Growing-up in the '60s and '70s, I fell in love with the sound of the Mellotron after listening to bands like Yes, Genesis, The Moody Blues and others. I bought the Mellotron M4000D (Rack model) because it was cheaper. Several years later, I bought the Memotron Extended M2K keyboard, which is a phenomenal keyboard. Its Mellotron sounds are first rate and buying the Extended keyboard with all the "tapes" is more economical than buying the Mellotron M4000D with all the "tapes" separately. I've seen professional bands using the Memotron on stage and it sounded great. When the Mellotron was new to the musical industry, keyboardists, as you pointed-out, had to develop new playing techniques to get around the 8-second time limitation for each key. Mike Pinder of the Moody Blues became a master of the Mellotron, and Rick Wakeman of Yes instantly figured-out effective techniques to play the Mellotron the first time he played one. Because other keyboardists weren't as savvy on the Mellotron as Rick, he was in high demand by other bands to play the Mellotron on their songs. David Bowie was one of the first to hire Rick Wakeman to play the Mellotron on his hit song, "Space Oddity".
I had an original Mellotron originally owned by The Strawbs. Amazing mechanical beast with the rotating main spindle, tapes and the pulleys with springs to drag the tapes back down. I love the sounds of a Mellotron because it is never perfect therefore it lives. Love that if you listen carefully you can hear the choir for example breath. Had to sell it due to money situation at the time. But have to say it is the only thing I have ever sold and will always be missed.
@@Shred_The_Weapon When I bought it there were two the Strawbs had still painted matt black for stage use. I think it was after their final World tour. I managed to contact Rick some years ago and asked him was it his. I had a hilarious sense of humour reply where he said it wasn't. Starts off him saying what a great Instrument it was. Then slowly going through the list of things that would go wrong with them ending up setting fire to his. Whether he actually did or not don't really know. The one I had was temperamental. Spring might not return, sometimes note might slide. Getting a drag when playing many notes. So heavy it takes 2 people to move it. Thing is because so Heath Robinson in it's design, the fact it wasn't perfect is the thing that makes it so perfect and gives it a soul. It's like when a bass Guitar has been played and after a while a string might very slightly stretch giving that wonderful lower off note that sends a 'oh yes' shiver up the spine. Great example in my opinion is when the Mellotron does a similar thing that goes so well with Greenslade and Dave Lawson's voice.
I dig all of it, @@Whiteshirtloosetie. And, leave it to somebody like Ric to have you busting a gut when you are having a simple conversation with him. It’s like his comedic streak and showmanship only subside when he is sleeping, and that’s even questionable.
You should listen to Genesis songs Watcher of the skies (Intro), Dancing with the moonlit knight (choir), the 2nd part of the cinema show (violins, choir), Entangled (end of solo choir with synth), Fly on a windshield, Dance on a volcano, Los endos etc.
Mellotron Love! We love Mellotron too and use it as often as possible on all of our albums. We have an original M400 Mellotron with 4 tape frames, two Mellotron Micro's and an M4000D (the big one). We've also used various Mellotron apps. We record our music for fun and release them on our RUclips Channel.
