Dave -
That piece for the web site was actually recorded on a Mellotron /I
think/. It is even possible it was played on a sampler. It's a while
back now and I really cannot remember. As the late (and quite wonderful)
Clement Freud said, 'at eighty-four your memory just begins to go a
bit...and also...your memory begins to go a bit.
What I do remember is that it was tonally quite odd - the male voices
seem to repeat more or less the same notes on every octave (or it feels
like that) and the female voices are mixed fairly far down. The result
is that almost anything you play on it is going to sound /eerily similar
/as you have effectively a limited palette of timbres to work with.
The Birotron contribution for /Spem In Alium /was definitely recorded on
a sampler. The voices in that piece (including my own) are sourced from
a variety of places and played on different samplers, including the
Mellotron and (get this) a resampled sample of an E-mu sampler library.
Do you still have access to the masters? If so, what else is there?
Mike
will davis wrote:
>
>
>
>
> Mike ....thanks for posting that ! That first piece you played was
> very similar to a piece I wrote and recorded around '74 but was never
> published, which makes it really erie. The choir was always my
> favorite sound....its amazing what a group of unpaid high school kids
> can do !!!
> Obviously there were several different choirs on your second
> piece, and I think I might be able to tell which was which. But Im
> curious...were you playing the BiroTron(I think not), or the Mellotron
> with the BT choir tapes?
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> ∗From:∗ Mike Dickson <mailto:mike.dickson@gmail.com>
> ∗To:∗ newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com
> <mailto:newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com>
> ∗Sent:∗ Wednesday, April 15, 2009 11:54 PM
> ∗Subject:∗ Re: [newmellotrongroup] Re:Something for trondave
>
> ∗>>> Thank you so much for posting that...I hope people take the
> time to
> read it even tho it is not >>> 100% accurate...but it is close to
> accurate as any other article ever written∗
>
> >> Streetly has even posted a clip
> <http://mikedickson.org.uk/tron/right.htm#_birotronchoir
> <http://mikedickson.org.uk/tron/right.htm#_birotronchoir>> on its
> website
> of a salvaged choir tape-set being played.
>
> Played and recorded by...er...oh yes. Me.
>
> And you'll also hear the sound of the Birotron choir (eventually) on
>
> http://www.mikedickson.org.uk/in_excelsis/Mike%20Dickson%20-%20Spem%20In%20Alium.mp3
> <http://www.mikedickson.org.uk/in_excelsis/Mike%20Dickson%20-%20Spem%20In%20Alium.mp3>
>
> --
> Mike Dickson, Edinburgh
>
> Free Music Project: http://www.last.fm/music/Mike+Dickson
> <http://www.last.fm/music/Mike+Dickson>
> Or http://www.mikedickson.org.uk/ <http://www.mikedickson.org.uk/>
>
>
--
Mike Dickson, Edinburgh
Free Music Project:
http://www.last.fm/music/Mike+DicksonOr
http://www.mikedickson.org.uk/