Remembering Gert Jalass

video upload by John L Rice

"The sad news of Gert's passing put me out of sorts and I ended up looking through old pictures and decided to make a very short and quick remembrance video out of them. Rest in peace Gert, and condolences to all of his friends and family. Feel free to share comments and stories relating to Gert in the comments section below if you like.

The simple sequence is a Moon Modular 569 Quad Sequential Voltage Source running two identical voices each consisting of a MOTM-300 VCO, 1/4 of a MOTM-380 quad LFO, 1/2 of a Moon 517 VCF, 1/2 of a Oakley dual VCA and 1/5 of a Club Of The Knobs poly EG. Also used: Expressive-E Osmose keyboard, Mellotron M4000D Rack, Roland A-88 controller, Strymon BigSky and Timeline pedals, Lexicon MX400 rack."

Shimmers and Echoes (soundscape) for VCS3, Arp 2600, Clavinet, Mellotron and Gong.

video upload by R. Reger

"All VCS3 patches played through an Empress Echosystem. Arp 2600 patches played through a Boss RE-20 Space Echo. Clavinet played through a Fairfield Circuitry "Randy's Revenge" ring modulator. Mellotron played through an MXR 10-band EQ and Boss RV-5 reverb."

Chamberlin M1 - Precursor to the Mellotron

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this listing

Additional Retro Gear Shop Listings

via Wikipedia:

"The Chamberlin is an electro-mechanical keyboard instrument that was a precursor to the Mellotron. It was developed and patented by the American inventor Harry Chamberlin from 1949 to 1956, when the first model was introduced."

You can see the inside of one in this previous post featuring a performance by Patrick Warren playing one for Michael Penn.

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RIP Mike Pinder of The Moody Blues & Streetly Electronics' Mellotron

video upload by Beat-Club

I heard the news on Marty Willson-Piper's Music of the Daze.

Mike Pinder was the keyboard player and a founding member of The Moody Blues. Prior to that he worked on the manufacturing of the first Mellotrons in the UK. According to mellotronics.com, "Streetly Electronics are the original UK manufacturer of mellotrons and world experts in the instrument."

via Wikipedia:

"Between 1962-63 Pinder worked for 18 months as an engineer at Streetly Electronics, in Streetly, Birmingham, a factory manufacturing the first models of Mellotron in the UK.

In May 1964 Pinder left Streetly Electronics to co-found The Moody Blues with Ray Thomas, Denny Laine, Clint Warwick and Graeme Edge."

His impact becomes clear when you read the following from Music of the Daze:

"This from my friend Nicklas Barker, guitarist, singer and composer from Swedish proggers Anekdoten. He is also a connoisseur of the Mellotron:

'Very sad, imagine if he had not started working at the Mellotron factory and done something else before joining The Moody Blues and introducing the glorious Mellotron string sound to a wider audience through Nights in White Satin. What would have happened then? No King Crimson? He was also friends with John Lennon and introduced the Mellotron to him. No Strawberry Fields? Mike Pinder was the first, and the impact of his use of the Mellotron changed music history. He was also the greatest Mellotron player ever. Just listen to Out and In from To Our Children’s Children’s Children. He was the wizard of the astral orchestra.'"

via mellotron

"Mike Pinder of the Moody Blues and the Mk II"


Mike Pinder describes how the mellotron works

video upload by reversengr

"Mike Pinder describes how the mellotron works in the fabulous 'Live at Isle of Wight Festival (1970)' You really should buy this DVD, it's not only a great documentary but a wonderful concert film as well. The sound is surprisingly good, you will enjoy it."

Update via Atomic Shadow:

"Here's the Moody's live on French TV. You can really see/hear what Mike Pinder contributed to the sound of that band. Without him and the MK 2, they would have just been another guitar band. It's startling how much they sounded like the records live!"

