The Mellotron Group

I've been tossing around the idea of creating a Mellotron Wiki, or rather someone creating a Mellotron Wiki.

I know there is plenty of information out there, somewhere, about servicing these beasts, DIY adjustments, playing techniques, and how previous Mellotron Stars performed and had their Trons mixed into the records and during live shows.

It's very frustrating digging this sort of information up. The two Mellotron lists are great aids.

Still, I'm thinking we could all benefit and have great fun creating a nice Wiki where once the information is found by someone it can be found by everyone fairly easy. I'm hoping that people from Streetly and Markus to Mike Pinder and such can contribute as they wish.

Let's start tossing these ideas about.

-Sean

----- Original Message -----

From: Sean

To: newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Wednesday, October 07, 2009 2:39 PM

Subject: [newmellotrongroup] Mellowiki?

I've been tossing around the idea of creating a Mellotron Wiki, or rather someone creating a Mellotron Wiki.

I know there is plenty of information out there, somewhere, about servicing these beasts, DIY adjustments, playing techniques, and how previous Mellotron Stars performed and had their Trons mixed into the records and during live shows.

It's very frustrating digging this sort of information up. The two Mellotron lists are great aids.

Still, I'm thinking we could all benefit and have great fun creating a nice Wiki where once the information is found by someone it can be found by everyone fairly easy. I'm hoping that people from Streetly and Markus to Mike Pinder and such can contribute as they wish.

Let's start tossing these ideas about.

-Sean

----- Original Message -----

From: Rick Blechta

To: newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Wednesday, October 07, 2009 3:04 PM

Subject: Re: [newmellotrongroup] Mellowiki?

On Oct 7, 2009, at 2:54 PM, tony1 wrote:

You just did man.

Tony

If we're gonna do a proper job of this, you're going to have to put a comma after the word "did", Tony.

;)

(Just yankin' your chain.)

On the serious side, I think this is a seriously good idea. Maybe the first thing to do is compile a list of all the sites that deal with mellotrons. That way we'll have a reference list of URLs for the end of it.

Now how do we go about gathering submissions and the like -- and where do we store all our information. I'd volunteer to be the editor, but I'm flat out too busy to take that on, but I would be willing to help out on a spot basis, or at least proofread things.

Rick

Yes, but to be fair, the proposed extent of the Wiki goes beyond where either book does, and that books involve 'buying the book', whereas a Wiki means you simply have to gather together information on the Internet and put it in one place where it can be found easily by a potentially unlimited number of people,.

Mike

MAinPsych@aol.com wrote:

Hi, Sean.

For starters, there's are two informative Mellotron books available that may answer a lot of your questions:

- my book, The Mellotron Book

- Nick Awde's book, Mellotron: The Machine and The Musicians That Revolutionised Rock

Frank Samagaio

El Cajon CA

owner, Red October Audio Recording

owner, Mellotron MkII #134 (ex-Moodies) / M400 #908

author, The Mellotron Book

In a message dated 10/7/2009 11:39:53 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, fourtytwominds@ yahoo.com writes:

I've been tossing around the idea of creating a Mellotron Wiki, or rather someone creating a Mellotron Wiki.

I know there is plenty of information out there, somewhere, about servicing these beasts, DIY adjustments, playing techniques, and how previous Mellotron Stars performed and had their Trons mixed into the records and during live shows.

It's very frustrating digging this sort of information up. The two Mellotron lists are great aids.

Still, I'm thinking we could all benefit and have great fun creating a nice Wiki where once the information is found by someone it can be found by everyone fairly easy. I'm hoping that people from Streetly and Markus to Mike Pinder and such can contribute as they wish.

Let's start tossing these ideas about.

-Sean

----- Original Message -----

From: Pomeroy RH Ranch

To: newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Wednesday, October 07, 2009 4:23 PM

Subject: RE: [newmellotrongroup] Mellowiki?

My 7th Grade teacher used to say – “If in doubt, leave it out”…..about comma’s

(all right – go ahead….)

-----Original Message-----
From: newmellotrongroup@ yahoogroups. com [mailto:newmellotro ngroup@yahoogrou ps.com] On Behalf Of tony1
Sent: Wednesday, October 07, 2009 12:43 PM
To: newmellotrongroup@ yahoogroups. com
Subject: Re: [newmellotrongroup] Mellowiki?

I used to "over coma" so I do it a lot less now.

Ton

----- Original Message -----

From: Rick Blechta

To: newmellotrongroup@ yahoogroups. com

Sent: Wednesday, October 07, 2009 3:04 PM

Subject: Re: [newmellotrongroup] Mellowiki?

On Oct 7, 2009, at 2:54 PM, tony1 wrote:

You just did man.

Tony

If we're gonna do a proper job of this, you're going to have to put a comma after the word "did", Tony.

