Mellotron and Moog synthesizer |
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Gerinski
Prog Reviewer Joined: February 10 2010 Location: Barcelona Spain Status: Offline Points: 5128 |
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Posted: November 19 2020 at 11:22 |
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Hi,
Several answers to the OP can be found in the article I wrote quite a few years ago in the blogs section covering most of the musical instruments frequently used in classic Prog Rock: To summarize some points here: there exist two modern and improved replicas of the Mellotron M400, still analog with magnetic tapes, the ones manufactured by the new Mellotron company run by Marcus Resch and Dave Kean (called Mellotron Mk VI, not sure if they are still being produced), and the Streetly Electronics M4000 built by one of the sons of Les Bradley, one of the 3 Bradley brothers who manufactured the original Mellotrons. The new Mellotron company also produces a digital version the M4000D. A bit later (from late 1974) came the Birotron of Dave Biro and co-funded by Rick Wakeman, which while providing several improvements over the Tron, by the time it was ready it had become obsolete in front of the newer instruments like String Machines, the RMI Keyboard Computer or the first polyphonic synths. Also in 1974 came out the first String Machines which were much more practical and reliable than the Tron, with the Solina String Ensemble and a bit later others like the Freeman String Symphonizer, the Logan / Hohner String Melody, the Elka Rhapsody or the Roland RS202. These were arguably the first presets synthesizers, which around 1975-76 started to include other kinds of instruments and were generically called Poly-Ensembles (such as the ARP Omni / Omni-2 or the Korg PE-1000 / 2000). Then in 1975 came the first programmable polyphonic synths with the Polymoog and the huge and very expensive Yamaha GX-1. As for the Moogs, not so many people used the big and expensive modulars, besides Keith Emerson, Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, Tomita etc. The really popular Moog synth was the Minimoog. After the release of the Polymoog in 1975, which was a commercial and quality failure, Moog started to lag behind the competition (not the least because Bob Moog sold the company to Norlin, who did not know how to manage it properly). Yamaha soon released the more affordable CS-80, Oberheim their 4-Voice / 8-Voice, Korg their PS-3100 / 3200 / 3300... up to the hugely successful Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 in 1978. It took Moog until 1982 until they could release a polysynth which could really compete with those, it was the Memorymoog, which finally with 6 voices of polyphony and a good memory to store 100 patches, was what so many Moog users had been waiting for, a sort pf polyphonic Minimoog with programs memory. But in 1983 Yamaha changed the paradigm from analog to digital with their DX-7, and the world of synths would never be the same. Moog spent the 80s in agony until they closed by bankruptcy in 1993. In 2002 Bob Moog re-acquired the rights of the Moog brand and re-opened by launching the new Minimoog Voyager. A more detailed story, complemented with many curiosities and anecdotes can be found in my book "The Musical Instruments of Progressive Rock; An Illustrated Guide" Edited by Gerinski - November 20 2020 at 09:30 |
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SteveG
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cstack3
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This was posted on Facebook, and I thought the song was very nice for 1971!
"In 1970 I ordered a Mellotron they had not started producing them in mass and they told me I would get the first one they made. I took delivery in January 71. it’s possible this is the first music recorded in the US on an M400. I’m no Mike Pinder please be kind. I’m now 74 years old and my feelings get hurt easily." |
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verslibre
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Here's another.
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Davesax1965
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Got a soft spot for the Korg MS series. I had an original MS-10 back in the early 80's, and I've got the reissue MS-20 Mini.
A friend of mine overhauls analogue synths, he's just working on an original MS-20 at the moment. The Korg uses a different set of input voltages, compared to the 1V/Oct standard on most synths, so it was always going to be a dead end. I've built several variations of the Korg's filter: there's not a lot to them from an electronics viewpoint, ditto the Polivoks, Minimoog etc. Here's my MS, add on wood sides. Incidentally, the bass is not as full as mythology would have it. I'd actually have an Odyssey, but the prices are frankly ludicrous for the Korg one, and it was always a synth you "nearly liked" back in the early 80's. Walked past tons of them in music shops then. Incidentally, if my memory serves, I did see a second hand (at least) Melotron in a music/junk shop in Manchester in the early 80's. No one wanted it, given the reputation they had for reliability and problems in changing the tapes. I think I'd still walk past one now, even at 80's junk shop prices. Edited by Davesax1965 - September 13 2020 at 02:30 |
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Rednight
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I like what the Mellotron did for Spring.
