Mel 9 is awesome. I got it 7-ish years ago and it has never left my pedal board. Helpful hints: Put a compressor after the pedal to tame its "sudden jumps in volume" Also put a big reverb after that to make it sound epic. Use neck pickup on guitar. Fiddle with your volume and tone knobs to really dial it in. Mellotron isn't usually known for fast melodic runs. This pedal really isn't designed to play Bach suites. It's most effective as a pad. If you're moving around fast, dial the fx volume down and the guitar volume back up. The 2 choirs, the flute, the strings setting, and the orchestra setting are the best. Stick with those. I'll concede I'm not in love with the other sounds. Brass, Sax, and Clarinet being kinda bad. Basically, don't use this for parts where you're moving around really fast. It's really not what it's for (at least in my understanding). Also, don't expect big open chords to sound good. Stick to diads and triads. Play small chords and let the effect take over to make it sound larger than life. Like many tools, when you know their best and intended applications, you can start to really understand the value in it.
This. ☝️ Same. I do think the Cello is also great if, as you mention, you stick to single notes & and add reverb. He is correct in his description- that it is meant to sound like a Mellotron, not the real instruments. I've used it successfully in recordings and live - great for pads. If you're going for the wonky, warped tape Mellotron - Moody Blues type thing, which is what this aims for, it's cool, with some reverb after. If you're going for pristine orchestral sounds, yeah Reason is going to better in recording.
Good points! I hadn't thought to try compression, I'll give that a shot. Another pedal that works brilliantly with it is an smart harmonizer. Two octaves, or a third and a fifth are perfect for getting a beefier sound that is very controllable because your only playing a single string at once. I'd love to see what it sounds like with a big sky
I think you have made a good point critcizing the drone note problem and the volume jumps. However, this can be ironed out. I have been using my Mel 9 in an acoustic singer- songwriter setup for years because there was no alternative on the marked to add some synth flavor during a solo gig without fumbling around with a laptop on stage... So, if you even out the input signal by putting a simple compressor in front and a volume pedal for the wet signal after the Mel 9 you can solve a lot of the issues mentioned. That way you can also swell in an orchestra pad during the chorus of a song. Great effect during a set ! Just don't overdo it, I always keep it blended 70 dry 30 wet and only on 2 to 3 songs during a set. You can spice up simple songs like "House of the Rising Sun" wonderfully like that. Pickup choice matters as well. On the whole, I think it's a usable tool and will turn some heads when used with care as an "effect". If EHX ever follows up on the 9 series I wish they find a better way for the notes to ring out an then fade naturally. The way it works now is the note abruptly ends when the input signal becomes too weak. Once again, a compressor and volume pedal helps. Cheers mate and thanks for the video !
Songs that work really well with this pedal: Glycerin (Bush), Angel Down (Lady Gaga), Disarm (Smashing Pumpkins), Night by Candlelight (Afghan Whigs), Beautiful Freak (Eels) , House of the Rising Sun (Animals).
It doesn’t completely suck. The orchestra sound is great, the choirs are great and the flute is great. Maybe if this guy works on his technique, it wouldn’t suck so bad.
Couldn't be happier with the mel9, contemplating adding a 2nd to my board. It makes the guitar a controller and requires specialized technique. I have a friend who constantly changes gear because "it doesn't do what I want it to". A guitar is not a sax or a string section. I use the brass setting to emulate an Indian hand-pumped organ, sax setting makes funky triad stabs, string & orchestra are used a lot. I also use a bass9 and C9 with my looper rig for sonic gigantism. I love 'em.
In fairness, I've played an OG mellotron and it's a real cow, they were always kind of slow and clunky - they just did one thing REALLY well. But the fact it can't hold a drone note is a BIG problem, thanks for pointing that out! I'm not a particularly subtle player, you are way better than me, so I think the pitch tracking would be a nightmare for me.
