This. My wife kept yelling at me because I had the volume jacked up and then the music would kick in and it was deafening. Good content but I almost had to tap out because of this.
Thank you. I'm a big Moody Blues fan, and their use of the Mellotron was what made their signature sound what it was. It sounded like every chord was bent to their will. Timothy Leary!
It was briefly mentioned here but should be emphasized that the point of the mellotron, aside from its unique wobbly, spooky, ethereal sound, was that bands could get an orchestral sound on stage without incurring the expense of touring with an actual orchestra. It just couldn't be done. (Deep Purple did a one-off show with an orchestra in 1969 but it was really rare.) The Moody Blues were truly unique in that keyboardist Mike Pinder worked at mellotron maker Streetly Electronics prior to forming the band. He could repair the instrument himself. In fact, it happened that Moodies shows could be delayed while Pinder had his head in the cabinet untangling tape loops. This explains why it is so prominently used in their sound. One other note: the mechanical nature of the mellotron meant it was sensitive to voltage fluctuations at the concert venue. Pinder learned to use the pitch bend wheel to counter these voltage surges. He was truly the Mellotron Master and deserves more recognition.
Barclay James Harvest toured with an orchestra in the early 70s, to a greater extent than that one-off Deep Purple show. It did prove to be quite expensive.
Close. It actually existed to be more of a one man band sold to rich folks to park in the parlor with built in rhythms and such , you can hear it in the first example. Later it became a gimmick for Crimson and Moodys, Groundhogs et al. 🎹
Great video, well researched and entertaining. You should do a sound re-mix though because the volume levels jump all over the place, so I was constantly riding the volume control. Also, when you voice-over some of the music clips it is hard to hear you because the music is too loud. Also suggest using a Shure SM7B. I'm going to subscibe and see how this all works out for you. Best of luck!
I'm friends with Mike Pinder and I still think he's the absolute master of the Mellotron. I've heard and respected the 'tron used by many artists but I've never heard anyone get the subtle, etherial sounds out of the mellotron that Mike was able to coax from it in the Moody Blues. That said, I was surprised that Mike had no problem going fully digital once the technology was there.
Nobody could handle a Mellotron like Mike Pinder. He was a magician with that thing. Not surprised he could go digital. If he would keep a mellotron running he could make anything sound good.
Yes, I also love all those old Moody Blues albums that Mike played the Mellotron on. But I still slightly favor Tony Banks on the Genesis album Wind And Wuthering, as far as really getting the most out of the Mellotron. He somehow made it sound less shrill, and got a slightly more orchestral sound out of it. Wow, though, how awesome is it to be friends with Mike Pinder?? I'm envious!
@@theclearsounds3911 I think Mike had an edge because he worked at Mellotron and knew the machine so intimately that he wasn't intimidated by it. He also made substantial improvements to it for sound and reliability. I'm sure you've heard of Rick Wakeman's infamous burning of one of his mellotrons out of frustration - Mike said "he should have called me!"
@@Sutterjack I hadn't heard of that one, but it's consistent with an interview I heard where Rick described what it was like to play a concert where the mellotron wouldn't play at the right speed because it was was very finicky about temperature and roadie handling. What a shame, because I think Yes would have sounded better with the Mellotron.
I had a friend in college that had one (Topeka Kansas '83) I would play with it sometimes and it was BEAUTIFUL 3 iconic keyboards for me Hammond B3 , Fender Rhodes , and the Mellotron
Very well stated!! Music is a reflection of what is happening in society, and present day society has fallen a great deal, and so has the music! I think it was Justin Hayward or John Lodge that said their music is not about genitals, or anything to do with chaos, violence, and destruction!!
@@hanskloss1331 guy named Chuck McDaniel in a Dallas band called Sheriff had one. he wouldnt let anybody touch it! I asked once. No! Chuck you still out there somewhere? You were smart, damn thing breaks down if you look at it cross-eyed!
My mind was totally blown away when I discovered the Mellotron during the pandemic! I couldn’t believe that the Flute sound in “Strawberry Fields Forever” was a Mellotron, not a Flute! As far as other songs go, I had always thought it was an orchestra playing with the songs that had an orchestral sound. Once I discovered what this instrument was I started to search for bands that used it and discovered King Crimson. I’ve heard “21st Century Schizoid Man” before and I liked it, but not enough to explore them. Once I heard this instrument and their use, I was hooked. “Epitaph”, “Court of the Crimson King” & “In the Wake of Poseidon” became instant favorites. I really love the sound of this instrument. It’s a shame it faded away for the horrible ’80s keyboard I despise.
I owned a Mellotron and absolutely loved spending hours noodling around on it. There was somewhat of an ethereal spirit similar to a Player Piano (which uses paper rolls) programmed to replicate performances of artists who may have produced these before we were born but we still hear their soulfulness. Regrettably the pitch was so erratic that I was unable to use it for stage with my other instruments. The person that purchased the unit from me took it to the manufacturer to have it completely refurbished.
5 หลายเดือนก่อน +2
The digital version just doesn't cut it - doesn't have the eeriness of the orgional.
@ There are two different digital Tron manufacturers, one takes its sounds from the original master tapes (so a 'perfect' sound), the other takes its sounds from the output of a refurbished Mellotron - and that one is better for the eerie sound :-)
Fantastic. Mellotron was used by a majority of Brit bands: Pink Floyd, Camel, The Who, Led Zep, ELO, Yes, Moody Blues, Genesis, ELP, Beatles, etc. Era-defining sounds.
The Mellotron was my first musical instrument! I bought it in 1976 and still have it and used it as often as possible with my current band NEUTRAL EARTH. Thanks!
