ive been saving up for it for about a year and i almost have enough. ive never played but i really want to learn how to play mellotron. thank you for any thoughts

Given how expensive these are - dare I say a complete rip-off, hasn’t anyone worked out how to copy/hack these yet? It’s especially annoying that each card has come interesting sounds, and then a bunch of rhythms, the latter in which I’m completely disinterested.

Does Streetly M4000 tape library include a harmon mute trumpet/brass tape? I've tried 'muted brass' patches on m-tron, but i think those are plunger mutes, i haven't found a harmon mute-specific patch/tape.

Hello, I am an amateur woodworker and I have someone looking for a custom built mellotron cabinet. They have the M4000D and want a cabinet to make it look like the original M400. Any help would be greatly appreciated for anyone who may have an original that could give me the dimensions.

You folks already know this. But a lot of people don't. So when they're Googling "Mellotron presets", I want this to come up. And I want to get this off my chest, because it bugs me. So this is a Mellotron rant.

Mellotrons don't have presets. A particular sample library of sounds is not a "preset", nor is it a "setting". It's a sample library, or a tape bank, or what have you. When it comes to calling different sounds "settings", the most you can say is that a Mellotron has a track selection dial with three settings, and each set of tapes has three sounds to choose from; you want Track A, Track B, or Track C, or do you want to be clever like Tony Banks and put the dial somewhere between positions so you can blend two of the tracks? Even then, calling the sounds themselves "settings" is stretching the definition, to the point where it's incorrect.

To call sounds on the Mellotron "presets" or "settings" is to imply a few things. First of all, it implies that all the sounds are inside the Mellotron all the time. They're not. You've got three sounds on each tape bank. If you want different sounds from the three you have loaded up, you have to take out this big rack of tapes and put in another one. If you want to never change tapes in your Mellotron, your sound options are going to be pretty limited. And you can't say that pulling out and replacing the physical storage medium is "changing settings", or "switching to another preset". You just can't.

Second, the term "presets" implies that the Mellotron has the ability to store and load configurations on command. It doesn't. Maybe some of the very newest ones do, but in the old days, no. No computer, no integrated circuits, no memory — not even some kind of primitive mechanical recall system. When you talk about "presets", you're thinking of a technology from modern synthesizers — not keyboards that are this old, and especially not keyboards that stored all their sounds on analog tape. Even most synthesizers from the Mellotron's heyday didn't have presets.

So using the term "preset" or "setting" when talking about a Mellotron sound is just plain ignorant. It's like if you bought an LP of Sgt. Pepper and said "Sgt. Pepper is a preset on my record player." No it's not.

Mike Pinder of the Moody Blues has died at 82 (link). He arguably did the most to popularise the Mellotron, showcasing its orchestral qualities in songs like Nights In White Satin and introducing it to The Beatles.

I just got this new Mellotoon EKX for EZ Keys by Toontrack & it features the Mellotron M400:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJp6nUXKq0E so I've transcribed Roger Emerson's arrangement of Light in the Hallway for Mellotron Sextet.

I recently picked up some expansion cards for my Mellotron and realized that searching across multiple PDF documents to find which card had a specific sounds was less than ideal.

I compiled a searchable index of all of the Mellotron sound cards and organized them by card number, sound name, model, instrument category, and miscellaneous tags and notes. All fields within the index are instantly filtered by typing into the search box.

I have been using this for a few weeks now and have found it very helpful. Wanted to share it here to hopefully help others:

https://themesa.band/mellotron

Has anyone found affordable legs via Amazon or eBay for the M4000D? $450 for the official chrome legs is pricey. Hoping to find, perhaps, a wooden solution for $25/leg.

