Archive of the former Yahoo!Groups mailing list: The Mellotron Group

Wow. Everybody's making great points, and it is a significant discussion, Mellotrons being the passionate subject they clearly are.

Perhaps the terminology - and the instruments themselves - could be better defined if for example, the M4000D weren't CALLED a Mellotron, because it's not rolling tapes, but be called the "M4000D Sample Player (or whatever) BY Mellotron." That would be factual, without ambiguity. It IS that, at least, and would deservedly have the Mellotron name on  it.

I fully agree with appreciating the "feel" of a real Mellotron. It does make you play differently than any other keyboard: it's not a "piano action" or organ or anything else. The time limit on each note, and for me, having the swell pedal makes a huge difference. To date I've not found a way to add in a MIDI or other type volume pedal when using M-Tron Pro. Aside from the variations between individual instruments, etc., and the "feel" of any particular one, to me that's one of the defining parts of a real Mellotron - the dynamics you can get between the various "play factors" and the volume pedal. 

Fact is, a tape-based Mellotron is the real thing, and anything else WILL be a compromise, if for no other reason than, as pointed out, every repeated note will sound exactly the same. Even if it's clean and wonderful, and serves different purposes even better, such as portability, no tangled tapes, etc., it'll still be a compromise. (Btw, no, I've never experienced a tangled or stretched tape, thank God. But some notoriously have. I can sympathize.)

It's a pleasure doing pleasure with you all!

Cheers!
Berington