How can this documentary gloss over In The Court of the crimson King, the album that became the forefather of the progressive movement? No album before or after captures the depth or intensity of mellotron use as this does. Ian Macdonald should be in the HOF just for his creative playing of this instrument and his musical arrangements on this pivotal album alone!
King Crimson hunts down and destroys TH-cam vids that use their image or music. Given that, why would anyone take a chance on giving them more than a passing reference? If Fripp wants recognition for Mellotron pioneering, it's on him to blow his own horn.
5 หลายเดือนก่อน +1
Apparently Macdonald used to turn the mellotron up full and down during songs like on epitaph.
@@simonagree4070 That's a shame. Sad when certain individuals ruin it for many over what basically makes their music fade away for newer generations anyway. The money is in streaming these days. Most have enough common sense to let it go now. All said and done, older bands depend on these streaming sources to keep things moving forwards. It must be just one member of King Crimson. Fripp? Like Don Henley from The Eagles. Same problem (there's even a vid on him ranting about YT). He honestly makes no sense at all. I think Rick Beato featured that clip because Henley went after him.
@@steelyman08 Yeah some of the old fogeys are pretty stupid. Their music will fade away, but they refuse to let people share their work for new people to discover. It’s stupid for them to block them. They’re shooting themselves in the foot with that reaction.
@@AntonXul I think most who research it a little agree as well. Luckily it's very few all things considered. And it always seems to involve some behind the scenes ego feud between band members.
Michael Pinder. Ahh, the Moodies. He once explained how he worked for the company that made them or something intricately connected to it. And on their last album with Mike....he sings, "There's one thing I can do....play my mellotron for you...." Tons of trubs on tour with these recordings-tape loops whatever. But man, when it worked on those Moody albums....MAGIC.
Assault and Battery: Hawkwind, The Rain Song: Led Zeppelin, Care of Cell 44:The Zombies, 2000 Light Years from Home : The Stones, all brilliant songs made better by the Mellotron, fantastic instrument\ gadget.
Strange that Pinder would erroneously say Mellotrons use a tape loop. They don't. Each key has only about 8 seconds of sound, which you can hear as hes' talking. Once the tape reaches the end of that time, it stops. Tape loops, OTOH, are exactly that. The tape never stops because it's spliced together and just keeps going round and round. The Orchestron, which Kraftwerk used on their albums Radio-Activity, Trans Europe Express, and The Man Machine, uses a loop (albeit not on tape, but rather on an optical disc). The 7 or 8-second limit to each note on a Mellotron caused players to learn a technique when playing longer chords where the fingers of different notes would be released and pressed in a cyclic fashion so that all the notes never stopped at the same time. It's one of the quirks of the Mellotron that gave it its character.
Great video essay but as you go forward please adjust the volume levels! If you turn your voice to normal levels then the music blows the speakers out, Or if music is normal your voice is very low.
To my mind, the Moody Blues' 3rd Album (ignoring Go Now) "On the Threshold of a Dream" side two "Have you Heard (1&2)" and "The Voyage" are among the greatest examples of the use of the Mellotron.
It was mostly used in the UK where it was conceived. It was rarely heard in american rock/pop music. It trully contribuited to make english bands of the 60’s and 70’s much more interesting than those from the US. Only my opinion.
CAUTION! The volume is all over the place, you can easily blow out speakers. Keep a hand on the volume control, otherwise would have been a great video. P.s.- MUSICIANS! Electro-harmonix makes a bunch of footpedals that electronically produce these sounds today!!! "MEL-9" for instance, and they work awesome with any electric guitar.
Excellent bit. The production quality of this video transported me right back to the Mellotron age! Seems like it was made in the 1970s on the gear I used back in college. Nice touch!! ;-)
I did not know this. Thank you for the history. I remember reading liner notes from the Rick Ruben produced album Blood Sugar Sex Magic by RHCP and reading that Brendan O'Brien played the Mellotron on the song Breaking the Girl. It is a beautiful sound, like a flute arrangement, and I think one of the album's best cuts.
Something i've always wondered about the Mellotron: Did artists ever "hack" the instrument by installing their own snippets of tape? Examples? You've done a really nice job with this video. Interesting and well-researched topic. Keep it up; I'll be watching your channel's development.
I hope he does something about his sound balance. But as for hacking the Mellotron, I believe it was the instrument used in a cat-food ad which featured a chorus of singing cats. "Meow, meow, MEOW, meow! Meow, meow, MEOW, meow!" And I seem to remember a rendition of "Old McDonald's Farm" with pigs oinking in tune and so forth.
A few bands did have the manufacturer install custom sounds - Tangerine Dream in particular, but also others. The BBC had Mellotrons with different sound effects on each key.
The Dickies were a punk band using the mellotron in 1978. In the late eighties and nineties it was Mitchell Froom and Tom Waits who brought back the Chamberlain first. Michael Penn and Patrick Warren had hits with the Chamberlin, as well as John Brion on the Mellotron on the East Coast.
According to the Internet, the Beach Boys never used a Mellotron in any of their recordings. Instead, they used a domestic variant called the "Chamberlin" on a few of their songs.
I saw Graham Nash in concert two weeks ago (March 24, Gold Coast Australia) and was so stoked to see a Leslie cabinet behind the keyboards that it took me a minute to notice the Mellotron, high and proud. All the CSNY stuff, just as it had been arranged to sound.
Bowie used a mellotron and it turned up in the recordings of many who know of the coolness factor. The key is knowing what to do with it from a production standpoint. It wants to be used in good taste
in fact, his very first hit "Space Oddity" featured it played Rick Wakeman (who, of course, was playing it on the song at the beginning of this video!)
