Mellotronists

In a message dated 1/23/2007 8:47:45 P.M. Pacific Standard Time,  
jeffc@... writes:

On Tue, 23 Jan 2007, jonesalley wrote:

> Here are some questions  any and all who are using or have used Mellotrons 
for live or recorded music  are invited to answer:  When you play/record your 
Mellotrons (or  probably Chamberlins) do you have a general starting point for 
how you EQ  them? Are your live vs.
> recorded EQ settings similar or different? Do  you prefer your  instrument 
dry or effected? How? What do you monitor  with live or to  record?
Hi, Jones Alley.
 
My response is similar in nature to Jeff's:

no single simple answers for me.
it all depends on context, both  musically and environmentally.
I don't gig with my 400 or MkII either.  Both tron  outputs go through a 
direct box into the console and, while I can monitor the  track(s) with reverb 
added, the signal goes onto the tape dry.  Reverb gets  added in the final mix 
(more control), through either an Alesis Microverb III or  an Alesis Midiverb II 
(or both depending on how "wet" or spacial I want the  sound to be), either 
post- or pre-fader.  EQ also depends on what sound is  desired.  On the 400, 
the "icier" King Crimson sound is obtained with the  tone control fully 
clockwise, or tapered back counterclockwise if the track  needs more subtlety.  For 
example, I've been able to duplicate the icy  "Epitaph" intro tone on one track 
with the former, and  duplicate a very warm, spacial, swelling Pinder-ish tone 
on another track that  would do Mike proud with the latter.  My MkII (the 
Pindertron) has Mike's  custom solid-state preamp with the high end already 
rolled off for the "warmer"  Moodies tone which I am totally enamored with (check 
out the sonic  differences between Jerry's MkI with the stock tube preamp vs. 
the  Pindertron on Ken Leonard's website).  I try to get the best EQ sound I 
can  envision for a track right off the bat, and don't fuck with EQ for the 
trons  during mixing unless ABSOLUTELY necessary.  Monitoring is either through  
headphones or through nearfields, occasionally using my PC speakers to compare  
the sound as if it were being played on a cheapie radio/stereo (a variation 
of  the Hall & Oates technique of playing mixes through a car stereo to hear  
more of what a typical consumer would hear).  The only effect I've ever  used 
on a tron was a slight phasing effect very briefly on a recent track.   I may 
also add a slight delay as needed.  Oh, and similar to what DK  mentions on his 
website soundpage, the judicious use of a volume pedal is  mandatory in my 
estimation.  Keep the sound moving.  Doubling  the tracks helps with this too.  
Pretty common stuff for  Mellotrons, nothing startling or revelatory in all 
this, but it gets the job  done.  I have yet to try Wooly's shared technique of 
recording one track at  normal speed, adding a second track at slightly slower 
speed, then adding a  third track at slightly higher speed and mixing the 
three tracks.
 
Frank Samagaio
Red October Studios
El Cajon CA
owner, Mellotron MkII #134 / M400 #908
author, The Mellotron Book

i usually put some high quality reverb on the m400, or the pinder samples  in 
my asr-10, but the exact type/setting depends on how i want the sound to  
"sit" ultimately in the mix.

i don't gig my m4oo, but sometimes am  asked to help with session at our 
studio when a client wants to use the m400  that lives at our studio. they 
typically just want "that flute sound" or "that  string sound" and i try to provide 
what i THINK they are looking for - some  reverb usually makes their eyes light 
up in instant recognition.

i do  prefer leaving the "tone" setting on the m400 itself opened up and use  
external eq to tweek the tone. i do this because i feel i have better eq  
externally than the somewhat
primitive and antique tone control on the  m400. at least my own ears 
[granted, not in the best of shape] tell me. and  the studio has an ssl 9000, which 
is a wonderful EQ on an m400 in my  experience. might be "a british thing".

monitoring?  i have 3  pairs of near fields in my home studio which i switch 
between, as they have  different strength and weaknesses. our main studio has 
both nearfields that  sit on the meter bridge [yeah - yamahas] and a pair of 
questeds that cost  thousands of dollars along with a quested subwoofer. but no 
matter the  setting, you need to keep the context in which you want the 
mellotron to fit  in mind.

but nearly ALWAYS some reverb is applied, using the highest  quality you can 
get your hands on [lexicons seem to treat the mellotron very  well - that's 
what i use both at home and at our studio, but i don't have a  480 at home... 
yet].
your milage may vary.
jeff
[jack of no trades,  master of the obvious]