April 26, 2022

video upload by John L Rice

Manikin Schrittmacher sequencer on the top left. Vermona Perfourmer & Mellotron Micro featured in this one. You can find additional John L Rice Mellotron posts here.

Update: YT description added:

"Realtime test after recently reconfiguring my custom pedalboard patch bay. Recorded on my iPad with no edits. Besides the Mellotron Micro Keyboard, the case is a modified MXC-008-10 mixer case from Audiopile.net and contains the following:

Left side:
Manikin Electronic Schrittmacher sequencer
Vermona PERfourMER MKII quad synth

Right side:
Mackie 802-VLZ3 mixer and power supply
Keeley Electronics Fuzz Master pedal
Electro Harmonix Mel9 pedal (mellotron emulator)
Dunlop/MXR Octave Fuzz pedal
Mooer Ocean Machine pedal (reverb, delays, looper)
TC Electronic T3 pedal (modulated reverbs)
Strymon Engineering Zuma R300 power supply (for pedals)
Custom patch bay for pedals and mixer

The patch bay has Canare GS-4 cables soldered directly to the jacks with the other ends terminated with Squareplug SP400 Low Profile Flat TS plugs that connect to the pedals. The patch bay jacks are all normal'd together right to left, and by using patch cables I can easily reconfigure how the pedals are interconnected. The normal connections are:
Mixer EFX send - Fuzz Master - Mel9 - Octave Fuzz - Ocean Machine - T3 - mixer EFX returns*
but in this video I used the mixer insert for the channel the Mellotron is plugged into to connect to the Fuzz Master - T3 and then the rest is configured as:
Mixer EFX send - Mel9 - Octave Fuzz - Ocean Machine - mixer EFX returns*
*the jacks connected to the stereo mixer returns have a second set of cables that go to mixer input 7/8 and by turning up the Aux send for the channel I can create feedback."

One Half Of One Million

Published on Dec 28, 2015 John L Rice

Congrats to John L Rice!

"Another bit of messing around, this time with a lot of Modcan modules.

The 'sequence' was created with all 4 outputs of a Modcan 66B Control into to two Modcan 55B quantizers whose output fed 4 Synth Tech MOTM-300 VCOs. The VCO saw outputs were passed through 2 Happy Nerding FUN VCFs for a little fixed filtering and then on to a Modcan 31B quad VCA which was controlled by a Modcan 60B quad EG and the mixed output of the VCA was run through a Modcan 73B dual delay before getting to the final line mixer, a Samson SM10. The EG and quantizers were gated by a Moon Modular 568+568A trigger sequencer setup and the 568 and 73B were clocked from a Modcan 53B clock.

The Mellotron M4000D was noodled by hand but while some of its output went right to the SM10 mixer, it was also routed out to a Modcan 40B dual multimode VCF, that was being modulated by a Synth Tech MOTM-380 LFO, and the 40B's output was sent through a Club Of The Knobs (COTK) C1660 VC Phase Processor before returning to two inputs on the SM10 mixer.

Strymon BigSky and Roland RSP-550 reverbs were used on the SM10 mixer's effects loops and a little bit of reverb plug-in was used in Sony Music Studio during editing.

Thank you again everyone! :-) I hope to do a lot more in 2016 including increasing performance and production quality and maybe even finally getting one or more albums released . . . FINALLY! ;-) Have a happy and productive New Year, all!"

JLR Live On KSER 90.7 FM Radio

Published on Sep 11, 2018

http://imjohn.com/

"Stream live and find out more about KSER FM and The Tunnel at:
http://www.kser.org/content/the-tunnel

List of gear used for this performance (right to left in picture):
* Yamaha MSP3 (for monitoring and Kazooka feedback)
* Kazooka
* Vermona PerFOURmer MkII
* PedalTrain - novo 24 (contents listed left to right / top to bottom)
Micronta - Dual Timer
Strymon - Ojai (and Ojai R30 underneath)
TC Electronic - Ditto (not used)
John L Rice - custom pedal patch bay
Mackie - 802-VLZ3
Retro Mechanical Labs - Custom Fuzz
Strymon - DIG
Meris - Mercury7
Caroline Guitar Company - Météore
JHS Pedals - Firefly
Electro-Harmonix - Mel9 (not used)
Montreal Assembly - Count To Five
* Mellotron - Micro
* Novation - Ultranova
* 5U modular - Moon Modular 569 and 552 used out of it
* Eurorack modular - (for second piece if needed - not used at all)
* Yamaha MSP3 (for monitoring and Kazooka feedback)

Original audio recording by KSER.org
Post production by John L Rice using Sony Vegas Pro 13
Video clips provided by https://www.pond5.com/

Find out about synthesizers and electronic music at the following:
https://www.muffwiggler.com/forum/index.php
https://www.matrixsynth.com/
http://www.synthtopia.com/

Thanks for watching/listening/commenting/subscribing! :-)"

Modular on the Spot Seattle.