Nice mention of the Spring album. They had 3 mellotron players! Also two of the greatest mellotron recordings in history were PFM "Per Un Amico" (1972) [th-cam.com/video/hEfWXsl_EmA/w-d-xo.html] and England "Garden Shed" (1977) [th-cam.com/video/8pPlfkFNCkA/w-d-xo.html] There was also a renewed interest in the instrument in the 90s with groups like Anekdoten, Anglagard, Landberk, a.o. The mellotron was to an orchestra as the Fender Rhodes was to a piano. Both instruments transcended their initial uses to become distinctive sounds unto themselves.
@@stevenwilliams3083 That whole album is one of the greatest to have come out of the 1970s but undoubtedly overshadowed by those of other bands. After I posted my comment, I realised I had forgotten the equally majestic 'See Me See You,' with it's rather gorgeous church-organ style 'echo' at the end. Of course, we should never forget the exquisite final five or six minutes of Gates of Delerium by Yes, with Patrick Moraz on keys, including Mellotron. And for something a bit more recent 'Twice Around the Sun' from Darktown, by Steve Hackett.
It makes me V happy when i see someone give woolly recognition for the mellotron. Woollys contribution towards the end of those BJH albums is pinnacle. Woolly wolstenholme was a very special giffted musician.
All hail our Mellotron Overlords! The Mellotron is a staple of our sound. We use a vintage 1972 M400 with 4 different tape sets, as well as a digital M4000D (with all of the Sound Cards), 2 Mellotron Micros, and several Mellotron Apps for iPad and iPhone. You can never have too much Mellotron. We write and record our own interesting music for the fun of it and post the albums on our NEUTRAL EARTH TH-cam channel. Mellotron lovers unite! Long live the Mellotron!
I’m a massive prog fan since the beginning of prog rock , but I admit to never fully understanding the background, to the mellotron . so i thank you for the very helpful and history
Video is interesting but dude, I can barely hear your voice over the music lol. And I had to keep quickly turning my volume up and down, up and down throughout the video. Just letting you know. Other than that, awesome video.
Talking about the history of the Mellotron without talking to Rick Wakeman is like talking about the Moog synthesizer without talking to Rick Wakeman. Wakeman was the only session musician in London who could play the Mellotron in tune by modulating his finger pressure, and that’s the reason you hear him in Space Oddity among dozens of other well-known hits. That was before he joined Yes, and one of the reasons he joined Yes.
I went to the music store to buy a guitar and the salesman told me they now have a new digital version of the mellotron! I didn’t even go look at it because I would’ve added more money owed to my father’s credit card then I wanted to!😗
I inherited (volunteered to clean out a deceased man's hobby) old electromechanical music devices on of these was a "Chamberlain" (as I recal) which had a similar tape transport mechanism as the mellotron. Back when I was 18 this stuff was considered useless clutter by my folks and we soon parted ways. Sad, I guess
The mellotron was usually found in certain studios in London, and bands recording in those studios would have the option of using it in the mid/ late 60's,when it was working..The Bee gees early albums, mainly their first 2,feature one, played by Maurice Gibb..
Nice feature on the mellotron. I used one at a local keyboard store in Miami back in the seventies it was a beautiful little machine that cost $4,000.😂
I have a Mellotron on my iPad that I midi to my Yamaha grand electric piano, it sounds good. It sounds like a Mellotron, but it passes, and I love the sound and the versatility of it, and would someday love to have a real one.
Thanks for sharing. If memory serves, musicians also got frustrating with the mellotron, too, because the sounds they played would fade out after a few seconds, making it difficult to sustain notes. Seems like Rick Wakeman mentioned that when he talked about playing for Bowie on "Space Oddity." Shawn R., Mo-Mutt Music/Sacred & Secular
there was a soothing quality to it, similar to strings, but less pretentious- it suited rock'n'roll, or prog, and both elevated the effects of the music, but brought it down. my fave is Crimso's use of it on In the Court..., and Red.
Why hasn’t anyone mention the Chamberlin? Harry Chamberlin of Upland California invented the original design and was stolen .copied by a former employee and manufactured by a British company that was unaware of its origin. For an accurate history, there is a documentary about the history of tape playback based keyboards. The film is called Mellodrama, I was one of the first to own a Chamberlin in the LA music circles in the mid 70’s. Jerry Lewis had one and it was originally designed as a home orchestra to replace the home organ. In fact, the Mellotron had aimed for the same market.
If the audio tape sections for each key were easily replaced and a new one inserted with words or a phrase recorded on it it would be the first audio sampling keyboard.
Add a record amp and an erase head and circuit, and you could record new sounds directly with the Mellotron. The tricky part would be pressing the key exactly when you want to start recording and making sure what you want to record fits within the length of the tape. It would be interesting to see the tape drive in the Mellowtron. I'm used to a capstan and pinch roller. When I was a kid, my first tape recorder didn't use a capstan and pinch roller, and it was nearly impossible to get the tape to play back at the speed it was recorded. I got a better one a couple years later. Also, it sounds like the original Mellotron lacked a regulated power supply. That could be easily remedied these days.
Well, as pointed out, even by Tony Banks, they had to rebuilt the Mellatron after every performance. Who wants to keep an instrument which has to be repaired night after night? I remember a keyboard that used little discs, like mini CDs for its sound. Saw it in Keyboard magazine during the 1970's. Obviously, it didnt catch on, and advanced keyboards during the 1970's were outrageously expensive. I remember when the first Kurzweils came out, like who could afford them? Now, almost every keyboard player has one. So, unless any keyboard does not hold up while touring, it's going to go by the wayside.
