Mellotronists

--- In Mellotronists@yahoogroups.com, Mark Pring 
<mellotronmadness@...> wrote:
>
> Do many of the group play the mellotron as a solo instrument? I 
only have access to M-tron, a situation I am hoping to remedy, it  
sounds ok used as a backing instrument using block chords with lots 
of reverb but I spent quite a lot of time this morning trying to use 
it as solo instrument and I realise that most of the group is right, 
it sounds terrible and not just my playing! The left hand drowns out 
the right really easily and anything played at higher end of the 
keyboard is as irritating as finger nails on a blackboard.
> 
> Is a real tron useable as a solo instrument?  I ask because I 
don't play in a group and am not likely to do in the near future.
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Mark
> 
> Hi Mark   Need to mention this is just one person's opinion so for 
what it's worth:
   Solos, yes, ,and off the top of my head King Crimson's Lizard Lp 
is packed with tron leads, most of the Tron work of Passport, 
Kraftwerk's Trans Europe Express, come to think of it Neptunes which 
I believe also uses the M-tron. 
Most depends on how you shape the sound you are playing, that is if 
you are using the 400 3 string patch you can eq some of the highs 
down and boost the mids a little to sweeten it up.  The flutes on 
the other hand you may add some highs. Again if you are using 
strings or brass patches and playing 3 note chords with the left 
hand and one note lead on the right, the lead will be drowned out. 
Answer here, overdub the lead.  Maybe in a live situation, again 
since you are in the sampler domain, you would assign higher volume 
for the right half of keyboard. Again this depends on the 
flexibility of what you have to shape the sound with.  Processors 
with  only preset definitions are almost useless.  You need infinite 
control of delay or reverb to make it work. Another thing to try is 
layer your lead part to male it stand out. Detune each layer 
slightly away from the source.  The E4 sampler is outstanding  for 
this.  Try experimenting like this instead of "just out of box" and 
see if there is a difference,  and if you haven't yet heard, check 
out the "dueling mandolins" recently posted here.   Take care, Doug 
>