I've often heard the story that on one of the string tapes, you could hear the sound of a chair sliding across the floor. Is this true, and if so, has this sound been posted anywhere?
I think the soundset in question is called "3 Violins" and it appeared on the MkII Mellotron. I've gone through every note and to be honest there's weird, feint noises on a lot of them. Strange scrapes and creaks, I'm not sure how much of that noise is as a result of the ageing tapes or the ambient noise at the time of recording. But there's definitely a resonant scrape on the high C# and something that sounds rather like a creaking chair or floorboard on the low A! I'll post a quick video.
I might be wrong but I think it’s the sound you can hear here: ua-cam.com/video/EhQpXD2Z9WQ/v-deo.htmlm10s (at 16:10) and here: ua-cam.com/video/Q3IyWceyHrw/v-deo.htmlm14s (3:14 onward).
Just that he was hired to sing some of the male vocal sounds in the studio. He said Chamberlin had invented the keyboard and that the Mellotron was based on it. Just the stuff we know. :) He was in living in Denver Colorado at the time, not sure if it was recorded at Jackson Sound in Denver or not but he produced recordings out of that studio.
I really wished I knew more. It’s weird that when someone passes you lose all that knowledge too. I should listen to the Chamberlin sounds and see if I can spot his voice, it’s pretty specific sounding.
In late 1978 I visited my family in Los Angeles and called up Harry Chamerblin (I got the number from a brochure or an ad in KYB Magazine ?)). He invited me out to his home (factory), where he showed me the instrument. I played around with it, and we discussed the various sound sets for it. He had an Ampex 8-track in an adjoining room and he was very friendly. It was priced around $4000. I was in a successful band at the time and considered buying one. It was quite a bit smaller than the Mellotron. I was excited about it because David Bowie had used it on LOW and I wanted that sound. I took a picture of Harry as I left (I still have it). I never did buy the instrument, but never will forget that visit.
Don´t forget the great opening of "Watchers of the Skies" by Genesis. The first time (and a long time ago) I recognised the Mellotron as a fantastic instrument. And again (as always) a great video and story of Tim Shoebridge. An actual artist using the Mellotron a lot is Lisa Bella Donna and she is integrating the Mellotron with Moog and Arp synthesizers in a lot of great pieces.
I heard the Moody Blues in 1971 (OMG - 50 years ago!) and I too fell in love with the Mellotron. But I never knew this story. You presented it beautifully. Thank you, again, for all you do!
A wonderful and even handed telling of the Mellotron story. Your obvious love for the instrument and it’s distinctive and defining sounds comes through in the video.
I have a Mel9 pedal - it's very good but requires a lot of time to get used to playing it cleanly. I've had .wav file samples of several banks of tapes for a decade or so...found them accidentally. Even now I use them in recordings...cut n paste into arrangements...full of the imperfections of the tapes when "sampled"...I love 'em.
In the sixties, my friends and I frequented roller skating rinks where we lived, there were two. The one we went to most the time had a organ, or what I thought was an organ. The same man would play this keyboard instrument, between canned radio music. The instrument always sounded odd, like it was out of tune, or not working properly. After listening to the Chamberlin, or mellotron for years afterward, I believe that organ was indeed a tape based instrument like the mellotron, not sure. From my recollection of the sounds it made, I'm willing to bet that's what it really was. Man I miss those days, they were the best! 🎹 🎶 😎
I like this ‘new’ storytelling format, thanks for all the work you put into it (and all your videos really). You should be on patreon or something, because your work deserves to be appreciated much more than just likes on YT. Cheers!
I was the FOH sound guy, keyboard tech and synth programmer for a regional touring band in the mid-1970's. We had the Mellotron 400, which put through an overdriven Fender Twin Reverb would make your hair stand on end! I was vexed by the weight and the constant maintenance I had to do to keep it running, but I loved the sound of this beast.
I used to know one of the first tour-managers for the ‘Moody Blues’, and he told me stories about how they toured with one, and how difficult it was to transport, and maintain.
My love affair of the Mellotron started when first heard Strawberry Fields Forever from the Beatles & The Moody Blues music...as a very young child. Cool video of the history of the Mellotron, demo of the M4000D. Cheers.
Nice Tangerine Dream stylings at 24.00. Takes me back to my teens and my Ricochet, Sorceror and Encore LPs. Can't believe it's almost 40 years ago now... can still recall putting the vinyl on and being immersed in it..
@@neilloughran4437 The Tangerine Dream brass sound was a tapeset called GC3. It was basically 3 overdubs of trombone played by British jazzer George Chisholm. Funny to think that a 'comedy trombonist' who appeared on Playschool could be the source of such an epic sound! Here's my tribute to the Encore sound: ua-cam.com/video/o_Wf0hSqJ-M/v-deo.html
@@utdgrant wonderful! I remember listening to a bootleg of them in Nottingham 1976 where a similar sequence opened the show.... but yeah Encore was kind of the end of a certain phase for TD... I recall listening to it for the first time in 1987 or so and fell in love with it!
