Hi folks,
yes, Ronnie Binge was the guy who 'invented' the Mantovani cascading
strings, but he got the idea from hearing works by Claudio Monteverdi
and the effect of voices as they sounded in churches and trying to
reproduce the effect musically.
The whole concept was one of staggering the entrances of the violin
sections to give the delay effect. Now although its been suggested
that the delayed sounds were reduced in level, according to 'Mantovani
-a lifetime in music' by Colin Mackenzie, each section of the violins
has to play the parts at exactly the same level to get the effect.
Now it's very difficult when playing such a line to hold your own when
the guy next to you is playing a fraction of a beat behind or ahead of
you, so it needs intense concentration and very good tuning.
In addition the violas were voiced very close to the cellos in the
texture to add richness to the sound and not make the violins sound
squeaky.
The string section numbers on the classic recordings total 29: 18
violins, 6 violas, 4 cellos and one bass.
One other guy associated with the Mantovani sound was recording
engineer Arthur Lilley who was one of Decca's foremost (but typically
overworked and underpaid) recording engineers, a great perfectionist
in sound and the only one who could get Mantovani's quest for
perfection down on tape. Even so, there were problems in the studio
with flutter effects on the reverb tails and the 'Hampstead hum' that
used to occur at the Decca studios off West End Lane. The very venue
that later became Threshold Studios for the Moodies.
Now it's fashionable to knock Mantovani, dismissing his music as
muzak, syrupy, not rock'n'roll, etc. But the simple point is that he
was a master of easy listening and light classical genres that had a
large audience. It's forgotten that prior to the advent of the fab
four he was the best selling british recording artiste overseas, and
his sales kept Decca out of the red (and ironically subsidised many of
Decca's rock acts) for many years. 50 million album sales is not to be
sniffed at.
And looking at the list of musos who played in his band, that list
includes some of the top session guys of the time, many of which
stayed with him for decades. They wouldn't have stuck that if they
didn't have respect for both Mantovani and the music.
Amongst the list were BBC orchestra leaders Sydney Sax and David
McCallum (father of the Man from Uncle sidekick), Max Jaffa (another
MOR star), legendary jazz guitarist Ike Isaacs, pianist Stanley Black
(BBC conductor and arranger), guitarist John Williams (yes, that one)
and jazz drummers Kenny Clare and Barry Morgan, as well as string
players who were teachers at the London music colleges.
So Mike pinder is drawing on one of the greats as his influence for
Melly technique.
All we need now of course, is a Mantovani strings banks for the M4000!
Dave.
> --- On Sun, 9/28/08, Bruce Daily <pocotron@...> wrote:
> From: Bruce Daily <pocotron@...>
> Subject: Re: [newmellotrongroup] Mantovani Anyone?
> To: newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com
> Date: Sunday, September 28, 2008, 6:24 PM
>
> Hi-
> I now have to wonder who influenced Mantovani (other than the
dollar sign)...
> Maybe this story has a better beginning.
>