The Moody Blues - Full Concert - French TV Special 1968 (Remastered)

video upload by BrunoSamppa

"Audio and Video Remastered by BrunoSamppa - Support me on KO-FI http://ko-fi.com/brunosamppa
CHAVE PIX: brunovideopix@gmail.com

1. Tuesday Afternoon 00:01
2. Nights in White Satin 04:54
3. Legend of a Mind (Part 3) 09:36
4. Bye Bye Bird 12:42
5. Fly Me High 17:33
6. I've Got a Dream 24:12
7. A Beautiful Dream 27:36
8. Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood 31:49
9. Peak Hour 35:18
10. Nights in White Satin (Reprise) 41:38"

Steelphon S900 // Mellotron M400

video upload by foleytronics fx repair

"This is a demo of Tom’s Steelphon that got whooped by UPS - broken circuit boards, broken MDF case, no output. We took the case to be reproduced by Kent Meloy of Tunguska Guitars and in the meantime went to town on the electronics. There isn’t a schematic available anywhere, but after getting the rails back and the keyboard CV working, there was still no output. I isolated it to the filter board and realized the VCF is a Moog copy, component-for-component, so I used a Minimoog schematic to help troubleshoot the problem.

The Mellotron is mine and has undergone quite a bit of work. New pinch rollers, new motor control board, rebuilt the PSU, and fabbed a new key as one was missing."

The Cathedral of Time (soundscape) for VCS3, Arp 2600, Mellotrons, Hammond Organ and The Crown.

video upload by R. Reger

"Original soundscape for vintage keys and percussion."

LETO - Mellotron mod

video upload by Love Hultén

"Custom upright setup incl

Mellotron M4000D mini
Pro-800
Nymphes
Warped Vinyl
Tensor
QuadraMix

Time Corridors

video upload by John L Rice

"And another "modular Tetris" rearrangement session which led to some keyboard noodling which lead to a recording which lead to a video which lead to the need to add a lot more parts and video editing which lead to the reality that I have much more important things to be doing which caused me to stop where I was at which is why all you get is this unfinished thing! 😅

Modules used:
Oakley/Krisp1 - Slim VCO B, Diode Superladder VCF, Flanger/Chorus
STG - Envelope
Moon - 569 sequencer
Corsynth - C102 VC LFO
Grove Audio - PM Resonator
Modcan - Quantizer 55B
Marienberg - Sine Phase VCO
Club Of The Knobs - C1660 VC Phase Processor

Keyboard:
Expressive E - Osmose

Effects:
Strymon - BigSky, Timeline, Mobius
Lexicon - MX400"

The mystery and magic of TEMPERA.

video upload by Enjoy Synths

"I have to admit, I didn't and don't really get Tempera yet. But even with my limited experience with it, I love what it does. I just need to crack the code and solve its riddles…"

Just Some Nice Chords

video upload by John L Rice

"MOTM modular, Mellotron M4000D, Yamaha FS1R, Expressive E Osmose, Strymon and Lexicon effects."

Mellow Sunday | Mellotron Micro + Soma Cosmos

video upload by Cinematic Laboratory

"I recorded four jams today. Four. This one was the best, so I'll post this one. So now I have a few 'backups' which makes it easier to relax when there's a 'writers block' day. #jamuary2024 is not limited to modulars so today I decided to use one of my favorite creative combo's, the vintage Mellotron and the 21st century Soma Cosmos. I am using the R1.5 'rhythmic firmware' which is basically a looper. It has 7 modes with different timings and pitch shifts. There are three additional modes with delay, verb and grains from the original firmware. There are two versions, one with drive, and one with drive remapped to pitch shift. I always want to bring an orchestra to a gig, but leave the VST laptop at home. Mellotron is a perfect machine to add polyphonic samples while keeping the 1960's vibe and it's great to process with a modular synth. Happy Sunday!"