I just started looking into the Mellotron again recently. I have owned and been working with programming Synthesizers since my first introduction to the ARP 2500 and soon after owning the Original ARP 2600 and Mini Moog in 1972. Before that I built my first Synth, a Theremin Kit from Moog. I was a musician and a Recording Engineer throughout the 1970’s until the late 1980’s. I had the pleasure to meet and talk with Bob Moog on many occasions about his Synths and the Industry. I also met Tom Oberheim several times and actually showed him a prototype FM Synthesizer that Sony was developing in 1981, that I was hired to demonstrate at the New York AES Convention. I only share this with you so you know that I’ve been around and know so much of the history of the Synthesizer development and growth. I am extremely happy that you put this Historic Story out here for all to see. I knew a bit about the Mellotron but not to this historic extent. What you cover here could actually be made into a movie! Over the past 2 years I’ve built myself a Small (and growing) Music Production Room in our home. Thanks to Behringer and Roland I’ve been able to add some of the Vintage Synths I once owned. I never owned a Mellotron but did work with them. I had a musician friend who owned one and I’d get to play it from time to time. After seeing this video and all of the history that I never knew I did more research on what the Stockholm Mellotron Company is building. I watched your other videos as well and decided it was time I got my own Mellotron. I was only going to get the Micro but you convinced me that the one I want is the M4000D Mini because of the The Fatar keyboard with velocity sensitivity and mono aftertouch and the ability to use the Sound Cards (Albeit a bit pricey). My wife who is so supportive of my “Synthesizer Addiction’, lol, agrees, she said get the full size one, otherwise you won’t be happy. So I will be ordering mine today. Again I want to thank you for the outstanding historic overview of the Mellotron/Chamberlain.
Enjoyable video Tim, nice one. 37 minutes flew by. I've played a couple of the Streetly Mellotrons and they're wonderfully weird. I actually quite like that they misbehave and that you have to be careful with the pressure on the tapes so as not to change the speed and tuning. But yes, like you, I couldn't imagine I'd ever practically owning a real one.
Thanks a lot Alex, appreciate it. Yes the speeding up and down aspect must be a bit bizarre to master. Apparently Rick Wakeman got pretty good at it and that got him the gig to play mellotron on Bowie's Space Oddity..... www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/jan/08/the-day-i-played-mellotron-for-david-bowie-space-oddity
The Mellotron was also notably used by Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark (e.g. Maid Of Orleans) and XTC (e.g. All You Pretty Girls). For me, the beauty of a Mellotron lies in its realtime imperfections - the hiss, pitch wobbles and tape wear combine to make organic sounds that just can't be synthesized accurately. Thanks for this recap, Tim.
@@utdgrant Perfectly... not ! Arturia's Mellotron emulation is an improvement compared to other emulations, but it still lacks a bit of life. I think software companies have been a bit lazy on this, I'm sure the Mellotron could be emulated better. I don't want fancy synth/FX possibilities, I want more random glitches, especially on the attack and release of the sound.
Thanks' for posting,Tim!A fascinating story.I knew a bit,but you filled in the gaps'!Always wanted a 'Mellotron',back in the day.Could have never afforded one! Closest thing I have is a 'Mel9',which is nice and can be played by any keyboard,or guitar.
This is a wonderful story. This is the first video I have seen of Tim's, and I love the quality on all levels. From the music to the production quality to the clear passion in the subject matter, this was a reminder that in the vast seas of content these days, there are some truly remarkable storytellers out there. I look forward to diving into your other videos and losing myself into the storylines. Best wishes in all of your endeavors! -jason
Mellotron options abound. I find the IK Multimedia Sampletron to be excellent, as well as the Mellotron model in the current Akai MPC. We suffer from an “embarrassment of riches”.
This is true. Logic Pro comes with great Mellotron samples too. I used to use Sampletron. It makes the price of these newer hardware Mellotrons seem outrageous.
Before the MPC had the tron plugin , I had a sample pack of the sounds I got from somewhere online , I use it all the time in my music , it’s the imperfections that bring nostalgia
Just picked up Sampletron II as one of my free picks in the IK Multimedia group buy. Certainly a larger library than the Mellotron samples in Kontakt, and a better interface to boot.
Yeah, Moog and ARP were big in the 70s, but Korg and Roland owned the 80s and 90s! Dave Smith and Sequential Circuits also we're very important, innovating from the late 70s to the late 80s
this is great info on the history of a revolutionary instrument. now sampling and synthesis is incorporated in so many instruments at a smaller size than the first machine.
