So when are you going to upgrade to DP8??

[twistedtom]

Buzz I had a mini-Moog, wish I had kept it.

Invented in the 60’s and poplar in the early 70’s there was a keyboard known as a Mellotron. The mellotron played a set of tape loops, one for each note; this did not allow for much expression. To change sounds you would have to plug in a bank on new tape loops. I think it ran at about $40k.

[buzzsmith]

Buzz I had a mini-Moog, wish I had kept it.

Invented in the 60’s and poplar in the early 70’s there was a keyboard known as a Mellotron. The mellotron played a set of tape loops, one for each note; this did not allow for much expression. To change sounds you would have to plug in a bank on new tape loops. I think it ran at about $40k.

I'm very familiar with the Mellotron.

In the mid '70s, I was in a club band and the 2nd keyboardist/trombonist had one. I think he paid about $5K for it.

The basic tape set had three sounds: strings, flute and choir "ahhs" if I remember correctly. Pressing a key engaged a roller which pulled the individual weighted tape up across a playback head. 15 seconds, I think was the maximum before the weight was at the top. You had to quickly release the key as you were playing to allow the tape to fall back to its starting position.

Sounded great at the time even though it kinda looked like a small washing machine!

Buzzy

[cowtothesky]

Buzz I had a mini-Moog, wish I had kept it.

Invented in the 60’s and poplar in the early 70’s there was a keyboard known as a Mellotron. The mellotron played a set of tape loops, one for each note; this did not allow for much expression. To change sounds you would have to plug in a bank on new tape loops. I think it ran at about $40k.

I'm very familiar with the Mellotron.

In the mid '70s, I was in a club band and the 2nd keyboardist/trombonist had one. I think he paid about $5K for it.

The basic tape set had three sounds: strings, flute and choir "ahhs" if I remember correctly. Pressing a key engaged a roller which pulled the individual weighted tape up across a playback head. 15 seconds, I think was the maximum before the weight was at the top. You had to quickly release the key as you were playing to allow the tape to fall back to its starting position.

Sounded great at the time even though it kinda looked like a small washing machine!

Buzzy

I have ran into a few of these through the years. Always wanted one back when I was in a progressive rock cover band. I have never even seen a Synclavier. The price tag on that was so high, I couldn't even consider getting it at the time. It was the rolls royce of synthesis back in the day.

Today, I wouldn't even consider getting them for the sounds. There are a few mellotron and synclavier vi's out there that offer way more flexibility than those instruments did. I have a mellotron vi that is pretty cool. Being a collector, I would love to have them. But, not to use, only to populate my studio with cool stuff.

[bayswater]

There was someone selling Mellotrons in the Fraser Valley just east of Vancouver until a few years ago. I don't think they were ever that expensive, more like $3k-4K. The ones I remember from the 60s/70s had 8 second tapes. Entirely impractical and always being repaired. But then our B3s etc were always being repaired too.

[Radiogal]

I pre ordered the upgrade from the Swedish distributer. Eventhough it´s not anounced when DP8 will be released, I just have to sit ´n wait now
I´m on the DP8 list.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Ooooooo! I sooooo have pre-order envy!!!

[Prime Mover]

Mellotrons are one of those things that can be replicated digitally with near 100% accuracy. Since it's simply an analog sampler. Todays technology can even produce realistic tape warble, and the little inconsistencies that come along with using that kind of technology. The only thing that can't be synthesized is it's continual breaking down. I see little to no reason to purchase one these days except for nostalgic value. Even the old progrock keyboardists who made them famous are using digital synths live now.

I think we're nearing the point where almost all keyboard instruments can be replaced well enough to be more practical than the originals for live use. With the obvious exception of the B3 (which really benefits from the controls of the actual hardware). Even then, I see many organists using Nord and Oberheim B3 simulators. You're never going to have 100% control over the sound in a live situation, obviously you want the best sound you can have within reason, but the minute differences between the originals and digital simulations these days are small enough that the inconstancies between various PA systems will usually be a far greater issue.

Some may disagree with me, and I respect that, but I simply see little reason, in terms of realistic sound value, to use old analog hardware. Now, if a performer just "feels better" playing something, or just wants the visual appeal, those are completely legitimate reasons.

[Shooshie]

Ah, the Mellotron. A unique instrument, more mechanical than electronic, and very subject to breakage during performance, leaving emotional scars on all who toured with it live. But some iconic performances were recorded with the temperamental instrument. The flutes in Strawberry Fields were from a Mellotron, but another of the most famous examples of the Mellotron, it turns out, was a myth: people are always saying that Led Zeppelin opened with Mellotron flutes. I used to think so, too. But this site says otherwise. John Paul Jones, it says, multitracked a recorder or possibly an ocarina [somehow I doubt the latter] on Stairway.

Oh well… just another zen moment in pop-keyboard history.

Shooshie

[bayswater]

I've heard the thing about Strawberry Fields often. I never doubted it because of the seemingly perfect replications you near in Mellotron sample demos. How was it done?

[Shooshie]

I've heard the thing about Strawberry Fields often. I never doubted it because of the seemingly perfect replications you near in Mellotron sample demos. How was it done?

Strawberry Fields WAS a Mellotron, as far as I know.

It was Stairway to Heaven that is rock legend mythology. JP Jones may have used a mellotron when playing it on tour, and there may be bootlegs of his performances on it, but the studio version of Stairway was done with multitracked recorder or some other small fipple flute.

[Prime Mover]

Yeah, I covered Strawberry fields last summer with my girlfriend. I played everything on one keyboard: mellotrons, cellos, brass, with rhodes and hammond on the band verses/choruses. I had to use a dulcimer for the transition arpeggios, not sure what they were originally, but it sounded sweet. It was a bit of a workout. But the final was pretty close to the original. I triggered a few pre-recorded drum tracks from the bottom two keys.

It sounded pretty close to the original, but honestly, I did feel a little silly. It woulda been nice to play it with a full band (at least bass and drum, guitar is entirely optional on that song).

[twistedtom]

Prime mover I played in a band with a guy who had a B3 it was a monster to have to move. He also had a Hammond A, made by the Hammond Watch Works Co. They could not call it an organ until after Hammond had a competition with a organ of the time; after the hearing test they got the OK to call it an organ. This is according to the owner of the Hammond A; maybe I will Google it.

I had a Fender Roads 88, I sold it as it was so much work to keep up. I see they are making them again and charging a good amount for them.

[James Steele]

Prime mover I played in a band with a guy who had a B3 it was a monster to have to move.

Geez... but the real thing sounds so cool! I have a friend with a C3 and Leslie cab and one day he fired it up for me in the studio. It was like nothing I'd heard before and I understood why this sound could be HEAVY and part of the DNA of Deep Purple as an example. I likened the difference to amp modeling versus the real thing... in terms of a real Hammond/Leslie vs. a synth. That's just my kneejerk impression upon hearing the real deal up close and personal. But yeah... lugging that around is probably not worth it most cases.

[buzzsmith]

I can testify that nothing, virtual or otherwise, that I've heard beats the sound of a real B-3 with one or two Leslies!

Buzzy

[rodger1811]

As a proud owner of a B3 along with a 122 Leslie, I can emphatically affirm that there's NOTHING like the real thing!!!! I love it and I'll never sell!!!!