I'm sure I read somewhere (I think it was about Brian Jones playing the incredible Mellotron part at the end section of "We Love You") that due to the way it works triggering tape samples that there was a slight latency between key press and sound, and you had to learn to play ever so slightly ahead of the beat
Like many "weird" music pedals.... it's more of a sound effect than an instrument. As other comments state.... they like theirs... so I think they do other things with it than you do. I've made pedals and amps I thought were weird... and I wasn't sure to do with... but when my friends tried it, they figured it out in a way I never did. "Not for you" is the best review.
During Covid I bought the Mel9, C9 and B9. I play a lot of fingerstyle jazz, so I kept the B9 as a great jazz organ pedal etc Sold the C9 as it was very much like the B9 Mel 9- sold it almost immediately as it seemed to be useful for some people who need those sounds here and there for recordings but not really remotely an every day pedal
Great video. I've had the Mel9 on my wish list for a while (obsessed with The Beatles). I've found with some of these types of pedals you need to alter your playing style a bit to get the most out of them. I've found that with the EHX Ravish Sitar pedal and I also had a Line 6 FM4 Filter Modeller back when they first came out . They defo also are mostly not every day pedals so you really need to be fully aware of their capabilities and limitations before committing to the higher spend. That's where I prefer this video over the official (overly polished) EHX one
THANK YOU! for making this video! I've been obsessed with the mellotron ever since I found out what it was. 'Strawberry Fields Forever'... the Zombies' 'Odessey and Oracle' album, the Pretty Things' 'SF Sorrow', the Kinks' 'Village Green Preservation Society' are among my absolute favourite records and they are saturated with the spooky sound of the mellotron. During Covid lockdown times, when I was buying effects pedals like they were going out of fashion, I happened to see a video on this one and thought it was the pedal that I absolutely needed. I wasn't really convinced by what I heard so I didn't buy it. But my lord, you have really exposed this thing to be a quacky piece of shite. EHX are a great company, but this is their equivalent to the Ford Edsel.
Did you try tweaking the settings between an optical compressor (or even a Compression Plus and the like) to find the sweet spot with this pedal? Without compression, depending on the nature of your guitar's pickups and output, all of the detracting qualities you found are expected. Properly compressed, clean signals are what this pedal thrives on. Then, the tracking of both chords and individual notes improves immensely and the volume swells, pitch warbling, and loss of primary note sustain are all remedied. Then, the pedal really opens up and provides some stunning familiar sounds. For example, setting the signal/effect mix to about 50/50, using the Strings setting, the Rain Song sounds eerily similar to the original Zep track and it's use of the Mellotron and guitars. Idk, this just seems lazy.
I have and love Mel9. I think your video is good at showing the quirks of it, specially as a standalone sound. I use it to fill as a secondary player, makes you sound a bit more like a band. You can over do it if you abuse it, but as a subtle addition I think it works great. Good video again
The orchestra and both choir ones are ok...I bought mine nearly 2 years ago and last night was the 1st time I actually enjoyed using it...Use it with a Telecaster or a Strat with a tiny bit of delay
Yes a dry blend. Set the mel9 for strings and let it follow the dry guitar like a string pad would. Now you sound like two people. Don't try to use it without the guitar sound like you are the mellotron player. That's not the best use. If you want to be a mellotron player, get an m4000d and learn keys. That's what I did.
A big part of your perceptions are based on the fact that we tend to accept a certain lack of imprecision from a guitar sound but not from keyboard instruments. That is why slightly out of tune notes that we find reasonably acceptabele on a guitar suddenly sound awful when producing keyboard sounds. Bill is very aware of this and plays his demo’s with the needed precision. For this reason these pedals work best in a studio multitracking environment, as your track perfectly demonstrates. The drone remark is however spot on. Compared to the first guitar synths the 9 series is however a godsend. The tracking and latency problems of those are legendary. Just ask people like Lee Ritenour, Steve Hackett and Andy Summers.
Good video to get some interesting discussion on this funny pedal. Myself I like the Mel 9 for its weird sounds. Interesting to read others opinions of this pedal.