Probably I got trapped by the hype, but as a Beatles and Oasis fan, I was so excited when I bought my M4000D mini, Sadly I ended selling it 1 year later because of these points - The price of USD $2,000 is ridiculous for what it actually is: a digital rompler sampler based plastic keys keyboard, the Ipad App costs $30 and offers so much more sounds with exactly the same sound quality. This is the best example you are buying the brand and not a music instrument - Not sure who was the genius who decided to keep the 8 seconds sound duration in a DIGITAL keyboard, that was not a characteristic on mellotrons, it was a limitation - I understand the intention to recreate the true original feeling, but the lack of effects and the mono signal for a so expensive instrument does not make sense at all. Specially when you can find effects and stereo out on the $30 Ipad version As I said, I replaced it by a used Nord Electro 5, which has a decent Mellotron and Chamberlain collection, and you can reach so much more music enrichment thanks to its stereo effects My apologies if my honest comment bothers here, just want to make a point if you are thinking on getting one of these
Paul McCartney actually demonstrates how to play the flute introduction of Strawberry Fields on a Mellotron in this video @ the 2:25 mark. He turns the pitch knob instead of using the High/Low toggle switch, which gives it a much smoother transition: ruclips.net/video/TUcfB5Whp4I/видео.html
Sooooo many Iconic "Keyboard" parts. That NEVER sounded like a { Period }Keybord, { But accepted } as an "Orchastal" part of a song. & in some freakish way, Somehow even Better ! W O W ! & Flutter ! Yet sounding like Butter ! No, SERIOUSLY. Originally designed in late 50's & Sadly retained the Horrible "Rhythm" , "Beat Box" Whereas the available sounds are Iconic... & can be incorporated into [ Yorr Own ] Iconic, Identifiable, signature part of a "Hit" song. I'm Serious about that ! Or, Underground, Cult following Song. After all, The Music business, as we Once knew it, is OVER ! As well as the "Film industry" When I started @ the end of the 70's, "Makeing it" via a Record, tape, & eventually CD. Still, the Mellotron was the Way, The DX-7 Was"A thing" for a minute. But the Mellotron was & is, has this "Magic Thing" Its unreal that the Digi Verson Nails it ! As a touting & recording musician, & SERIOUSLY injured. Stuck in a small room, ( & EVERYTHING stuck in a Warehouse) Aaaaah ! Including a MN amazing recording studio, Sooo @ minimum, NEED a Tascam small portable 12 track, I've got the Guitar, Bass covered, but Mellotron, is IT ! Any suggestions on a REALISTIC Sounding programmable drum unit... will be Sooo helpful! THANK YOU !
Very nice! 😎👍 For those interested I have demos of the M4000D sound expansion cards 02 through 05 on my YT channel. (sorry for trying to poach views, Sam! 😁)
Listen to Starless by King Crimson off of the RED album. Greatest Anythem put to Vinyl Concerning Prog. All those Bands back in the Day used Mellotron. Beatles even the Stones. Moody Blues early records along with King Crimson Yes Genesis all the early Stuff. Pink Floyd Umma Gumma period as well. Love that period in Rock. Purchased Mini with Cards going up to 05. Well expansion Card for 06 is on hit list. No regrets at all making the move. Those originals are Beautiful quite pricey. For now I'm pretty Happy.
Dude thanks for the recommendation. I always overlooked omd but have been listening to that album all day. There's some seriously good songs there..I love maid of Orleans
yeah there's always a VST that can do a passable job. I do think the real thing is always better, often substantially... but whether it's worth the thousands of dollars is debatable.
LOL! Since I purchased the rack-mount version of the Mellotron M4000D, I don't know what the key bed is like on the keyboard model. Hopefully, it's like a good synthesizer keyboard. I can't imagine it would be fun playing the digital Mellotron with a weighted key bed that you find on 88-key pianos. I have the Memotron M2K keyboard and it feels like a good-quality synth key bed that is comfortable to play.
Growing-up in the '60s and '70s, I fell in love with the sound of the Mellotron after listening to bands like Yes, Genesis, The Moody Blues and others. I bought the Mellotron M4000D (Rack model) because it was cheaper. Several years later, I bought the Memotron Extended M2K keyboard, which is a phenomenal keyboard. Its Mellotron sounds are first rate and buying the Extended keyboard with all the "tapes" is more economical than buying the Mellotron M4000D with all the "tapes" separately. I've seen professional bands using the Memotron on stage and it sounded great. When the Mellotron was new to the musical industry, keyboardists, as you pointed-out, had to develop new playing techniques to get around the 8-second time limitation for each key. Mike Pinder of the Moody Blues became a master of the Mellotron, and Rick Wakeman of Yes instantly figured-out effective techniques to play the Mellotron the first time he played one. Because other keyboardists weren't as savvy on the Mellotron as Rick, he was in high demand by other bands to play the Mellotron on their songs. David Bowie was one of the first to hire Rick Wakeman to play the Mellotron on his hit song, "Space Oddity".
