Archive of the former Yahoo!Groups mailing list: Mellotronists

Greetings All,

Happy first full day of spring! Or as somebody on talk-radio said , "Happy Vern!".....

I have been reading with delight the most recent postings regarding discussions of new tape
sounds (Russian Choir et al) , traditional Mellotron sounds vs. new offerings by Streetly.
We all have been inexorably drawn to the Mellotron by the "familiar" sounds of flute,strings,
cello,8-choir etc. That "link" to the Mellotron's earlier days (and ours) . Even after almost
30 years,and hundreds of listenings(and playings), "Close To The Edge" still brings that
"Mellotron feeling" as if it were the first time. Ditto that for hundreds of other well-known
tunes.

The unfamiliar and new sound offerings bear testimony to the Mellotron's extreme versatility,
limited only by the person in front of the keys. Those of us who saw/listened to Rick Blechta's

"Brendatron" in Toronto know just how amazing the newer sounds can captivate. I only wish
there was enough room (and funds) to populate my forthcoming MK1/124 with a sampling
(sorry,wrong word!) of old/new offerings . The MerblerTron MK2 is also having 36 misc.
lead sounds as well. Thanks Gordon for your input regarding "Julia" on "Rime.....".
I too had NO idea of the other Mellotron contributions soundwise on that piece.
My assortment of M400 tape racks has mostly older,but several have the newer offerings too.

The new Russian Choir offered by Streetly is yet another example of the dedication,time,effort
to continue to evolve the Mellotron's diversity of sounds .Good show,mates! As mentioned above,

I only wish I had the space (and funds),and TALENT (ten thumbs with bandages) to make my
hodge-podge collection truly sing. Lacking that,my 35 yr. loyalty,love,and tech-expertise shall
have to
suffice for the moment.

The Mellotron is a labour-intensive instrument. The efforts by those who restore and build them

should be lauded by many more than we Troniacs on the List. The "delights" of slaving-away at
a wonky SSCU or spending hours to remove all wobblies from M400 keyboard,sometimes
gets overlooked. Then there's the tape recording/duplicating process. This alone is a
specialised
technique left to the pros . Pitch and levels from key to key,octave to octave. And the
difficult task
of timing starts on cycling models. A Medal Of Honour should be awarded those who perform
these daunting tasks. And of course the bold venture to build new models from "scratch."
Your efforts are truly recognised, gentlemen .

When one hears a Mellotron intro of new music played over the "Home-Depot" speakers,
I can quietly smile and say to myself, " The Tron is here to stay."

Cheers, Jerry Korb