My issue is the selection of sound gets "stuck" on mine . If I go back to the first selection, Orchestra, it will sound like a weird backwards effect. That is the only sound I like. So I got that one working again, put a piece of tape over the knob and will never change the setting again. I control mine with a Casio workstation keyboard. I usually mix the Orchestra sound with some type of string ensemble from the Casio. The Mel 9 just adds a little lo fi element to the Casio patch to produce a more satisfying Mellotron effect.
Mel 9 is the hand down imho greatest pedal ever created, if you used it right ( Zep's Rain Song etc). Only gripe is the clunky sounding foot switch, wished they used the same silent foot switch that's on the Oceans 11.
I have one. His settings are wrong such as cello. He has the attack at max. I never turn attack up more than half. At max like any other pedal, you will overexxagerate the effect to the point where everything just goes out.
I never bought the hype of those 9 pedals. They always seemed like "too good to be true" pedals to me. They sound good in theory. Professionals make them sound amazing in the demos. Then when you get one it sucks and is just not useful or practical. I haven't tried any of these, but I've played many synth pedals with and without midi pickups. Most of them suck and are extremely overpriced. 80-90% of the sounds are terrible. Some guitar synths track better than others. Some sounds within the same pedal track better than others. Guitar synths and midi can be really fun and they can do some cool and unique sounds. In my experience I've found it more practical and efficient to just use a keyboard or soft synth etc.
I'm still going to buy it. I think you used it in the wrong way, consistently locked in the mindset of a guitarist. Almost every reviewer gets this wrong. For instance, a clarinet's registry is rather high and you played low notes. For the Cello effect you went high when Cellos kinda reign in the low mids. You played arpeggios with the Choir effect and although not impossible for a Choir, you don't see a Choir doing arpeggios often, it's rather chords. Clarinets and Flutes are rather melodic instruments and they are monophonic too.
Great and honest review, Jason. Thanks 👍. I think most EHX multi-settings pedals have one or two great outputs and some barely usable, quirky-at-best, sounds. Think FLERB. We only hope that the useful effects justify the price.
I think you are mistaken about the tracking issues with arpeggios. Yes, you are correct, they dont work flexible at all. But the intention was not to play fast arpeggios with the pedal but more leaned towards chord strumming and ambient related music. As the other 9 series dont have issues tracking arpeggios and shredding to that extend. I read this somewhere and spoken to many people backing that claim. But, i could be wrong as i dont remember the sources being legit or not. I love my Mel9 but would have liked better arpeggio tracking as well.
To get the best out of just by a cheap keyboard and you have the world's cheapest real Mellotron. Robert Fripp did just that when the pedal came out. He used it for encores with several versions of Crimson.😇 For a start the parts are usually slowly played using both hands as one. In short you do not have to know anything about the keyboard to get it all happening over just a couple of weeks.
Have to agree with most of this . I have a few EHX pedals but the series of instrument emulations are by and large,disappointing. The bill rupert videos are very well done but I think they must spend hours adjusting the mix and tweaking the sounds. I have the synth 9 and realised it is quite difficult to identify which of the 9 synths you are using without looking at the dials. There are a couple of good bass patches on the B 9 which are useful for bass guitar emulation, but I am not tempted by the the Meletron pedal due to my experience with the others. Try the Attack/ Decay pedal and the POG pedals for strings and organ emulation.
So, you're blasting the Mel9 because it replicates the intricacies and limitations of the actual Mellotron and VAKO Orchestron? Neither the Mellotron nor the Orchestron were any good for shredding. If you tried to play fast on a Mellotron, the mechanisms for the playback heads couldn't keep up - you'd be going too fast. Same for the Orchestron. By the way, the choir sounds are very close to those of the Orchestron. Do you remember "Stargazer" by Rainbow? That's what I'm talking about.
I wonder if they'll ever do a Mel9 V2. Seems like something that a lot of people would want if they could make the tracking and volume more consistent. I know you can use a compressor and VP to even it out but even big mel9 defenders have to admit it's not ideal. I agree with the comments that say it's more for pads than playing quickly and it struggles less with closer chord clusters but imagine if they remade it so that it could track quickly and accurately across big pitch discrepancies? I like my mel9, not gonna sell it, but you really do have to put effort in to "tame" it.
