Fw: [Mellotronists] Calling All Ears - Trying to Get *That* Sound
2002-08-06 by JS
After finally getting the chance to listen to the
example clip, I agree, that's THE SOUND. These guys did almost as nice a
job as the Moodies in capturing that distant hugeness.
And, since I acquired mine, I've come to realize that
what is making that sound for me is a couple of things, and may not necessarily
be confined to a single amp/speaker/mic/medium combination, but could be fairly
repeatable under a lot of different circumstances.
First, as I observed once before, one thing that I think
makes Mellotron instruments, with particular reference to the classic 3-violins
sound, so unique is that each 8-second strip of tape is a complete world in
itself. Three instruments in a certain physical relationship to each other
that is constantly moving and evolving, developing all kinds of minute phase
differences, all being shaped by the sound of the room that they were being
recorded in.
Then put that sound in a BIG room and play it real loud
with less than hi-fi audio equipment, and add some artificial reverb to it that
is also less than hi-fi.
That yields the original playback sound, the ambience it
already possesses, the artificial lo-fi reverb ambience, and the natural
real reverb and echo characteristics of said big room.
Then record it all from a fairly good distance,
preferably at least twenty or thirty feet, if not more.
The final piece of the puzzle is to tune the Mellotron
down by 1-3 cents or so, just enough to give it a little bit of melancholy
flatness in pitch.
You get the three ambiences playing against each other,
the distance, the thickness of sound, the individuality of each strip of tape,
and that little bit of sad wistfulness that the flat intonation
provides.
You will find that the sound is much like the
recording. Depending on speakers, mics, and all the other twiddly bits of
equipment, it will flavor the sound to a certain degree, but you still get a big
chunk of that distant hugeness that we all seem to love so much. Play it
loud.
I'd also like to mention that another interesting trick
I've found is to play the part, re-tune the Mellotron up or down from a half
step to the full major third, and play the keyboard part again, transposing the
key pattern on the keyboard to play in pitch with the original material.
You now have 6,9,12, or 15-violins, because you are taking NEW "samples" and
adding them together, each one having totally different ambience
characteristics. If you are feeling ambitious, play different lines
with each tuning and ambience, and do multiple passes to add in some of the
small timing inconsistencies that a big group of violinists will
have. The sound can get just entirely too huge, but if you want Mellotron
that will part your hair, sandblast your car, and scare children and animals,
try it.
That last trick is even pretty effective for huge
Mellotron sounds recorded straight to tape with different artificial reverbs on
each pass, but nothing comes out sounding quite like the loud Mellotron
recorded from a distance in the big room with the artificial reverb.
Smells like Wakeman in here...
www.tronsounds.com/songs/hvn.mp3