;)

(Just yankin' your chain.)

On the serious side, I think this is a seriously good idea. Maybe the first thing to do is compile a list of all the sites that deal with mellotrons. That way we'll have a reference list of URLs for the end of it.

Now how do we go about gathering submissions and the like -- and where do we store all our information. I'd volunteer to be the editor, but I'm flat out too busy to take that on, but I would be willing to help out on a spot basis, or at least proofread things.

Rick

----- Original Message -----

From: Pomeroy RH Ranch

To: newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Wednesday, October 07, 2009 4:23 PM

Subject: RE: [newmellotrongroup] Mellowiki?

My 7th Grade teacher used to say – “If in doubt, leave it out”…..about comma’s

(all right – go ahead….)

-----Original Message-----
From: newmellotrongroup@ yahoogroups. com [mailto:newmellotro ngroup@yahoogrou ps.com] On Behalf Of tony1
Sent: Wednesday, October 07, 2009 12:43 PM
To: newmellotrongroup@ yahoogroups. com
Subject: Re: [newmellotrongroup] Mellowiki?

I used to "over coma" so I do it a lot less now.

Ton

----- Original Message -----

From: Rick Blechta

To: newmellotrongroup@ yahoogroups. com

Sent: Wednesday, October 07, 2009 3:04 PM

Subject: Re: [newmellotrongroup] Mellowiki?

On Oct 7, 2009, at 2:54 PM, tony1 wrote:

You just did man.

Tony

If we're gonna do a proper job of this, you're going to have to put a comma after the word "did", Tony.

;)

(Just yankin' your chain.)

On the serious side, I think this is a seriously good idea. Maybe the first thing to do is compile a list of all the sites that deal with mellotrons. That way we'll have a reference list of URLs for the end of it.

Now how do we go about gathering submissions and the like -- and where do we store all our information. I'd volunteer to be the editor, but I'm flat out too busy to take that on, but I would be willing to help out on a spot basis, or at least proofread things.

Rick

----- Original Message -----

From: Rick Blechta

To: newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Wednesday, October 07, 2009 4:53 PM

Subject: Re: [newmellotrongroup] Mellowiki?

On Oct 7, 2009, at 4:45 PM, tony1 wrote:

I did just that obviously.

Tony

No. You just did that, obviously.

----- Original Message -----

From: lsf5275@aol.com

To: newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Wednesday, October 07, 2009 7:10 PM

Subject: Re: [newmellotrongroup] Mellowiki?

Tony,

Normally, punctuation goes inside the quotes. For example, when you greet one of your buddies on the street you give high fives and say, "What it is?"

By the way, what's a synonym for, "synonym?"

Has anyone ever wondered why we can't smell the inside of our noses?

In a message dated 10/7/2009 6:40:40 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, atm655@verizon. net writes:

Yea I knew that one was wrong.

My bad.

"where is it at"? "what ya got"?, no "where is it"? and what do you have"? as long we're on butchery of the English language, those bugs me. "got" is not a synonym for "have" either.

Tony

510

----- Original Message -----

From: Rick Blechta

To: newmellotrongroup@ yahoogroups. com

Sent: Wednesday, October 07, 2009 4:53 PM

Subject: Re: [newmellotrongroup] Mellowiki?

On Oct 7, 2009, at 4:45 PM, tony1 wrote:

I did just that obviously.

Tony

No. You just did that, obviously.

How about "This is for you and I"?

Bernie

--- In newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com, "tony1" <atm655@...> wrote:
>
> Yea I knew that one was wrong.
> My bad.
> "where is it at"? "what ya got"?, no "where is it"? and what do you have"? as long we're on butchery of the English language, those bugs me. "got" is not a synonym for "have" either.
>
> Tony
> 510
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Rick Blechta
> To: newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Wednesday, October 07, 2009 4:53 PM
> Subject: Re: [newmellotrongroup] Mellowiki?
>
>
>
>
>
> On Oct 7, 2009, at 4:45 PM, tony1 wrote:
>
>
> I did just that obviously.
> Tony
>
>
> No. You just did that, obviously.
>

----- Original Message -----

From: lsf5275@aol.com

To: newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Thursday, October 08, 2009 1:28 AM

Subject: Re: [newmellotrongroup] Mellowiki?

I'm just having fun. No one here takes punctuation seriously except Rick, but he can't help it because he's a "professional" writer' (wink wink) and has been beaten up by editors for so many years that it's ingrained.

Frank

In a message dated 10/7/2009 8:18:37 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, atm655@verizon. net writes:

Thanks for the input, I do appreciate it!

