The Mellotron Group

Yes, Rick, thanks for the great info!

Tom




--- In newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com, Rick Blechta <rick@...> 
wrote:
>
> Okay, here's the scuttlebutt.
> 
> As some of you know, my wife, Vicki, is a very fine classical 
flutist.  
> On a trip to NY to visit the relatives, a trip was arranged to go 
down  
> to the city and see Ian (who had been the Special Guest at the 
second  
> Tronto Clambake in 2001). They were going to spend some time 
playing  
> duet (he really is a good flute player, too). I brought my brother  
> along because he wanted to meet Ian and get some albums signed.
> 
> My brother, a former audio engineer, has always been fascinated on 
how  
> they got such huge gain (and no distortion) on that massive pitch  
> sweep in "Epitaph", so naturally, he start asking Ian questions 
about  
> that and the rest of the album. So here are some tidbits from that  
> conversation.
> 
> There was a calliope in a corner of the studio and naturally the 
boys  
> started fooling around with it. Only problem was, it was really 
flat.  
> That's why the calliope part in ITCOTCK is in a different key. Not  
> being keyboard players, I guess they were not good at transposing 
or  
> just decided to go with the flow. Anyway, the section was played 
by  
> McDonald on the top end with Giles playing the sustained notes on 
the  
> bottom on the second time through. Ian played the calliope the rest 
of  
> the way by himself.
> 
> For "Schizoid Man", that is the calliope at the beginning, too. 
It's  
> McDonald and Giles again, just sweeping the flats of their hands 
over  
> the keys. Being air driven and with a pretty poor air supply to 
begin  
> with, the instrument would just sort of whistle and groan. They  
> thought this sounded cool for the beginning of the album -- and I  
> think they were right.
> 
> Some other things of interest:
> 
> * "Schizoid Man" was done in one take, live off the floor and then 
the  
> second sax solo overdubbed in one. Pretty impressive!
> 
> * "Epitaph", on the other hand took 16 hours to record. They 
couldn't  
> get the sound and feel right. It was also recorded last which is 
why  
> the mellotron sounds different than the other two songs on the 
album  
> that use it. They found a way to make it sound better. It was 
recorded  
> from a HiWatt amp (not a direct line to the board) and then run  
> through a plate reverb. The sweep part was played by McDonald and  
> Fripp and the mellotron was double-tracked pretty well throughout.
> 
> * The album was done on an 8-track machine with numerous bounce 
downs,  
> a la the method used by the Beatles.
> 
> There you have it!
> 
> Rick
>