I'm a mellotron fan, I really wanted to like this pedal, but the sounds were all vibrato-ish or fizzy. I had it for about a year before I gave up on it. I have tons of better melltron samples in my DAW. The C9 pedal, however, is epic and sits perfectly behind guitar.
I have this in my watchlist on eBay. I was thinking about the Mel 9 while mindlessly going through video on TH-cam and bang! Here is your video. I would still own it but it's currently grossly overpriced.
I had one and sold it 3weeks l8tr it's definitely a niche pedal you will only get limited use of,not worth the price,get a Boss Sy200 synth pedal, has all this plus more and it's usable no tracking issues
I'm starting to wonder if EHX just isn't as good as people think. I had a modern Metal Muff nano and it was horrible. I sold it. Now I have a modern Big Muff Deluxe and it's not much better. I spend way more time trying to dial in a useful sound than actually enjoying playing my guitar. It's a bit ridiculous. But millions of people rave over EHX. It's obviously just me I'm sure lol.
Nope, it does not suck - here is the proof: th-cam.com/video/39jSInNa2KM/w-d-xo.html You just don't know how to use it (like the most guys !) and you have to get used to it !
A mellotron is a mellotron, not a synth. This said, it is very important not to have pedals in front of the Mel9, expecially eq and compressors. I use the Mel9 since years and there are no alternatives really if you want some strings in the background, given the fact you can control the attach with the Mel9, a unique feature not found on other 9 series pedals. Of course, an RG55 roland with a midi guitar can give optimal results, but for simple tasks I honestly believe it is a decent choice. I made a recording of the Mel9 "hit the road jack" if you want to test how it works with saxophones, not bad really.. Anyway thx for the work also for the other pedals man!! good job . th-cam.com/video/slqdv8v3Zas/w-d-xo.html
Yeah, you shouldn't have made this video and exposed that you have no clue how to use it... I guess the greed for views is what this is really all about... Dumb...
Yeah, I was excited when I first got it mainly for position 4 'Beatle Flutes'. I emailed EHX and told them that mine must be faulty as certain notes wouldn't play in certain situations and volumes were all over the place. It needs an in built compressor at the very least. I think it was rushed out as it's more like a beta version full of bugs.
The Mel9 was also a huge disappointment to me on guitar. It's too sensitive to anything related to the instrument (pickups, dynamics, picking style, fretting, amp, ...), and it's too difficult to get consistent results while playing even by playing the same note! Compression helps, but it's not enough to overcome the issues. HOWEVER, I've found this pedal is AMAZING on keys or synths, particularly by using a steady basic wave (sine, sawtooth,...) as trigger. It's like having a good-quality VSTi, but in pedal form, so you don't have to worry about any DAW, computer, iPad,... just use this pedal on a cheap Casio keyboard and you'll get the perfect Mellotron simulator available. 👌
dude doesn't get the mellotron
Yea he doesn't. I love mine
Mel 9 is awesome.
I got it 7-ish years ago and it has never left my pedal board.
Helpful hints:
Put a compressor after the pedal to tame its "sudden jumps in volume"
Also put a big reverb after that to make it sound epic.
Use neck pickup on guitar. Fiddle with your volume and tone knobs to really dial it in.
Mellotron isn't usually known for fast melodic runs. This pedal really isn't designed to play Bach suites. It's most effective as a pad. If you're moving around fast, dial the fx volume down and the guitar volume back up.
The 2 choirs, the flute, the strings setting, and the orchestra setting are the best. Stick with those.
I'll concede I'm not in love with the other sounds. Brass, Sax, and Clarinet being kinda bad.
Basically, don't use this for parts where you're moving around really fast. It's really not what it's for (at least in my understanding).
Also, don't expect big open chords to sound good. Stick to diads and triads. Play small chords and let the effect take over to make it sound larger than life.
Like many tools, when you know their best and intended applications, you can start to really understand the value in it.
This. ☝️ Same. I do think the Cello is also great if, as you mention, you stick to single notes & and add reverb. He is correct in his description- that it is meant to sound like a Mellotron, not the real instruments. I've used it successfully in recordings and live - great for pads.
