Archive of the former Yahoo!Groups mailing list: Mellotronists

On Tue, 23 Jan 2007, jonesalley wrote:

> Here are some questions any and all who are using or have used Mellotrons for live or recorded music are invited to answer:  When you play/record your Mellotrons (or probably Chamberlins) do you have a general starting point for how you EQ them? Are your live vs.
> recorded EQ settings similar or different? Do you prefer your  instrument dry or effected? How? What do you monitor with live or to  record?

Hi, Jones Alley.

 

My response is similar in nature to Jeff's:

no single simple answers for me.
it all depends on context, both musically and environmentally.

I don't gig with my 400 or MkII either.  Both tron outputs go through a direct box into the console and, while I can monitor the track(s) with reverb added, the signal goes onto the tape dry.  Reverb gets added in the final mix (more control), through either an Alesis Microverb III or an Alesis Midiverb II (or both depending on how "wet" or spacial I want the sound to be), either post- or pre-fader.  EQ also depends on what sound is desired.  On the 400, the "icier" King Crimson sound is obtained with the tone control fully clockwise, or tapered back counterclockwise if the track needs more subtlety.  For example, I've been able to duplicate the icy "Epitaph" intro tone on one track with the former, and duplicate a very warm, spacial, swelling Pinder-ish tone on another track that would do Mike proud with the latter.  My MkII (the Pindertron) has Mike's custom solid-state preamp with the high end already rolled off for the "warmer" Moodies tone which I am totally enamored with (check out the sonic differences between Jerry's MkI with the stock tube preamp vs. the Pindertron on Ken Leonard's website).  I try to get the best EQ sound I can envision for a track right off the bat, and don't fuck with EQ for the trons during mixing unless ABSOLUTELY necessary.  Monitoring is either through headphones or through nearfields, occasionally using my PC speakers to compare the sound as if it were being played on a cheapie radio/stereo (a variation of the Hall & Oates technique of playing mixes through a car stereo to hear more of what a typical consumer would hear).  The only effect I've ever used on a tron was a slight phasing effect very briefly on a recent track.  I may also add a slight delay as needed.  Oh, and similar to what DK mentions on his website soundpage, the judicious use of a volume pedal is mandatory in my estimation.  Keep the sound moving.  Doubling the tracks helps with this too.  Pretty common stuff for Mellotrons, nothing startling or revelatory in all this, but it gets the job done.  I have yet to try Wooly's shared technique of recording one track at normal speed, adding a second track at slightly slower speed, then adding a third track at slightly higher speed and mixing the three tracks.

 

Frank Samagaio

Red October Studios

El Cajon CA

owner, Mellotron MkII #134 / M400 #908

author, The Mellotron Book

i usually put some high quality reverb on the m400, or the pinder samples in my asr-10, but the exact type/setting depends on how i want the sound to "sit" ultimately in the mix.

i don't gig my m4oo, but sometimes am asked to help with session at our studio when a client wants to use the m400 that lives at our studio. they typically just want "that flute sound" or "that string sound" and i try to provide what i THINK they are looking for - some reverb usually makes their eyes light up in instant recognition.

i do prefer leaving the "tone" setting on the m400 itself opened up and use external eq to tweek the tone. i do this because i feel i have better eq externally than the somewhat
primitive and antique tone control on the m400. at least my own ears [granted, not in the best of shape] tell me. and the studio has an ssl 9000, which is a wonderful EQ on an m400 in my experience. might be "a british thing".

monitoring?  i have 3 pairs of near fields in my home studio which i switch between, as they have different strength and weaknesses. our main studio has both nearfields that sit on the meter bridge [yeah - yamahas] and a pair of questeds that cost thousands of dollars along with a quested subwoofer. but no matter the setting, you need to keep the context in which you want the mellotron to fit in mind.

but nearly ALWAYS some reverb is applied, using the highest quality you can get your hands on [lexicons seem to treat the mellotron very well - that's what i use both at home and at our studio, but i don't have a 480 at home... yet].
your milage may vary.
jeff
[jack of no trades, master of the obvious]