--- In newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com, MAinPsych@... wrote:

>
>
> In a message dated 10/7/2009 12:57:23 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
> mike.dickson@... writes:
>
> Yes, but to be fair, the proposed extent of the Wiki goes beyond where
> either book does, and that books involve 'buying the book', whereas a Wiki
> means you simply have to gather together information on the Internet and put
> it in one place where it can be found easily by a potentially unlimited
> number of people,.
>
> Mike
>
>
>
> Agreed, and a Wiki site sounds like a great idea on paper. But then you
> have the near-impossible task of getting a consensus on any information from
> the people on this list. Opinions are like assholes; everybody has one.
> Just look at the history of posts on the list. Who's going to gather it,
> who's going to administer it, and, probably more importantly, who's going to
> say what's definitive on any given tron-related subject? What is the
> likelihood that Streetly/Markus is going to openly post "trade secrets"?
>
> Frank
>

This is exactly why I want to toss around the idea for a while.

On the end of repairs and DIY stuff with the 'Trons I'm thinking there is no reason why all the information would have to go up at once.

If that information were to go up at once I would certainly require Streely and Markus to post their trade secrets, or someone to post their trade secrets. I'm not going to be the ass that asks them to cut their own throats. Hell, I'm tossed up right now which 'Tron do I buy FIRST? The MkVI or the M4000?

However, a Wiki can snowball over years. As some of us more daring souls attempt our own fixes or changes, and if they do work (or if they fail spectacularly) that can be mulled over and then added to the Wiki.

I'm thinking we don't need consensus on what "correct" technique or mixing is. We also don't need a complete listing of everyone's technique. Perhaps our 'Tron veterans could come up with articles on the most classic techniques and mixing aesthetics for the 'Tron. Say maybe, the Pinder way, the Wakeman way, the McDonald/Fripp way, the later and more stringent Fripp/Cross way. Not that those are the only classic methods but I think it gets my point across.

Management I have no clue about. Maybe in a few years I'll have time to help the Wiki but like most people I'm particularly buried right now. I have about 10 minutes for this list and the other say every third day.

Let's keep debating!

-Sean

The only bit of the Mark VI I have seen is the headblock, and I am not a tron expert but I have played an M4000, Buy the M4000!!!!!

--- On Sat, 10/10/09, Sean <fourtytwominds@yahoo.com> wrote:

Hell, I'm tossed up right now which 'Tron do I buy FIRST? The MkVI or the M4000?

From: Sean <fourtytwominds@yahoo.com>
Subject: [newmellotrongroup] Re: Mellowiki?
To: newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com
Date: Saturday, October 10, 2009, 7:58 AM

--- In newmellotrongroup@ yahoogroups. com, MAinPsych@.. . wrote:
>
>
> In a message dated 10/7/2009 12:57:23 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
> mike.dickson@ ... writes:
>
> Yes, but to be fair, the proposed extent of the Wiki goes beyond where
> either book does, and that books involve 'buying the book', whereas a Wiki
> means you simply have to gather together information on the Internet and put
> it in one place where it can be found easily by a potentially unlimited
> number of people,.
>
> Mike
>
>
>
> Agreed, and a Wiki site sounds like a great idea on paper. But then you
> have the near-impossible task of getting a consensus on any information from
> the people on this list. Opinions are like assholes; everybody has one.
> Just look at the history of posts on the list. Who's going to gather it,
> who's going to administer it, and, probably more importantly, who's going to
> say what's definitive on any given tron-related subject? What is the
> likelihood that Streetly/Markus is going to openly post "trade secrets"?
>
> Frank
>

This is exactly why I want to toss around the idea for a while.

On the end of repairs and DIY stuff with the 'Trons I'm thinking there is no reason why all the information would have to go up at once.

If that information were to go up at once I would certainly require Streely and Markus to post their trade secrets, or someone to post their trade secrets. I'm not going to be the ass that asks them to cut their own throats. Hell, I'm tossed up right now which 'Tron do I buy FIRST? The MkVI or the M4000?

However, a Wiki can snowball over years. As some of us more daring souls attempt our own fixes or changes, and if they do work (or if they fail spectacularly) that can be mulled over and then added to the Wiki.

I'm thinking we don't need consensus on what "correct" technique or mixing is. We also don't need a complete listing of everyone's technique. Perhaps our 'Tron veterans could come up with articles on the most classic techniques and mixing aesthetics for the 'Tron. Say maybe, the Pinder way, the Wakeman way, the McDonald/Fripp way, the later and more stringent Fripp/Cross way. Not that those are the only classic methods but I think it gets my point across.

Management I have no clue about. Maybe in a few years I'll have time to help the Wiki but like most people I'm particularly buried right now. I have about 10 minutes for this list and the other say every third day.

Let's keep debating!

-Sean

Never played a MkVI but I know just how lovely the M4000 is. Buy one!

Love and Scones,

msw/M400 no151

To: newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com
From: fourtytwominds@yahoo.com
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 2009 18:58:55 +0000
Subject: [newmellotrongroup] Re: Mellowiki?