I had an original Mellotron originally owned by The Strawbs. Amazing mechanical beast with the rotating main spindle, tapes and the pulleys with springs to drag the tapes back down. I love the sounds of a Mellotron because it is never perfect therefore it lives. Love that if you listen carefully you can hear the choir for example breath. Had to sell it due to money situation at the time. But have to say it is the only thing I have ever sold and will always be missed.
Was it from when Rick was the Strawbs’ keyboard player, Whiteshirt?
@@Shred_The_Weapon When I bought it there were two the Strawbs had still painted matt black for stage use. I think it was after their final World tour. I managed to contact Rick some years ago and asked him was it his. I had a hilarious sense of humour reply where he said it wasn't. Starts off him saying what a great Instrument it was. Then slowly going through the list of things that would go wrong with them ending up setting fire to his. Whether he actually did or not don't really know. The one I had was temperamental. Spring might not return, sometimes note might slide. Getting a drag when playing many notes. So heavy it takes 2 people to move it. Thing is because so Heath Robinson in it's design, the fact it wasn't perfect is the thing that makes it so perfect and gives it a soul. It's like when a bass Guitar has been played and after a while a string might very slightly stretch giving that wonderful lower off note that sends a 'oh yes' shiver up the spine. Great example in my opinion is when the Mellotron does a similar thing that goes so well with Greenslade and Dave Lawson's voice.
I dig all of it, @@Whiteshirtloosetie. And, leave it to somebody like Ric to have you busting a gut when you are having a simple conversation with him. It’s like his comedic streak and showmanship only subside when he is sleeping, and that’s even questionable.
I think I’m in love
Great video. Very enjoyable demo. Subscribed. What a lovely sound! Definitely can't quite nail that with cheap softwares floating around.
A lot of Tron patches sound bad on their own, but mix beautifully. They are designed for layering more than solo.
Man this sounds awesome great explanation and demo.
thanks glad you enjoyed!
You should listen to Genesis songs Watcher of the skies (Intro), Dancing with the moonlit knight (choir), the 2nd part of the cinema show (violins, choir), Entangled (end of solo choir with synth), Fly on a windshield, Dance on a volcano, Los endos etc.
Mellotron Love! We love Mellotron too and use it as often as possible on all of our albums. We have an original M400 Mellotron with 4 tape frames, two Mellotron Micro's and an M4000D (the big one). We've also used various Mellotron apps. We record our music for fun and release them on our RUclips Channel.
amazing! I've always wanted to play a real one.
Here before your videos blow up, youtube algorithm is catching on with your channel :-)
Fingers crossed! Yeah seems to be picking up lately.
Nothing beats Boys Choir sound on these.
Probably I got trapped by the hype, but as a Beatles and Oasis fan, I was so excited when I bought my M4000D mini, Sadly I ended selling it 1 year later because of these points
- The price of USD $2,000 is ridiculous for what it actually is: a digital rompler sampler based plastic keys keyboard, the Ipad App costs $30 and offers so much more sounds with exactly the same sound quality. This is the best example you are buying the brand and not a music instrument
- Not sure who was the genius who decided to keep the 8 seconds sound duration in a DIGITAL keyboard, that was not a characteristic on mellotrons, it was a limitation
- I understand the intention to recreate the true original feeling, but the lack of effects and the mono signal for a so expensive instrument does not make sense at all. Specially when you can find effects and stereo out on the $30 Ipad version
As I said, I replaced it by a used Nord Electro 5, which has a decent Mellotron and Chamberlain collection, and you can reach so much more music enrichment thanks to its stereo effects
My apologies if my honest comment bothers here, just want to make a point if you are thinking on getting one of these
totally awesome
Cool to see. I have a mellotron emulator guitar pedal and it's pretty faithful to the real thing
Can you link me to this please?
@@timwilderspin ruclips.net/video/MiTHc8d9D20/видео.html
@@timwilderspin Search for: ELECTRO-HARMONIX Mel 9.