If you're going for the wonky, warped tape Mellotron - Moody Blues type thing, which is what this aims for, it's cool, with some reverb after.
If you're going for pristine orchestral sounds, yeah Reason is going to better in recording.
Good points! I hadn't thought to try compression, I'll give that a shot. Another pedal that works brilliantly with it is an smart harmonizer. Two octaves, or a third and a fifth are perfect for getting a beefier sound that is very controllable because your only playing a single string at once. I'd love to see what it sounds like with a big sky
I think you have made a good point critcizing the drone note problem and the volume jumps. However, this can be ironed out. I have been using my Mel 9 in an acoustic singer- songwriter setup for years because there was no alternative on the marked to add some synth flavor during a solo gig without fumbling around with a laptop on stage... So, if you even out the input signal by putting a simple compressor in front and a volume pedal for the wet signal after the Mel 9 you can solve a lot of the issues mentioned. That way you can also swell in an orchestra pad during the chorus of a song. Great effect during a set ! Just don't overdo it, I always keep it blended 70 dry 30 wet and only on 2 to 3 songs during a set. You can spice up simple songs like "House of the Rising Sun" wonderfully like that. Pickup choice matters as well. On the whole, I think it's a usable tool and will turn some heads when used with care as an "effect". If EHX ever follows up on the 9 series I wish they find a better way for the notes to ring out an then fade naturally. The way it works now is the note abruptly ends when the input signal becomes too weak. Once again, a compressor and volume pedal helps. Cheers mate and thanks for the video !
It tracks better on single coil pickups
Songs that work really well with this pedal: Glycerin (Bush), Angel Down (Lady Gaga), Disarm (Smashing Pumpkins), Night by Candlelight (Afghan Whigs), Beautiful Freak (Eels) , House of the Rising Sun (Animals).
It doesn’t completely suck. The orchestra sound is great, the choirs are great and the flute is great. Maybe if this guy works on his technique, it wouldn’t suck so bad.
Couldn't be happier with the mel9, contemplating adding a 2nd to my board. It makes the guitar a controller and requires specialized technique. I have a friend who constantly changes gear because "it doesn't do what I want it to". A guitar is not a sax or a string section. I use the brass setting to emulate an Indian hand-pumped organ, sax setting makes funky triad stabs, string & orchestra are used a lot. I also use a bass9 and C9 with my looper rig for sonic gigantism. I love 'em.
bro doesnt know what a mellotron is...
In fairness, I've played an OG mellotron and it's a real cow, they were always kind of slow and clunky - they just did one thing REALLY well. But the fact it can't hold a drone note is a BIG problem, thanks for pointing that out! I'm not a particularly subtle player, you are way better than me, so I think the pitch tracking would be a nightmare for me.
I'm sure I read somewhere (I think it was about Brian Jones playing the incredible Mellotron part at the end section of "We Love You") that due to the way it works triggering tape samples that there was a slight latency between key press and sound, and you had to learn to play ever so slightly ahead of the beat
Nothing sounds like a mellotron except a real mellotron
Like many "weird" music pedals.... it's more of a sound effect than an instrument. As other comments state.... they like theirs... so I think they do other things with it than you do. I've made pedals and amps I thought were weird... and I wasn't sure to do with... but when my friends tried it, they figured it out in a way I never did. "Not for you" is the best review.
Mellotrons are not for drones and fingerpicking. Real Mellotrons were more for chords and slow lead lines
During Covid I bought the Mel9, C9 and B9.
