Mellotron....the Prog Rock hidden weapon?

[Hurdy Gurdy Man]

For my money,the best lesson in how the Mellotron could be used successfully in the enhancement of pop/rock recording is the Moody Blues expansive employment of the device on their late 60's/early 70's albums.I think the single best example would probably be "In Search Of The Lost Chord" with its multitudes of symphonic textures.The Mellotron was played on these Moodies' works mostly by Mike Pinder,who himself worked at a Melltron manufacturer and dealer in the early/mid 60's and suggested its usage to the Beatles around the time of(this is so perfect it's like fate)"Strawberry Fields".The Monkees' Micky Dolenz was actually one of the first in the world the own one and John Lennon was known to have dabbled with the instrument in Dolenz's home.Around the time of the Mellotron's induction into the pop world,Brian Wilson's newest "pet sound" was the theremin,that spooky,spacy sound you here at the end of the Beach Boys' timeless classic "Good Vibrations"....

 

[Khor1255]

The theremin is pretty cool but usually only used as a toy or effect. I think The Beach Boys did try to actually harmonize the instrument in that very song and that is a great idea. It has potential for really unique atmospheric coloring to any tune.

 

[Big Ears]

Earlier today, I was listening to Tony Banks's use of the mellotron on various Genesis albums. He was a real master of the instrument and and drew out all sorts of little nuances. When Genesis combine the mellotron with Hackett's guitars, they remind me of King Crimson's In the Court of the Crimson King, on which Ian McDonald's use of mellotron is staggeringly fantastic.

 

[gcczep]

Mello Jones...

John Paul Jones used it extensively for Zeppelin until 1977. I listened to many a concert of theirs and really liked its sound. Unfortunately as others have noted, it was a tricky console to maintain. Plant usually joked about it going out of tune from city to city.

 

[Khor1255]

From what I understand motor control was something of a big issue. You had to warm up the motor to get it to a certain speed to retain tone or some such. Having never directly used one (although I jammed with guys who used the Optigan (con?) I can't say for certain but I'll bet they could make a hassle free tron these days. I wonder if anyone has ever tried.

 

[Big Ears]

I've been listening to King Crimson's Epitaph album, which collects live material from 1969, although it was not released until 1997. It is (old) bootleg quality, but the compilers were just thankful to find the tapes at all. I remember Tommy Vance appealing for home tapes of Crimson's BBC sessions, on his BBC Radio One Rock Show, and implying that a blind eye would be turned. Ian McDonald's live reeds and mellotron playing has to be heard to be believed. Indeed, the performances from the entire classic lineup are terrific. Some boots, especially old ones, are poorly recorded by official standards, but the strength of the playing shines through, and this is a gleaming example.

 

[Khor1255]

Don't think I have ever heard that one. I might have a few of these songs on the 4 cd set I bought several years ago that featured live and studio 'best of' stuff from their entire golden era (when I say golden era I am referring to everything up to and including the Wetton era).

I'm going to have to check that out. Thanks.

 

[Khor1255]

I'd also like to add that it's not just prog that leaned heavily on the tron in the 60s and especially the 70s. You hear it in all kinds of pop through rock, country and even adult contemporary. It was kind of a go to device when you wanted cheap easy to manage orchestra effect without having to deal with an orchestra.

 

[Big Ears]

Mike Dickson performed a number of well known classical pieces on the mellotron on an album called Mellotronworks (there is also a Mellotron Works II). Robert Fripp is a fan and it's available as a free legal download here:

Mike Dickson - mellotronworks

Right click on the track and click on 'save target as'. I had to use IE for this, because I could not download with FF. If anyone can get it to work, I'd be interested to know what they did differently.

Epitaph is well worth hearing, if you are a classic-era KC fan, but bear in mind the recording quality is relatively poor. There is also a similar collection for the Wetton era, called The Great Deceiver, which I have not heard (by then David Cross and Robert Fripp were playing Mellotron). I would be interested in hearing anything with Boz Burrell, if it exists.

The Moog synthesizer succeeded the melloton as an 'orchestra machine', inspired by Walter Carlos's Switched-On Bach, but because the mellotron had its own sound, musicians like Keith Emerson used both. By the early nineties, it sounded as if Emerson was using a sampler on stage, but I can only find credits for keyboards! A sampler can have its own sound too (punchy).

 

[CP/M User]

The history of the Moog Synthesizer seems to go back to the 1950s, though gained popularity with the big group during 1967/68, though used as an effect rather than instrumentation as mention on this page.