Another curious instrument is the Vako Orchestron, the one used by kraftwerk in trans europe express [1], this instrument uses optical disks as source of sound
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhkIOw4TyXE
Genesis' mellotron would break down with enough regularity that they came up with a routine to perform while the technicians fixed it. I forget the specifics, but it involved a story from Gabriel and a one handed drum solo from Collins. You can hear it on some bootleg recordings from the 70s.
I am so glad this stuff is in the past. I love cold, clean, infinite-track digital music making. I remember tape machines only too well. I remember tape slipping and breaking, having to splice tape, detesting tape hiss and how it multiplied every track. I remember old tape flaking and falling apart, and having to clean recording heads, and accidentally jostling spindles and ruining takes.
Some wonderful music was done on the Mellotron, notably the Beatles, Genesis, and Bowie. I love samplers, I delight in choosing loops, play extensively with soft synths, and would be very happy if the world never saw another Mellotron again. Just knowing they're around gives me the jitters ;)
The more advanced our tools become the more charming the faults and limitations of yesterday’s technology appear.
The Mellotron is a gorgeous instrument and the simplicity of it is something very special, genius for its time. And I would personally kill to own one.
But we’re lucky to not be stuck with tape and hiss and mechanical failures as routine occurrences
Nearly every live show from club d’elf is on the live music archive at archive.org.
They are a mix of jam band and Moroccan trance. Ever changing line up. Only the bass player/bandleader stays the same. I’ve seen medeski with them 3-4 times. But nearly all music guests are awesome in that configuration.
Ps medeski’s melotron technique is really interesting. He physically touches the tapes to shift pitch.
Thank you, I'm watching one right now and it's beautiful. It has a very Zawinul Syndicate feel to it, although Medeski's playing is a lot more intense. Thanks for sharing.
Saw MMW a long while back and now I'm wondering if the thing I thought was a wurlitzer was maybe a mellotron -- standup piano with a big rotating cylinder on the top?
I’ve seen MMW a number of times. John usually plays an organ with Leslie speaker. He’ll sometimes sit the mellotron on top of the organ. I’ve also seen him put a clavanet on top.
Often he’ll have a piano of some sort next to him too, either acoustic or electric like a Rhodes. I’ve also seen him play with a tack head upright piano. That was a pretty cool sound.
That Black Moth Super Rainbow track is utterly bloody awesome.
And hey who can't resist progging out with Steven Wilson (...digs out his Porcupine albums).
That Mellotron flute sound is so haunting. Kinda reminds me of early 1970's BBC children's programming where the cast could be cute wee knitted mice with their story told by a friendly, mellow toned BBC actor.
Clangers [0]. Really unique cartoon, slowpaced and fun. The knitted characters communicate with whistles, and interpreted by a narrator. They recently had a 'reboot' of the series, narrated by William Shatner of the StarTrek ... and Priceline fame.
I first heard of the Mellotron when trying to track down some unique-sounding music I first heard in a pocket83 YouTube video.[1] Found out a Mellotron was used after googling a bit and seeing their albums show up on a Mellotron review site.[2]
After emailing the band via the contact email on their website multiple times with no response, I still have yet to find a way to buy the music. Regardless, it's an interesting sound!
Mellotron for use as strings is sort of a staple for Beatles inspired artists, see many tracks by Elliott Smith on XO and Figure 8 as an example. Also see Radiohead OK Computer as it is on many tracks.
All the non-linearities with the tape playback gives them a really unusual quality.
Paul McCartney showed the Mellotron and its original presets at a live concert at Abbey Road Studios more than a decade ago: https://youtu.be/TUcfB5Whp4I
Because of the imperfections of mechanical tape playback, every time you play a note on a Mellotron it sounds a little different. So sampling doesn't capture the full effect.
That's funny, my brother actually restores these, as well as Rhodes, Wurlitzer, and some of the other vintage electric keyboards. People were very creative about making electric instruments before digital.
Some people say Mellotron's 1963 product was a complete rip-off from Harry Chamberlin and his instrument (the Chamberlin) created in 1949. The instruments are identical.
I was expecting to see this channel's previous upload[0] instead. This other video shows off what happens inside the mellotron when keys are pressed. It's pretty neat!
