Mike- Mellotron Archives Mike Pinder Mellotron CD Rom loaded into
the right sampler....there's no substitute. With the filters and efx
on my Emu E4K this sounds amazing (ask Jerry Korb who has my
CDs...Jerry?)
Charles
--- In Mellotronists@yahoogroups.com, tron@... wrote:
>
> I've had the opportunity to play about with the GMedia M-Tron VST
and
> have to say that I'm not very impressed. Forget about anything to
do
> with 'purism' here; the real problem is just how ∗shit∗ some of it
> sounds.
>
> Most of the voices are very poorly recorded indeed. I've no idea
whence
> these recordings were sourced, but an awful lot of them are very
noisy -
> far noisier than the real thing. In fact the only time I've heard
> noisier Mellotrons is when they are in Streetly prior to being
fixed or
> serviced. Was this noise added for effect or was the machine or
tapes
> from which these recordings were made defective in some way?
>
> I'd single the solo flute out for special attention here. Given
the fact
> that the publicise this VST as a way of playing ∗those classic
sounds∗
> without the need for ∗cumbersome machines and errant 1960s
technology∗,
> you'd think that they would get on of the most famous voices spot-
on.
> The trouble is that there is popping all over the middle range of
the
> voice. I even went to the bother of dragging frame #1 out of the
closet
> and doing an A/B test. No pops on the tapes, but popping all over
the
> VST. The conclusion is therefore that either they added this or the
> tapes are buggered. Discuss.
>
> On the subject of the flute, there is a good clue here that things
are
> not all they seem anyway. As far as I know (I'm guessing to some
extent
> here and working only on what I have heard) GMedia claim that this
is a
> faithful recording of a real Mellotron, note-for-note, warts and
all,
> etc. Hmmm. I disagree. Walking down from the top F, the most
distinctive
> note on the solo flute is that 'Trio note' on the top D. You know -
it
> sounds like a penny whistle giving a good shriek. It ain't there
on the
> M-Tron. Neither is the second top F either - the one
that 'warbles' a
> bit to itself. But if it's a verbatim account of the voice, why
are they
> not there? Maybe they interpolate some of the samples. Maybe they
didn't
> like the sound of those notes and tuned the ones below them up by a
> semitone. Whatever happened, it sure isn't a faithful recording of
the
> whole sound.
>
> And something else was odd about that sound too; chords sound a
lot more
> 'musical' than on the real thing. Why is this? The obvious answer
is
> that it has been tuned to some extent. Not all the way - not so
much
> that Antares doesn't still laugh at it - but enough to make it
obvious
> that the voices have been tampered with.
>
> Hmmm again. I just checked with the Gmedia web site found at
> http://www.gmediamusic.com/gforce/m-tron/M-Tron.html and they
say 'The
> M-Tron captures all of the character of the original instrument by
> sampling every note of every key and adhering to the eight second
limit
> of each note. This way, not only do the resultant sounds ebb and
flow,
> all the inherent and nostalgic magic of each sound is closely
observed -
> minor imperfections and all'. I disagree. Still...at least they
didn;t
> loop it.
>
> Soldiering on I try out the Mk II violins. The shriller notes
(∗that∗
> Bb, for example, but strangely enough not ∗that∗ F#) have been
excluded
> here as well and are sonically almost identical (aside from pitch,
of
> course) to their immediate neighbours. Where the blazes did they
get
> this 'original instrument' from which they 'sampl[ed] every note'?
I
> don't know how many Mellotrons I've played but ∗none of them∗ have
ever
> sounded like this.
>
> I did an A/B of the Mk II strings and got my frame bang in tune
with the
> M-Tron, then did a run up of the notes. Sure enough, some samples
are
> duller than the frame and some are definitely out of tune with it,
> particularly the bottom G and the first D and E. Methinks someone
has
> been tuning some sounds here, and if they have done this then what
else
> have they done? Added a few coughs and chair scrapes? :-) Of course
> tuned sets have existed for a good while now and it's possible
that they
> took their samples from such a set...but who made them?
>
> And on the subject of strings...the string section. If anything is
> designed to show them up, this is the one. I have the string
section
> here on frame #2. You all know it. Big sound. Crunching sound. As
we all
> know, it's a blend of cellos, violas and Mk II strings.
Unfortunately,
> if you play it fast enough on the M-Tron you'd be forgiven for
thinking
> it was nothing but cellos. The start times are ∗miles∗ off - the
cellos
> start -way- before the other strings. Does anyone have a string
section
> on their Trons that sounds like this? I sure don't. So how (again)
is
> this a faithful sample...unless they put it together themselves,
that
> is.
>
> The choirs are hopeless. They are either muffled to the extent
that you
> cannot tell the male and female voices apart (oh, and the shrill
female
> voice on the top C has mysteriously vanished as well) or they are
> brightened up so much that there is no mid or bottom range left to
speak
> of. They also feature a load of old Mk II voices and rhythms, none
of
> which - heresy! heresy! they cry - I am mad keen on and frankly
none of
> which I can see the average M-Tron user ever bothering with. The
old
> french horns, trombones and organ (among others) sound like a
bunch of
> sine waves subjected to slightly different filters.
>
> And another thing that bothered me; key clicks. Some of the sounds
have
> very faint key clicks at the start of them. Or something. That's
not
> necessarily a ∗bad∗ thing (although it shows up a badly adjusted
tape
> set) but the timbre of the click troubled me a little. It seemed
to be
> strangely ∗the same∗ throughout. I recorded the sound into Sound
Forge
> and cut out everything but the key click, then repeated it to try
and
> make out what it is. It's hard to tell, but I am suspicious of it.
It
> ∗sounds∗ like it's percussive white (or maybe pink) noise dumped
at the
> start of the start of the sound to mimic a click. Like I say, I
might be
> wrong here but it sounds very odd.
>
> On the plus side the Mk II strings actually sound reasonably okay,
> missing, botched or alterted notes notwithstanding, and the brass
is
> surprisingly punchy (although they have about four different brass
> voices, all of which sound very similar indeed) and the Chamberlin
> sounds are, though thin on the ground, very well-presented. It's
also a
> lot better than the existing Mellotron VSTs such as the Nanotron
(which
> has a flute that sounds ∗okay∗ but a string section and choir that
sound
> horrendous) and the bizarre Mellow-Sounds which which is the only
> example I have ever seen or heard of a ten octave Mellotron with
choirs
> ranging from Mysteron Bass up to something only dogs can make out.
Faced
> with that level of competition the M-tron wins absolutely hands
down. In
> fact, I find it very weird that no one has ever tried to really
make a
> properly functioning Mellotron substitute until now, with the M-
Tron and
> the Memotron. If you go to a keyboard shop you'll find a myriad
plastic
> boxes, all of which are fitted with drawbars and come with Leslie
> emulators - only because people still demand a real B3 sound.
Maybe the
> Mellotron market is more limited than this.
>
> I realise that not everyone has the requisite thousands to spend
on a
> real Mellotron, and for that the M-Tron fills a yawning gap, but
even
> for the relative inexpense it would be nice to get something that
does
> exactly as it advertises and does not fall several yards short.
It's not
> impossible to sample every voice on a properly functioning
Mellotron and
> use that as is, without making artistic or auditory judgements on
the
> product that warrant editorial meddling with the sound. Maybe
someone
> will do this one day. GMedia certainly have not, and that's a pity.
>
> Mike Dickson (tron@...) M400 #996
> The Official Cynic of Streetly Electronics
> Streetly Sample Library http://www.blackcat.demon.co.uk/tron/
>