I play a lot of fingerstyle jazz, so I kept the B9 as a great jazz organ pedal etc
Sold the C9 as it was very much like the B9
Mel 9- sold it almost immediately as it seemed to be useful for some people who need those sounds here and there for recordings but not really remotely an every day pedal
Great video. I've had the Mel9 on my wish list for a while (obsessed with The Beatles). I've found with some of these types of pedals you need to alter your playing style a bit to get the most out of them. I've found that with the EHX Ravish Sitar pedal and I also had a Line 6 FM4 Filter Modeller back when they first came out . They defo also are mostly not every day pedals so you really need to be fully aware of their capabilities and limitations before committing to the higher spend. That's where I prefer this video over the official (overly polished) EHX one
THANK YOU! for making this video! I've been obsessed with the mellotron ever since I found out what it was. 'Strawberry Fields Forever'... the Zombies' 'Odessey and Oracle' album, the Pretty Things' 'SF Sorrow', the Kinks' 'Village Green Preservation Society' are among my absolute favourite records and they are saturated with the spooky sound of the mellotron. During Covid lockdown times, when I was buying effects pedals like they were going out of fashion, I happened to see a video on this one and thought it was the pedal that I absolutely needed. I wasn't really convinced by what I heard so I didn't buy it. But my lord, you have really exposed this thing to be a quacky piece of shite. EHX are a great company, but this is their equivalent to the Ford Edsel.
Did you try tweaking the settings between an optical compressor (or even a Compression Plus and the like) to find the sweet spot with this pedal? Without compression, depending on the nature of your guitar's pickups and output, all of the detracting qualities you found are expected. Properly compressed, clean signals are what this pedal thrives on. Then, the tracking of both chords and individual notes improves immensely and the volume swells, pitch warbling, and loss of primary note sustain are all remedied. Then, the pedal really opens up and provides some stunning familiar sounds. For example, setting the signal/effect mix to about 50/50, using the Strings setting, the Rain Song sounds eerily similar to the original Zep track and it's use of the Mellotron and guitars. Idk, this just seems lazy.
I owned one for a month, felt the same way. Sold it.
The track you wrote sounds great, I liked the string and orchestra settings on the pedal too, but appreciate your honest feedback
I have and love Mel9. I think your video is good at showing the quirks of it, specially as a standalone sound. I use it to fill as a secondary player, makes you sound a bit more like a band. You can over do it if you abuse it, but as a subtle addition I think it works great. Good video again
The orchestra and both choir ones are ok...I bought mine nearly 2 years ago and last night was the 1st time I actually enjoyed using it...Use it with a Telecaster or a Strat with a tiny bit of delay
The mel9 is one of ehx greatest pedals. You're using it wrong.
Nah, I hoped it would be though.
It works ok with a dry blend, the sounds don't hold up on their own.
Yes a dry blend. Set the mel9 for strings and let it follow the dry guitar like a string pad would. Now you sound like two people. Don't try to use it without the guitar sound like you are the mellotron player. That's not the best use. If you want to be a mellotron player, get an m4000d and learn keys. That's what I did.
@@Blues.FusionMe too
If you put it through a keyboard with just a sine wave, it tracks pretty well.
A big part of your perceptions are based on the fact that we tend to accept a certain lack of imprecision from a guitar sound but not from keyboard instruments. That is why slightly out of tune notes that we find reasonably acceptabele on a guitar suddenly sound awful when producing keyboard sounds. Bill is very aware of this and plays his demo’s with the needed precision. For this reason these pedals work best in a studio multitracking environment, as your track perfectly demonstrates. The drone remark is however spot on. Compared to the first guitar synths the 9 series is however a godsend. The tracking and latency problems of those are legendary. Just ask people like Lee Ritenour, Steve Hackett and Andy Summers.
Good video to get some interesting discussion on this funny pedal. Myself I like the Mel 9 for its weird sounds. Interesting to read others opinions of this pedal.
My issue is the selection of sound gets "stuck" on mine . If I go back to the first selection, Orchestra, it will sound like a weird backwards effect. That is the only sound I like. So I got that one working again, put a piece of tape over the knob and will never change the setting again. I control mine with a Casio workstation keyboard. I usually mix the Orchestra sound with some type of string ensemble from the Casio. The Mel 9 just adds a little lo fi element to the Casio patch to produce a more satisfying Mellotron effect.
I like the lo-fi element of the sound quality.
Mel 9 is the hand down imho greatest pedal ever created, if you used it right ( Zep's Rain Song etc). Only gripe is the clunky sounding foot switch, wished they used the same silent foot switch that's on the Oceans 11.
