Synthesist Jonathan Block shared this ambient improvisation featuring the classic sound of the Mellotron.
Here’s what Block shared about the technical details:
“Here’s an ambient Mellotron improv in AUM using the following apps from Igor Vasiliev: Stellarvox, VintageRack and Classic FX. Igor provided me with these apps since I’ve used his SpaceFields app extensively. The main sound is the classic Mk2 3 Violins but I also use sounds from the M400 such as cello, choirs, flute, oboe and saxophones.
This improv is based around Stellarvox, a hybrid reverb app that’s gives you extensive control over reverb tails, including space, tone and time. ClassicFX provides some modulation and delay while Vintage Rack is at the end of the chain for compression and to widen the stereo field with a Dimension D effect.”
It’s crazy that they can sell those new mellotrons for the price they are
It’s an extremely basic sample player with very limited control
Yup.
Well, it was basically just that when first invented.
Just a bit more mechanical (and therefore more expensive to make) back then.
Great video.
Markus Resch, the man behind the resurrection of the Mellotron, is a treasure. He has saved the brand from a chaotic past, restored hundreds of instruments, and created not only new tape instruments(!), but new digital replicas with all the “kinesthetic” aspects of the original. If you just want the sounds, there are indeed lots of other options for you, for little money. Get an app, plug in whatever keyboard you like – nothing wrong with that.
But, if you want the experience of the original, the feel, you cannot beat the Mellotron Micro or the Mini, but especially the “full-size” 4000D. The 4000D has the quirky, real wood keybed and the polyphonic aftertouch of the original tape instrument. The cabinet is made like furniture. In an age where everything is about how cheap things can be rather than how good they can be, Mellotron is an amazing example of the latter. It”s not for everybody, but it’s not trying to be.
Not crazy at all, lots of people want well-built instruments. I mean a guitar is just six strings making one “basic sound” and people still obsess over how it’s made and how it feels to play.
Just cause something is out of your budget doesn’t mean it needs to stress you out.
You can get a lot of Mellotron for small change in software now. It depends on how big you need it to be. If you only want a few classic sounds, they come in a lot of hardware as well. I like the basics, but there are also times when a grainy sax section is a perfect fit. It may not be the #1 choice for leads, but its a great supporting player.
I understand the complaints about these units: high price, limited features, the better options via software. They’re all valid. But if you own one of these, you just get it. I’ve had a Mellotron Micro for three years, and there’s just something about it that rules, especially in a live situation. You perch it on top of an organ, set the logo light to hot pink, and you’ve just elevated the vibe x1,000. Huge fan of these. This video is great too, btw.
jd; I’m glad its serving you well. One other plus, for me: my controllers are 3 and 4 octaves, so I have ample key range for the Mellotron. Its a beautiful form of weirdness that 3 octaves can emit all of that. Limitations be damned.