Archive of the former Yahoo!Groups mailing list: Mellotronists

-----Original Message-----
From: MAinPsych@... [mailto:MAinPsych@...]
Sent: 22 March 2002 16:11
To: mellotronists@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [Mellotronists] A question.........

 

I think the idea was for a "new" M400 with this cycling ability built in, but I like the idea of a retrofit kit for existing M400s (or maybe do both).  I guess it would consist of a set of tape drums and a small motor.  You could even make one without a motor to keep it simple.  Some kind of hand crank - low tech system which would let you cycle manually between stations and "lock down" when you got to the next station.  This would get around the MKII reliability problems. 

It's been done already.  For those who have had the pleasure/privilege of playing Justin Mayer's J-Tron, one of his modifications was to abandon the mechanical cycling principle and go to a manual shuttling system via a small hand crank. When I tried it out, it seemed simple and efficient, faster than changing a tape frame.  If adapting this idea is one involving JM's intellectual property, perhaps a deal of some sort could be worked out between JM and Streetly.  Imagine a 400 with 6, 9, or even 12 sounds available.  I have piloerection thinking about it (goosebumps, for those of you who may be scratching your heads and/or thinking, 'Hey, none of that kind of talk on this list!'

 

OK, chaps, here's my two penn'orth, FWIW: How difficult would it be to replace standard 'Tron heads with 8-track ones, then use 1/2" 8-track tape? I realise the sound quality may be compromised, but I've heard pretty good results from 8-track cassette multitracks, and they use 1/4" tape. Would 1/2" tape fit, BTW?

 

The beauty of this system would be, because the heads are multitrack, there's be no 'track selecter' per se, and with a suitably-enhanced control panel (which would involve some mangling of the original, I'm afraid), not only could as many tracks as you like be selected at once, but with eight volume pots (sliders, preferably, for a quick visual check on levels), relevant volumes could also be adjusted. Maybe an on/off push switch for each track, with a vol.slider underneath? Of course, the tapes would just be on a standard frame, and could be replaced as easily as the current ones. Of course, any track could be mixed with any other(s), so whether or not particular tracks were adjacent would be irrelevant.

 

I've got a feeling this is vaguely how the 4-Track worked, and don't the various Chamberlin models have some system whereby the sounds are in stereo? This could, of course, be used here, but it seems a terrible waste of potential tracks. Isn't the J-Tron stereo, BTW?

 

My choice for my 'standard frame', would be:

 

3 violins

flutes

8-choir

cellos

MkII brass

church organ

er, something in the woodwind line (oboes?)

vibes? viola?

 

with violins/viola/cellos, the string section would become redundant, effectively, though it might be slight 'strings overkill' on one set.

 

a 'new frame' might encompass:

 

M300 A violins

Ian McD flute

Russian choir

solo trumpet

more woodwind (bassoon/cor anglais split?)

solo violin?

boys choir?

er, can't think of anything else that really complements this lot - any ideas? Gothic, maybe, or one of the other from the 'Les' set?

 

Anyway, I realise this is total 'pipe dream' stuff, but it doesn't seem any less practical than the 'cycling M400', and has the potential for many more sounds, as the 'new' tape frame would be visually and mechanically identical to the 'old', and just as easy (?!) to change. I suspect there would be problems with head alignment, with such a tiny tolerance - maybe use micro-adjusters on either the frame or the plate with the heads on it (sorry, can't remember its proper name), which would be easy to adjust for even the technically-incompetent. I'm deeply untechnical (ask Martin!), but I've had this idea knocking around for a while, and this seemed like a good moment to 'go public'!

Andy T.
M400 #1145

http://freespace.virgin.net/andy.thompson/