Five Thoughts For Eurorack Modular

Published on Mar 2, 2018 John L Rice

"While this isn't a demo of the ADDAC214 VC Rotator, all five of these pieces use it in the patch. See patch details below:

Unless otherwise noted the following terms indicate:
ADDAC214 - ADDAC System ADDAC214 VC Rotator sequential switch
VCO - Synth Tech E330 Multimode VCO
EG - Modcan Quad Envelope
VCA - Bubble Sound VCA4p
Voice - VCO+EG+VCA
Mixer - Circuit Abbey Unify + expander
Sequencer - Division6 Mattson SQ816
Clock - Erica Synths Black VC Clock v2
LFO - Erica Synths Black Octasource
E102 - Synth Tech E102 Quad Temporal Shifter
QPQ - Instruo Quad Performance Quantizer
Delay - Mooer Ocean Machine pedal
Reverb - Mooer Ocean Machine and TC Electronic T2 pedals

1) Initial Test 0:00
A typical 4 voice patch I do with this system is to process a CV sequence through the E102 shift register and then through the QPQ to provide CV and gates for the Voices. In this case the ADDAC214 is inserted between the E102 and QPQ so that when clocked at a faster rate the QPQ gets channel updates more often and fires the Voices more often. I'm using a modified Doepfer A-182-1 Switched Multiple + Doepfer A-180-2 Multiple to switch between the different Clock outputs. Delay used was the Synth Tech E580 Resampling Mini Delay.

CLICK FOR MORE »

Mellotron M4000D Rack

Published on Dec 3, 2015 John L Rice

"A quick random noodling through the default sounds of awesome Mellotron M4000D Rack from http://www.mellotron.com/ There are also two keyboard versions of this instrument and I purchased mine from http://www.bigcitymusic.com/

This is a digital sample playback unit designed to recreate the sound of the Chamberlin and Mellotron magnetic tape sample playing instruments that were originally invented by Harry Chamberlin in the USA during the late 1940's / early 1950's and later modified by the Bradly Brothers in the UK, (now Streetly Electronics) whose Mellotron version became greatly popularized by and an important part of many of the biggest rock bands of the 1970's like The Rolling Stones, Yes, David Bowie and Genesis to name a few.

Read more at the following links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamberlin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mellotron"

Exploring The Z5000 Multi Effect Eurorack Module

Published on Jan 1, 2020 John L Rice

"More information on the new Z5000 Multi Effect module, as well as the similar and also new ECHOZ (delays only) and ZVERB (reverbs only) here: http://tiptopaudio.com/zverb-echoz-z5...

Exciting News! I'll be performing at the SynthPlex convention at the end of March 2020!!!! I'll also be hanging around the Moon Modular and https://www.noisebug.net/ booths. Stop by and say hi and catch my performance if possible! :-)
https://www.synthplex.com/artists-gri...

If you found this or any of my other videos helpful or entertaining, please consider tipping your waitress? ;-) Thank You! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/JohnLRice

KEYBOARD NOODLING
0:00 - Beginning
0:25 - Front Panel Features Listed
2:15 - Mellotron Micro w/Z5000 Reverbs
5:50 - Mellotron Micro w/Z5000 Reverbs + CV Modulation
9:25 - Mellotron Micro w/Z5000 Delays + CV Modulation
15:00 - Mellotron Micro w/Z5000 P/MOD + CV Modulation
DRUM MACHINE FIDDLING
29:40 - Roland TR-505 w/Z5000 Delays
31:50 - Roland TR-505 w/Z5000 Delays + CV Modulation
43:00 - Roland TR-505 w/Z5000 P/MOD + CV Modulation
MODULAR DRONING
48:45 - Moon Modular 524 LFO w/Z5000 Reverbs
50:00 - Moon Modular 524 LFO w/Z5000 Reverbs + CV Modulation
55:35 - Moon Modular 524 LFO w/Z5000 Delays
56:10 - Moon Modular 524 LFO w/Z5000 Delays + CV Modulation
1:00:35 - Moon Modular 524 LFO w/Z5000 P/MOD + CV Modulation
1:06:15 - Moon Modular 524 LFO w/Z5000 Reverbs + CV Modulation
1:07:50 - End