Really enjoying your videos, especially this one, as I didn't know anything about the instrument's history. I live in Birmingham, have located the address of Streetly Electronics, so will one day go & explore the area for old times sake. Nice one Tim, your video's are brilliantly made. Hoping one day to see a review by you on the Syntrx 2 👍
Wow. That was amazing. Always knew what the instrument was and who used it but never knew the rest. I won’t watch anything as interesting as that for a long time. Great research mate
Wow, I really really enjoyed this. I was fascinated by this instrument back in the late 60's and 70's.... Especially the Moody Blues use of it and the Strawbs. Great video Tim!
Your delivery of storytelling is exceptional, calming and enthralling. So much fun to learn when presented well thanks to you, Tim. Very encapsulating.
I'm a drummer from the 60's. Percussionist from the 70's. Music theory, music literature, and music performance in the 80's. Fast forward to today. I play flute, guitar, and a bunch of keyboard instruments and the Mellotron M4000D is my go to instrument. I have 3 octaves to play and with the low mode I have 6 octaves. With the limited 37 key keyboard I've gotten very good at reverse chords. I can make the Mellotron sing and make angels cry with it's beautiful sounds. I got with Marcus and bought sound cards 02-03-04-05-06 and my musical super powers are now unlimited. This instrument is a gem. I'm going to try to get Marcus to make an 88 key Mellotron M4000D1. How awesome that would be. I wouldn't care how much it would cost.........it would be the bomb.
Oh man, the soundscape you put under the guessing game was just sublime. That morph into the choir gave me chills! (the good ones). Also, I guess you're hinting at the Mellotron. The Genesis hint nailed it for me.
Telling the history of iconic synths is very appreciated. This tron was something special and definitely gave to strawberry fields (among others) a unique color and sound. Legendary sound is still reasoning in my head and still sounds very fine from my POV. Nowadays it is kind of easy to get tron style, but not sure it will sound again as it did back in the days. Thank for this travel in time, great contents here
The Mel9 does a surprisingly good job at emulating a Mellotron given the right input! 👍 While it will never equal the sound quality of analog or digital Mellotrons, it does have the advantage that any sound from any instrument can be converted into Mellotron sounds (with varying degrees of success) which can be a lot of fun and inspiring.
Hi Tim Shoebridge ,i Would love to see a video of you playing the presets of the Mellotron .Great video as usual .Thanks for your interest and devotion for this amazing instruments and their creators.
Great documentary Tim, but there was also the Birotron instrument that was based on 8-track tape cartridges (mostly popular in the US). The Birotron was created by Dave Biro and the project was funded by Rick Wakeman. The instrument was used on the Yes albums "Going for the One" and "Tormato". The project tanked though, and the instrument never became widely known.
That Interlude tracks sounds awesome! I think I've heard the Mellotron for the first time as a kid when my parents listened to The Moody Blues, Nights in White Satain in particular but of course I didn't know the instrument back then. The band that then really got me into the sound was actually Opeth. I think the first record they used it extensively was Damnation and even later on on their regular heavy albums it was used frequently. Now since they went more into prog rock it's there as well of course.
The Court of the Crimson King, not court of King Crimson. My personal KC fave featuring this instrument would be Starless. Chilling, emotional, beautiful.
Great video, Tim! I too have a fondness for the Mellotron's sound via '70s Tangerine Dream. I never knew the story behind the instrument, and Chamberlin deserves to be remembered.
Tangerine Dream were one of the biggest users of the Tron - having four onstage during their 1975 tour (M400 x 3 + a double keyboard Mark V). In the end, Edgar Froese had two Mark Vs and about 50-60 tape sets. TD themselves even recorded their own sounds onto tape as well as getting Mellotron to produce SFX tapes for them. All of their albums from 1973 to the early eighties feature them, as do their solo albums of that period. They also bought the Birotron in 1978 but sadly it was a disaster and would chew up tapes every night, so it was relegated to Edgar Froese's studio where he used it with tape loops for infinite choir chords
Really nice Story Tim. I love Mellotron as well, for progressive rock music my favourite and what I am doing finally myself you cannot make without a Mellotron Sound. There are 5 types of keyboard sounds need to be inside ( classic ) prog rock, and thats the organ, the solina, the minimoog ( or as well an ARP ), some kind of piano and finally last but not least the MELLOTRON. And with the Mellotron sound your straight away in the prog rock feeling... Sure not only for that, its a very versatile instrument.... haha I have finally a software version for me... A real one is me bit to big ... But this Mellotron Micro were sure a great thing... Thomann has it hehe...