Drone Topology for VCS3, Arp 2600, Moog Voyager, Mellotron and Percussion

video upload by R. Reger

Dust O Tron Expansion Pack for M-Tron Pro IV by Sound Dust.

video upload by GForce Software

"We have the pleasure of bringing a dusty yet authentic ‘Tron pack for M-Tron Pro IV sculpted by organic texture master Pendle Poucher, a.k.a Sound Dust. Known for his beautifully inspiring noises for Kontakt libraries and beyond, Pendle sampled a range of acoustic instruments, synths and keyboards to create over 200+ M-Tron Pro IV presets carefully crafted by himself, Dave Spiers, and Tom Wolfe. Additionally, this Expansion Pack brings 29 new tape banks of unique acoustic and electronic sounds and many new inspiring textures and dusts to M-Tron Pro IV.

The Dust-O-Tron Expansion pack by Sound Dust is exclusively available for M-Tron Pro IV.

www.gforcesoftware.com/products/dust-o-tron"

Accidental Workbench Jam With Modular Synth And Mellotron

video upload by John L Rice

"It’s easy to get distracted from immediate goals when things start sounding interesting. 😊 Little modular synth with Hexinverter/Re:Synthesis:LWSS sequencer, 2hp Tune, STG Oscillator, Moon 517S VCF, SSL Envelope/VCA all in a Synthesizers.com Box4 case and of course the Mellotron Micro. #modularsynth #mellotron #electronicmusic"

Singularity for Arp 2600, VCS3, the Crown, Mellotron M4000D Mini and Gong

video upload by R. Reger

"Original soundscape for (mostly) analog instruments."

Cold Hands, Cold Heart, Cold World

video upload by John L Rice

"Something for Halloween 2023, sort of?

5U Modular Synth:
Moon 569 sequencer, 554 clock divider, 505 filter
Modcan 55B quantizer, 59B delay
SSL Tube VCA, Quad LFO
STG Envelope
Corsynth VC LFO
Marienberg Sine Phase Oscillator
Noise Engineering Cursus Iteritas Magnus VCO

Additional Gear Used:
Roland A-88 keyboard controller, Integra7 synth (for piano)
Mellotron M4000D (Tangerine Dream sound effects)
Expressive-E Osmose keyboard synth
Strymon BigSky reverb, Timeline delay
Lexicon MX400
Tascam SD-20M recorder
Sony Vegas Pro 13 (for post editing)

#modularsynth #electronicmusic #halloween2023"

A Drive in Autumn for Clavinet, Moog Voyager and Mellotron.

video upload by R. Reger

"Some old-school fun with vintage analog keys."

1996 FUTURE MUSIC 30 Years of The Synthesizer

video upload by Kamal Alkaei

"A rare video I found on an old CD."

1967 Moog System 3
Buchla 100 System
Mellotron
ARP 2500
Moog Minimoog
ARP Odyssey
Oberheim FVS

Moon 569 Sequence With A Side Of Mellotron Noodles

video upload by John L Rice

"Sequence setup is the Moon 569 + 569EGB + 569ES with rows 2,3,4 affecting the position of row 1.

The synth voice is a MOTM-300 VCO, MOTM-380 LFO, Moon 517 VCF, Oakley Dual VCA, and STG EG.

The Mellotron is a M4000D Rack played from a Roland A-88 keyboard.

Effects were from Strymon Timeline and BigSky pedals plus a Lexicon MX400.

#modularsynth #electronicmusic #sequencer"

The Enchanting LoFi Textures Of An Optical Sound Sampler

video upload by HAINBACH

"Listen to the 'Talentmaker Takes' EP on my bandcamp: https://hainbach.bandcamp.com/album/t...

The Chilton Talentmaker is one of the first samplers, or rather loop players. Like the slightly more famous Mellotron, it allows playback of recorded instruments, but it can play them back as loops. This allows for all kind of endless playback of music, from 'German Band' and 'Polka Band' to 'Waltz Guitar', made famous through Michel Gondry's 'Eternal Sunshine Of A Spotless mind' soundtrack.

The Chilton and its close relatives, the Optigan and Orchestron, were used by Kraftwerk, David Lynch, Tom Waits, The Clash and many more."