Mellotronists

> From: "thinkingalouduk" <owen@...>
   > Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2007 08:19:15 -0000
   > 
   > 1) I'm guessing that when new tape sets are made these days,
   > they're produced from a digital recording of the original tape
   > masters, rather than an analog-analog copy.  If so, does this
   > have any discernible effect if, say, you were to run them at
   > half-speed, or do a Pinderesque "The Voyage" pitch bend?
   > (Running my samples at half speed, or indeed pitch-bending them
   > to any degree produces an audible digital artifact, which just
   > doesn't sound "right".  And pitch-bending at half-speed,
   > well... ;) )

It's a reasonable question... I don't make 'tron tapes so I can't
supply an actual answer, but I will point out when you make Mellotron
tapes there are a number of subtle issues: getting the best source
material, getting the EQ and levels correct, compensating for tuning
on the individual notes, getting the note start times correct, getting
the three sounds together to record the three tracks, making sure they
all time align correctly, etc.  There's a lot to it, and it requires a
lot of care, and digital audio can certainly help there.  Editing
sound chunks is something digital audio does really well.

Of course, if it's a crappy digital audio system, it's gonna sound
like crap.

Digital audio processing can do pitch shifting, but not nearly as
cleanly as playing an analog tape at a different speed.  As you
noticed in your sampler.

   > 2) To what degree does the Mellotron itself colour the sound
   > coming from the tapes?  In other words, if you were to put, say,
   > Chamberlin 3 Violins and Cello voices onto Mellotron tapes, and
   > play it back, would it sound like a Chamberlin, or would it be
   > coloured by the Tron itself? 

I'll claim that, in terms of musical impact, the Mellotron colors the
sound alot.  So much so that the fact that it's a Mellotron is more
significant than what the original source instrument was.

  -- Don

-- 
Don Tillman
Palo Alto, California
don@...
http://www.till.com