The Mellotron Group

--- In newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com, Mark Pring <markpringnz@...> wrote:
> I think Mike Pinder's mellotron and chamberlin playing
> is  beautiful, particularly the chamberlin playing on
> "New Horizons" at first hearing I thought they were
> real strings. I also like the mellotron on "The Candle
> of Life". However I don't like the songs that much,
> too sweet for my taste and for some reason I have
> never enoyed Justin Hayward's singing.

As an unashamed Moodies fan, I'm glad you enjoyed the Pindertron sounds!  Ironically, 
getting a recent Moodies compilation like "Gold" does rather bias the playlist towards 
Hayward (10 of the 17 on the "Classic 7" disk by him, unlike the usual mix on an album - 
and one of the two Pinder tracks included doesn't have Tron on it (in fact, I think Lost in a 
Lost World is all Chamberlin)), which while they are the "hits" don't really give a true 
impression of an early album.  If you do get chance to listen to Children's Children's 
Children, take it - mostly because you get to hear Pinder's "Out and In"!  (Not to mention 
pitch-bend Tron vibes on "Floating", apparently.)

From what I've read of Pinder's recording techniques (mostly from Frank's book) he usually 
double-tracked the Tron pieces, occasionally with more parts as required.  "Out an In" as 
recorded uses at least two, if not three, some of which seem to be double-tracked (I've 
tried to reproduce it myself and ended up using five or more tracks!) - live he usually 
played a variation on the recording - sometimes more spartan, sometimes doing a very 
good job.  If you've heard "The Voyage" from "On The Threshold Of A Dream", have a listen 
to the live version from "Caught Live + 5", which to my ears is quite impressive, given the 
lack of layering.

Good luck with your new beast!

Owen