Electro-Harmonix Mel9 Turns Your Guitar Or Keyboard Into A Mellotron

electro-harmonix-Mel9-mellotron-effectElectro-Harmonix has introduced the Mel9 Tape Replay Machine – a new effect designed to turn your guitar (or keyboard) into a Mellotron.

The Mel9 ‘pays homage to nine of the coolest Mellotron sounds’, according to EXH:

  • Orchestra
  • Cello
  • Strings
  • Flut
  • Clarinet
  • Saxophon
  • Brass
  • Low Choir and
  • High Choir

Here’s the official demo video, featuring Bill Ruppert:

Features:

  • Works on guitar without modifications, special pickups or MIDI implementation and tracks bends, slides, even ‘whammy dive bombs’.
  • Also works with bass guitar down to the open A string as well as keyboards
  • Includes independent Effect and Dry volume controls so you can create the perfect mix at the Effects output
  • Dry Output jack outputs your input signal at unity gain
  • Attack control sets the volume swell speed. As it’s turned clockwise the notes fade in more gradually
  • Sustain control adjusts the release time after a sound is stopped. As it’s turned clockwise, the fade out time increase
  • Comes with a standard EHX 9.6DC200mA PSU

Unfortunately, Electro-Harmonix has not shared a demo of the Mel9 with keyboards at this time.

The Mel9 is available now, with a list price of $295.10.

19 thoughts on “Electro-Harmonix Mel9 Turns Your Guitar Or Keyboard Into A Mellotron

  1. “There are no tracking problems as this pedal does not trigger samples.” “bass guitar down to its low A string”.

    The tracking in the demo seems pretty quick and glitch-free. Makes me wonder what is going on instead of samples. Perhaps it is some kind of spectral re-vamping.

    1. my guess is its mostly a synth of its own, with note detection algorithm up front to guide the voices. maybe not just samples but definitely a synth of some kind. will probably grab one of these for sure wow.

  2. Sounds like a must have, and a nice price compared to other Mellotron emulation machines …
    I would like to see a demo with keyboard inputt though, and I’m curious about the latency at the low frequency range, where more time is needed to convert audio to a frequency spectrum.

  3. Speechless on this pedal……..I have the Waldorf Streichfett…..and when I need that full atmospheric orchestral sound I dial in its beauty……I’ll get this EHX Mel9 pedal…..even if I have to hock a couple of Eurorack modules…

    1. Yes, given the awesome filters, sequencers and synths they build (and their expression pedal inputs are already CV compatible), we should really petition them to hop onto the eurorack wagon.

  4. Ain’t nuthin’ like the Real thing, baby!
    Just like an Ibanez is not a Strat…
    Love Orig Muff, Dlx Mem Man, and Dlx El Mistress!!!
    Love Trons & Chamberlins-this is not even on par with the samples, which are NOT as good as Trons! New Trons are Lovely!!!!

  5. i think it’s additive synthesis inside. keeps adding different harmonics to the basic guitar tone. under all those tones, you can hear a sort of organ like feel.

  6. First piece of music in the demo: King Crimson!!!

    Sounds great, and far better than any Mellotron emulation software I’ve seen/heard.

    I’d like to hear this pushed by a synth – some of the voices don’t seem to do as well with the percussive attack that the guitar delivers in certain note ranges.

  7. You could blow people’s tiny minds hooking that up to a little Casio key board! I’ve been looking for a good set of mellotron sounds a long time. I have some in one of my Rolands, but the flexibility here looks great.

    1. Already used it live…had people cocking their heads like a confused puppy wondering where it was coming from. During a break a dude asked me if we were using samples…Ha Ha

  8. Just got it today. Orchestra, strings, Flute, and 2 choruses sound great right out of the box. The brass sax and clarinet don’t sound right to me, but maybe I need to tinker some more. Absolutely worth it for the first five settings I mentioned. Played King Crimson’s Starless, (using the strings setting) and it sounds amazingly close to the real melo used on the record. It’s a hoot, mind blowingly great atmospheres…fricken symphony in a box for 2 bills.

  9. This pedal is pretty cool, I own oone, but remember it is meant to sound like melotron samples and not the real thing. While it does everything well it is still made to sound like a melotron which sounds like a synthetic sample of an instrument.

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