Mellotron

A Mellotron ( named for legal reasons, later Novatron ) is an electro-mechanical keyboard instrument.

It is the archetype of the sampler and works with 3/8 inch wide, with three tracks recorded tapes. Each key is assigned its own to tape strip that is played when you press the button on a tape head. When the button is released, the tape of a spring is quickly retracted to its original position.

Production history

Early 1950s developed the American Harry Chamberlin, a keyboard instrument whose sound production based on tape.

In England, the brothers Leslie, Frank and Norman Bradley took over this revolutionary idea and founded the company Streetly Electronics, the 1963, the first Mellotron Mark I mentioned instrument (35 key range, two adjacent manuals), brought to the market.

In 1964, the Mark II with minor technical improvements. 1965 was met with Harry Chamberlin, an agreement that Streetly Electronics should distribute its Mellotrone not on the North American market (USA, Canada). In return, Chamberlin limited his hand to the U.S. market. In 1968, the M 300 is a single manual Mellotron with 52 keys extent, in 1970, finally, the M 400 as the smallest and stage-ready instrument with nurmehr 35 key range. To enable global distribution of these Mellotrone, Streetly Electronics went 1976, a business relationship with the U.S. company a Dallas Music. Dallas Music but was forced to declare bankruptcy in the following year.

From 1977 Leslie Bradly had to sell his instruments under the name Novatron, as the product name Mellotron had also been sold and entered the bankruptcy estate with. In 1988, Streetly Electronics also in bankruptcy.

In 2009, the company operating the maintenance and repair of old Mellotrone again.

Function

A Mellotron (or Novatron ) can play recorded sounds playable on a keyboard on magnetic tape. Typical, by the manufacturer on the " strip frame " included sounds were flute, violins, brass and choirs. You could also let make sound recordings according to your wishes.

On each tape strip three tracks are side by side, which can be selected by moving the tape head. Can be quickly replaced during the game between the three sounds. On some models ( Mk I, Mk II, M 300) is also each tape into six sections ( = station ) is divided, which can be approached by a motor. In total, as per Volume 18 "instruments" (3 sounds x 6 stations ) are available. The Mellotron Mk I as well as the Mk II had could even contain two keyboards with 35 keys, the different sounds. They contained 1260 samples ( two keyboards of 35 buttons or ribbons, six sections per band, each with three samples).

To ensure that the sound course of a recording ( ie from the onset of a note to decay ) with each keystroke again exactly used from the front, no infinite loops were used as belts ( with a few exceptions of homemade devices and the Birotron ) but strips in a frame that snapped back when you release the button by a sophisticated spring and roller mechanism back to its original position. A tone was thus not possible ( maximum of about eight seconds ), but percussive sounds, horns, pianos, guitars, etc., ie the respective Anblas, plucked and stop characteristics of the recorded instruments. With a special way of playing the "Spider Walk " in which you sent just before the band reached the end, from key to key (usually the octave ) " walked ", a seemingly continuous tone was simulated.

Use

The Mellotron is still used for film scoring. To this end, put together by the manufacturer noises, sound effects and background atmospheres were recorded on the three-track tapes.

By appropriate manipulation of the keyboard even can be quite complex soundscapes in real time to realize what is syncing very beneficial. Almost all American and British films of the black and white era were synchronized with the Mellotron, which you can listen to the typical lyres of always the same -sounding phone ringing in thrillers. Synchronization problems Mellotron are more or less normal, since the flywheel is much too small. Some film studios are still working with the Mellotron.

The use of popular music has been rare since the record sounds was reserved by the unusual used tape format only specially equipped studios.

The Mellotron has a characteristic warm, usually somewhat melancholic sound that can be heard for example in the Beatles song Strawberry Fields Forever. It is a characteristic instrument of progressive rock of the 1970s. Among the best known users of the Mellotron in this genre include King Crimson, the instrument 1968-1974 on their albums and live used, Genesis 1970-1977 and Yes in the same period. Other notable examples of Mellotron inserts are on the pieces Immediate Curtain ( 1972) by Matching Mole and Fauni Gena (1973 ) by Tangerine Dream to hear. The latter used the Mellotron in almost all of their songs in the 1970s for the characteristic strings, choir and flute sounds, especially in the intro of the song Cherokee Lane ( 1977). Otherwise, Pink Floyd, Earth & Fire, Elton John, Camel, Pavlov 's Dog, Beggars Opera, Moody Blues translated (eg Nights in White Satin), the zombies, caravan, Klaus Schulze, Barclay James Harvest, Roxy Music, Led Zeppelin ( the Rain song), Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and the Mellotron 10cc occasionally in their studio productions. The keyboardist Eddie Jobson, known by U. K. and Roxy Music, prepared in the early 1970s with a Mellotron sounds of a mini - Moog synthesizer, in order to achieve polyphonic sounds that were not possible with the former technology.