Hello my name is Chris and I have Asperger's. For the past thirty five years my chief obsessions have been with the mellotron and later the chamberlin. After listening to thousands of recordings featuring the instrument my personal favorites are anything recorded at Dierks Studios in Stommeln, Germany between 1971 and 1976. The three most famous recordings are "Journey to the Center of the Eye" by Nektar, 'Ballerman" by Grobschnitt, and "In Trance" by Scorpions. And do not forget"Atem" by Tangerine Dream. The two best ones are"Morning" by Wind and "Tarot" by Walter Wegmuller featuring Jurgen Dollase from Wallenstein. I thought for years there might have a Mk Il mellotron at Dierks Studios but Stefan Kaske of Mythos informed me it was an M400. A correction to an earlier posting on this site. Spring only used one MKIi mellotron, it was borrowed by Al Kooper for his "New York City You're a Woman" album. The Spring mellotron ended up at Rockfield Studios in Wales. It was later used by Budgie and Foghat. There has been a musical lie perpetuated by Mike Ponder that he introduced the Beatles to the mellotron. This supposedly occurred during the final Beatles' tour of Britain in December 1965. According to the correct accounts John Lennon produced a band called Silkie at IBC Studios a cover of "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away.". IBC was owned by Eric Robinson the orchestra leader who helped bank roll the development of the mellotron and where all of of the original recordings were completed other than the 3 violins. The MK II mellotron there which impressed John Lennon was later used by the Bee Gees, Cream and Tin Tin. John Lennon's own machine was delivered to his residence in August 1965 this proving the Ponder story a falsehood. By the way, there were only four bands which used all three original models of the mellotron the Moody Blues, Barclay James Harvest, the Bee Gees, and Fluff. There is M300 on one track on the Bee Gees "Cucumber Castle" I remember a fifth band. There is MkIi mellotron on "Very Heavy, Very Humble" by Uriah Heep and M300 on "Wake Up, Set Your Sights" off the same album. Mk Ii on "Salisbury" and M400 on two later albums by John Wetton. Finally, there is the matter of the MK II mellotrons brought into the United States in the late Sixties during the moratorium period. The first one was Elektra Sound Recorders in LA by Jack Holzman in 1967 and used by the Doors, John Sebastian, and Roxy. John Frusciante from the Red Hot Chili Peppers owns this instrument but has used it sparingly on only two recordings. Kent Recording Studio owned one which was used on Bob Smith's ""The Visitor' and was played by Don Preston from the Mother's of Invention. My personal theory is that this might be the original Graham Bond mellotron which he brought to the United States and recorded two albums with it. The claim that Czar used it in England is probably wrong. In Illinois Rock Nielsen used a MK II mellotron with his band Fuse and that machine ended up in Tel-Arc Studios in Chicago used by Made In Sweden. In New York the Tokens owned a MkIi used on "Intercourse" Brute Force, and various BT Puppy singles produced by them. Two mysteries are a possible MK II at Gotham Recording Studio where Leslie West's "Mountain" album was recorded produced by Felix Pappalardi with one tron track. There is no further record of any other recordings at this studio featuring the mellotron. Then there's the first album by the group Mountain again produced by Pappalardi and featuring two Tron tracks which are completely inaudible. No more Tron recordings from this studio and it is way too early to be the John Lennon machine which was stored at the Record Plant. In Atlanta there was a MK II mellotron used by the Candyman and Joe South. As literally the entire Atlanta Rhythm Section members and Joe South are deceased I cannot verify anything else about the Atlanta instrument. Finally there is the MK II in South Texas used by the band Homer. There is one member of this group still alive and I hope to contact him soon for more info. Thanks alot for your time Tim. This is just the tip of the iceberg of what I know about the mellotron. I have severe social issues because of the autism. If you are near Cincinnati or Ohio area I want to especially hear from you as that is where I am at.

This is a home recording cover of "the Narrow Way Part 1" by Pink Floyd

It has weaving sounds of the Mellotron French horn and viola along with some backwards guitar

hopefully resulting in some pleasant acoustic psychedelia : )

Narrow Way Part One with mellotron #mellotron #pinkfloyd #acoustic #psychedelic (cov) - YouTube

Hello! I am trying to learn how to play mellatron on my midi keyboard and I am practicing by trying to replicate the mellatron on The Rolling Stones Jigsaw Puzzle. I am pretty close, but I can't get it quite right. Does anyone have a tutorial or tips to help?

Does anyone have a manual for the micro? I just got one. I registered it to get the manual but there was no attachment on the email I got from the company.

Thanks