Fascinating insight, I learnt a lot from that, thank you. I used to live near Streetly where the Mellotron was made when I was a teenager and frequently saw examples of it at Musical Exchanges on Snow Hill in Birmingham. I particularly remember a fire damaged example, which I think came from the original Musical Exchanges shop in Broad Street, when there were a strange number of businesses that caught fire, including the Bingley Hall, prior to the development of the NIA and Convention Centre. I've used the real thing many times over the years, but am now very happy with the Arturia software emulation, all the flexibility, none of the physical "issues". Wonderful sounding instruments and very evocative of the music I listened to growing up. Like you, memories and feelings flood back every time I hear one. In fact, ( a bit of shameless promotion here) we have a track on the new Fluance Featuring Duncan Mackay called "Contromin-19" coming out in the new year, which is almost entirely created with the Arturia Mellotron V.
One more band who used a Mellotron...Led Zeppelin. John Paul Jones played the Mellotron on The Rain Song, from Houses of the Holy. I saw that tour in '73, and JPJ played it live. I've read that Kashmir also includes Jones playing Mellotron.
Genius / Christoph Kemper > Acces Virus = Legend LE: i don't want to upset annyone&and i do agree with all that you said&mention in the video; i just felt like this guy needs some love&attention he is my personal Legend. and maby someone will focus on his synth, even if he stop development of it for like 10+years the acces virus is still actual and sounds amazing /& I do hope one day the guy behind Dreadbox synths will become a legend, really like his synths when it come to quality/sound/design&$ thanks for reading. have a nice day /all
The sound of the Mellotron is wonderful and iconic. I’ve loved it for 50 years and this is a great tribute. However, pretty sure there’s no Mellotron on Atom Heart Mother - maybe early live performances. I think Rick Wright used one on Sisyphus on Ummagumma, so there may well be one in the AHM mix somewhere, but most is live orchestra and choir. Don’t forget King Crimson. They used it a lot, and often for much more delicate sounds than the more usual mass choirs and strings.
Terrific video Tim! Really enjoyed it… I seem to recall the famous television personality a magician David Nixon… Was he involved in the company somewhere along the line in the 1970s!
I bought the expansion for my Kurzweil PC2-r just to get the Mellotron sound set - though there are many other great sounds on there as well. Ray Kurzweil is another genius worth mentioning.
I've often heard the story that on one of the string tapes, you could hear the sound of a chair sliding across the floor. Is this true, and if so, has this sound been posted anywhere?
I think the soundset in question is called "3 Violins" and it appeared on the MkII Mellotron. I've gone through every note and to be honest there's weird, feint noises on a lot of them. Strange scrapes and creaks, I'm not sure how much of that noise is as a result of the ageing tapes or the ambient noise at the time of recording. But there's definitely a resonant scrape on the high C# and something that sounds rather like a creaking chair or floorboard on the low A! I'll post a quick video.
Here you go.... ua-cam.com/video/oRLdqRcQbnA/v-deo.html
I might be wrong but I think it’s the sound you can hear here: ua-cam.com/video/EhQpXD2Z9WQ/v-deo.htmlm10s (at 16:10) and here: ua-cam.com/video/Q3IyWceyHrw/v-deo.htmlm14s (3:14 onward).
Ya, there are a lot of background noises on some of the recordings. Adds to the character and sonic flavor!
I wish my father were still alive to tell his story but he did some of the male vocals on the Chamberlin in the late 60s.
Do you remember anything he mentioned?
Just that he was hired to sing some of the male vocal sounds in the studio. He said Chamberlin had invented the keyboard and that the Mellotron was based on it. Just the stuff we know. :) He was in living in Denver Colorado at the time, not sure if it was recorded at Jackson Sound in Denver or not but he produced recordings out of that studio.
@@ChrisDamerst wow! That’s cool. There’s a yearning to know more history like this ,Chris. Anything else at all would be welcome.
I really wished I knew more. It’s weird that when someone passes you lose all that knowledge too. I should listen to the Chamberlin sounds and see if I can spot his voice, it’s pretty specific sounding.
Wow! Thanks for sharing. Kudos to your father.
In late 1978 I visited my family in Los Angeles and called up Harry Chamerblin (I got the number from a brochure or an ad in KYB Magazine ?)). He invited me out to his home (factory), where he showed me the instrument. I played around with it, and we discussed the various sound sets for it. He had an Ampex 8-track in an adjoining room and he was very friendly. It was priced around $4000. I was in a successful band at the time and considered buying one. It was quite a bit smaller than the Mellotron. I was excited about it because David Bowie had used it on LOW and I wanted that sound. I took a picture of Harry as I left (I still have it). I never did buy the instrument, but never will forget that visit.
That's an amazing story, thanks a lot for sharing 👍
I would share the picture but I don't know how?
@@scooper283 Ahh not possible with YT comments unfortunately 😒
Thanks!
Thank you 👍👍👍
Great video Tim. Harry Chamberlin definitely deserves more recognition for this outstanding contribution to music technology.
Bedankt
Thank you 👍👍👍
Interesting story and cool, dreamy sounds! Thanks for that!