I've just listened to early Steve Miller Band masterpiece Children of the Future after long time. Masterful mellotron work by Jim Peterman on par with best Pinder's works.
Hey, great subject for a video but please consider re-uploading this with your voiceover higher in the mix (particularly when laid over music), I can’t make out what you’re saying!
Wish you’d mentioned The Rolling Stones’ employment of the Mellotron on their underrated psychedelic album “Their Satanic Majesties’ Request.” The late multi instrumentalist Brian Jones mastered it and the result was the eerie and haunting sound on “2000 Light Years From Home” and “She’s A Rainbow” on that album, as well as “Child of the Moon,” the B side of their 1968 single “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.” You also don’t mention its employment by Led Zeppelin’s bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones (the quietest and most underrated member of that band) on the song “Kashmir,” from their 1975 album”Physical Graffiti” (also augmented by actual strings). It gives the song an otherworldly atmosphere.
The Mellotron never fell - it just got replaced by VST's, Samplers and emulations of its function. The Mellotron was genius, but flawed by its size and complexity in keeping it functioning well. Now you can get those sounds in a handy box :) Long may that sound pervade our music.
Yeah, I don't think any band captured the pure essence of the Melotron like The Moody Blues. It became a very intricate part of their music. RIP Mike Pinder.
I don't think the Mellotron was replaced by synthesizers because synths sounded more realistic. I think the synths were "good enough" to use, but much more reliable and easier tour with. Later synths and samplers became much more realistic. The Mellotron reminds me of. Old newsreels, because of the lo-di quality and the wow and flutter.
I had a Mellotron Mk II, which had bicycle chains connecting barrels of tape so you could select six different parts of the tape. Each of those parts had three different tracks, so 18 possible sounds. It was very unreliable.
Man your vocal level is way way to low in relation to the excerpts your using.
Yes it's easy to fix but it seems to happen a lot nowadays.
This. My wife kept yelling at me because I had the volume jacked up and then the music would kick in and it was deafening. Good content but I almost had to tap out because of this.
Yes! I was afraid my soundbar was having phase issues.
Absolutely...
*too low
Thank you. I'm a big Moody Blues fan, and their use of the Mellotron was what made their signature sound what it was. It sounded like every chord was bent to their will. Timothy Leary!
It was briefly mentioned here but should be emphasized that the point of the mellotron, aside from its unique wobbly, spooky, ethereal sound, was that bands could get an orchestral sound on stage without incurring the expense of touring with an actual orchestra. It just couldn't be done. (Deep Purple did a one-off show with an orchestra in 1969 but it was really rare.) The Moody Blues were truly unique in that keyboardist Mike Pinder worked at mellotron maker Streetly Electronics prior to forming the band. He could repair the instrument himself. In fact, it happened that Moodies shows could be delayed while Pinder had his head in the cabinet untangling tape loops. This explains why it is so prominently used in their sound. One other note: the mechanical nature of the mellotron meant it was sensitive to voltage fluctuations at the concert venue. Pinder learned to use the pitch bend wheel to counter these voltage surges. He was truly the Mellotron Master and deserves more recognition.
Barclay James Harvest toured with an orchestra in the early 70s, to a greater extent than that one-off Deep Purple show. It did prove to be quite expensive.
Pinder talked the Beatles into trying out the mellotron and they used it on "Strawberry Fields" in Nov/Dec 66
The folk prog band Renaissance recorded a lot with orchestras even the Live at the Carnegie Hall LP.
They are great!
I guess you didn't know that ELP toured with an Orchestra in 1977.
Close. It actually existed to be more of a one man band sold to rich folks to park in the parlor with built in rhythms and such , you can hear it in the first example. Later it became a gimmick for Crimson and Moodys, Groundhogs et al. 🎹
Great video, well researched and entertaining. You should do a sound re-mix though because the volume levels jump all over the place, so I was constantly riding the volume control. Also, when you voice-over some of the music clips it is hard to hear you because the music is too loud. Also suggest using a Shure SM7B. I'm going to subscibe and see how this all works out for you. Best of luck!
I'm friends with Mike Pinder and I still think he's the absolute master of the Mellotron. I've heard and respected the 'tron used by many artists but I've never heard anyone get the subtle, etherial sounds out of the mellotron that Mike was able to coax from it in the Moody Blues. That said, I was surprised that Mike had no problem going fully digital once the technology was there.
Nobody could handle a Mellotron like Mike Pinder. He was a magician with that thing. Not surprised he could go digital. If he would keep a mellotron running he could make anything sound good.
Edgar Froese - Epsilon In Malaysian Pale: very ethereal Mellotron.
Yes, I also love all those old Moody Blues albums that Mike played the Mellotron on. But I still slightly favor Tony Banks on the Genesis album Wind And Wuthering, as far as really getting the most out of the Mellotron. He somehow made it sound less shrill, and got a slightly more orchestral sound out of it. Wow, though, how awesome is it to be friends with Mike Pinder?? I'm envious!
@@theclearsounds3911 I think Mike had an edge because he worked at Mellotron and knew the machine so intimately that he wasn't intimidated by it. He also made substantial improvements to it for sound and reliability. I'm sure you've heard of Rick Wakeman's infamous burning of one of his mellotrons out of frustration - Mike said "he should have called me!"
@@Sutterjack I hadn't heard of that one, but it's consistent with an interview I heard where Rick described what it was like to play a concert where the mellotron wouldn't play at the right speed because it was was very finicky about temperature and roadie handling. What a shame, because I think Yes would have sounded better with the Mellotron.
