sound you want then that's the only way to really get it.
Kinda like a B-3.
Yes ..... there are emulations that come close but ultimately the complex combination of spinning toothed wheels in front of magnetic pickups and then the distortion of the B-3 amp plus the added distortions and doppler effects of the Leslie ....... they just can't quite get it all, so if you want to be picky about the sound there's nothing quite like an actual B-3 and I suppose there's nothing quite like an actual Mellotron.
Click to expand...
I love the Farfisa organ on the first couple of Pink Floyd Lps and the organs that the Animals and the Zombies used in their first hits of '64 but the B3 is the field marshal of all organs for me. It's the sun that illuminates all the other moon, star and sky organs ! Or something like that.
The thing that I really like about the mellotron, or one of the things, is that the tape recordings on them rarely sounded 100 % like the instrument that was taped. It often sounded like a slightly wobbly 'screeeeeing' or 'waaaaaaahing' or 'whirrrrrrrring' version and as such, it would sit well in a mix, often alongside or supplementing orchestras. But to my ears, totally separate.

Lt. Bob said:
Hell, that's why I still prefer vinyl ...... subtleties of sound make a difference to those who really listen.
Click to expand...

So true. Sometimes I jokingly describe my hearing as 'bass players' ears' because there are things like frequencies that others seem to be able to pick up in an instant and I just can't hear them ! But on the other hand, the subtleties of instrument sounds, I pick up on straight away. Like I pointed out in a previous post for example, all the double bass samples I've heard have just missed that certain something - except the very first one I heard that turned me onto VSTis in the first place. The M-TRON mellotron one is good and if mixed well and not too prominently, it's hard to tell the difference.
 
I love Mellotrons, I dont own a real one, but I think the G-Force one sounds great.
I was sold after hearing Rick Wakeman reciting parts of Heart of the Sunrise on it.
If its good enough for rick, then ...:D

In fact Tron Rhodes and and Organ are the only keys sounds I use.

Btw the tune that sold me on the tron, was Starless, King Crimson:cool:
 
Nakatira said:
I love Mellotrons, I dont own a real one, but I think the G-Force one sounds great.
Click to expand...

Back in the early 90s, I read this article about mellotrons and I fancied owning one as I had a piano, a Hammond and a Fender Rhodes and I was into "authenticity" - until I saw the price. Thus endeth the dream, I thought. But the article said that there was a repairer of them and as fortune would have it, he was in the same borough as me. So I thought to myself that I would try and talk them into letting me rent it, bring all my recording stuff down and record there. You know, when I think about it, I used to have some nutty but bold ideas. The article hadn't given an address but it had mentioned the street. I knew it (it was a great road to zoom down, actually) and set off looking for the place. I never did find it ! The road was full of old converted warehouses. But it was futile....I remained hopeful a tron would one day come into my life.
To this day, I've never seen a real life mellotron. Mind you, I've never seen a real life badger or a mole either.
 
I was in a band with a mellotron back in the early 70's and agree they were a pain live (however a great tool in the studio).

Given that there are now sooooo many keyboards and/or samples of great string sounds (and mellotron sounds) - the actual need for a mellotron is limited - unless someone is a vintage keys fanatic.

Speaking of "vintage keys" - I have a E-me "Vintage Keys module - and it has some very authentic sounding mellotron sounds in it.
 
Xdrummer said:
Given that there are now sooooo many keyboards and/or samples of great string sounds (and mellotron sounds) - the actual need for a mellotron is limited - unless someone is a vintage keys fanatic.

Speaking of "vintage keys" - I have a E-me "Vintage Keys module - and it has some very authentic sounding mellotron sounds in it.
Click to expand...

The good thing about the keyboards of yesteryear is that they're generally authentic sounding when coded onto software unlike other types of instrument that have a harder job passing off as a convincing ringer.
 
I don't have one but I have a deep affection for their tone etc. there's a site online somewhere that lists albums that used 'tron in the recording of and which tracks even - as well as a rating as to how well the album presents the 'tron.
I found a site from which to down load quite good quality mellotron wav samples (individual file for each note etc - though in mono so I had to fiddle to use them) and have downloaded a string enselmble and a vocal choir & used the latter on a reworking of a tune of mine called Gimli's Lament V3, it's in the second verse only:
http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=8675100&q=hi
I did load them into a sampler but there were quality issues (the sampler not the samples) so I basically did insert cut & edit into a track in cakewalk & built the 'tron line for the song from there.
It sounded - if I do say so myself - very evocative of the era & really quite nice.
The address.
http://www.leisureland.us/audio/MellotronSamples/MellotronSamples.htm
 
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The Streetly library is a wonderous thing. Some of the things sound so unlike their origins that they are almost synthetic.
The flutes really do bring King Crimson to my mind.
Cool, thanks for the link.
 
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