Don´t forget the great opening of "Watchers of the Skies" by Genesis. The first time (and a long time ago) I recognised the Mellotron as a fantastic instrument. And again (as always) a great video and story of Tim Shoebridge.
An actual artist using the Mellotron a lot is Lisa Bella Donna and she is integrating the Mellotron with Moog and Arp synthesizers in a lot of great pieces.
27:42 David Sylvian. wow. Didn't know.
I heard the Moody Blues in 1971 (OMG - 50 years ago!) and I too fell in love with the Mellotron. But I never knew this story. You presented it beautifully. Thank you, again, for all you do!
Great videos seriously, genius.
Thank you for sharing this intriguing story! And the track at 23:40 is very beautiful.
A wonderful and even handed telling of the Mellotron story. Your obvious love for the instrument and it’s distinctive and defining sounds comes through in the video.
Im addicted to this channel! Thank you Tim :) Love listening to your synths thoughts
Thanks, Tim. You are such a pleasant narrator and gifted composer!
I have a Mel9 pedal - it's very good but requires a lot of time to get used to playing it cleanly. I've had .wav file samples of several banks of tapes for a decade or so...found them accidentally. Even now I use them in recordings...cut n paste into arrangements...full of the imperfections of the tapes when "sampled"...I love 'em.
Great video, New Beginning was a great track, really captured the sound of the mellotron!
Really dig your music pieces
In the sixties, my friends and I frequented roller skating rinks where we lived, there were two. The one we went to most the time had a organ, or what I thought was an organ. The same man would play this keyboard instrument, between canned radio music. The instrument always sounded odd, like it was out of tune, or not working properly. After listening to the Chamberlin, or mellotron for years afterward, I believe that organ was indeed a tape based instrument like the mellotron, not sure. From my recollection of the sounds it made, I'm willing to bet that's what it really was. Man I miss those days, they were the best! 🎹 🎶 😎
The songs in this video are superb, thank you!
I like this ‘new’ storytelling format, thanks for all the work you put into it (and all your videos really). You should be on patreon or something, because your work deserves to be appreciated much more than just likes on YT. Cheers!
I was the FOH sound guy, keyboard tech and synth programmer for a regional touring band in the mid-1970's. We had the Mellotron 400, which put through an overdriven Fender Twin Reverb would make your hair stand on end! I was vexed by the weight and the constant maintenance I had to do to keep it running, but I loved the sound of this beast.
Where did you tour?
Great to hear! Tell us more ...
What a fantastic story, and really well told. Thanks. You just brightened a very wet and dull Morning here in Perth (the Down Under One) :)
A very interesting vid.. Great stuff Tim..Well done and Big Thanks for this one !!
I used to know one of the first tour-managers for the ‘Moody Blues’, and he told me stories about how they toured with one, and how difficult it was to transport, and maintain.
Music For Schools... some evocative sounds here and as usual an interesting subject with thoughtful presentation. Thanks 👍🏻.
My love affair of the Mellotron started when first heard Strawberry Fields Forever from the Beatles & The Moody Blues music...as a very young child.
Cool video of the history of the Mellotron, demo of the M4000D. Cheers.
Brilliant! I love the way Tim weaves the story of the Chamberlain/Mellotron together with his compositions. A real treat!
my fav instrument by far, good story tnks
i always love to get more educated about these amazing instruments, thank you for the great video
Nice Tangerine Dream stylings at 24.00. Takes me back to my teens and my Ricochet, Sorceror and Encore LPs. Can't believe it's almost 40 years ago now... can still recall putting the vinyl on and being immersed in it..
I always liked the the Mellotron brass esp... so evocative!
@@neilloughran4437 The Tangerine Dream brass sound was a tapeset called GC3. It was basically 3 overdubs of trombone played by British jazzer George Chisholm. Funny to think that a 'comedy trombonist' who appeared on Playschool could be the source of such an epic sound!
Here's my tribute to the Encore sound: ua-cam.com/video/o_Wf0hSqJ-M/v-deo.html
@@utdgrant wonderful! I remember listening to a bootleg of them in Nottingham 1976 where a similar sequence opened the show.... but yeah Encore was kind of the end of a certain phase for TD... I recall listening to it for the first time in 1987 or so and fell in love with it!
I just started looking into the Mellotron again recently. I have owned and been working with programming Synthesizers since my first introduction to the ARP 2500 and soon after owning the Original ARP 2600 and Mini Moog in 1972.
Before that I built my first Synth, a Theremin Kit from Moog. I was a musician and a Recording Engineer throughout the 1970’s until the late 1980’s. I had the pleasure to meet and talk with Bob Moog on many occasions about his Synths and the Industry. I also met Tom Oberheim several times and actually showed him a prototype FM Synthesizer that Sony was developing in 1981, that I was hired to demonstrate at the New York AES Convention. I only share this with you so you know that I’ve been around and know so much of the history of the Synthesizer development and growth. I am extremely happy that you put this Historic Story out here for all to see. I knew a bit about the Mellotron but not to this historic extent. What you cover here could actually be made into a movie!