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"It just has none of the qualities of your work that I find interesting. Abandon [?] it." - Eno
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cstack3
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Ahhh...the lovely Prophet 5!! Many bands in Chicago had those onstage back in the day, they had a lovely, rich sound!! It was my favorite synth for many years and still might be!
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Frenetic Zetetic
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I could listen to those sweet tones all day.
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"I am so prog, I listen to concept albums on shuffle." -KMac2021 |
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verslibre
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I'd love to have one... |
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Easy Money
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I just listened to them on youtube. Great band and a good match for the MS 20. Korg products always have a big massive bass sound. |
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SteveG
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Let me know when you guys get up to the Prophet 5. It's the only real synth I've owned so it's a sentimental favorite. (Aside from some cheap Casios. 😬)
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verslibre
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It may have more bulk, but I've always had the impression that the 2600 > Odyssey. The Korg MS-20 is cool. Do you remember a short-lived band called Yeti, and their excellent album Things to Come? Their late keyboardist Doug Ferguson used the MS-20. |
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Easy Money
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Its kind of unstable as well. Now lets compare it to two from the 70s that I like. The Korg MS 20 has a very logical layout and it has powerful sounds. Its also a very stable synth. Another favorite is the Univox Mini Korg, a very limited synth, but it has some of the very best solo sounds I've ever used, and it is extremely stable. The only 70s Moog i have is the little Radio Shack one, and it is also surprisingly stable and nice sounding. The Odyssey has always been a disappointment to me, it just seems weak in every area, but that may just be my fault at not getting the best out of it. Edited by Easy Money - September 09 2020 at 11:08 |
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verslibre
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What is it about it that you don't like? Or is it that you have many better synths?
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verslibre
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Two friends back in high school owned Casio keyboards.
One guy had the SK-1, which really is a toy, though it does create loops on the fly. Fun to goof off with. The other friend, who I met much later, had the CZ-101, a legit entry-level synth. This machine sounded pretty cool, if similar to Yamaha's DX series, and it had some good bass sounds. Also a good synth if you were into electronic new age stuff. VintageSynth's breakdown:
Edited by verslibre - September 09 2020 at 09:41 |
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Easy Money
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Bernie Worrell of Funkadelic got a lot of mileage out of the string synthesizer, not just for orchestrations, but also just playing it like others would play a piano or organ. Edited by Easy Money - September 09 2020 at 06:27 |
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SteveG
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A short mellotron tale. One of my first jobs as a recording engineer (assistant engineer) was to create a tape loop of two string notes of the mellotron in order to make the notes last longer than the 8 second limit of the mellotron playback. I was told that it was to be used for some Three Dog Night song! Never heard it on the radio so I guess it wasn't a hit. LOL!
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cstack3
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Thank you, that is an excellent contribution! As the 70s progressed, various "string synthesizers" came onto the market. These were not comparable to the rich sampled sounds of the Mellotron, but they were easy to transport and play onstage, and they were a feature of many bands. Interestingly, disco bands seemed to embrace that sound enthusiastically! The ARP String Ensemble seemed to be the flagship product, but I know there were knockoffs. Eventually, some fairly sophisticated little synths came out at toyshop prices, spurred on by Casio. These had impressive settings such as pipe organ, piano etc. I own a tiny Casio sampling synth with mini-keys that I quite love....it is polyphonic, so I can sample my own voice, or guitar chords, screaming cats, anything I want, and THEN play the thing through any form of amplification I want from the output jack! Much fun through a 100 watt amplifier!! Have fun with your toys! This is the Casio that I own: Edited by cstack3 - September 09 2020 at 00:53 |
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Easy Money
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^ I have one of those (Odyssey), its not my favorite.
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verslibre
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That was the ARP Odyssey, a smaller version of the 2600 earmarked for the touring keyboardist. |
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