The Mellotron and Moog Modular

Now, behold - (1) a software modelled Mellotron - 

So. I come in. I switch on the PC, I start up Cubase. I add a track, and I can choose from 1001 instruments, hundreds of presets, I don't have to plug anything in, I don't have to warm anything up, I don't have to find $50,000 for a vintage instrument which will go wrong, requiring ruinously expensive repairs.... and they sound the same. 

The 400 ??? ;-)

That's all alright Dave, surely those instruments were a pain, but it also means that those guys who mastered them needed something current musicians do not need having. They had to tame those beasts, they had to fiddle with knobs and switches and patch cables and pedals while playing live in front of their audiences, dealing with the fact that some of them were monophonic, some of them did not have a velocity-sensitive keyboard or aftertouch, or they could not store presets... While current musicians just need to sequentially push a 'next patch' button and they can concentrate on their fingers without worrying about the instrument and sound they are playing.

Davesax1965 wrote: Now, behold - (1) a software modelled Mellotron -

I learned a little about synths with an ARP2600, not quite the same beast as that Moog Modulator but a bear to work with still.  My two favorite patches: One a buddy and I created that went something like "Blik-Whonk-WHEEEEeeeeeeeeee-Boing-Blatch.  Our teacher had to study that one and to be honest I have no idea how we actually did it.  The other was created by our teacher and we called it "Oatmeal" because it sounded like a big cauldron of the stuff burbling and bubbling.  We had to be careful about hitting too high a note or it would boil over! 

Several years ago, the local trading post had an M400 listed for sale - $800 not working. Apparently, the seller got dozens of phone calls with offers into the 1000's. He pulled the plug on it (the sale, haha) and eventually some big instrument repairs/sales centre whipped it up, probably for more than the 800 he asked.
And some of the modern patches sound so convincing, even having the 'raspy' qualities of the genuine machines.
Remember Astra's debut album The Weirding ?? Bluffed me until Andy T (Planet Mellotron) shed light on its source. Finnish band Kosmos, same deal. Getting hard to spot the difference.

I started off on a Korg MS-10 which I later sold for £175. I was sitting in the music shop with the cash burning a hole in my pocket, picked up a Rickenbacker 4001 which no one seemed to want, played a few bass lines, thought.... "nah" for some reason, and put it back in the rack. It was..... £175 at the time. 

cstack3 wrote: Thanks for the link to "Brotherhood of the Machine," they have a synth sound that reminds me of High T Moonweed from "Gong"!  Very similar to "Gong-You"!

Edited by Davesax1965 - February 02 2015 at 07:42

Davesax1965 wrote: cstack3 wrote: Thanks for the link to "Brotherhood of the Machine," they have a synth sound that reminds me of High T Moonweed from "Gong"!  Very similar to "Gong-You"!  Oh no, he's right. And I hate Gong.  That's me, by the way, cstack. Glad you liked it. :-)