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

http://www.mikedickson.org.uk/private/Epitaph-Reworked.mp3

markpringnz wrote:

>
>
> Apparently in the 50th anniversary edition the mellotron will be
> replaced with a kazoo.
>
> --- In newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com
> <mailto:newmellotrongroup%40yahoogroups.com>, Mike Dickson
> <mike.dickson@...> wrote:
> >
> > This may sound like heresy....
> >
> > Does anyone else have the new 40th anniversary edition of 'In The Court
> > of the Crimson King'? I do (as you may expect) and believe it or not,
> > what has been done to it in terms of sonic quality is astounding. It's
> > even better than the 30th anniversary edition (which I thought was
> > outstanding) and comes with some really good extras too.
> >
> > But.
> >
> > To me, the biggie on this album was always 'Epitaph'. It was really
> this
> > track that showed me the way and pointed me at a style of music I don't
> > think anyone else in the genre has come /close /to equalling. And it
> was
> > always the Mellotron that did it. Everything else in the track was
> > great, but the piercing shreik of the Mellotron propelled it from being
> > a /fairly/ standard minor key tune into something really magical.
> >
> > Which begs the question: /what the shiny blue fuck has happened
> here? /I
> > was listening to the track again today having had a feeling of loss
> in a
> > couple of previous listens, and have suddenly found out where it was
> > coming from. Or not. At the close of the first chorus the Mellotron
> > climbs to the top E as well all know...and never gets there. The
> note is
> > /not there/. One note. Big deal, you may say, but it is a /sublime
> > /note. As Fripp himself has droned, you '/can play any note they like
> > provided it's the right one/'. And this is the right one. It's sweet
> and
> > perfect and rounds off the chorus perfectly. So why is it omitted. It's
> > even in tune!
> >
> > Worse is to come. /That pitch bend. /My 14 year old jaw dropped on
> > hearing it for the first time. I think I destroyed my first copy by
> > dropping the needle onto at point again and again and again. It is a
> > fantastic, blood-curdling hair-on-the-back-of-the-neck experience. And
> > on the 40th anniversary set it is /sludged out/. The crescendo
> behind it
> > absolutely overwhelms it to the extent that you can hear the trick; one
> > Mellotron plays a crescendo climbing 'flat' to E-minor whilst the other
> > one bends up to it. Expert fading on the original ensured that the
> > /effect /was heard but that the squeak of strings ratcheted up like
> that
> > /was not/. It's a superb moment. And you can barely hear it on the new
> > release.
> >
> > Has anyone else noticed this or any other weirdness/ It's the only
> track
> > I have listened to in such detail so far, which makes me a tad scared
> > for the rest now. Actually, I'm playing it now and the clarity of the
> > piece now makes it sound like Mike Giles banging on timpani in a
> studio,
> > not the far-off and distant /sound of doom /that I know so well. Maybe
> > less is nore. Perhaps Fripp has /tinkered beyond. /Perhaps I'll ask him.
> >
> > Musical choices aside, the sound quality is to be heard and
> disbelieved.
> > A friend with a good 5:1 system says that 21CSM is like having the band
> > play in your front room. It's that good.
> >
> > --
> > Mike Dickson, Edinburgh
> >
> > Free Music Project: http://www.mikedickson.org.uk/
> <http://www.mikedickson.org.uk/>
> > Or http://www.last.fm/music/Mike+Dickson
> <http://www.last.fm/music/Mike+Dickson>
> > Or http://soundcloud.com/mikedickson <http://soundcloud.com/mikedickson>
> > Or http://www.planetmellotron.com/revd4.htm#mikedickson
> <http://www.planetmellotron.com/revd4.htm#mikedickson>
> >
>
>

--
Mike Dickson, Edinburgh

Free Music Project: http://www.mikedickson.org.uk/
Or http://www.last.fm/music/Mike+Dickson
Or http://soundcloud.com/mikedickson
Or http://www.planetmellotron.com/revd4.htm#mikedickson