The Mellotron Group

I agree. I have no problem with digital. I have no problem with cabinets  
that simulate a Mellotron onstage.If you are the  Musical Box, especially 
post Pierre (PP), it was all about recreating the look  as well as the sound. 
You don't need a real Mellotron for that. Today I was  witness to a live 
performance of a band with two M4000Ds. They sounded great.  Interestingly the 
two band members who played them told me that in the  studio they prefer the 
real thing. Besides, who wants to play a real one outside  in humid 
90+degree weather? Also, I could easily tell that supposedly familiar  voices did 
not sound accurate, especially the Chamberlin voices. They  agree. I suspect 
that this is because Markus cannot sample every voice  from the Chamberlin 
600, 500 or M series. He would be forever loading and  offloading tapes. So 
the sounds come directly from the master tapes I would  guess, and never 
actually pass over Chamberlin heads when being sampled. I am  sure this is the 
same with many of the Mellotron voices.

Still, they  sounded cool and since the music was all original, there was 
nothing to  recreate. I know that I enjoy bringing the near dead back to life 
or making a  decent machine just a bit better but it doesn't bother me one 
bit if people  simulate the look and sound onstage. 

Because of the hassle of lugging a 130 pound (or more) machine  around and 
the fear of banging up a really pretty one, even though real  Mellotrons are 
more reliable than ever and transport well, I can see wanting to  leave the 
real one at home and take a digital facsimile instead. People aren't  
likely to walk out because it ain't analog.

There will always be people  that want the real thing. I never have to 
resort to eBay. Either does Streetly.  They make magic in a box with the M4000 
and I can't imagine their order list  drying up no matter how many M4000Ds 
are cranked out. M4000Ds aren't amazing.  Cool and fun but NOT amazing. The 
M4000 IS amazing.
 
Frank (Mellotron fixer and proud owner of a 5 year old M4000 that I  
absolutely love and will NEVER put on stage.)
 
 
In a message dated 8/31/2014 5:56:31 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com writes:
 
 
 
 
That's a really weird and (frankly) weird attitude to take.  There are only 
a finite number of Mellotrons around, and people want to  use that sound.  
How else to get it?    


To berate people for wanting the sound they love by whatever means is  open 
to them is fine by me.  I am sure you can be a purist if you like,  but 
it's a strange kind of existence to make for yourself.  Yes, I  know and you 
know that the real thing sound better than a  sampler, but in the absence of 
one, why not use the other?  


If people want to put samplers inside fake Mellotron cases then I really  
couldn't care less.  You are seemingly being concerned with the medium  and 
not the message.  The instrument is just a means by which the sound -  which 
is ultimately all that this (or any other instrument) is - can be  
communicated, and most people who hear it and love it couldn't care.  


Do you feel you are being left behind?



On 30 August 2014 11:50, Chris Dale _unobtainiumkeys@gmail.com_ 
(mailto:unobtainiumkeys@gmail.com)   [newmellotrongroup] 
<_newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com_ (mailto:newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com) > wrote:


 
 
 
 
So just think - if true:


All the hard work these last 20 years - all the years of cleaning and  
preserving of tapes, recording them, archiving them, saving the sounds to  
computers, changing pinch rollers, pressure pads, cleaning capstans,  adjusting 
tape head azimuth, re-doing the cycling mechanisms, track  selectors, 
re-wiring power supplies, installing motors, re-building old  machines, re-doing 
the cabinets....making new parts......and the money, and  energy,  and time 
spent to do it.....to first save and then  re-introduce the instrument  


it's all being shit upon by someone with a sampler and a case to fool  
people with. 
Some guy who wants to bask in the glow of others accomplishments,  others 
music history, and years of toil and countless hard work by other  people he 
never supported or contributed to. 


At least other people who have done something similar have bought real  
Mellotrons or digital products from Streetly or Mellotron. and are  supporting 
them. They keep it going.




I hope you're wrong Frank. 




Well.....I guess walking around with Pabst Blue Ribbon bottles and  
secretly having cheap Chinese beer inside will be next. :)






























 


On Sat, Aug 30, 2014 at 4:00 AM, _lsf5275@aol.com_ (mailto:lsf5275@aol.com) 
 [newmellotrongroup] <_newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com_ 
(mailto:newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com) > wrote:


 
 
 
I don't think it is a real Mellotron.  I think it is a cabinet with a 
sampler in it. It's too tall for a Mark VI  or an M400 and not deep enough front 
to back to be an M4000. There is no  continuous hinge on the lid so it 
wasn't made by Markus or Streetly and  the cut-outs in to lower back panel aren't 
right. I think it's a  fake.

Frank (Real M400, Real M4000, Real Mark II)
 


 
In a message dated 8/30/2014 2:46:48 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, 
_newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com_ (mailto:newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com)  writes:

 
I thought that as well.  


None of this sounds 'live' to me at all except for the lead singing  and 
the drums.



The background vocals are especially fake.




Those aren't Mellotron strings. The Mellotron is inaudible. The  players ha
nds don't match what he's playing.
Looks like it was used as a prop.






This is a double edged sword for me. It's always nice to see a  Mellotron 
on a mainstream show, but this also somehow always comes  across like someone 
taking some great painting and using it as a coffee  table with a person 
putting his coffee mug down on it and saying 'look  how cool (but in reality - 
uncool) I am'.



I'm sure that's not the intended effect.  




But it's like the hipster version of the cliche black grand piano  you see 
in someone's grand spacious home. It sits there, looks nice, is  regularly 
polished - and never gets played. The impression it makes is a  
non-impression. 




The music itself is okay. I liked it. The melodies and arrangements  are 
interesting. The songs are good.




But this performance itself seems more about catering to the  hipster crowd 
- probably not the bands doing if they're on a show like  Jimmy Kimmel. 
(And the crowd noise is also fake - at the beginning of  Runaway - you hear 
more people cheering then are actually there)  


I'd like to see *genuine* live performances from them and listen to  more 
of their songs to decide whether I truly like them or  not. 


The music is impressive, this 'live' performance isn't. 


In a music video - okay, never a problem.  


But don't present something as 'live' and lie about it.  We  now have the 
technology (mics, amps, etc.) to put on the best live  shows.
Never before in the history of the world has that been  possible.


There's no excuse in this day and age for this. 




Yes, you can argue TV's been doing this for years. But that's  beside the 
point. 
It's never acceptable or worthwhile - regardless of who is doing  it.




Bullshit is bullshit.     















On Fri, Aug 29, 2014 at 10:05 PM, markpringnz  <_no_reply@yahoogroups.com_ 
(mailto:no_reply@yahoogroups.com) > wrote:


 
 
 
I meant doesn't sound live.



































-- 
Mike Dickson  
Edinburgh