In the late 1970s the standard sounds of the Mellotron (strings, choir, brass ) have been increasingly displaced by electronic imitations. Occasionally, therefore the name " Mellotron " on LP covers for instruments again, which are none at all. Typical of strings similar arrangements electronic keyboards were strings (eg ELKA Rhapsody, Hohner String Melody and ARP Solina String Ensemble ).

In the 1980s, the Mellotron was largely replaced by electronic samplers and synthesizers. In the 1990s, digital samples of mellotron sounds were often used for Techno productions. Nevertheless, the actual instrument of some bands continued to be used, such as Motorpsycho to hear on Timothy 's Monster, The Smashing Pumpkins, especially on their 1995 album Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness, Monster Magnet on the 1995 album Dopes to Infinity, Porcupine Tree ( Mellotron Scratch, 2005) and Opeth ( Damnation, 2003).

Disadvantages

The use of the Mellotron was associated with some disadvantages. The complicated mechanics, especially in the Mk I, Mk II and M - 300 models was prone to failure, while the "smaller" M 400 had to be occasionally serviced ( head, ligament and mechanical cleaning). Due to the short ribbons tones could be held no more than eight seconds. A development from the late 1970s, the Birotron, tried to circumvent this problem by using of endless belts (8- track tape ), but could not prevail. Most Mellotrone were for concerts because of size and weight is almost suitable ( Mk I and II, 159 kg, M 300,113 kg, M 400 55 kg ).

Moreover, spoke against the use of financial aspects of the Mellotron. It was very expensive to purchase, as it was only produced in very small numbers ( about 2500 pieces). Therefore, bands almost never attack today back to the original Mellotron.

Model types

• Mark I - 1963, two manuals side by side produced with 35 key range, mahogany veneer, 55 pieces
• Mark II - 1964, produced as Mark I, but with technological improvements, over 300 pieces
• FX Console - 1965, as Mark II, but especially for sound effects, produced 60 pieces
• M 300 - 1968, einmanualig, 52 key range, white, produced over 60 pieces
• M 400 - 1970, einmanualig, 35 key range, white, produced more than 1,800 pieces, " the " Bühnenmellotron
• M 400 FX - 1970, as M 400, but especially for sound effects
• Mark V - 1975, doppelmanualiges M 400, 28 pieces produced
• Novatron 400 SM - 1977 as M 400, only new name (see production history ), white or black
• Novatron Mark V - 1977 as the Mellotron Mark V, only new name (see production history ), 2 pieces produced (Paul McCartney and Patrick Moraz )
• , Produced in 1981, flight case version of the 400 SM 3 pieces - T 550

Alternatives

Meanwhile, there are various software emulations of Mellotron, which are very close to the sound of the originals (as VST plug-ins, such as M- Tron Pro, mellow sound, nanotron, Tapeworm, Redtron, SONiVOX or RackExtension for Reason called Re -Tron ). As an alternative, without hardware spare part problems and Bandsalat the small Berlin-based company Manikin Elektronics developed ( Thorsten Feuerherdt & Markus Horn GbR ) 2005/2006 Memotron; First time in 2010, the Digital Mellotron was presented by Markus Resch. Externally, both are very similar to the original; technically the Memotron Manikin is a preset sampler with CD -ROM drive, compact flash card storage, a stereo effects processor and MIDI. A large, carefully created ( by almost 50 Mellotronen ) sound library offers the complete Mellotronlibrary and other related sounds in original quality.

The instrument manufacturer Clavia has released his 2007 Nord Wave Synthesizer ( cut and looped) the original Mellotron sounds integrated, which are available for download from the Clavia website.