I've heard the mellotron described as sounding like "a celestial choir with a mild throat infection" and I wish I could remember who said that.
the Moodies introduced the mellotron to the Beatles
The Mellotron never fell. It was society which fell.
pffffffffffff ... *_triffler_*
I had a friend in college that had one (Topeka Kansas '83) I would play with it sometimes and it was BEAUTIFUL 3 iconic keyboards for me Hammond B3 , Fender Rhodes , and the Mellotron
Best comment ever. Bravo!
Very well stated!!
Music is a reflection of what is happening in society, and present day society has fallen a great deal, and so has the music!
I think it was Justin Hayward or John Lodge that said their music is not about genitals, or anything to do with chaos, violence, and destruction!!
@@hanskloss1331 guy named Chuck McDaniel in a Dallas band called Sheriff had one. he wouldnt let anybody touch it! I asked once. No!
Chuck you still out there somewhere? You were smart, damn thing breaks down if you look at it cross-eyed!
My mind was totally blown away when I discovered the Mellotron during the pandemic! I couldn’t believe that the Flute sound in “Strawberry Fields Forever” was a Mellotron, not a Flute! As far as other songs go, I had always thought it was an orchestra playing with the songs that had an orchestral sound. Once I discovered what this instrument was I started to search for bands that used it and discovered King Crimson. I’ve heard “21st Century Schizoid Man” before and I liked it, but not enough to explore them. Once I heard this instrument and their use, I was hooked. “Epitaph”, “Court of the Crimson King” & “In the Wake of Poseidon” became instant favorites. I really love the sound of this instrument. It’s a shame it faded away for the horrible ’80s keyboard I despise.
Pinder's Mellotron was essential to Moody Blues' sound.
On the threshold of a dream.
May he rest in peace - died this week
I owned a Mellotron and absolutely loved spending hours noodling around on it. There was somewhat of an ethereal spirit similar to a Player Piano (which uses paper rolls) programmed to replicate performances of artists who may have produced these before we were born but we still hear their soulfulness. Regrettably the pitch was so erratic that I was unable to use it for stage with my other instruments. The person that purchased the unit from me took it to the manufacturer to have it completely refurbished.
The digital version just doesn't cut it - doesn't have the eeriness of the orgional.
@ There are two different digital Tron manufacturers, one takes its sounds from the original master tapes (so a 'perfect' sound), the other takes its sounds from the output of a refurbished Mellotron - and that one is better for the eerie sound :-)
Mellorons were also responsivle for much of Tangerine Dream's early sound. Case in point: Phaedra
Fabulous album. Great point there!
I love Phaedra, bought it when it was first released.
If you don't know it, Edgar Froese' solo Epsilon In Malaysian Pale is a must listen.
early prog would not have been the same without the mellotron.
R. Fripp
King Crimson bought a used one from the Moody Blues in early 1969. The rest is history.
An interesting video but why was your audio so quiet compared to the music and the blank screen bits?
Shout out to Brian Jones' use of the mellotron. 😊
UK DJ Mark Ratcliffe referred to the Mellotron as ‘an orchestra in a drinks cabinet’. That’s genius, because that’s essentially what it is. 😂😂
Fantastic. Mellotron was used by a majority of Brit bands: Pink Floyd, Camel, The Who, Led Zep, ELO, Yes, Moody Blues, Genesis, ELP, Beatles, etc. Era-defining sounds.
ELP? Which tracks?
The Mellotron was my first musical instrument! I bought it in 1976 and still have it and used it as often as possible with my current band NEUTRAL EARTH. Thanks!
How can this documentary gloss over In The Court of the crimson King, the album that became the forefather of the progressive movement? No album before or after captures the depth or intensity of mellotron use as this does. Ian Macdonald should be in the HOF just for his creative playing of this instrument and his musical arrangements on this pivotal album alone!
King Crimson hunts down and destroys TH-cam vids that use their image or music. Given that, why would anyone take a chance on giving them more than a passing reference? If Fripp wants recognition for Mellotron pioneering, it's on him to blow his own horn.
Apparently Macdonald used to turn the mellotron up full and down during songs like on epitaph.
@@simonagree4070 That's a shame. Sad when certain individuals ruin it for many over what basically makes their music fade away for newer generations anyway. The money is in streaming these days. Most have enough common sense to let it go now. All said and done, older bands depend on these streaming sources to keep things moving forwards. It must be just one member of King Crimson. Fripp? Like Don Henley from The Eagles. Same problem (there's even a vid on him ranting about YT). He honestly makes no sense at all. I think Rick Beato featured that clip because Henley went after him.
@@steelyman08
Yeah some of the old fogeys are pretty stupid. Their music will fade away, but they refuse to let people share their work for new people to discover. It’s stupid for them to block them. They’re shooting themselves in the foot with that reaction.
@@AntonXul I think most who research it a little agree as well. Luckily it's very few all things considered. And it always seems to involve some behind the scenes ego feud between band members.
Michael Pinder. Ahh, the Moodies. He once explained how he worked for the company that made them or something intricately connected to it. And on their last album with Mike....he sings, "There's one thing I can do....play my mellotron for you...." Tons of trubs on tour with these recordings-tape loops whatever. But man, when it worked on those Moody albums....MAGIC.
Another bands significant use of the mellotron was Barclay James Harvest, particularly on their album Time Honoured Ghosts.
Absolutely - BJH!!
Interesting history of the instrument, thank you for making it. The constant total black outs threw me off somewhat.
Assault and Battery: Hawkwind, The Rain Song: Led Zeppelin, Care of Cell 44:The Zombies, 2000 Light Years from Home : The Stones, all brilliant songs made better by the Mellotron, fantastic instrument\ gadget.
