The Mellotron Group group photo

Yahoo Groups archive

The Mellotron Group

Index last updated: 2026-04-28 23:38 UTC

Thread

New Member Introduction

New Member Introduction

2008-03-05 by John LeVasseur

Hi All,

New member here just saying hi. The name here is John and I own a M400
#752. 

Love to use Mellotron in my music. If you want you can hear it on my
MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/airfoilband of which there are
three songs featuring the M400. 

Check out the song named "Next Step Off" for the classic mellotron
string thing. The song titled "Return of the Parson" features about 8
tracks of various mellotron choir parts multi-tracked. I had to
multitrack because this M400 still has the CMC10 board and the pitch
drop was too much to deal with. Haha! Most of these songs are works in
progress and do not have vocals and guitars yet, and are ruff mixes as
well.

Also, I just finished the final mix on a Bach Concerto (Concerto in Dm
(BMV-1052) which was recorded in a church with a real Harpsichord, a
Hammond C3 and a large analog modular synth from Synthesizers.com. The
piece is a rock adaptation with drums similar in style to something
ELP or Rick Wakeman would do. A bit off topic since it has no
Mellotron, but I happen to be a little proud of it, so there it is.

I also posted some pics of my M400 in the photos section of this
group. Will be posting soon since the ol' dog is in need of
restoration at this point and I will have some questions very soon.

Thanks,

John LeVasseur

Re: [newmellotrongroup] New Member Introduction

2008-03-05 by Rick Blechta

On Mar 5, 2008, at 5:21 PM, John LeVasseur wrote:

> Hi All,
>
> New member here just saying hi. The name here is John and I own a M400
> #752.
>
> Love to use Mellotron in my music. If you want you can hear it on my
> MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/airfoilband of which there are
> three songs featuring the M400.
>
> Check out the song named "Next Step Off" for the classic mellotron
> string thing. The song titled "Return of the Parson" features about 8
> tracks of various mellotron choir parts multi-tracked. I had to
> multitrack because this M400 still has the CMC10 board and the pitch
> drop was too much to deal with. Haha! Most of these songs are works in
> progress and do not have vocals and guitars yet, and are ruff mixes as
> well.
>
> Also, I just finished the final mix on a Bach Concerto (Concerto in Dm
> (BMV-1052) which was recorded in a church with a real Harpsichord, a
> Hammond C3 and a large analog modular synth from Synthesizers.com. The
> piece is a rock adaptation with drums similar in style to something
> ELP or Rick Wakeman would do. A bit off topic since it has no
> Mellotron, but I happen to be a little proud of it, so there it is.
>
> I also posted some pics of my M400 in the photos section of this
> group. Will be posting soon since the ol' dog is in need of
> restoration at this point and I will have some questions very soon.
>
> Thanks,
>
> John LeVasseur

Welcome!

I'll leave it to someone else to give you the usual new-guy-on-the- 
board personal insults and put-down remarks.

;)

Rick

Re: New Member Introduction

2008-03-05 by Bernie

--- In newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com, "John LeVasseur" 
<jrlaudio@...> wrote:
>
> Hi All,
> 
> New member here just saying hi. The name here is John and I own a 
M400
> #752. 
> 
> Love to use Mellotron in my music. If you want you can hear it on my
> MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/airfoilband of which there 
are
> three songs featuring the M400. 
> 
> Check out the song named "Next Step Off" for the classic mellotron
> string thing. The song titled "Return of the Parson" features about 
8
> tracks of various mellotron choir parts multi-tracked. I had to
> multitrack because this M400 still has the CMC10 board and the pitch
> drop was too much to deal with. Haha! Most of these songs are works 
in
> progress and do not have vocals and guitars yet, and are ruff mixes 
as
> well.
> 
> Also, I just finished the final mix on a Bach Concerto (Concerto in 
Dm
> (BMV-1052) which was recorded in a church with a real Harpsichord, a
> Hammond C3 and a large analog modular synth from Synthesizers.com. 
The
> piece is a rock adaptation with drums similar in style to something
> ELP or Rick Wakeman would do. A bit off topic since it has no
> Mellotron, but I happen to be a little proud of it, so there it is.
> 
> I also posted some pics of my M400 in the photos section of this
> group. Will be posting soon since the ol' dog is in need of
> restoration at this point and I will have some questions very soon.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> John LeVasseur
>

Hi John,

Weren't you on the old Mellotronists Yahoo group? Or maybe I'm 
thinking of the synthesizers.com group...anyway, I recognize your 
name.

