Mellotron!
January 16, 2004, 03:33 pmI am in love with the Mellotron. The concept is maniacal: you have a keyboard interface and for every key, there is a magnetic audio tape recording of an instrument (choir, cello, flute, etc.). When the key is pressed, a read head is engaged, playing the sound. Different tape sets can be used to play different sounds.
This is essentially how a modern sampler works (except a sampler doesn't need a recording for every individual note, as it can take one sample and "bend" the note a couple steps up and down to cover a wider range).
I never knew it but I've loved the sound of Mellotrons all my life. Since I was a kid listening to the flute intro in Strawberry Fields Forever and recently the haunting, inhuman choir in Exit Music (For A Film), Mellotrons are the coolest.
Whether I get another MIDI module or a sampler, somehow I've got to get some Mellotron sounds!
(If you're interested, check out the Mellotron homepage!)