The Mellotron Group

-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Dickson <mike.dickson@gmail.com>
To: newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sat, Aug 15, 2009 7:38 pm
Subject: [newmellotrongroup] Facing The Music






















    

                  




I've just acquired a copy of the remastered ELO album 'Face The Music'
and it's a substantial improvement on the rather muddy and compressed
original (which makes me think that remastering is only one of the
things that has happened here) that I played when I was about 14 or so.
Musically it's better than I thought, though not a patch on the rather
more inventive 'Eldorado' and sort of indicates the somewhat depressing
downward trajectory that led to their more *meh* pop stuff that I can't
really relate to.



However.



They constantly credit Richard Tandy with 'Mellotron' on their albums
when I hear nary a note of the instrument on any of their
recordings. Their endless split screen 'performance' videos (such as
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivFM0pYyUcY) show a Mellotron on the
rig, but never seems to be used and appears to be little more than a
keyboard stand. The three or four guys in the band who actually played
strings were pretty much only cosmetically used subsequent to their
album 'On The Third Day', their use being supplanted by a full string
orchestra under Louis Clark's direction who could actually play in tune
at more or less the same time, so it wasn't used to beef up the
strings. The choir they used was a thirty voice selection of
sessionists, so no eight voice choir in there as well. 



So...where did they ever use a Mellotron?



-- 
Mike Dickson, Edinburgh

Free Music Project: http://www.mikedickson.org.uk/ 
Or http://www.last.fm/music/Mike+Dickson
Or http://soundcloud.com/mikedickson
Or http://www.planetmellotron.com/revd4.htm#mikedickson

From: Mike Dickson gmail.com>
To: newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sat, Aug 15, 2009 7:38 pm
Subject: [newmellotrongroup] Facing The Music

I've just acquired a copy of the remastered ELO album 'Face The Music' and it's a substantial improvement on the rather muddy and compressed original (which makes me think that remastering is only one of the things that has happened here) that I played when I was about 14 or so. Musically it's better than I thought, though not a patch on the rather more inventive 'Eldorado' and sort of indicates the somewhat depressing downward trajectory that led to their more *meh* pop stuff that I can't really relate to.

However.

They constantly credit Richard Tandy with 'Mellotron' on their albums when I hear nary a note of the instrument on any of their recordings. Their endless split screen 'performance' videos (such as http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivFM0pYyUcY) show a Mellotron on the rig, but never seems to be used and appears to be little more than a keyboard stand. The three or four guys in the band who actually played strings were pretty much only cosmetically used subsequent to their album 'On The Third Day', their use being supplanted by a full string orchestra under Louis Clark's direction who could actually play in tune at more or less the same time, so it wasn't used to beef up the strings. The choir they used was a thirty voice selection of sessionists, so no eight voice choir in there as well.

So...where did they ever use a Mellotron?

-- 

Mike Dickson, Edinburgh



Free Music Project: http://www.mikedickson.org.uk/ 

Or http://www.last.fm/music/Mike+Dickson

Or http://soundcloud.com/mikedickson

Or http://www.planetmellotron.com/revd4.htm#mikedickson

  

-- 
Mike Dickson, Edinburgh

Free Music Project: http://www.mikedickson.org.uk/ 
Or http://www.last.fm/music/Mike+Dickson
Or http://soundcloud.com/mikedickson
Or http://www.planetmellotron.com/revd4.htm#mikedickson