I think that an important fact being overlooked is that
for the listener, and even for many players, the "Mellotron" is not just looked
at as an audio playback device, but that the individual sounds are perceived is
instruments in their own right. I'm sure I'll love other string sounds
available, but they will not supplant the 3-violins sound, they will supplement
it. In the same way, the "strawberry flutes" is an instrument in and of
itself, a hypersonic, polyphonic flute with some odd voicing peculiarities,
idiosyncrasies that are part of the character of the sound and no other
sound will ever replace it. It seems to me that the sound of each
Mellotron tape set is as unique an instrument as a piano, and it's almost like
the physical machine is just the delivery device for the actual
instrument.
Message
change of perspective
2002-03-25 by JS