Tom -
I have already been asked this a few times so I have added thefollowing paragraph onto the web site to explain:
"The Mellotron M400 (manufactured in 1973) is played into a Mackie1202 mixer, which I use because it is very quiet and has a delicate EQcontrol that can take the edge off some of the white noise coming fromthe Mellotron without damping out the sound. This leads in and out ofan Alesis MidiVerb II effects unit which is used for the reverb and andblooms you hear, and then runs straight into the back of a computerwhere everything was digitally recorded in Sony ACID Pro, with digitaleffects coming from the Waves and Timeworks libraries. Once mixed downto my satisfaction the output was written to an uncompressed WAV filewhich was then bounced off an Akai 4000DS reel to reel for thatpleasing thing we call tape compression. I am happy to say that this isthe only compression you'll hear anywhere in the music. Likewise youwill not hear any digital editng anywhere other than in places whereone take was adjoined to another. Some of the very low notes you hearare being played way off the bottom end of the Mellotron by turning themotor speed down by an octave and upping the lower and top ends of theEQ to compensate for the lack of fidelity. Sometimes I simply doubledthe line with the bottom end of the St Johns Wood Church Organ whichhas bass pedals in the recording. There was very little post-productioncarried out."
Tom Doncourt wrote:
First I want to thank you, Mike, for sharingthat with us. It’s a lot of work and a very generous gift. I amwondering what method did you use to record it? Did you go straightinto a channel strip, preamp or did you play through a miked amplifier?I am guessing the former. TD
Well, I e-mailed the link to the music to The Frippster and he repliedsaying that he'd listen to it provided I sent him an autographedcopy of a real CD.
Robert Fripp. Wants my autograph.
Robert. Fripp.
Fripp.
My autograph.
Mike
PS: But hey Robert..no flash photos, okay?
ceccles_ca wrote:
Mars - Well done Mike. All the dynamics are there at the right time.
Even the snare drum is right on the mark. The stereo mix is good.
It needs to be played through good monitors with a big-ass amplifier.
http://www.mikedick son.org.uk/ mellotronworks/
I'm sure that if Fripp heard this, he would think that it was damn good.
It has that sinister, foreboding, feel to it. (Like only a Mellotron
can do).
Clay
-- Mike Dickson, EdinburghFree Music Project: http://www.last.fm/music/Mike+DicksonOr http://www.mikedickson.org.uk/