Mellotronists

Perhaps a mating of Mellotrons would result in a tape frame with two tracks 
of various sound effects and one track of three octaves of baby cries and 
screams. Before I had a Mellotron I tried to get this effect using one baby and one 
#4 mallet. Unfortunately, with only 10 fingers and 10 toes with which to 
work, I was only able to extract slightly more than two and one-half octaves. 
Spectacularly clear in the upper registers though, I must say.

Frank (last name withheld out of fear)

Jimmy Moore wrote:

>>I wonder what the children of F/X#006 and M400 #285 would be 
like................ <<

lsf5275@... wrote:

> Perhaps a mating of Mellotrons would result in a tape frame with two tracks
> of various sound effects and one track of three octaves of baby cries and
> screams. Before I had a Mellotron I tried to get this effect using one baby and one
> #4 mallet. Unfortunately, with only 10 fingers and 10 toes with which to
> work, I was only able to extract slightly more than two and one-half octaves.
> Spectacularly clear in the upper registers though, I must say.
>
> Frank (last name withheld out of fear)

_________________________________________________________________

Uh-Oh, Frank, you're right !  One political candidate (name withheld)
confused the standard  PR practice of shaking hands and kissing babies.

He doing 5 to 10 in Leavenworth, after stealing five and ten in Woolworth.
---- Withheld,waiting for Ransom--

oh, BROTHER what a topic to entertain during the spells of inactivity 
between pertinent postings, but I see lots of comedy potential here. 
Raising young Mellotrons I'm sure is no easy task. The eight-second 
temper tantrums. Child-proofing the electrical outlets. Wanting to 
play when it's raining outside. Taking the top off during 
feedings. "changing" them. Carseats when traveling--and then later on-
-acne, peer pressure, staying out late, first job in a recording 
studio at minimum wage, etc. etc. etc.

"First, you got to plug the male into the female..." - The Firesign 
Theater, 1970

Y'know,

Mellotrons are a lot like people. Especially those of us who grew up in the 
60s and 70s. Some have aged better than others. And perhaps, as we've aged, 
we've gotten a little rough around the edges. Some of us wear the years of abuse 
we've been though, plainly visible, for others to see. We've been burned, some 
of more than once. We've had a few drinks dumped on us in the past. We've 
been neglected and in some cases, perhaps become a little warped. We were the 
voices of our youth. Heard far and wide.

Now, our voices have become a little ravaged over time. Some of us have not 
been in a smoke free environment and so now we don't sing as clearly or in key 
as we once did.

But, like Mellotrons, sometimes all it takes is some renewed attention; 
someone to find our inner beauty and bring it back out ... to give us a new purpose 
and a reason to sing again.


A famous philosopher once said, "Like fine wine, we mellow with age. And as 
we age, we mellow with wine."


Frank (400SM # 1562) 

Looking to bring out the beauty and restore the voices of all who come my way.

> Mellotrons are a lot like people.

Not really. Not enough people shut the hell up after eight seconds.

Mike Dickson (tron@...) M400 #996
The Official Cynic of Streetly Electronics
Streetly Sample Library http://www.blackcat.demon.co.uk/tron/

<<.....The eight-second temper tantrums. Child-proofing the electrical 
outlets. Wanting to play when it's raining outside. Taking the top off during 
feedings. "changing" them. Carseats when traveling--and then later on- acne, peer 
pressure, staying out late, first job in a recording studio at minimum wage, 
etc. etc. etc.>>

I think we may be onto something here. 
as a broadcast engineer, I frequently come across this sort of 
anthropomorphising, and there are many machines- for the most part, complex 
electromechanical assemblies like sony betacarts, odetics or storagetek tape-libraries- to 
which a certain spirit is attributed, especially during spells of misbehaviour.  
all the physics degrees and prosaic scientific reasoning in the world aren't 
going to reverse this trend amongst engineers, but now I see it for what it 
is- womb-envy. 
I've just got back home from a week away- gigging in holland, sans 'tron 
sadly, and my first instinct when I got home was to go and look in what I now 
believe to be a surrogate nursery, to see if 1098 was still there. along with a 
memorymoog and some guitars, and a few 1/4" decks....
and it certainly helps explain the nappy-hamper anecdote of old.

but 1098 is nearly 30 years old- will it ever learn to change it's own frames?

as for coupling and procreation- I think all 400s are the same sex, so that's 
out. 
and mine definitely isn't a batty-tron.

d.