Mellotron

The Mellotron is an electromechanical polyphonic keyboard musical instrument originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s.

History

Although tape samplers had been explored in research studios (e.g., Hugh LeCaine's 1955 keyboard-controlled "Special Purpose Tape Recorder", which he used when recording his classic "Dripsody"), the first commercially available keyboard-driven tape instruments were built and sold by California-based Harry Chamberlin from 1948 through the 1970s.

Related Topics:
Hugh LeCaine - 1955 - 1948

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Things really took off, however, when Chamberlin's sales agent, Bill Fransen, brought two of these remarkable devices to England in 1962 to search for someone who could manufacture 70 matching tape heads for future Chamberlins. Harry Chamberlin was not at all happy at first with the fact that someone overseas was basically "copying" his idea, and that one of his own people (Bill Fransen) was the reason for this. He eventually found a UK company that were skilled enough to develop the idea further and a deal was struck with Bill and Lesley Bradley of tape recorder company Bradmatic Ltd. This resulted in the formation of a subsidiary company named Mellotronics, which produced the first Mellotrons in Birmingham, England. Bradmatic later took on the name Streetly Electronics. Many years later, following financial and trademark troubles, the Mellotron name became unavailable and later instruments were sold under the name Novatron. A small number of the instruments were assembled and sold by EMI under license.

Related Topics:
England - 1962 - Birmingham - EMI

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Through the late 1970s, the Mellotron had a major impact on rock music, particularly the 35 note (G-F) M400 which was released in 1970 and sold over 1800 units, becoming a trademark sound of the era's progressive bands. The novel characteristics of the instrument attracted a number of celebrities and among the early Mellotron owners are Princess Margaret, Peter Sellers, King Hussein of Jordan and Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.

Related Topics:
1970s - Rock music - 1970 - Princess Margaret - Peter Sellers - King Hussein - Jordan - Scientology - L. Ron Hubbard

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Mellotrons were normally pre-loaded with string instrument and orchestral sounds, although the tape bank could be removed with relative ease by the owner and loaded with banks containing different sounds including percussion loops, sound effects, or synthesizer-generated sounds, to generate polyphonic electronically generated sounds in the days before polyphonic synthesizers.

Related Topics:
Sound effect - Synthesizer - Polyphonic

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Although they were highly prized and enabled many bands to perform string, brass and choir arrangements that had been previously impossible to recreate live, Mellotrons were not without their disadvantages. Above all, they were very expensive -- the official Mellotron site gives the 1973 list price as US$5200. And like the Hammond organ they were a roadie's nightmare -- heavy, bulky and fragile. The tape banks were also notoriously prone to breakages and jams and those groups who could afford to (like Yes) typically took two Mellotrons on tour with them to cope with the inevitable breakdowns.

Related Topics:
Hammond organ - Roadie - Yes

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Despite these shortcomings, Mellotrons were prized for their unique sound, and they furthermore helped pave the way for the later sampler.

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