Gear Used In This Video:
4ms powered Pod 40x case
Strymon AA.1 level shifter
Steady State Fate S.P.O. attenuverter
Ladik C-012 lag
Erica Synths Black Octasource LFO
TipTop Audio Z5000 Multi Effect
Happy Nerding LED Meters
-------
Mellotron Micro keyboard
Roland TR-505 drum machine
-------
Synthesizers.com Box4 case
Moon Modular 524 Quad VC LFO
Moon Modular 524A Quad VC LFO expander
Moon Modular 526 Reversable Mixer
-------
Canon C100 MkII cameras and CN-E lenses
Sound Devices MixPre 6 II audio recorder
Sony Vegas Pro 13 non-linear editing software
Windows 8.1 PC
-------

Thanks so very much for watching, rating, commenting, telling your friends, tipping, and not throwing rotten vegetables at my head! ;-) Happy 2020 New Year To You All! 🤗😘😎🥳🤓"

Battery Powered Mellotron!

video upload by John L Rice

"Quick test to see if this rechargeable 12 volt battery pack by TalentCell, model LF4100, would power my Mellotron Micro OK and it does! I haven’t tested it for how long it can power the Mellotron but I’m guessing “long enough”? 😄 This battery pack also has a 9 volt output and a 5v USB output. Once I find my 9v polarity reverse adapter cable I’ll try another more involved test. #mellotron #synthesizers #batterypowered"

Mellotron M4000D - Card 03

John L Rice

"These are the sounds available on the Mellotron M4000D expansion card number 3, which will work in the original full sized M4000D, the Mini M4000D, and the M4000D Rack. (expansion cards are not compatible with the Mellotron Micro). I made this video so people that are interested in purchasing the card can get a general idea of what's on it.

INDEX:
0:00 Introduction With Solo Harp
1:20 Gino Vanelli Strings
7:34 Lead Sounds / Sound Effects
19:46 Music Master 600 Rhythms
24:40 Music Master 500 Rhythms/Accompaniments

The Mellotron company has a SoundCloud account and they have a lot of nice examples of the sounds on their available expansion cards, check it out! https://soundcloud.com/mellotronfactory

On this card there are individual sounds that can be played "normally" (solos and chords as on a piano or organ etc) and then there are sounds that are to be played one key at a time because they are either predefined chords or an accompaniment section. Accompaniments might be a single instrument like guitar or an entire band. There are also keys that that have percussion parts, sound effects, and melodic full band fills for intros and outros.

As always, thank you for watching, rating and commenting! 😎 If you are able to, please consider "buying me a coffee" if you found this content helpful or entertaining: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/JohnLRice"

Mellotron M4000D - Card 05

video upload by John L Rice

"These are the sounds available on the Mellotron M4000D expansion card number 5, which will work in the original full sized M4000D, the Mini M4000D, and the M4000D Rack. (expansion cards are not compatible with the Mellotron Micro). I made this video so people that are interested in purchasing the card can get a general idea of what's on it.

INDEX:
0:00 Introduction
0:44 Strings
6:05 Vocals
7:25 Acoustic And Synthesized Winds
18:05 Synth Sounds
22:15 Organs
27:19 Pianos
28:27 Marimba
28:47 Mandolin
29:10 Synth Bass
29:30 Acoustic Bass
29:55 Accordions
30:27 Accompaniments
34:51 Drum Parts
36:25 More Accompaniments
46:46 End

The Mellotron company has a SoundCloud account and they have a lot of nice examples of the sounds on their available expansion cards, check it out! https://soundcloud.com/mellotronfactory

On this card there are individual sounds that can be played 'normally' (solos and chords as on a piano or organ etc) and many are looped so they will play indefinitely instead of the normal 7 to 9 second maximum limit that the original Chamberlins and Mellotrons are known for. There are also sounds that are to be played one key at a time as they are accompaniments like chords, drum parts, or an entire band."