Strange that Pinder would erroneously say Mellotrons use a tape loop. They don't. Each key has only about 8 seconds of sound, which you can hear as hes' talking. Once the tape reaches the end of that time, it stops. Tape loops, OTOH, are exactly that. The tape never stops because it's spliced together and just keeps going round and round. The Orchestron, which Kraftwerk used on their albums Radio-Activity, Trans Europe Express, and The Man Machine, uses a loop (albeit not on tape, but rather on an optical disc). The 7 or 8-second limit to each note on a Mellotron caused players to learn a technique when playing longer chords where the fingers of different notes would be released and pressed in a cyclic fashion so that all the notes never stopped at the same time. It's one of the quirks of the Mellotron that gave it its character.
awesome
Yeah they made a digital clone of it that you had to also retrigger a long sustained note. So accurate it even had a couple broken keys.
Just to add, the Orchestron and Birotron (based on looped tapes) did not have the distinctive attack on each note that the Mellotron had ~
Rick Wakeman's exemplary touch with the mellotron on David Bowie's Space Oddity blew me away.
RickWakeman is playing the Mellotron on Elton John’s Levon from Madman Across the Water
It is absolutely true that some of those classics just don't sound the same when a modern synth is used instead.
Great video essay but as you go forward please adjust the volume levels! If you turn your voice to normal levels then the music blows the speakers out, Or if music is normal your voice is very low.
To my mind, the Moody Blues' 3rd Album (ignoring Go Now) "On the Threshold of a Dream" side two "Have you Heard (1&2)" and "The Voyage" are among the greatest examples of the use of the Mellotron.
Mike Pinder was the Mellotron King. Ian McDonald from King Crimson was pretty amazing too.
And My Song from EGBDFavor.
How about Rick Wakeman's The 6 wives of King Henry the 8th. Melotron with voices taped.
the black screen cuts are very jarring.
the narration is far too quiet durimg musical passages!!
Your voice is way too low in parts and needs re-editing , otherwise it’s a good documentary
It was mostly used in the UK where it was conceived. It was rarely heard in american rock/pop music. It trully contribuited to make english bands of the 60’s and 70’s much more interesting than those from the US. Only my opinion.
Great story! I had no idea many of my favorite songs included the sound from a Meletron. Thanks.
@valazuniga - It's Mellotron, it's written in the video title.
I like the clips in this.
When I think of the mellotron, I think of King Crimson.
CAUTION! The volume is all over the place, you can easily blow out speakers. Keep a hand on the volume control, otherwise would have been a great video. P.s.- MUSICIANS! Electro-harmonix makes a bunch of footpedals that electronically produce these sounds today!!! "MEL-9" for instance, and they work awesome with any electric guitar.
The man who always got the best out of the mellotron was Tony Banks.
MIKE PINDER , MOODY BLUES ....
Yes Tony Banks was the absolute master, in fact it's generally agreed that Watcher Of The Skies is the best opening piece of Music 🎶 by anyone.
And the Arp Quadra.
Most certainly Mike Pinder had a way of bring out the etheric sounds in so many Moody Blues tunes.
Agreed. Just listen to the Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. Such versatility use of the instrument. Amazing instrument and sadly missed. Very unique sound.
I turn the volume up so I can hear you, and then the music blasts in my ears.
Excellent bit. The production quality of this video transported me right back to the Mellotron age! Seems like it was made in the 1970s on the gear I used back in college. Nice touch!! ;-)
I did not know this. Thank you for the history. I remember reading liner notes from the Rick Ruben produced album Blood Sugar Sex Magic by RHCP and reading that Brendan O'Brien played the Mellotron on the song Breaking the Girl. It is a beautiful sound, like a flute arrangement, and I think one of the album's best cuts.
Something i've always wondered about the Mellotron: Did artists ever "hack" the instrument by installing their own snippets of tape? Examples?
You've done a really nice job with this video. Interesting and well-researched topic. Keep it up; I'll be watching your channel's development.
I hope he does something about his sound balance. But as for hacking the Mellotron, I believe it was the instrument used in a cat-food ad which featured a chorus of singing cats. "Meow, meow, MEOW, meow! Meow, meow, MEOW, meow!" And I seem to remember a rendition of "Old McDonald's Farm" with pigs oinking in tune and so forth.
A few bands did have the manufacturer install custom sounds - Tangerine Dream in particular, but also others. The BBC had Mellotrons with different sound effects on each key.
@@waltergold3457 That was a digital sampler, probably E-mu Emulator.
@@mickeythompson9537 Thanks!
It's documented that the BBC had a few Mellotrons that they used for sound effects ~
The Dickies were a punk band using the mellotron in 1978. In the late eighties and nineties it was Mitchell Froom and Tom Waits who brought back the Chamberlain first. Michael Penn and Patrick Warren had hits with the Chamberlin, as well as John Brion on the Mellotron on the East Coast.
I enjoy your music as well as your scholarship, Brian ~
Thanks for recognizing this amazing instrument. But there are many of us who believe it hasn't fallen. It's sound is too iconic.
Good stuff, I like the sound of the mellotron. Glad to watch this TH-cam video. Thanks.
According to the Internet, the Beach Boys never used a Mellotron in any of their recordings. Instead, they used a domestic variant called the "Chamberlin" on a few of their songs.
The Chamberlain predates the Mellotron, which is actually a bootleg Chamberlain ~
I saw Graham Nash in concert two weeks ago (March 24, Gold Coast Australia) and was so stoked to see a Leslie cabinet behind the keyboards that it took me a minute to notice the Mellotron, high and proud. All the CSNY stuff, just as it had been arranged to sound.
