Mellotronists

On Saturday 11 December 2004 at 8:00pm The Gatherings 
Concert Series will present a Mellotron Workshop. The 
workshop is open to anyone interested in learning more about 
the concepts upon which this instrument is based. If you have 
ever listened to music which included the sounds of the classic 
mighty Mellotron keyboard and become curious about how it 
functions and is used to create music, then this workshop is for 
you!

The Mellotron workshop at The Gatherings will be headed by 
veteran Mellotronist Jeff Coulter, a leading figure in the field of 
tape-based analog replay keyboards as well as in music 
performance with the now legendary Philadelphia-based 
Spacemusic duo Tangent.

Demonstrating on a vintage Mellotron M400, Coulter and his 
team of experts will discuss the history, technology and basic 
concepts involved in playing sounds and producing music with a 
Mellotron. Attendees will have an opportunity to observe close-up 
the workings of a Mellotron, hear how this instrument produces 
tones and how musicians use these tones in musical 
composition. Whether you are a beginner, a music fan or have 
advanced knowledge, you will come away from this workshop 
with a better understanding of the Mellotron, the people who use 
them and deeper insight into the contributions this unique 
instrument has made to contemporary music.


Joining Jeff Coulter at the Mellotron Workshop will be a number 
of noted fellow enthusiasts including:

-Ken Leonard will be creating the "skell-o-tron", a Mellotron with 
no case allowing complete access and view to the inner 
workings

-Jimmy Moore is an independant Mellotron scholar, co-host of 
the May 2001 Mellotron Symposium in Glen Mills, PA and owner 
of the "Formicatron" (loaned to Radio Massacre Int'l on their May 
2004 visit to The Gatherings)

-Pierre Veilleux, the one-time keyboard player for [the 
Canadian Genesis tribute band] "The Musical Box" and official 
experienced Mellotron demonstrator will be showing attendees 
his instrument's full performance potential

-Gino Wong is a fellow Mellotron owner and former STAR'S 
END/DIASPAR host


Along with an actual performance by revered Mellotronist Pierre 
Veilleux, each expert in turn will review some of the history, 
technology, apparent "cult" following of the Mellotron, as well as 
cover the mechanics, workings, maintenance and current status 
of tape replay keyboards.


The Gatherings Concert Series hosts:
The Mellotron Workshop with Jeff Coulter et al
8:00pm on Saturday 11 December 2004 in
the parish hall of
St. Mary's Hamilton Village
3916 Locust Walk on the Penn campus in West Philadelphia


For more on the Mellotron Workshop at
The Gatherings Concert Series,
please access: http://www.thegatherings.org




Mellotron Overview:

A Mellotron is a tape replay keyboard. This means that under 
every key is a length of magnetic tape that is moved past a 
playback head whenever that key is pressed. Each piece of tape 
has a sound (for example, a sustained flute note) whose pitch 
corresponds with the keyboard note that it is under. After a key 
has been pressed and then released, the tape is pulled quickly 
back to its starting position by a spring. Since each sound is 
produced by a linear piece of tape rather than an endless loop, 
the sound can faithfully reproduce the attack phase and then the 
decay phase of a percussive instrument such as a piano.

While the designer's goal was probably to make it sound exactly 
like the original instrument that was recorded, the quality of a 
Mellotron's sound is, perhaps accidentally, distinctly its own. It 
has been called a 'mutant organ' and its sound is often 
described as moody and warm. It gives a song a haunting, 
lonely quality.

Notes From Bob Synder's Mellotron Page