Comments on: The Mellotron

The Mellotron

goodnewsfortheinsane — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 18:03:01 -0800

You may have never heard of it, but you've damn near certain heard it. The Mellotron (FortuneCity link) is a keyboard instrument; each of its keys triggers a tape with a pre-recorded instrument on it. It was effectively the world's first sample player. [more inside]

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 18:03:39 -0800

As with any other vintage instrument, the Mellotron attracts its fair share of geeks. And if you can't afford to buy one, you can always roll your own from a couple of old Walkmans or download one for use in-the-box. For extra 'Tron geek porn, watch a modern-day one being disemboweled (quicktime). In the meantime, as always you can leave the debates over the merits of the real thing to the kids over at Steve Albini's place. previously: 1 somewhat related: 1, 2

By: Turtles all the way down

Turtles all the way down — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 18:18:30 -0800

I remember reading an account of Genesis touring during what I consider their glory years (Nursery Cryme to Wind and Wuthering). Tony Banks was responsible for the Genesis sound. He used a 'device' which depended on various things rotating to play cassette tape loops. Apparently this thing had to be rebuilt every night as it was so prone to breaking down. Tell me: was this the Mellotron? A garlic scented kiss from The Lamia to those who answer.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 18:25:56 -0800

Well, Turtles, I can't say for sure but it sure sounds like it. I've heard a similar story from my aunt going to see the Moody Blues here in the Hague give or take a few decades ago. It sure is prone to breaking down while on the road, though, which is not too strange if you consider that each key has its own "tape player". In fact, you could say that the most vulnerable part of Genesis' touring gear of that period was the Mellotron and its, wait for it... Tony Banks. *drum roll, mellotron hit*

By: ericb

ericb — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 18:33:34 -0800

Ah -- memories of Jethro Tull, King Crimson, Keith Emerson (ELP, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and Rick Wakeman.

By: lekvar

lekvar — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 18:37:06 -0800

For the minimalist, there's Laurie Anderson and her tape-bow violin. She makes some truly fantastic noise with this thing in her live concert film, "Home of the Brave."

By: Turtles all the way down

Turtles all the way down — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 18:38:15 -0800

goodnewsfortheinsane: lovely, buddy: thank you.

By: stinkycheese

stinkycheese — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 18:50:07 -0800

Nice. Such a wonderful sound. Those not into the classic rock may recognize the mellotron from, say, Sebadoh's "Spoiled". /sorry, don't know how to link MP3s

By: dbiedny

dbiedny — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 18:50:23 -0800

Turtles, that is indeed the Mellotron. Each tape had something like 8 seconds of sound, so holding down any one key on the keyboard would only result in that note dying out after those 8 seconds. This physical limitation made the Mellotron quite challenging to play live. There is a truly cool digital simulation called the M-Tron, and it even has the same note duration limitation. It's one of my favorite synth plugins, and it includes ALL the tapes that were available for the Mellotron, including the harp glissando, a thing of beauty.

By: retronic

retronic — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 18:57:10 -0800

Folks, let's not forget Mellotron's dad, the Chamberlin--the inspired playing of which can be found all over this record.

By: quonsar

quonsar — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 18:57:40 -0800

early Wakeman-era Yes featured the mellotron prominently.

By: malaprohibita

malaprohibita — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 19:04:57 -0800

The Smashing Pumpkins used one on Siamese Dream.

By: eraserhed

eraserhed — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 19:19:38 -0800

This is the best post I've seen on Metafilter. That Tweakbench link itself is fantastic - there are some awesome VST plugins there. These sounds are going to keep me busy for months. Kudos to the poster.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 19:23:16 -0800

"Mellotron": best name ever for an electronic instrument. (Okay, "Moog" was pretty cool too, but he didn't have to think of that, it was his name.)

By: kozad

kozad — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 19:28:22 -0800

As a high school band geek infatuated with the Beatles, hearing about the Mellotron was pretty wild back in the Sixties. Little did I know that, as a piano player, I would stop reading magazines like "Keyboard" ten years later, as they became the baliwick of computer geeks and I remained a piano player.

By: carsonb

carsonb — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 19:38:47 -0800

ahhh, I'm taken back to high school, close listening to Superunknown with the liner notes open in front of me, desperately trying to tell which instrument was the mellotron. nifty post! thanks.

By: TonyRobots

TonyRobots — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 19:39:39 -0800

Let's us not forget the Space Echo. Check out that crazy tape loop!

By: TonyRobots

TonyRobots — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 19:40:44 -0800

Sorry, the site has a redirect that undermined my URL copying. Here's the real link.

By: lekvar

lekvar — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 19:50:18 -0800

Oh, lord. A friend of mine had a vintage Space Echo. That thing had the sexyest tone, perfect for making old-style dub. I miss playing wth that thing.

By: Turtles all the way down

Turtles all the way down — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 20:03:48 -0800

eraserhead: Kudos to the poster. Seconded! Thanks.

