Mellotronists

... Greetings, All...

...Yes, it's true... Ken Merbler stopped by to say "Hi" after the
Iceberg show. I brought the Microtron in to work... (I work at our local
Guitar Center, as a sales associate in "Pro-Audio / Keyboards"... which
is a career shift I made at the first of the year after nearly 30 years
in broadcasting...) per Ken's request... and yes... he did a "Quick
Time" movie  of me "attempting" to play a few measures of "Nights in
White Satin" ... and I never looked goofier!!! Ken.. I hope my image
didn't break the lens...  you are a true gentleman... it was a blast
meeting you... and  talking about all things Tronatic... and I promise
you the next time you stop by down here... I won't try to sell you
anything... really!!!   [ ... yeah, right... ;^)) ]

While I'm here... I'd like to second Ken's observations of the Iceberg
show... and Mike's comments... It's interesting... a number of the great
mellotronists of the past... Pinder, Fripp, Wakeman, Banks, etc... have
"moved on" to sampling... yet a lot of them still use 'Tron samples in
their set-ups. Mike Iceberg is no exception to this... I heard his old
"3 Violins" samples during the show I attended. Ken's right... if you
listen to "Iceberg Does It Live", his first CD... his Chamberlin violins
are richer... and more accurate then the run of the mill "3 Violins"
sounds... and there are no "wobbles"! I don't know what EQ settings
Mike used  on his Chamberlins... but he did use quite a bit of reverb
and compression in his processing. As to the possibility of his violin
sounds  being a custom set... only Mike, or the Chamberlin folks would
know for sure... but if they are... and were made available again... and
if I owned a "real" 'Tron... that sound bank would be at the top of my
"wish list"!!! As for "covers"... Mike has been known to play "Layla"...
"Here Comes The Sun" ... and "Stairway To Heaven"... along with the
Moodies in his shows.

Well... that's it for now... Thanks again Ken, for visiting me last
Friday... you really made my day! Next time you visit... I'll make sure
I have my CD of "The Smell Of Incense" for you to listen to.

J.P.

Microtron 001 "J.P. looked "goofy"... I looked FANTASTIC!!!"

The 'violin' sound on the Chamberlin M series is a single violin and recorded
rather on the dry side - as are the cello, flute, voices, various brass
instruments, vibes, guitar, banjo...... I think this gives the Chamby it's
"get's lost in the mix" reputation as the recording engineer has to
understand how to process it to bring it out. (I just got the Neil
Merryweather 'Space Rangers" album on Andy T's recommendation - the Chamby is
quite in your face - cool!) But it also gives a clean slate to work with. DK
has the entire Chamberlin library of sounds. I'm pretty sure he can put any
Chamberlin sound on the Mellotron tape format of your choice.
Cheers - Vance
tronlord@... wrote:

> ... Greetings, All...
>
> ...Yes, it's true... Ken Merbler stopped by to say "Hi" after the
> Iceberg show. I brought the Microtron in to work... (I work at our local
> Guitar Center, as a sales associate in "Pro-Audio / Keyboards"... which
> is a career shift I made at the first of the year after nearly 30 years
> in broadcasting...) per Ken's request... and yes... he did a "Quick
> Time" movie  of me "attempting" to play a few measures of "Nights in
> White Satin" ... and I never looked goofier!!! Ken.. I hope my image
> didn't break the lens...  you are a true gentleman... it was a blast
> meeting you... and  talking about all things Tronatic... and I promise
> you the next time you stop by down here... I won't try to sell you
> anything... really!!!   [ ... yeah, right... ;^)) ]
>
> While I'm here... I'd like to second Ken's observations of the Iceberg
> show... and Mike's comments... It's interesting... a number of the great
> mellotronists of the past... Pinder, Fripp, Wakeman, Banks, etc... have
> "moved on" to sampling... yet a lot of them still use 'Tron samples in
> their set-ups. Mike Iceberg is no exception to this... I heard his old
> "3 Violins" samples during the show I attended. Ken's right... if you
> listen to "Iceberg Does It Live", his first CD... his Chamberlin violins
> are richer... and more accurate then the run of the mill "3 Violins"
> sounds... and there are no "wobbles"! I don't know what EQ settings
> Mike used  on his Chamberlins... but he did use quite a bit of reverb
> and compression in his processing. As to the possibility of his violin
> sounds  being a custom set... only Mike, or the Chamberlin folks would
> know for sure... but if they are... and were made available again... and
> if I owned a "real" 'Tron... that sound bank would be at the top of my
> "wish list"!!! As for "covers"... Mike has been known to play "Layla"...
> "Here Comes The Sun" ... and "Stairway To Heaven"... along with the
> Moodies in his shows.
>
> Well... that's it for now... Thanks again Ken, for visiting me last
> Friday... you really made my day! Next time you visit... I'll make sure
> I have my CD of "The Smell Of Incense" for you to listen to.
>
> J.P.
>
> Microtron 001 "J.P. looked "goofy"... I looked FANTASTIC!!!"
>
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> Mellotronists-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>
>
>
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-----Original Message-----

From: The Pomeroy Ranch [mailto:punchbowl4@...]
Sent: 09 February 2002 02:39
To: Mellotron list
Subject: Re: [Mellotronists] Iceberg... And Merbler...


Vance


I just got the Neil
Merryweather 'Space Rangers" album on Andy T's recommendation - the Chamby
is
quite in your face - cool!


Does that mean it's out on CD? Missed that one!

Andy T.
M400 #1145

http://freespace.virgin.net/andy.thompson/