The original analog sampler - it actually used tapes!
The earlier MKI and MKII models contained two side-by-side keyboards: On the right keyboard were 18 selectable "lead/instrument" sounds (such as strings, flutes, and brass instruments).
The left keyboard played pre-recorded musical rhythm tracks (in various styles).
The left keyboard played pre-recorded musical rhythm tracks (in various styles).
'Official' Mellotron VST
Contains over 100 classic Tape Banks including Strings, Choirs, Flutes and
Brass along with some of the most amazing rhythms you'll ever hear.
What makes that classic eerie mellotron sound?
A combination of characteristics, really.
Replaying the tape over and over again creates artifacts known as wow and flutter. It's simple tape degradation and each time a note is played it changes just a little bit.
Replaying the tape over and over again creates artifacts known as wow and flutter. It's simple tape degradation and each time a note is played it changes just a little bit.
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Neat video
The Magical Mellotron
http://www.squidoo.com/mellotron Whether you recognize it from Strawberry Fields or from a thousand other great songs from the past 40 years or so, nothing beats a real mellotron. Here's an amazing British promo film.
curated content from YouTube
In the same conversation you might hear the terms....
* Birotron
* Chamberlin
* Orchestron
* Optigan
Wikipedia tells us British multi-instrumentalist Graham Bond may have been the first rock musician to record with a Mellotron, beginning in 1965. A year later, The Beatles used it prominently on their groundbreaking single "Strawberry Fields Forever" (recorded November-December 1966).
The Mellotron was also used by Led Zeppelin in "The Rain Song" and "Kashmir". The Zombies ("Changes"), The Rolling Stones ("2000 Light Years from Home", "We Love You"), Pink Floyd ("A Saucerful of Secrets", "Julia Dream" and "Sysyphus").
The Kinks featured the instrument prominently in their recordings between 1967 and 1969, most obviously on 1968's "Phenomenal Cat," from The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society.
* Chamberlin
* Orchestron
* Optigan
Wikipedia tells us British multi-instrumentalist Graham Bond may have been the first rock musician to record with a Mellotron, beginning in 1965. A year later, The Beatles used it prominently on their groundbreaking single "Strawberry Fields Forever" (recorded November-December 1966).
The Mellotron was also used by Led Zeppelin in "The Rain Song" and "Kashmir". The Zombies ("Changes"), The Rolling Stones ("2000 Light Years from Home", "We Love You"), Pink Floyd ("A Saucerful of Secrets", "Julia Dream" and "Sysyphus").
The Kinks featured the instrument prominently in their recordings between 1967 and 1969, most obviously on 1968's "Phenomenal Cat," from The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society.
Wikipedia looks at the Mellotron
The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin, which was the world's first sample-playback keyboard. The heart of the instrument is a bank of parallel linear magnetic audio tapes, which have approximately eight seconds of playing time each. Playback heads underneath each key enable the playing of pre-recorded sounds.
The earlier MKI and MKII models contained two side-by-side keyboards: The right keyboard accessed 18 "lead/instrument" sounds such as strings, flutes, and brass; Th...
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Share your Mellotron Love!
And feel free to put a link to your lens or site here, too!
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Reply
- Aquavel Aquavel Dec 1, 2008 @ 3:05 pm
- I'm sorry I gave you the wrong link. (I also wish I could go in and edit my prior post). The link is Strawberry Fields Forever: John Lennon. Thanks and 5 stars!
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Reply
- Aquavel Aquavel Dec 1, 2008 @ 3:02 pm
- I just wrote a lens on the John Lennon songStrawberry Fields Forever. I'm happy you made this lens on the Mellotron so I can provide a link to your site for those who want to learn more about this instrument.
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Reply
- Senor Mellotron Senor Mellotron Sep 23, 2008 @ 4:04 am
- You should look and listen to the new MEMOTRON with great Tron sounds and the look and feel of the originals.
http://www.manikin-electronics.de/en/products_memotron.html
You will be amazed!
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Reply
- Senor Mellotron Senor Mellotron Sep 23, 2008 @ 4:03 am
- You should look and listen to the new MEMOTRON with great Tron sounds and the look and feel of the originals.
http://www.manikin-electronics.de/en/products_memotron.html
You will be amazed!
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Reply
- mick white mick white Jun 23, 2008 @ 7:35 am
- Super instrument the mighty M - a role reversal for the Brits too, as we took an instrument the Yanks invented (Chamberlin) and turned it into a fantastic success! 'Strawberry Fields', 'Seven Stones', 'Watcher Of The Skies','Epitaph',
'Mars', 'Wake Of Poseidon', 'She Said' (BJH) and 'Mockingbird', 'Sysyphus', 'Heart Ofunrise', etc. Lovely flutes, strings.
At PhillyGearTrader.com
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Explore the magical land of the Mellotron, children.
This proto-synthesizer, proto-sampler actually has little pieces of recorded MAGNETIC TAPE insid... (more)
This proto-synthesizer, proto-sampler actually has little pieces of recorded MAGNETIC TAPE insid... (more)
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