I have one. His settings are wrong such as cello. He has the attack at max. I never turn attack up more than half. At max like any other pedal, you will overexxagerate the effect to the point where everything just goes out.
I never bought the hype of those 9 pedals. They always seemed like "too good to be true" pedals to me. They sound good in theory. Professionals make them sound amazing in the demos. Then when you get one it sucks and is just not useful or practical. I haven't tried any of these, but I've played many synth pedals with and without midi pickups. Most of them suck and are extremely overpriced. 80-90% of the sounds are terrible. Some guitar synths track better than others. Some sounds within the same pedal track better than others. Guitar synths and midi can be really fun and they can do some cool and unique sounds. In my experience I've found it more practical and efficient to just use a keyboard or soft synth etc.
I'm still going to buy it. I think you used it in the wrong way, consistently locked in the mindset of a guitarist. Almost every reviewer gets this wrong.
For instance, a clarinet's registry is rather high and you played low notes. For the Cello effect you went high when Cellos kinda reign in the low mids. You played arpeggios with the Choir effect and although not impossible for a Choir, you don't see a Choir doing arpeggios often, it's rather chords. Clarinets and Flutes are rather melodic instruments and they are monophonic too.
Great and honest review, Jason. Thanks 👍. I think most EHX multi-settings pedals have one or two great outputs and some barely usable, quirky-at-best, sounds. Think FLERB. We only hope that the useful effects justify the price.
I think you are mistaken about the tracking issues with arpeggios. Yes, you are correct, they dont work flexible at all. But the intention was not to play fast arpeggios with the pedal but more leaned towards chord strumming and ambient related music. As the other 9 series dont have issues tracking arpeggios and shredding to that extend. I read this somewhere and spoken to many people backing that claim. But, i could be wrong as i dont remember the sources being legit or not. I love my Mel9 but would have liked better arpeggio tracking as well.
@Justaguy11199 yeah, I think it works best when blended with your dry signal while playing simple melodies or chords.
To get the best out of just by a cheap keyboard and you have the world's cheapest real Mellotron. Robert Fripp did just that when the pedal came out. He used it for encores with several versions of Crimson.😇 For a start the parts are usually slowly played using both hands as one. In short you do not have to know anything about the keyboard to get it all happening over just a couple of weeks.
You should have played the song "Gangsters Paradise" on the low choir setting lol
@masterofreality230 true, missed opportunity
You mean past time paradise by Stevie Wonder.
Have to agree with most of this . I have a few EHX pedals but the series of instrument emulations are by and large,disappointing. The bill rupert videos are very well done but I think they must spend hours adjusting the mix and tweaking the sounds. I have the synth 9 and realised it is quite difficult to identify which of the 9 synths you are using without looking at the dials. There are a couple of good bass patches on the B 9 which are useful for bass guitar emulation, but I am not tempted by the the Meletron pedal due to my experience with the others. Try the Attack/ Decay pedal and the POG pedals for strings and organ emulation.
Pink Panther was awesome!😃
So, you're blasting the Mel9 because it replicates the intricacies and limitations of the actual Mellotron and VAKO Orchestron? Neither the Mellotron nor the Orchestron were any good for shredding. If you tried to play fast on a Mellotron, the mechanisms for the playback heads couldn't keep up - you'd be going too fast. Same for the Orchestron. By the way, the choir sounds are very close to those of the Orchestron. Do you remember "Stargazer" by Rainbow? That's what I'm talking about.
@8BRInteractive my issue is with the inconsistent tracking and the fact that it is semi polyphonic. I don't seem to remember using the mel9 to shred 😆
I wonder if they'll ever do a Mel9 V2. Seems like something that a lot of people would want if they could make the tracking and volume more consistent. I know you can use a compressor and VP to even it out but even big mel9 defenders have to admit it's not ideal. I agree with the comments that say it's more for pads than playing quickly and it struggles less with closer chord clusters but imagine if they remade it so that it could track quickly and accurately across big pitch discrepancies? I like my mel9, not gonna sell it, but you really do have to put effort in to "tame" it.