Graham Nash had a golden and black MK2 in thé sixties ,one of thé 7 built .
Bowie used a mellotron and it turned up in the recordings of many who know of the coolness factor.
The key is knowing what to do with it from a production standpoint.
It wants to be used in good taste
in fact, his very first hit "Space Oddity" featured it played Rick Wakeman (who, of course, was playing it on the song at the beginning of this video!)
Rick Wakeman played it on space oddity.
Nice mention of the Spring album. They had 3 mellotron players! Also two of the greatest mellotron recordings in history were PFM "Per Un Amico" (1972) [th-cam.com/video/hEfWXsl_EmA/w-d-xo.html] and England "Garden Shed" (1977) [th-cam.com/video/8pPlfkFNCkA/w-d-xo.html] There was also a renewed interest in the instrument in the 90s with groups like Anekdoten, Anglagard, Landberk, a.o. The mellotron was to an orchestra as the Fender Rhodes was to a piano. Both instruments transcended their initial uses to become distinctive sounds unto themselves.
The sudden cuts of the sound examples are very unpleasant and jarring. Voiceovers are sometimes buried by the soundtrack.
There is nothing like a Mellotron Nothing. The sound it makes is magical.
Black Sabbath=Changes-1972..Clear , Ethereal, Ballad! Mellotron TRES Heavy!
And don't forget the master keyboardist of Barclay James Harvest, the late, great Woolly Wolstenholme.
'For No One,' from Everyone is Everybody Else. Mellotron Heaven!!
@@nickk6518 Yes, possibly my very favorite BJH song, maybe my favorite of all time!
@@nickk6518And, in addition to the brilliant mellotron, the amazing cascading layers of guitar at the end...possibly their magnum opus?
@@stevenwilliams3083 That whole album is one of the greatest to have come out of the 1970s but undoubtedly overshadowed by those of other bands. After I posted my comment, I realised I had forgotten the equally majestic 'See Me See You,' with it's rather gorgeous church-organ style 'echo' at the end.
Of course, we should never forget the exquisite final five or six minutes of Gates of Delerium by Yes, with Patrick Moraz on keys, including Mellotron.
And for something a bit more recent 'Twice Around the Sun' from Darktown, by Steve Hackett.
It makes me V happy when i see someone give woolly recognition for the mellotron.
Woollys contribution towards the end of those BJH albums is pinnacle.
Woolly wolstenholme was a very special giffted musician.
My favorite use of it is in Yes “The Revealing Science Of God.” It just sounds so huge!
For me, it was the instrument of a lifetime and lifestyle!
All hail our Mellotron Overlords! The Mellotron is a staple of our sound. We use a vintage 1972 M400 with 4 different tape sets, as well as a digital M4000D (with all of the Sound Cards), 2 Mellotron Micros, and several Mellotron Apps for iPad and iPhone. You can never have too much Mellotron. We write and record our own interesting music for the fun of it and post the albums on our NEUTRAL EARTH TH-cam channel. Mellotron lovers unite! Long live the Mellotron!
Damn my g ! Set it off with and you and I ! Great way to open a video
I’m a massive prog fan since the beginning of prog rock , but I admit to never fully understanding the background, to the mellotron . so i thank you for the very helpful and history
Video is interesting but dude, I can barely hear your voice over the music lol. And I had to keep quickly turning my volume up and down, up and down throughout the video. Just letting you know. Other than that, awesome video.
Loved the video. Good representation of the Mellotrons key moments.
It would be hard to think of Watcher of the Skies with any other sound.
I use a Memotron these days. The tape banks have all been digitized and it sounds amazing!
In 1996 I constructed a Tron-In-ROM that has all the Violins and and octave of Cello digitized. Wouldn't mind having one of those Memotrons, though!
Arturia got a a mellotron as plugin as well
I learned a lot. Thanks . Now reengineer the voice over.
They need to bring it back with bands, bring back our great music! YAY to The Moody Blues, Mike Pinder played it in 1968, love the Moodies!♥️🎵🎶🎵🎹🎸🎸🪈🥁
Talking about the history of the Mellotron without talking to Rick Wakeman is like talking about the Moog synthesizer without talking to Rick Wakeman. Wakeman was the only session musician in London who could play the Mellotron in tune by modulating his finger pressure, and that’s the reason you hear him in Space Oddity among dozens of other well-known hits. That was before he joined Yes, and one of the reasons he joined Yes.
When Black Sabbath used one on their classic track "Changes", it sounded seriously eerie.
I went to the music store to buy a guitar and the salesman told me they now have a new digital version of the mellotron! I didn’t even go look at it because I would’ve added more money owed to my father’s credit card then I wanted to!😗
5:00..Tony Banks used Mellotron augmented with RMI elec piano(Fly on a windshield).
I inherited (volunteered to clean out a deceased man's hobby) old electromechanical music devices on of these was a "Chamberlain" (as I recal) which had a similar tape transport mechanism as the mellotron. Back when I was 18 this stuff was considered useless clutter by my folks and we soon parted ways. Sad, I guess
The Chamberlain predates the Mellotron, which was actually stolen from Harry Chamberlain. It's quite a story ~
The mellotron was usually found in certain studios in London, and bands recording in those studios would have the option of using it in the mid/ late 60's,when it was working..The Bee gees early albums, mainly their first 2,feature one, played by Maurice Gibb..
Many groups used Mellotrons in the 1980s, including Captain Beefheart (Doc at the Radar Station) and XTC (The Big Express).
Nice feature on the mellotron.
I used one at a local keyboard store in Miami back in the seventies it was a beautiful little machine that cost $4,000.😂
Angel=1975-80, TRES Cool/Heavy use of the Mellotron for POMP Rock Epics!