Happy Valentine's Day 2023

video upload by John L Rice

"Partial cover version of Chicago's hit Colour My World using Yudin Workshop Pulsar tongue pan drums and a Mellotron Micro keyboard.

I started this last fall and never finished it. I was going to add drums, bass, maybe some sequencing/arpeggiations, and I even made a futile attempt at singing the vocals but no amount of editing could save it! 🤦‍♂️😅😊 So for Valentine's Day I decided to just put together the last third with just the tongue drums and Mellotron.

#tonguedrum #mellotron #covertunes"

Mellotron Micro & Strymon Pedals Into A La Voix du Luthier ONDE

video by John L Rice

"Trying out the ONDE acoustic resonator amplifier with the Mellotron Micro and Strymon DECO, DIG, and BigSky pedals.

INDEX:
0:00​​ Introduction
0:36​​ Explanation
2:15​ Saxy Noodlin'
3:07​ Flutey Tootin'
4:20​​ Vocally Warblin'
4:40​ Fiddly Fiddlin'
6:17​ Stringy Pluckin'
7:36​ Amazingly Graceful (almost)
9:03​ Licorice Stick Lickin'
9:33​ Toccata And Fugue D Minus
10:10​ The Endy Endin'

For more info on the gear used check out the manufacturers:
Mellotron Micro: https://www.digitalmellotron.com/​
Strymon Engineering: https://www.strymon.net/​
La Voix du Lutier: https://www.la-voix-du-luthier.com/​

As always, thank you for watching, rating, following, and commenting! 🥳
If you are able to, please consider "buying me a coffee" if you found this content helpful or entertaining: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/JohnLRice"

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"

Mellotron M4000D - Card 02

John L Rice

"These are the sounds available on the Mellotron M4000D expansion card number 2, which will work in the original full sized M4000D, the Mini M4000D, and the M4000D Rack. (expansion cards are not compatible with the Mellotron Micro). I made this video so people that are interested in purchasing the card can get a general idea of what's on it.

INDEX:
0:00 Introduction with accordion
1:00 Wind instruments
5:05 Artist sound effects *
10:08 Wine Glasses
10:58 Keyboard instruments
14:45 Orchestral percussion
18:04 Spanish guitar
18:35 Accompaniments
31:17 Strings
34:27 Voices

* two years ago (August 2018) another person posted detailed videos of the artist sound effects collections, which is why I didn't take the time to clearly demonstrate them here: https://www.youtube.com/user/troubles...

On this card there are individual sounds that can be played "normally" (solos and chords as on a piano or organ etc) and then there are sounds that are to be played one key at a time because they are either predefined chords or an accompaniment section. Accompaniments might be a single instrument like guitar or an entire band. There are also keys that that have percussion parts, sound effects, and melodic full band fills for intros and outros.

As always, thank you for watching, rating and commenting! 😎 If you are able to, please consider 'buying me a coffee' if you found this content helpful or entertaining: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/JohnLRice"

Universal Power Plate - A Modular Synthesizer Power Supply Build

video by John L Rice

"I needed to upgrade a power supply for my large format modular synth so I thought I'd document most of the process I typically go through.

Index:
0:00​​ Introduction
1:28​ Safety Warning
1:56​ Parts Description
3:50​ Power Inlet Install
5:23​ Main Unit Install
7:13​ Banana Jack Install
8:23​ Distribution Board Build
11:58​ Distribution Board Install
13:03​ AC Wiring
17:13​ DC Wiring
19:56​ Done, Comparison, and Thanks Richard Brewster
20:49​ Image Of PSU Installed (improvised music starts)
21:09​ Bonus Section - Building Cables (no talking)
22:50​ (music continues with random video clips)
25:28​​ End

The main parts I used:
JLR UPP custom rack panel from https://www.frontpanelexpress.com​
Qualtek 864-03/001 AC inlet, filter, fuse, switch
Bel Power HAA-0.8-AG linear power supply
MOTM-900 power distribution board from https://synthcube.com​

Video gear: Canon C100 MkII camera and Canon EFS 10-18mm lens
Voiceover gear: Neumann TLM-193 mic and John Hardy M-1 preamp
Music gear: Modular synthesizer, Mellotron M4000D, Yamaha FS1R, Strymon pedals

Richard Brewster's blog page that got me started making rackmount power supplies: https://pugix.com/synth/portable-rack...​