I'm a mellotron fan, I really wanted to like this pedal, but the sounds were all vibrato-ish or fizzy. I had it for about a year before I gave up on it. I have tons of better melltron samples in my DAW. The C9 pedal, however, is epic and sits perfectly behind guitar.
Great info…
I love mine. I run two channels with my mel9 going to a different amp. I like it for atmospheric stuff.
I have this in my watchlist on eBay. I was thinking about the Mel 9 while mindlessly going through video on TH-cam and bang! Here is your video. I would still own it but it's currently grossly overpriced.
I had one and sold it 3weeks l8tr it's definitely a niche pedal you will only get limited use of,not worth the price,get a Boss Sy200 synth pedal, has all this plus more and it's usable no tracking issues
I'm starting to wonder if EHX just isn't as good as people think. I had a modern Metal Muff nano and it was horrible. I sold it. Now I have a modern Big Muff Deluxe and it's not much better. I spend way more time trying to dial in a useful sound than actually enjoying playing my guitar. It's a bit ridiculous. But millions of people rave over EHX. It's obviously just me I'm sure lol.
Nope, it does not suck - here is the proof: th-cam.com/video/39jSInNa2KM/w-d-xo.html
You just don't know how to use it (like the most guys !) and you have to get used to it !
That was supposed to prove something? Didn't even use the choir feature at the end.
Nice voice though.
That’s a bummer. I had the Synth9 for a bit and didn’t vibe with that one either.
Thank you for saving me 250 bucks
A mellotron is a mellotron, not a synth. This said, it is very important not to have pedals in front of the Mel9, expecially eq and compressors. I use the Mel9 since years and there are no alternatives really if you want some strings in the background, given the fact you can control the attach with the Mel9, a unique feature not found on other 9 series pedals. Of course, an RG55 roland with a midi guitar can give optimal results, but for simple tasks I honestly believe it is a decent choice. I made a recording of the Mel9 "hit the road jack" if you want to test how it works with saxophones, not bad really.. Anyway thx for the work also for the other pedals man!! good job . th-cam.com/video/slqdv8v3Zas/w-d-xo.html
@@joemanganese no worries
Yeah, you shouldn't have made this video and exposed that you have no clue how to use it... I guess the greed for views is what this is really all about... Dumb...
Not sure I'd pay money for it but it sounds a lot better than your voice.
Why wake up and choose to be rude
Haha😂 that was funny!!
thx for keeping it reel, most demo vids just hail the product.
I like to give my honest opinion.
Knock Knock Knockin
Great video, very to the point, I like it!
"Do not recommend channel"
When I first heard it, I thought *Wtf is that supposed to be?* 😂
bro doesnt know what a mellotron is
@ not everyone does. Thats like saying “oh, bro doesn’t know who Kai Hansen is!🥴”
Yeah, I was excited when I first got it mainly for position 4 'Beatle Flutes'. I emailed EHX and told them that mine must be faulty as certain notes wouldn't play in certain situations and volumes were all over the place. It needs an in built compressor at the very least. I think it was rushed out as it's more like a beta version full of bugs.
This is an example of a dude that uses a pedal he doesn’t understand
@@theguitaruss 😄
Man buys novelty pedal, uses it incorrectly then complains that it's not practical. 🤦♂
Mostly sucks? Poor advertising
Pedal sounds great and I use it all the time this guy clearly doesn't know how to use a guitar
@@claudepragliola640 😆
The Mel9 was also a huge disappointment to me on guitar. It's too sensitive to anything related to the instrument (pickups, dynamics, picking style, fretting, amp, ...), and it's too difficult to get consistent results while playing even by playing the same note! Compression helps, but it's not enough to overcome the issues. HOWEVER, I've found this pedal is AMAZING on keys or synths, particularly by using a steady basic wave (sine, sawtooth,...) as trigger. It's like having a good-quality VSTi, but in pedal form, so you don't have to worry about any DAW, computer, iPad,... just use this pedal on a cheap Casio keyboard and you'll get the perfect Mellotron simulator available. 👌