Over the past 2 years I’ve built myself a Small (and growing) Music Production Room in our home. Thanks to Behringer and Roland I’ve been able to add some of the Vintage Synths I once owned.
I never owned a Mellotron but did work with them. I had a musician friend who owned one and I’d get to play it from time to time. After seeing this video and all of the history that I never knew I did more research on what the Stockholm Mellotron Company is building. I watched your other videos as well and decided it was time I got my own Mellotron. I was only going to get the Micro but you convinced me that the one I want is the M4000D Mini because of the The Fatar keyboard with velocity sensitivity and mono aftertouch and the ability to use the Sound Cards (Albeit a bit pricey). My wife who is so supportive of my “Synthesizer Addiction’, lol, agrees, she said get the full size one, otherwise you won’t be happy. So I will be ordering mine today. Again I want to thank you for the outstanding historic overview of the Mellotron/Chamberlain.
very nice song!
Fascinating...I'm spellbound! About to watch the "liquidation" chapter. Now I want one.
what a wicked video Tim thanks
Enjoyable video Tim, nice one. 37 minutes flew by.
I've played a couple of the Streetly Mellotrons and they're wonderfully weird. I actually quite like that they misbehave and that you have to be careful with the pressure on the tapes so as not to change the speed and tuning. But yes, like you, I couldn't imagine I'd ever practically owning a real one.
Thanks a lot Alex, appreciate it. Yes the speeding up and down aspect must be a bit bizarre to master. Apparently Rick Wakeman got pretty good at it and that got him the gig to play mellotron on Bowie's Space Oddity..... www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/jan/08/the-day-i-played-mellotron-for-david-bowie-space-oddity
Wondering if there is any control over attack and decay on these new digital models.......love. love, love GForce's M-Tron Pro plug.
Only attack and release
Excellent video! Thank you
Very interesting Tim.
Tim. Dude. This is fabulous. Love the stories. Thanks for telling this one in such an eloquent way. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🎹🎶👏🏻👏🏻
Btw all the tunes you produced for this video are awesome!!! I loved them all. Many thanks Tim!!!
Really interesting story for me, I've always loved the sound of the Mellotron, but sadly I had never heard of the Chamberlin.
Love the sounds of the Mellotron. Nothing like it!
Excellent and enjoyable! Thank you!
Thank you for the education. Nice bit of documentary - very nice.
The Mellotron was also notably used by Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark (e.g. Maid Of Orleans) and XTC (e.g. All You Pretty Girls). For me, the beauty of a Mellotron lies in its realtime imperfections - the hiss, pitch wobbles and tape wear combine to make organic sounds that just can't be synthesized accurately. Thanks for this recap, Tim.
Realtime imperfections are life
Arturia's Mellotron V has a multitude of real-time processes which emulate all these physical imperfections, erm....perfectly!
@@utdgrant Perfectly... not ! Arturia's Mellotron emulation is an improvement compared to other emulations, but it still lacks a bit of life. I think software companies have been a bit lazy on this, I'm sure the Mellotron could be emulated better. I don't want fancy synth/FX possibilities, I want more random glitches, especially on the attack and release of the sound.
Thanks' for posting,Tim!A fascinating story.I knew a bit,but you filled in the gaps'!Always wanted a 'Mellotron',back in the day.Could have never afforded one! Closest thing I have is a 'Mel9',which is nice and can be played by any keyboard,or guitar.
This is a wonderful story. This is the first video I have seen of Tim's, and I love the quality on all levels. From the music to the production quality to the clear passion in the subject matter, this was a reminder that in the vast seas of content these days, there are some truly remarkable storytellers out there. I look forward to diving into your other videos and losing myself into the storylines. Best wishes in all of your endeavors! -jason
I love the mellotron i had the micro as well but had to sell, im going to upgrade to the mini . The mellotron is so inspirational its awesome ✌😎
Absolutely superb video .. good history lesson for a keyboard I have always fancied but have not yet managed to get ..
Superb research and story, Tim. Thx for this insights, I never really understood before.
Lovely musical bits
Mellotron options abound. I find the IK Multimedia Sampletron to be excellent, as well as the Mellotron model in the current Akai MPC.
We suffer from an “embarrassment of riches”.
This is true. Logic Pro comes with great Mellotron samples too. I used to use Sampletron. It makes the price of these newer hardware Mellotrons seem outrageous.
Before the MPC had the tron plugin , I had a sample pack of the sounds I got from somewhere online , I use it all the time in my music , it’s the imperfections that bring nostalgia
Just picked up Sampletron II as one of my free picks in the IK Multimedia group buy. Certainly a larger library than the Mellotron samples in Kontakt, and a better interface to boot.
