Mellotronists

OK, I've been waiting for a good time to show everyone something I found on 
the internet, so here it is.  It's a demonstration of the operation of a single 
note of a mellotron, complete with moving graphics and sound.  And it's 
interactive.  Just click on the mellotron key to play the note, and you'll see what 
happens mechanically inside a mellotron to make the sound play.  Here's the 
link:

<A HREF="http://www.keyboardmuseum.org/v_teach/mellotron.html">http://www.keyboardmuseum.org/v_teach/mellotron.html</A>

Most of you probably know how this works, but it is a good visual.

And, in case someone asks what's to gain by "rounding" the edges of your 
pinch rollers, this will help show you.  By rounding the edges, the rollers tend 
to drive the tape in a straighter path, reducing the chance that it will go off 
to the side and wrap around the roller, as happened to Rick's SFX machine at 
'Tronto II (hi Frank ;-).  This is usually only done on pinch rollers that 
have gone hard and are somewhat concave, causing the problem.  If yours are like 
that, or if you've had trouble with tape wrapping around the pinch rollers, 
rounding the edges could be a solution.

The "virtual mellotron" demo is courtesy of Joseph Rivers, who runs a 
keyboard museum in Orlando (but no mellotron, last time I checked).  He's given me 
the complete tour, and it's quite a place.

Ken M.

Oh good! Now I won't have to take the front cover off so often to show
people. Neato!

However I must admit that it's one of life's simple pleasures, when we have
a visitor (like from work) who is a technical person but not a musician, and
I say "you gotta see this", and I fire up a tron and show the guts while it
plays a mixed choir or something. Sometimes they fall over.


- Gene

-----Original Message-----
From: kenmerb@... [mailto:kenmerb@...]
Sent: Thursday, October 16, 2003 11:02 AM
To: mellotronists@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Mellotronists] Mellotron Demo


OK, I've been waiting for a good time to show everyone something I found on
the internet, so here it is.  It's a demonstration of the operation of a
single note of a mellotron, complete with moving graphics and sound.  And
it's interactive.  Just click on the mellotron key to play the note, and
you'll see what happens mechanically inside a mellotron to make the sound
play.  Here's the link:

http://www.keyboardmuseum.org/v_teach/mellotron.html

Most of you probably know how this works, but it is a good visual.

And, in case someone asks what's to gain by "rounding" the edges of your
pinch rollers, this will help show you.  By rounding the edges, the rollers
tend to drive the tape in a straighter path, reducing the chance that it
will go off to the side and wrap around the roller, as happened to Rick's
SFX machine at 'Tronto II (hi Frank ;-).  This is usually only done on pinch
rollers that have gone hard and are somewhat concave, causing the problem.
If yours are like that, or if you've had trouble with tape wrapping around
the pinch rollers, rounding the edges could be a solution.

The "virtual mellotron" demo is courtesy of Joseph Rivers, who runs a
keyboard museum in Orlando (but no mellotron, last time I checked).  He's
given me the complete tour, and it's quite a place.

Ken M.

Hi all!

Thanks for putting this up, Ken. I've been looking for something like 
this for my own website. I've now included a link.

If anyone is interested, after having a lot of requests from the hordes 
of the unwashed (mellotronistically speaking), as to what these darn 
things sound like, I've also put up an MP3 of a band I used to play 
with in the mid-70s (Devotion). It's from a demo we did in '74, and 
while it is entirely atypical from the band's usual repertoire (I mean, 
we're talking light years away!), it does have some very nice mellotron 
on it, if I do say so myself. See if you can find the mellotron flute 
among the real ones. There's also 3 violins and mixed choir. This is 
indeed my SFX console (I've had it almost 30 YEARS?!!). We traded my 
original 400 for a drummer we really coveted whom another Toronto band 
had at the time. That band eventually turned into Saga, so he probably 
got the short end of the stick... Check out http://rickblechta.com and 
look for "Mellotrons" under the music tab in the top navigation bar.

As for rounding off the pinch rollers (Martinizing), I have to say that 
it does work a treat. I did it after the mishap at Tronto MkII and 
haven't had any further trouble -- although I never pressed keys down 
anything but straight which probably accounts for the problem not 
arising before MkII. And that's an important point that usually isn't 
discussed. If you want the very best sound and even tracking, your 
playing technique must be such that you depress the keys straight down. 
There is enough play between them (and they have been known to warp, 
too), so that the pressure from the pinch roller and pressure pad can 
become rather uneven. Have trouble with fidelity on the outside tracks? 
This could be the reason.

I, too, can attest to the stability of the Streetly motor control card. 
My mellotron has never been more stable. And it went in easier than you 
can imagine -- mainly because it was JB himself who put it in at Tronto 
MkII. I merely had to bring him tea when he asked. So civilized, these 
Brits...

Rick

On Thursday, October 16, 2003, at 02:01 PM, kenmerb@... wrote:

> OK, I've been waiting for a good time to show everyone something I 
> found on the internet, so here it is.  It's a demonstration of the 
> operation of a single note of a mellotron, complete with moving 
> graphics and sound.  And it's interactive.  Just click on the 
> mellotron key to play the note, and you'll see what happens 
> mechanically inside a mellotron to make the sound play.  Here's the 
> link:
>
> http://www.keyboardmuseum.org/v_teach/mellotron.html
>
> Most of you probably know how this works, but it is a good visual.
>
> And, in case someone asks what's to gain by "rounding" the edges of 
> your pinch rollers, this will help show you.  By rounding the edges, 
> the rollers tend to drive the tape in a straighter path, reducing the 
> chance that it will go off to the side and wrap around the roller, as 
> happened to Rick's SFX machine at 'Tronto II (hi Frank ;-).  This is 
> usually only done on pinch rollers that have gone hard and are 
> somewhat concave, causing the problem.  If yours are like that, or if 
> you've had trouble with tape wrapping around the pinch rollers, 
> rounding the edges could be a solution.

Good visual Ken.  Thank you.
I sent this link off to a few feriends.
They say thanks too!!

Clay

On Friday, October 17, 2003, at 01:02  am, Rick Blechta wrote:

  So civilized, these Brits...


Usually, yes, but it's the first time I've ever heard the term used in 
conjunction with the Streetly Boys....

C