Mellotronists

kenmerb@... wrote:

In a message dated 11/20/02 4:19:10 AM Eastern Standard Time, j.k.beresford@... writes:

Ken Merbler wrote:

It's definitely not noise or anything on the tape. I've recorded the sound on MP3s, and using wave editing software you can see the random discharge spikes in the audio signal. Right now I have a theory that it's some kind of static discharge taking place along the tapes, between the tape heads and the rear drum. Playing the tapes makes contact between the tape heads and the drum, causing the discharge. Only on bank #1 because there's less tape between the two, making discharge easier. Multiple notes because that provides more paths for the discharge to occur. I'm no electronics expert, just trying to fit the symptoms to a possible cause. Also, it *sounds* like a static discharge. At least one other 'Tron owner has had a similar problem with static discharge (on an M400). However, I'm not sure how to test this theory.

I tried removing the cycling plug from the power pack and I still get the pops, so it's probably not related to the cycling circuitry at all.

You may have a point about the pad assembly - I did have that off, so it's worth checking. Thanks.

Ken M.

Wow! I think I have the solution! MY tapes (LH keyboard, especially) sometimes have a tendency to audibly "snap", and when I first turn it on, there's a definite "crackle" on certain notes. Ken, you've been reporting "pops". It's my guess that Martinge was eating his breakfast to close to the recording gear when he was making our tapes. You know how he loves those rice crispies...

Rick B.

Surprised that most machines don't hiccup and give off "beery" fumes...

kenmerb@... wrote:

Speaking of strange noises, KL and I have noticed a strange noise on at least two of the French horn notes, near the beginning of the sounds. You should probably contact me off-list to discuss, otherwise it could be embarrassing. I don't want to describe the sound, other than to ask if, by chance, these were recorded at your "House of Windsor" studio? I *am * serious - there is something strange on a couple of the notes.

Ken,

I am tempted to give a flip answer here (but I PROMISED not to make any more jokes at Mike Dickson's expense, that I would NEVER AGAIN mention on this list what he suffers from.), but I suspect that you're not hearing the results of incomplete digestion but something more insidious to those who try to record 35 perfect notes in something other than a hermetically sealed recording studio: ambient noise, in this case, more specifically, traffic noises.

When we recorded this sound, the piccolo and the bass clarinet, the flight pattern for the airport seems to have been somewhat nearer to my house than usual and we seemed to have a rash of cars and trucks desperately in need of mechanical care. Did I mention fire trucks? There were not one, but two fires in the nearby apartment buildings on that fateful night!

Merinque Smith had the unenviable task of sorting through all the takes (some notes with as many as ten) for to try to find ones that didn't have any "outside influences" and also sounded good and were in tune (a minor qualification), and I think he did a damn fine job. But he has the masters. What's the word, old chap?

I will fire up old Brenda (as soon as I put in a good supply of coal) and check out your claims. What notes are you speaking of specifically?

However, I was just thinking... When the final takes of the master tapes were being put together, Dickson was present at the Streetly World Headquarters in Lower-Upper Blithbury (hard upon the Twat & Handbag Pub) in order to make the demo tapes for the Streetly Library Website. No. It couldn't be. It's just too far fetched to be true...

And for Gene's earlier e-mail, I agree that listening to the outtakes would be quite illuminating as well as very funny. For example, when we were recording the bass flute recently, my red-headed better half suddenly stopped playing and said, "Oh f___! Now I've got the hiccups!" I (being the time keeper and present in the vocal booth with her) unwisely said, "Oh, then we can just record some shorter notes between the hiccups." She called me a seven-letter word that begins with "A" and then very sweetly said, "Oh! Is the tape still running?"

My feeling is we should leave the exchange in, in place of the 35th note, but then I'd probably be sleeping on the sofa the rest of my farking life.

Hope this sorts everything out.

Rick

>>That's why I put the MP3s out there.>>