The Mellotron Group

I am surprised that someone actually spent the time and money creating  
a film about the Mellotron. It kind of ruins the whole esoteric idea  
of the instrument itself...


On Sep 28, 2009, at 10:46 AM, MAinPsych@aol.com wrote:

>
> In a message dated 9/28/2009 2:04:42 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, andy.thompson@virgin.net 
>  writes:
> Doubtless, but as someone else said (Mark?), how many people REALLY  
> care about tape-replay instruments? I'm pleased she's made the film,  
> but I'm not sure how many people are going to be interested in the  
> 'outside world'. I have no problem with the contemporary musicians  
> angle - the footage of Patrick Warren (?) 'playing' his Chamby's  
> drive-wheel was fab.
>
>
>
> Seriously, does/did anyone on this list suffer from the delusion  
> that our fixation on this wonderful mechanical beast would ever  
> translate to the masses?  Both Nick Awde and I knew that our  
> respective books on the Mellotron were for a niche market, would  
> just be a curiosity to the rest of the world (e.g., the dude in the  
> M4000 L.A. video), and would never be candidates for the NYT Best  
> Seller list.  Likewise, Dianna's film appeals to the same niche  
> market, and I'm sure she's not losing any sleep over not being  
> nominated for a Palm d'Or or a Golden Globe.  As great as I hear the  
> M4000 is, does anyone really think that sales numbers, in the long  
> run, are going to dwarf that of any and all previous models?  One  
> can hope otherwise, but the practical reality is that anything  
> regarding the Mellotron is destined for the aforesaid niche market  
> (even within the general music community).  While I can't speak for  
> either Nick or Dianna on the following, I know that my experience in  
> writing The Mellotron Book brought me in contact with a publisher  
> that, while enthusiastic about the project, still fell outside the  
> niche market and saw it as a novelty, hence the publisher's (not my)  
> reference to the farcical description of the Mellotron as a "tape  
> loop organ".  I didn't lose sleep over that, assuming that those "in  
> the know" already understand.
>
> F.
>
>