As always, thank you for watching, rating, following, and commenting! 🥳
Please consider "buying me a coffee" if you found this content helpful or entertaining: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/JohnLRice"

Variation On "Carol Of The Bells"

video upload by John L Rice

"Happy New Year! I was just going to record myself with an iPhone playing Carol Of The Bells on just the Aluphone but one thing lead to another and I had to finally stop adding tracks and tweaking things! 😸

Acoustic Percussion Instruments Used:
Aluphone Standard (plus 2 extra notes)
Yudin Workshop Pulsar (chromatic whole-tone pair)
Zildjian Crotales and Finger Cymbal
Musser Orchestra Bells and Chimes
Sleigh Bells
LP Pin Chimes
Energy Bell

Electronic Keyboards Used:
Moog Sub Phatty (thank you Moog Music and MATRIXSYNTH!)
Mellotron Micro


Other Gear Used:
Canon C100 MkII camera
Xeen 14mm lens
Neumann KM183 microphones and KH 120 A monitors
John Hardy M-1 mic preamps
TK Audio Transceiver
Lavry Blue AD/DA converters
Magix Samplitude DAW
Coleman Audio M3PH
PMC DB1+ monitors and XB1-A sub
Aventone Mixcube monitors

Thank you for watching, rating, and commenting, it means a lot to me! 🤗"

Dance Party

Published on Jan 16, 2016 John L Rice

Potentially NSFW at 3:27 - 3:35.

"For the fun of it! :-) This is somewhat random jamming with a Moog Sub Phatty synth MIDI'd to a Mellotron M4000D Rack while a Yamaha RM1X was playing a factory preset pattern. Strymon BigSky and DIG effect pedals used as well as a Roland RSP-550 effects rack.

Special thanks to:
http://www.matrixsynth.com/
http://www.moogmusic.com/
http://www.strymon.net/

Also see:
http://www.mellotron.com/
http://www.pond5.com/"

Mellotron Beer Review Hop Butcher For The World

video upload by Rat’s Beer Review

This one was spotted and sent my way via John L Rice who had the following to say about it:

"It’s a video from a guy who does reviews of beer. The one he reviewed happens to be called “Mellotron” but the image art on the can seems to be a caricature of Keith Emerson’s Moog modular from the mid 70‘s?! 😄 It really cool art and I wouldn’t mind having a t-shirt or poster of that! I looked around and the beer only seems available in South Carolina?"

Sign me up for a T as well.

See the Synth Beer label below for additional posts featuring synths and beer.

Mellotron Mini Through A Strymon Magneto - The Basics

Published on May 21, 2018 John L Rice

"Mellotron Mini keyboard into a Strymon Magneto eurorack module into a Mackie 402-VLZ3 mixer into a Canon C100 video camera into an Atomos Ninja Blade recorder.

Thanks for watching!"

Same Patch The Next Day

video upload by John L Rice

"Pretty much the same setup as the last video, minus the FS1R and plus some sequencer related modules. This time I sequenced the poly modular and used a second keyboard to transpose the sequence while playing the Mellotron brass from the main keyboard. I almost didn't post this and may delete it but I'll leave it up for now.

Modular Polysynth:
1 x Synth Tech MOTM-650 MIDI to CV
4 x Synth Tech MOTM-300 VCOs
4 x Happy Nerding FM AIDs
2 x Moon 517 dual VCFs
2 x Oakley/Krisp1 dual VCAs
1 x Club Of The Knobs C911P poly EG
1 x Mutable Instruments/Martin Jan Koehler Tides/Tidal Modulator

Sequencer setup:
Moon Modular 569 Quad Sequential Voltage Source
Club Of The Knobs C969 Euclidian Bi-Clock Sequencer
Moon Modular 591 Switch

Other Polysynths:
Mellotron M4000D

Effects:
Strymon Timeline Delay
Strymon BigSky Reverb
Lexicon M400 Reverb

Thanks for watching! :-)

#modularsynth #modularsynthesizer #synthesizer"

Early Saturday Eurorack Modular And Mellotron

video upload by John L Rice

"Mainly the modules in the lid of my eurorack modular briefcase: Vermona meloDicer sequencing a mostly Erica Synths voice (VCO, EG, VCA, and LFO) with Synth Tech VCF and then passed through a Mutable Clouds. Also Mellotron Micro through a Strymon Magneto. Recorded on and uploaded from an iPad.

Thanks for watching! 😎"