By: Turtles all the way down

Turtles all the way down — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 20:09:49 -0800

Please pardon my bad manners: Thanks, goodnewsfortheinsane!

By: Lynsey

Lynsey — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 20:37:18 -0800

Yes, kudoes to gnfti. We had a mellotron in our garage when we lived in LA, sometime in the early 1980s. Those tapes were a pain to keep tidy and the thing took hours to "tune" since it wasn't used all the time. I think it burned in our garage fire and frankly, no one cried over its demise. That being said, I too dug the sound and kind of regret that we never got more than sci-fi sounding weirdness out of it.

By: sdn

sdn — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 20:45:14 -0800

ah, the mellotron. i know intimately how much a pain in the ass it is; my ex (keyboard player specializing in vintage gear/sounds) had one of the originals, and it broke and broke and broke and was always in the shop -- and almost no one knows how to repair them. on the other hand, it's very cool, and you can always play the intro of "strawberry fields forever" and look brilliant. see also the mellotron archive. don't get me started about how much i miss the b3.

By: johnnyblotter

johnnyblotter — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 20:50:23 -0800

coolest synth name: Farfisa Syntheslalom. Complete with a little red man skiing down a hill. Great sounding, too. Unfortunately some of the keys stopped working and I am clueless how to fix it.

By: mishaco

mishaco — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 21:22:03 -0800

listen to some stereolab . they even have a song called mellotron .

By: davy

davy — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 22:32:20 -0800

Porcupine Tree has a song called "Mellotron Scratch" on their "Deadwing" album. Those with gobs of bandwidth can hear it here: keep clicking on the forward double arrows, it's the 6th song. The lyrics can be found here. (I like Porcupine Tree's music but the design of their web site makes it hard to link to anything.) And oh, I like linking to Wikipedia articles, so voila.

By: SteveInMaine

SteveInMaine — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 03:20:58 -0800

I could waste hours just reading the reviews on Planet Mellotron. Thanks for the post! Trivia: "In 1994, McCartney bought the FX Console model featured on the recording of 'Strawberry Fields Forever.'"

By: scruss

scruss — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 04:14:42 -0800

Julian Cope plays a fluorescent Mellotron.

By: hal9k

hal9k — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 04:30:10 -0800

"Epitath" by King Crimson (Greg Lake singing) has enough Mellotron for the rest of your life

By: thrakintosh

thrakintosh — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 04:37:33 -0800

"In the Court of the Crimson Ooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh..."

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 04:56:37 -0800

"In 1994, McCartney bought the FX Console model featured on the recording of 'Strawberry Fields Forever." Yes, but apparently when Jackson bought the rights to the Beatles catalog the Mellotron was part of the deal, and the instrument is now rumored to be in a warehouse in Bahrain, where it is being played by 4 monkeys and a giraffe.

By: Enron Hubbard

Enron Hubbard — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 05:39:16 -0800

early Wakeman-era Yes featured the mellotron prominently. I can remember "Roundabout" experienced from a second row seat. The a cappella vocals right before ending guitar bit are half live vocal and half Mellotron of the band singing. sdn: you can always play the intro of "strawberry fields forever" and look brilliant. Years ago, I found a Mellotron soundfont (remember those?) and the first thing I played was the Strawberry Fields intro. To hear those sounds coming out of my speakers gave me industrial chills and put a big old goofy grin on my face. The newer software based tron versions are much more reliable, but the Rube Goldberg-esque complexity of the original has a special place in my gadgeteer heart.

By: ob

ob — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 06:02:25 -0800

Ah yes the mellotron -a classic! It instantly reminds me of Strawberry Fields and Kashmir. Thanks for the post!

By: juiceCake

juiceCake — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 07:09:34 -0800

Of course the Strokes use one exclusively for Ask Me Anything on their new disc (Amazon - Real Player.)

By: Lord Kinbote

Lord Kinbote — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 07:36:44 -0800

For more on the Beatles' use of the Mellotron and early Moog synths, you must read: The Beatles Recording Sessions by Mark Lewisohn and Beatles Gear: All the Fab Four's Instruments, from Stage to Studio by Andy Babiuk. Both books offer comprehensive detail and great photos.

By: baphomet

baphomet — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 08:09:49 -0800

If you learn to recognize the sound of the Mellotron, you'll start hearing it everywhere. Props on the Porcupine Tree reference. Their lead singer/songwriter, Stephen Wilson, produced a few Opeth albums...there isn't much Mellotron on the metal albums he produced (Damnation and Blackwater Park) but if you listen to Opeth's progressive album, Damnation, you'll hear tons of Mello goodness.

By: Relay

Relay — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 10:16:50 -0800

Those things are such a blast to play around with.

By: rut roh

rut roh — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 11:01:42 -0800

I hope one day to record the loops necessary to realize a mighty AGGROTRON.

By: 6am

6am — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 16:38:41 -0800

Forget ye not also the Optigan, later released as the Vako Orchestron as used by Kraftwerk (you can hear it on most of Trans Europe Express).