Bruce, (and list)
Well, I followed your directions and worked on making the mellotron sound last night. I thought I'd just write this before I go to work today...
I followed your mail as much as I could, and it definitely got me in the ball park. I have a couple of questions I can post later about some of the paramters. I found a few more that seemed to help.
I got a couple of sounds that I think are close but need a little more tweaking. Upon getting close, it occured to me 1) I don't have "Strawberry Fields" on CD anywhere, and 2) I used to have "Court of the Crimson King" but only on cassette..so I really don't have that either. (is it beginning to dawn on you, that you aren't dealing with a genius here ? :-) so I have to go out and buy at least one of them to see how close I
can get.
Again, your instructions were really great.. I would really like to see how much better I can get it and then post the relavent settings either here or privately if the rest of the list finds it OT (though I don't again see why they would..but in case I misunderstand the purpose of this list).
If you are up for it, it'd be great to see if you had any more comments on the patch.I am not hooked up to PC with my AN1x, so I would have to post it in text, is that okay?
Anyway, THANKS!
Also I saw no mention of it since I posted but that site I posted to the list, that (even though it says it is EX-5 its' contents are a seminar on the AN1x given by someone from Yamaha) seminar html is really, really great. Along with your explanations, and that seminar I am finally getting a little more insight into this synth.
Jim
----- Original Message -----
Fra: Bruce Wahler <bruce@...>
Til: <AN1x-list@yahoogroups.com>
Sendt: 12. mars 2001 04:41
Emne: Re: [AN1x-list] Enlightening exercise: Strawberry fields synth sound?
> Jim,
>
> >I thought the old synth the Beatles used on the intro to "Strawberry
> >fields" is interesting, how would you go about getting that sound? (was it
> >a mellotron, or even older synth?..I think I've seen pictures of it)
> >
> >I would love to hear the thought process you would go through to get in
> >the ballpark and how you would plan to get that sound.
>
> Boy, you could have found an easier first attempt! :^) This is a
> deceptive sound, appearing easy to duplicate, but actually possessing a lot
> of subtleties.
>
> The sound on the intro to "Strawberry Fields" is a Mellotron Mark II, using
> the flute recording that was part of the standard tape set. What makes
> this simulation difficult is the fact that the Mellotron is a sort of
> sampling synthesizer, so you are trying to simulate a synth with another
> synth. Also, the Mellotron had its own dominant timbre which permeated
> every sound, from violins to choirs to flutes. And finally, the Mellotron
> was not a chromatically-tuned instrument; the recordings were
> just-intonated, mostly in the key of A major. In any other key, they tend
> to sound a little off key on one or more of the notes. The following is
> the way I would approach the sound on ANY synth, AN1x or otherwise --
>
> I would start off by trying to simulate a flute sound, which is mostly a
> sine wave, except for the initial attack, which has a lot of high harmonic
> content, both tonal and atonal in nature. Start with a 50% duty pulse with
> the Edge at about 115, and set the FEG to a fast attack, fast decay, and a
> relatively low sustain level -- low enough to filter out most of the
> harmonics, but not so low as to mute the sound. Set the AEG to a similar
> shape, but set the sustain very high, maybe 118 or so. After some tweaking
> by ear, you should have a flute timbre that sounds good for mellow solos --
> think soft jazz, not Jethro Tull. You may find that adding a little noise
> to the mix improves the illusion, but use it sparingly. One VCO may be
> enough to create the sound; if you want to use the second one, set it to
> the same waveform, make it an octave above the first, about 25% of the
> original volume, with only a very slight fine pitch detune.
>
> Now, you need to "Mellotron-ize" the sound. First, as you already noted,
> the attack on the Mellotron was never very quick, owing to the nature of
> the tape system used in the instrument. Back the attack of both the FEG
> and AEG until you have a more calliope-like sound. If you want a good
> example -- Strawberry Fields is not the best one I can think of -- use the
> Dance of the Puppets section of King Crimson's "The Court of the Crimson
> King," which is actually the same sound on the same instrument. After
> that, you need to EQ the result to give it that hollow sound that the
> Mellotron was famous for -- add a little boost at 125Hz and 3.8kHz, and
> drop the 1kHz a little. The effect you're looking for is that of an old
> movie soundtrack. Then add a little slow flange to the mix, and a little
> PMOD using the same LFO speed, to simulate the wow and flutter that the
> tape drive caused. Use the pitch modulation sparingly, as the detuning was
> not all that noticeable.
>
> Finally, a little (mis-)tuning simulation is probably in order. Use one of
> the matrix controls to add a little fine pitch decrease based on key
> tracking, and if the end result causes the whole patch to go flat,
> compensate with the fine pitch controls on the VCOs.
>
>
> Regards,
>
> -BW
>
> --
> Bruce Wahler
> Design Consultant
> Ashby Solutions"
> www.ashbysolutions.com
> CloneWheel Support Group moderator
> 978.386.7389 voice
> 978.776.0096 fax
> bruce@...
>
>
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