@@platinummonster9755 I especially like the included 360 Systems samples.
Fascinating, thank you for the excellent video. Also now a reliable source on the history of the Mellotron!
I'm surprised you didn't mention Ikutaro Kakehashi of Roland!
Yeah, Moog and ARP were big in the 70s, but Korg and Roland owned the 80s and 90s! Dave Smith and Sequential Circuits also we're very important, innovating from the late 70s to the late 80s
Beautiful instrument
this is great info on the history of a revolutionary instrument. now sampling and synthesis is incorporated in so many instruments at a smaller size than the first machine.
Really enjoying your videos, especially this one, as I didn't know anything about the instrument's history. I live in Birmingham, have located the address of Streetly Electronics, so will one day go & explore the area for old times sake. Nice one Tim, your video's are brilliantly made. Hoping one day to see a review by you on the Syntrx 2 👍
Okay I know the history of the mellotron great job on the video maybe I get one the small one you have keep up the good work and Thanks again.
Wow. That was amazing. Always knew what the instrument was and who used it but never knew the rest. I won’t watch anything as interesting as that for a long time. Great research mate
Tim Shoebridge your videos are really outstanding, every aspect of them is top quality
Wow, I really really enjoyed this. I was fascinated by this instrument back in the late 60's and 70's.... Especially the Moody Blues use of it and the Strawbs. Great video Tim!
Your delivery of storytelling is exceptional, calming and enthralling. So much fun to learn when presented well thanks to you, Tim. Very encapsulating.
I'm a drummer from the 60's. Percussionist from the 70's. Music theory, music literature, and music performance in the 80's. Fast forward to today. I play flute, guitar, and a bunch of keyboard instruments and the Mellotron M4000D is my go to instrument. I have 3 octaves to play and with the low mode I have 6 octaves. With the limited 37 key keyboard I've gotten very good at reverse chords. I can make the Mellotron sing and make angels cry with it's beautiful sounds. I got with Marcus and bought sound cards 02-03-04-05-06 and my musical super powers are now unlimited. This instrument is a gem. I'm going to try to get Marcus to make an 88 key Mellotron M4000D1. How awesome that would be. I wouldn't care how much it would cost.........it would be the bomb.
A great history lesson! I've always been fascinated by the operation of those instruments, thanks for posting!
Oh man, the soundscape you put under the guessing game was just sublime. That morph into the choir gave me chills! (the good ones).
Also, I guess you're hinting at the Mellotron. The Genesis hint nailed it for me.
Goood insight of the journey
Telling the history of iconic synths is very appreciated. This tron was something special and definitely gave to strawberry fields (among others) a unique color and sound. Legendary sound is still reasoning in my head and still sounds very fine from my POV. Nowadays it is kind of easy to get tron style, but not sure it will sound again as it did back in the days. Thank for this travel in time, great contents here
Great story - thank you for having the time and passion to tell it!
Cool. I use an EHX Mel 9 to get a budget mellotron sound for my modular. I put the 2hp pluck through it, but keep it fully wet.
The Mel9 does a surprisingly good job at emulating a Mellotron given the right input! 👍 While it will never equal the sound quality of analog or digital Mellotrons, it does have the advantage that any sound from any instrument can be converted into Mellotron sounds (with varying degrees of success) which can be a lot of fun and inspiring.
Fascinating episode about such an iconic and innovative instrument and the man who created it
Inspiring!
Hi Tim Shoebridge ,i Would love to see a video of you playing the presets of the Mellotron .Great video as usual .Thanks for your interest and devotion for this amazing instruments and their creators.
Very thorough, interesting and educational as usual. Thanks Tim.
Hi Tim! I am in the Mellotron world for 25 years and liked your video a lot! Hope you're enjoyed your Micro!
I've loved the sound(s) of the Mellotron since I was a kid and still do. This was very interesting! Thanks!
I was not aware of the real history of this revolutionary instrument ! Thanks for putting it right 👍. As usual, a great video!
Great documentary Tim, but there was also the Birotron instrument that was based on 8-track tape cartridges (mostly popular in the US). The Birotron was created by Dave Biro and the project was funded by Rick Wakeman. The instrument was used on the Yes albums "Going for the One" and "Tormato". The project tanked though, and the instrument never became widely known.
That Interlude tracks sounds awesome!
I think I've heard the Mellotron for the first time as a kid when my parents listened to The Moody Blues, Nights in White Satain in particular but of course I didn't know the instrument back then.
The band that then really got me into the sound was actually Opeth. I think the first record they used it extensively was Damnation and even later on on their regular heavy albums it was used frequently. Now since they went more into prog rock it's there as well of course.
Interesting. Never knew there was such a dramatic history behind the instrument!