@@timwilderspinelectro Harmonics Mell 9 pedal, not cheap but very good.
Paul McCartney actually demonstrates how to play the flute introduction of Strawberry Fields on a Mellotron in this video @ the 2:25 mark. He turns the pitch knob instead of using the High/Low toggle switch, which gives it a much smoother transition: ruclips.net/video/TUcfB5Whp4I/видео.html
Sooooo many Iconic "Keyboard" parts. That NEVER sounded like a { Period }Keybord, { But accepted } as an "Orchastal" part of a song. & in some freakish way, Somehow even Better ! W O W ! & Flutter ! Yet sounding like Butter ! No, SERIOUSLY. Originally designed in late 50's & Sadly retained the Horrible "Rhythm" , "Beat Box" Whereas the available sounds are Iconic... & can be incorporated into [ Yorr Own ] Iconic, Identifiable, signature part of a "Hit" song. I'm Serious about that ! Or, Underground, Cult following Song. After all, The Music business, as we Once knew it, is OVER ! As well as the "Film industry" When I started @ the end of the 70's, "Makeing it" via a Record, tape, & eventually CD. Still, the Mellotron was the Way, The DX-7 Was"A thing" for a minute. But the Mellotron was & is, has this "Magic Thing" Its unreal that the Digi Verson Nails it ! As a touting & recording musician, & SERIOUSLY injured. Stuck in a small room, ( & EVERYTHING stuck in a Warehouse) Aaaaah ! Including a MN amazing recording studio, Sooo @ minimum, NEED a Tascam small portable 12 track, I've got the Guitar, Bass covered, but Mellotron, is IT ! Any suggestions on a REALISTIC Sounding programmable drum unit... will be Sooo helpful! THANK YOU !
Very nice! 😎👍 For those interested I have demos of the M4000D sound expansion cards 02 through 05 on my YT channel. (sorry for trying to poach views, Sam! 😁)
All good! hope people check out your vids!
The Mellotron is the second sample-based instrument. The Chamberlin was first.
This is the "Viggo broke his toe kicking the helmet" of keyboard fans.
Andy!
Listen to Starless by King Crimson off of the RED album.
Greatest Anythem put to Vinyl
Concerning Prog.
All those Bands back in the Day used Mellotron.
Beatles even the Stones.
Moody Blues early records along with King Crimson Yes
Genesis all the early Stuff.
Pink Floyd Umma Gumma period as well.
Love that period in Rock.
Purchased Mini with Cards going up to 05.
Well expansion Card for 06 is on hit list.
No regrets at all making the move. Those originals are Beautiful quite pricey.
For now I'm pretty Happy.
If you wanna hear mega Mellotron strings listen to OMD's song "Navigation" you can hear the Melloton struggling to stay in tune.
Dude thanks for the recommendation. I always overlooked omd but have been listening to that album all day. There's some seriously good songs there..I love maid of Orleans
I love cool new gear, but in the back of my mind I'm always thinking "I got all these sounds in Reason".
yeah there's always a VST that can do a passable job. I do think the real thing is always better, often substantially... but whether it's worth the thousands of dollars is debatable.
I love the sounds...but why did they include such a hard keybed? It almost breaks your fingers when you play it.
LOL! Since I purchased the rack-mount version of the Mellotron M4000D, I don't know what the key bed is like on the keyboard model. Hopefully, it's like a good synthesizer keyboard. I can't imagine it would be fun playing the digital Mellotron with a weighted key bed that you find on 88-key pianos. I have the Memotron M2K keyboard and it feels like a good-quality synth key bed that is comfortable to play.
Is it same on the mini and micro?
Oh cool new video and Third😂
Knowing this model is digital, riddle me this. Could you deactivate the 8-second time-out?
You can get around it with a sustain pedal
With the additional sound cards, lots of samples are looped & last as long as you want.
A mellotron is an electro- mechanical instrument ,no electronics stuffs .....
Price is disastrous for what it is.