Sir Paul McCartney demonstrates the Mellotron, in this section of his Chaos and Creation at Abbey Road, a 2005 live show at Abbey Road Studios, Studio 2.
Paul McCartney Explains The Mellotron
16
Tag Archives: The Beatles
Switched On Beatles – ‘Because’
Sunday Synth Jam: Reader Rob Schwimmer sent in this ‘switched on’ cover of The Beatles’ Because.
Here’s what he has to say about it:
I wanted to do a track with polyphonic playing, poly vibrato (!), etc and this well-known (ahem!) piece seemed like a good fit for that… An imperfect performance but really fun to play! Check out the part near the end (2:05 & 2:15) when I get to bring out the other synth line just with poly pressure–Way cool!
Don’t judge the sound of this incredible instrument by my camera’s cheesy mic… It is gorgeous in person (or in a decent recording.)
Beatles “The Long And Winding Road” On Theremin
Peter Pringle’s cover of The Beatles’ The Long And Winding Road, performed on Moog Ethervox theremin.
via copperleaves:
This song is called THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD and it was one of the last songs the Beatles did together (1970) before the group broke up. For me, this video was an experiment in trying to play precision theremin and sing at the same time. I found that the best I could do was play “fills” (short instrumental phrases between the melody lines), so I only sang one verse.
The song itself has a very interesting history and has its own article on Wikipedia, at the following URL:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long_And_Winding_Road
The theremin I am playing is a Moog Ethervox, and I am singing into a Sennheiser headset microphone.
M4000D Digital Mellotron (Demo Video)
This video offers a quick demo of the M4000D Digital Mellotron.
Yes – it’s a digital Mellotron, but it sounds & looks pretty wicked.
Check it out and let us know what you think of the M4000D Digital Mellotron! Continue reading
Amazing Pin-Barrel Harp, Paid For By Your Lottery Dollars
This is off-topic and insane, but not to be missed.
The Pin-Barrel Harp is now close to completion and is shown being put through some trial performances by Henry Dagg and Chris Wood, who cover The Long and Winding Road.
The Pin-barrel Harp is a sound-sculpture designed as a public-access acoustic composing machine in honour of Cecil Sharp, it has been commissioned by the English Folk Dance & Song Society and funded by the Big Lottery fund.
Vocals: Chris Wood; arranging/programming: Henry Dagg, who has to wind the machine manually until the motor is fitted.
via goodmart22, The Telegraph
Bob Moog At The 2010 NAMM Show
Bob Moog may be gone, his legacy lives on.
The Bob Moog Foundation will be co-sponsoring three events at the 2010 NAMM Show, which takes place in Anaheim, CA on January 14-17, 2009 at the Anaheim Convention Center:
An Evening Celebrating The Legacy of Vintage Keyboards Through Documentary Film – On Friday night, January 15th, from 6-8pm in the Avila Room at the Anaheim Hilton, synthesist Amin Bhatia and documentary filmmaker Dianna Dilworth headline an evening exploring the evolution and impact of vintage keyboards.
Amin Bhatia will be joined by Michelle Moog-Koussa, Executive Director of the Bob Moog Foundation for a question and answer session followed by a screening of a short documentary on the making of his innovative realization of Bolero Electronica, for which he used over 70 synthesizers covering 75 years of evolution in synthesis in music. The documentary features rock legends Steve Porcaro and Patrick Moraz and Roland Founder Ikutaro Kakehashi.
Following Bhatia, Dianna Dilworth and Markus Resch of the Mellotron Archive will screen Mellodrama: The Mellotron Movie (above) which explores the rising and falling fortunes of the Mellotron ? the first musical keyboard to ?sample? the sounds of other instruments ? from its birth in a California garage in the 1950s, through its dominance on concert stages in the 1970s, through its almost religious cult of followers in the 2000s. From the Beatles? ?Strawberry Fields? to Black Sabbath to Kanye West, Mellodrama traces a 50-year odyssey of musical invention, revolution, betrayal, and rediscovery. Continue reading