Bernie

Re: New Member Introduction

2008-03-05 by John LeVasseur

--- In newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com, "Bernie" <kornowicz@...> wrote:
>
> --- In newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com, "John LeVasseur" 
> <jrlaudio@> wrote:
> >
> > Hi All,
> > 
> > New member here just saying hi. The name here is John and I own a 
> M400
> > #752. 
> > 
> > Love to use Mellotron in my music. If you want you can hear it on my
> > MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/airfoilband of which there 
> are
> > three songs featuring the M400. 
> > 
> > Check out the song named "Next Step Off" for the classic mellotron
> > string thing. The song titled "Return of the Parson" features about 
> 8
> > tracks of various mellotron choir parts multi-tracked. I had to
> > multitrack because this M400 still has the CMC10 board and the pitch
> > drop was too much to deal with. Haha! Most of these songs are works 
> in
> > progress and do not have vocals and guitars yet, and are ruff mixes 
> as
> > well.
> > 
> > Also, I just finished the final mix on a Bach Concerto (Concerto in 
> Dm
> > (BMV-1052) which was recorded in a church with a real Harpsichord, a
> > Hammond C3 and a large analog modular synth from Synthesizers.com. 
> The
> > piece is a rock adaptation with drums similar in style to something
> > ELP or Rick Wakeman would do. A bit off topic since it has no
> > Mellotron, but I happen to be a little proud of it, so there it is.
> > 
> > I also posted some pics of my M400 in the photos section of this
> > group. Will be posting soon since the ol' dog is in need of
> > restoration at this point and I will have some questions very soon.
> > 
> > Thanks,
> > 
> > John LeVasseur
> >
> 
> Hi John,
> 
> Weren't you on the old Mellotronists Yahoo group? Or maybe I'm 
> thinking of the synthesizers.com group...anyway, I recognize your 
> name.
> 
> Bernie
>

Umm yes ... both actually.

Re: [newmellotrongroup] New Member Introduction

2008-03-06 by lsf5275@aol.com

In a message dated 3/5/2008 5:40:27 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
rick@rickblechta.com writes:

 
 
 



Welcome!


I'll leave it to someone else to give you the usual  new-guy-on-the-I'll 
leave it to someone else to give you th


;)


Rick






 
John,
 
Rick is right. Since you are the new guy on the board, I will tell you the  
personal insults Rick is most familiar with. Number one is "hack." He is most  
used to hearing that one so feel free to use it often when addressing him.  
Beyond that, anything goes. Have fun at Rick's expense. Everyone else  does.



**************It's Tax Time! Get tips, forms, and advice on AOL Money & 
Finance.      (http://money.aol.com/tax?NCID=aolprf00030000000001)

Re: [newmellotrongroup] New Member Introduction

2008-03-06 by Bruce Daily

Welcome, John-

   Checked out your pictures.  Judging from the metal
edging, it looks like your 'tron IS the roadcase. :-)

   Yep, that CMC-10 has gotta go!

   Say, what voices are on your tapeframe?


   -Bruce Daily
   M400 #1221 (in the midst of lacing a frame)


--- John LeVasseur <jrlaudio@yahoo.com> wrote:

> Hi All,
> 
> New member here just saying hi. The name here is
> John and I own a M400
> #752. 
> 
> Love to use Mellotron in my music. If you want you
> can hear it on my
> MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/airfoilband
> of which there are
> three songs featuring the M400. 
> 
> Check out the song named "Next Step Off" for the
> classic mellotron
> string thing. The song titled "Return of the Parson"
> features about 8
> tracks of various mellotron choir parts
> multi-tracked. I had to
> multitrack because this M400 still has the CMC10
> board and the pitch
> drop was too much to deal with. Haha! Most of these
> songs are works in
> progress and do not have vocals and guitars yet, and
> are ruff mixes as
> well.
> 
> Also, I just finished the final mix on a Bach
> Concerto (Concerto in Dm
> (BMV-1052) which was recorded in a church with a
> real Harpsichord, a
> Hammond C3 and a large analog modular synth from
> Synthesizers.com. The
> piece is a rock adaptation with drums similar in
> style to something
> ELP or Rick Wakeman would do. A bit off topic since
> it has no
> Mellotron, but I happen to be a little proud of it,
> so there it is.
> 
> I also posted some pics of my M400 in the photos
> section of this
> group. Will be posting soon since the ol' dog is in
> need of
> restoration at this point and I will have some
> questions very soon.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> John LeVasseur
> 
> 



      ____________________________________________________________________________________
Never miss a thing.  Make Yahoo your home page. 
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

