Gee I go away for a few days and look at the debate! Your
Stratocaster analogy is off base Don. I was referring to my tron's
reliability track record as a PLUS actually...for having the
instrument for 25 years and having as few problems with it as I did
speaks to the results that proper care of the unit will achieve.
In my case...at 53 years old....let's say I wanted to re-create for
whatever reason my keyboard rig of the 70s but with newer, lighter
weight instruments. I had a Hammond M3,Wurlitzer
elec.piano,M400,Miminoog,EML 101,Farfisa compact, and Instapiano.:)
I'd get something like a Korg CX3 for the organs,a Minimoog
Voyager,a Memotron, and maybe some other analog clone to do the
EML...and a digital piano with all the Wurly sounds. Yeah my
samplers could do all of these but changing internal banks etc.
takes up time on stage. So yeah....the Memotron to ME would be
useful for the reasons others have mentioned here...I could see Rick
Wakeman loving this thing.
I just got an email from Manikin that there are 15 on board effects
and the ram holds 3 sounds at a time.If you thought there was too
much reverb on their sound samples just turn the effects off..
Nearfest...I could see many bands preferring to use this for a show
over the real thing(Strawbs for example...I heard last year that
Hawken barely touched the tron provided and used samples mostly)
Don't get me wrong- I still LOVE the Mellotron.(hey wouldn't a
Memotron look cool sitting on top of a 400?)
--- In Mellotronists@yahoogroups.com, Don Tillman <don@t...> wrote:
>
> > From: "charel196" <charel196@y...>
> > Date: Sat, 28 Jan 2006 16:14:51 -0000
> >
> > hey I LOVED and used my M400 live for 25 years and had an
Anvil
> > ATA case and was always on one end of it when it was moved so
I
> > know they can hold up on the road, if properly cared for. But
in
> > that 25 years I did have several tape breakages....and one
motor
> > card capacitor blow out.
>
> And I used to love playing my Stratocaster, but in 25 years there
were
> ∗several∗ string breakages. So yeah, now I play a sampler with a
> cardboard cutout of a Stratocaster duct-taped over it, and that's
much
> more reliable. After all, what is rock'n'roll if not reliability,
> right? :-)
>
> > I'm not too sure how many of these units they'll sell
> > anyway...given the limited niche market. But I am glad to see
> > it.Yeah....nothing will 100% duplicate the real deal but it
could be
> > a useful tool.
>
> "Useful tool"?
>
> Okay... They're taking a generic sample-playing keyboard, putting
it
> in a box that vaguely resembles the targeted musical instrument,
> slicing off some of the keys and likewise crippling the sampler's
> other capabilities to match the functional limitations of the
targeted
> musical instrument, and marketing the result that as a modern
version
> of that instrument.
>
> At a deep philosophical level, don't you think that's... kind'a
weird?
>
> -- Don
>
> --
> Don Tillman
> Palo Alto, California
> don@t...
> http://www.till.com
>