Archive of the former Yahoo!Groups mailing list: Mellotronists

... Greetings, All...

...Yes, it's true... Ken Merbler stopped by to say "Hi" after the
Iceberg show. I brought the Microtron in to work... (I work at our local
Guitar Center, as a sales associate in "Pro-Audio / Keyboards"... which
is a career shift I made at the first of the year after nearly 30 years
in broadcasting...) per Ken's request... and yes... he did a "Quick
Time" movie of me "attempting" to play a few measures of "Nights in
White Satin" ... and I never looked goofier!!! Ken.. I hope my image
didn't break the lens... you are a true gentleman... it was a blast
meeting you... and talking about all things Tronatic... and I promise
you the next time you stop by down here... I won't try to sell you
anything... really!!! [ ... yeah, right... ;^)) ]

While I'm here... I'd like to second Ken's observations of the Iceberg
show... and Mike's comments... It's interesting... a number of the great
mellotronists of the past... Pinder, Fripp, Wakeman, Banks, etc... have
"moved on" to sampling... yet a lot of them still use 'Tron samples in
their set-ups. Mike Iceberg is no exception to this... I heard his old
"3 Violins" samples during the show I attended. Ken's right... if you
listen to "Iceberg Does It Live", his first CD... his Chamberlin violins
are richer... and more accurate then the run of the mill "3 Violins"
sounds... and there are no "wobbles"! I don't know what EQ settings
Mike used on his Chamberlins... but he did use quite a bit of reverb
and compression in his processing. As to the possibility of his violin
sounds being a custom set... only Mike, or the Chamberlin folks would
know for sure... but if they are... and were made available again... and
if I owned a "real" 'Tron... that sound bank would be at the top of my
"wish list"!!! As for "covers"... Mike has been known to play "Layla"...
"Here Comes The Sun" ... and "Stairway To Heaven"... along with the
Moodies in his shows.

Well... that's it for now... Thanks again Ken, for visiting me last
Friday... you really made my day! Next time you visit... I'll make sure
I have my CD of "The Smell Of Incense" for you to listen to.

J.P.

Microtron 001 "J.P. looked "goofy"... I looked FANTASTIC!!!"