Thank you very very much for this stream. Great as always and very informativ.
Again, well done!
The Court of the Crimson King, not court of King Crimson. My personal KC fave featuring this instrument would be Starless. Chilling, emotional, beautiful.
Great video, Tim! I too have a fondness for the Mellotron's sound via '70s Tangerine Dream. I never knew the story behind the instrument, and Chamberlin deserves to be remembered.
Tangerine Dream were one of the biggest users of the Tron - having four onstage during their 1975 tour (M400 x 3 + a double keyboard Mark V). In the end, Edgar Froese had two Mark Vs and about 50-60 tape sets. TD themselves even recorded their own sounds onto tape as well as getting Mellotron to produce SFX tapes for them. All of their albums from 1973 to the early eighties feature them, as do their solo albums of that period. They also bought the Birotron in 1978 but sadly it was a disaster and would chew up tapes every night, so it was relegated to Edgar Froese's studio where he used it with tape loops for infinite choir chords
Great video. I would have liked to hear a demo/comparison between the Chamberlin and Mellotron sounds, thought. But, still, lovely, beautiful pace.
One thing keeps me wondering, btw. When they took out the tuning things etc didn't it lose some of it's 'authenticity''?
And concerning authenticity, is that 'authentic' to everyone, or only to everyone that lived and heard it for the first time in those days?
Really nice Story Tim.
I love Mellotron as well, for progressive rock music my favourite and what I am doing finally myself you cannot make without a Mellotron Sound.
There are 5 types of keyboard sounds need to be inside ( classic ) prog rock, and thats the organ, the solina, the minimoog ( or as well an ARP ), some kind of piano and finally last but not least the MELLOTRON.
And with the Mellotron sound your straight away in the prog rock feeling...
Sure not only for that, its a very versatile instrument.... haha
I have finally a software version for me...
A real one is me bit to big ... But this Mellotron Micro were sure a great thing... Thomann has it hehe...
Fascinating insight, I learnt a lot from that, thank you. I used to live near Streetly where the Mellotron was made when I was a teenager and frequently saw examples of it at Musical Exchanges on Snow Hill in Birmingham. I particularly remember a fire damaged example, which I think came from the original Musical Exchanges shop in Broad Street, when there were a strange number of businesses that caught fire, including the Bingley Hall, prior to the development of the NIA and Convention Centre. I've used the real thing many times over the years, but am now very happy with the Arturia software emulation, all the flexibility, none of the physical "issues". Wonderful sounding instruments and very evocative of the music I listened to growing up. Like you, memories and feelings flood back every time I hear one. In fact, ( a bit of shameless promotion here) we have a track on the new Fluance Featuring Duncan Mackay called "Contromin-19" coming out in the new year, which is almost entirely created with the Arturia Mellotron V.
GForce M-Tron Pro still sounds good to me and I can afford it.
A good story. A great instrument and inventor.
I love his one.
One more band who used a Mellotron...Led Zeppelin. John Paul Jones played the Mellotron on The Rain Song, from Houses of the Holy. I saw that tour in '73, and JPJ played it live. I've read that Kashmir also includes Jones playing Mellotron.
Fantastic film (don’t like to call it ‘video’) - thanks a lot. I learned something and enjoyed it.
What a wonderful video, made my morning
Genius / Christoph Kemper > Acces Virus = Legend
LE: i don't want to upset annyone&and i do agree with all that you said&mention in the video; i just felt like this guy needs some love&attention he is my personal Legend. and maby someone will focus on his synth, even if he stop development of it for like 10+years the acces virus is still actual and sounds amazing /& I do hope one day the guy behind Dreadbox synths will become a legend, really like his synths when it come to quality/sound/design&$
thanks for reading. have a nice day /all
You should make more videos on different companies. Very nice presentation
The sound of the Mellotron is wonderful and iconic. I’ve loved it for 50 years and this is a great tribute. However, pretty sure there’s no Mellotron on Atom Heart Mother - maybe early live performances. I think Rick Wright used one on Sisyphus on Ummagumma, so there may well be one in the AHM mix somewhere, but most is live orchestra and choir. Don’t forget King Crimson. They used it a lot, and often for much more delicate sounds than the more usual mass choirs and strings.
Terrific video Tim! Really enjoyed it… I seem to recall the famous television personality a magician David Nixon… Was he involved in the company somewhere along the line in the 1970s!
Thank you Mr. Tim Shoebridge for this wonderful broadcast quality documentary !
I bought the expansion for my Kurzweil PC2-r just to get the Mellotron sound set - though there are many other great sounds on there as well. Ray Kurzweil is another genius worth mentioning.
Brilliant tribute!
Thank you!
I believe Nord has some official Mellotron sample libs too
One of the first sample sets I downloaded for my original Nord Wave. Clavia provides a great library of vintage instrument sounds. No duduk though...😎