Mellotronists

Hi Ken
  yeah...you posted a couple of my tracks(from my CD HEAVEN AND 
EARTH) on there,so thanks for that.Too bad the project went into 
limbo.
  Martin had intended a Vol.2 Rime CD or a multi-part Mellotron 
Symphony,if I recall...             Charles Thaxton




--- In Mellotronists@yahoogroups.com, kenmerb@a... wrote:
> In a message dated 1/21/2005 5:42:15 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
> punchbowl4@e... writes:
> 
> > Yeah...Ken M....where is it....?
> > 
> > Since we have a bunch of new list members, maybe we should 
revive this
> > project. What made it bog down anyway? You know....We could do a 
Rime
> > Vol. 2, and this will spur on activity for a Vol. 3 closely 
thereafter,
> > hmmm?
> > 
> > Vance
> > 
> > 
> 
> I've gone through this already, but I'll do it one more time for 
those who 
> may have missed it, or are new to the list.
> 
> A couple of years ago, I created a website which included pictures 
and 
> information about my home studio and mellotron related experiences 
(much like Ken 
> Leonard's site).  At the time, my web hosting company offered huge 
amounts of 
> file space for free, so I thought it would be a great idea to get 
everyone to 
> submit any mellotron related tunes they created. I would upload 
them to my 
> website for everyone to hear (Ken Leonard had showed me how to do 
this).  Since 
> they were "originals", we wouldn't get into trouble, legally.
> 
> This quickly snowballed into a much larger project, the thought 
being that we 
> could create a CD of the best of these tunes, everyone on the 
mellotronist 
> list getting a vote.  People on this list offered their services 
in the form of 
> artwork for the cover, original tunes, and one of our members even 
offered to 
> make copies of the CD for everyone on the list (he worked in a CD 
production 
> facility at the time).
> 
> Now, I never called this "Rime 2", but that name started going 
around and it 
> kind of stuck.  I preferred "The Mellotron Project". This was more 
of an 
> amateur effort (no offense intended) than Rime, tunes were 
submitted by people like 
> me who are not necessarily professional musicians, just love the 
mellotron 
> and have the ability to record their playing.  As people would 
submit things, I 
> would put them on my web site for all to hear, along with the 
details of the 
> instruments played, mellotron sounds and musicians.  The thought 
was that we 
> would select the best and record the CD.  This was not meant to be 
a 
> professional thing at all, and I can only think of one or two 
tunes which were submitted 
> by a professional musician (the complete opposite of Rime).
> 
> Well, as KL put it so well, "life got in the way" for most of us.  
I didn't 
> receive as many submissions as I had hoped.  Many people who 
intended to do a 
> tune (including myself) never got around to recording one.  Hey, 
it's not easy, 
> when it comes right down to it.  We lost our CD production 
capability when 
> our production source changed jobs.  My first web host went under, 
and I changed 
> to another company.  Then *that* company had a dispute between the 
two 
> owners, which lead to closing down of the company (right after I 
had prepaid for a 
> year of service at a now pricey rate).  A third company took over 
the web 
> hosting, but most of the time the customers were left without 
service.  After a 
> couple of personal setbacks which soon followed, I decided to just 
let the 
> project and the website go.  
> 
> The upside is that we did get to hear original mellotron song 
submissions 
> from people all overf the world, at least for a while.  Someone on 
this list was 
> just asking about the Pink Floyd mellotron?  We had a nice tune on 
the site 
> from the current owner of that Streetly restored, ex-Pink Floyd 
MKII (now in 
> Israel), sounding very psychadellic indeed.  Now that I think 
about it, I miss 
> many of those tunes, like "The Cool Vibe of Asia C", which I think 
is going to 
> be available on the upcoming Systems Theory CD, from what I hear.  
Fritz's 
> terrific stuff was also on there, and I know his CD is coming out 
soon too.  
> Sundae Club is another example, same thing.  And I love Roc 
Burgo's stuff (anything 
> new Roc?), along with many of the other submissions.  So, I guess 
this wasn't 
> a total waste of time. Hopefully it spurred some people on to 
record their 
> own tunes.  Maybe we can resurrect it, never say never.  I still 
have the 
> recordings (starting to feel like Brian Wilson here).  Vance has 
every right to ask 
> "Yeah...Ken M....where is it....?".  He had the first submission, 
if I recall, 
> with some nice work on his Chamberlin.  The problem with doing 
something like 
> this is that it starts out being fun, and then it turns into a 
situation 
> where a lot of people are expecting something and it turns into 
work.
> 
> OK, so that's the story of "Rime 2".  I no longer have a web site 
(or the 
> desire to maintain one), so it wouldn't be easy to resurrect it.  
I hope that 
> anwers any questions.
> 
> Ken M.
> 
> 
> 
> I think KL summed it up rather well when he said that" Life got in 
the way".