Re: New Member Introduction

2008-03-06 by John LeVasseur

--- In newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com, Bruce Daily <pocotron@...>
wrote:
>
> Welcome, John-
> 
>    Checked out your pictures.  Judging from the metal
> edging, it looks like your 'tron IS the roadcase. :-)
> 
>    Yep, that CMC-10 has gotta go!
> 
>    Say, what voices are on your tapeframe?
> 
> 
>    -Bruce Daily
>    M400 #1221 (in the midst of lacing a frame)
> 
> 
> --- John LeVasseur <jrlaudio@...> wrote:
> 
> > Hi All,
> > 
> > New member here just saying hi. The name here is
> > John and I own a M400
> > #752. 
> > 
> > Love to use Mellotron in my music. If you want you
> > can hear it on my
> > MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/airfoilband
> > of which there are
> > three songs featuring the M400. 
> > 
> > Check out the song named "Next Step Off" for the
> > classic mellotron
> > string thing. The song titled "Return of the Parson"
> > features about 8
> > tracks of various mellotron choir parts
> > multi-tracked. I had to
> > multitrack because this M400 still has the CMC10
> > board and the pitch
> > drop was too much to deal with. Haha! Most of these
> > songs are works in
> > progress and do not have vocals and guitars yet, and
> > are ruff mixes as
> > well.
> > 
> > Also, I just finished the final mix on a Bach
> > Concerto (Concerto in Dm
> > (BMV-1052) which was recorded in a church with a
> > real Harpsichord, a
> > Hammond C3 and a large analog modular synth from
> > Synthesizers.com. The
> > piece is a rock adaptation with drums similar in
> > style to something
> > ELP or Rick Wakeman would do. A bit off topic since
> > it has no
> > Mellotron, but I happen to be a little proud of it,
> > so there it is.
> > 
> > I also posted some pics of my M400 in the photos
> > section of this
> > group. Will be posting soon since the ol' dog is in
> > need of
> > restoration at this point and I will have some
> > questions very soon.
> > 
> > Thanks,
> > 
> > John LeVasseur
> > 
> > 
> 
> 
> 
>      
____________________________________________________________________________________
> Never miss a thing.  Make Yahoo your home page. 
> http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs
>

Hi,

The metal edging was something a keyboard tech I had years ago did. He
got tired of touching up the paint, so he covered the whole thing in
hard white vinyl and added the metal edging. I do have a "muff" cover
for it as well as a rolling hard ATA flightcase as well. This
particular tron has been on the road for some twenty years, and is
only now ready for a little restoration.

As far as the tapeframe collection, I have six tapeframes which has
the usual collection of the various string sounds (3-violins, string
sections, etc.) all of the various choir sounds, and the various
woodwinds (solo and sections, plus flute). Oddly I do not have any of
the brass sounds. All of the tapes are original tapes and are actually
still in surprisingly good condition. But I think I will soon retire
these tapes and buy new sets, archiving the originals. I recently
created samples (24/88.2kHz) of my total tape collection (for my own
use only) understanding my original tapes will eventually succumb to age.

I plan on upgrading to new electronics as well (controller, PSU, etc.)
very soon. Funny thing about the pitch issues with the CMC unit; over
the years I had come accustom to having one hand on the pitch knob at
all times and correcting for pitch by ear in real time. Later I went
over to using the hardware version of the Antares AutoTune. Now since
I went to digital control and mix automation of my keyboard rig, I use
the Antares AutoTune plugin, both of which do the job very well and
frees both hands for playing. Hopefully with the new electronics I can
eliminate this compromise.

JRL

Re: [newmellotrongroup] New Member Introduction

2008-03-08 by Mike Dickson

Why does this sound like the intro at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting?  :-)

Mike


John LeVasseur wrote:
Show quoted textHide quoted text
>
> Hi All,
>
> New member here just saying hi. The name here is John and I own a M400
> #752.
>

Re: [newmellotrongroup] New Member Introduction

2008-03-08 by fdoddy@aol.com

I'm like a chocoholic, but with alcohol.

fritz


-----Original Message-----
Show quoted textHide quoted text
From: Mike Dickson
To: newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sat, 8 Mar 2008 4:03 am
Subject: Re: [newmellotrongroup] New Member Introduction

Why does this sound like the intro at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting? :-)

Mike

John LeVasseur wrote:
>
> Hi All,
>
> New member here just saying hi. The name here is John and I own a M400
> #752.
>

Re: New Member Introduction

2008-03-08 by Bernie

Mmmm, those little chocolate cups filled with Frangelico are yummy!!


--- In newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com, fdoddy@... wrote:
>
> I'm like a chocoholic, but with alcohol.
> 
> fritz
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mike Dickson <mike.dickson@...>
> To: newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Sat, 8 Mar 2008 4:03 am
> Subject: Re: [newmellotrongroup] New Member Introduction
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Why does this sound like the intro at an Alcoholics Anonymous 
meeting? :-)
> 
> Mike
> 
> John LeVasseur wrote:
> >
> > Hi All,
> >
> > New member here just saying hi. The name here is John and I own a 
M400
Show quoted textHide quoted text
> > #752.
> >
>

Move to quarantaine

This moves the raw source file on disk only. The archive index is not changed automatically, so you still need to run a manual refresh afterward.