I have a Mellotron on my iPad that I midi to my Yamaha grand electric piano, it sounds good. It sounds like a Mellotron, but it passes, and I love the sound and the versatility of it, and would someday love to have a real one.
that was fun. good to see mike pindar who doesn't always get credit.
Thanks for sharing. If memory serves, musicians also got frustrating with the mellotron, too, because the sounds they played would fade out after a few seconds, making it difficult to sustain notes. Seems like Rick Wakeman mentioned that when he talked about playing for Bowie on "Space Oddity." Shawn R., Mo-Mutt Music/Sacred & Secular
there was a soothing quality to it, similar to strings, but less pretentious- it suited rock'n'roll, or prog, and both elevated the effects of the music, but brought it down. my fave is Crimso's use of it on In the Court..., and Red.
Easy Money as well!!
I LIKE MELOTRON N HAMMOND B3 W/LESILE !
Hugs from Brazil 🎉
Why hasn’t anyone mention the Chamberlin? Harry Chamberlin of Upland California invented the original design and was stolen .copied by a former employee and manufactured by a British company that was unaware of its origin. For an accurate history, there is a documentary about the history of tape playback based keyboards. The film is called Mellodrama, I was one of the first to own a Chamberlin in the LA music circles in the mid 70’s. Jerry Lewis had one and it was originally designed as a home orchestra to replace the home organ. In fact, the Mellotron had aimed for the same market.
Mike Pinder did record with a Chamberlin for the Moody Blues' album, Seventh Sojourn, if it's any consolation.
I'm a little surprised that the author of this video did not address this ~
If the audio tape sections for each key were easily replaced and a new one inserted with words or a phrase recorded on it it would be the first audio sampling keyboard.
Add a record amp and an erase head and circuit, and you could record new sounds directly with the Mellotron. The tricky part would be pressing the key exactly when you want to start recording and making sure what you want to record fits within the length of the tape. It would be interesting to see the tape drive in the Mellowtron. I'm used to a capstan and pinch roller. When I was a kid, my first tape recorder didn't use a capstan and pinch roller, and it was nearly impossible to get the tape to play back at the speed it was recorded. I got a better one a couple years later. Also, it sounds like the original Mellotron lacked a regulated power supply. That could be easily remedied these days.
New England S/T=1979! Mellotron Heaven!!!
I still use it!
Great video let down by the overall sound quality. I struggled to hear what you were saying, at times.
Well, as pointed out, even by Tony Banks, they had to rebuilt the Mellatron after every performance. Who wants to keep an instrument which has to be repaired night after night? I remember a keyboard that used little discs, like mini CDs for its sound. Saw it in Keyboard magazine during the 1970's. Obviously, it didnt catch on, and advanced keyboards during the 1970's were outrageously expensive. I remember when the first Kurzweils came out, like who could afford them? Now, almost every keyboard player has one. So, unless any keyboard does not hold up while touring, it's going to go by the wayside.
I've just listened to early Steve Miller Band masterpiece Children of the Future after long time. Masterful mellotron work by Jim Peterman on par with best Pinder's works.
i think it would be good to increase the volume of the narrator audio in the mix
Hey, great subject for a video but please consider re-uploading this with your voiceover higher in the mix (particularly when laid over music), I can’t make out what you’re saying!
Wish you’d mentioned The Rolling Stones’ employment of the Mellotron on their underrated psychedelic album “Their Satanic Majesties’ Request.” The late multi instrumentalist Brian Jones mastered it and the result was the eerie and haunting sound on “2000 Light Years From Home” and “She’s A Rainbow” on that album, as well as “Child of the Moon,” the B side of their 1968 single “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.”
You also don’t mention its employment by Led Zeppelin’s bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones (the quietest and most underrated member of that band) on the song “Kashmir,” from their 1975 album”Physical Graffiti” (also augmented by actual strings). It gives the song an otherworldly atmosphere.
What’s the song at 5:40?
Great video. Volume and editing needs some work though.
The Mellotron never fell - it just got replaced by VST's, Samplers and emulations of its function. The Mellotron was genius, but flawed by its size and complexity in keeping it functioning well. Now you can get those sounds in a handy box :) Long may that sound pervade our music.
Yeah, I don't think any band captured the pure essence of the Melotron like The Moody Blues. It became a very intricate part of their music. RIP Mike Pinder.
I dabbled with Abbey Road Studios’ Melloton at a “viewing day” in 1980 before it was part of a public auction for an upgrade of the studio equipment.
Such an interesting instrument - please remix this so we can hear your voice over music clips.
Brian Wilson used it in '65 to make Good Vibrations
Steven Wilson/Porcupine Tree have kept the mellotron alive in the 21st century.
The mellowtron doesn't have tape loops like the man said. They are tape strips that snap back on springs.
I don't think the Mellotron was replaced by synthesizers because synths sounded more realistic. I think the synths were "good enough" to use, but much more reliable and easier tour with. Later synths and samplers became much more realistic. The Mellotron reminds me of. Old newsreels, because of the lo-di quality and the wow and flutter.
John Paul Jones
"The Rain Song" from "The Song Remains the Same" album is just pure Heaven!
Good job, but you seriously need to remix this and bring your voice up in the mix!
"...held together with bicycle chains, and the Beatles used one."
I seriously don't know how some of these ideas came about, but surely glad they did.
I had a Mellotron Mk II, which had bicycle chains connecting barrels of tape so you could select six different parts of the tape. Each of those parts had three different tracks, so 18 possible sounds. It was very unreliable.
It's still used today, although more digital units than real, tape-driven ones.
Sounds different though.