emusonacid! legacy

I have a few self created presets of Mellotron most of which are stacked.

What have some of you built up as per different Mellotron presets etc ?

Found some interesting free stuff here

WAVEFORMLESS
Free Mellotron Samples!

That link is dead.
I did manage to get to the apparent creators web site and sent him a message re; mellotrons samples
so we'll see.

Oops

I found this is quite good.

Mike Pinder Presents the Mellotron and Chambelin

CD-ROM Sleeve

"Michael Pinder Presents Mellotron" is the definitive source for getting the Mellotron sound on your sampler. No loops, no processing, just the full-length sound of each key sampled directly from the most meticulously cared-for Mellotrons and Chamberlins on the planet.

This CD-ROM has been used on recordings and tours by many top artists and producers, including the Smashing Pumpkins, Grant Lee Buffalo, Mitchell Froom, Rick Rubins, Crowded House, Radiohead, The Wallflowers and the Rolling Stones.

Each sound is a 16 meg bank in AKAI format. The disc works great (no tweaks required) on Akai, Kurzweil, E-Mu and Ensoniq ASR-10.

The following sounds are provided:
Mellotron Samples

Flute
'Cello
Viola
3 Violins
16 Violins
Mk II Sax
Boys Choir
Mk II Brass
Mk II Vibes
Mk II Guitar
Mixed Strings
8 Voice Choir
Model 300 Strings
Mk II Strings/Brass
Mk II Organ (hammond)
Mk II Trumpet/Trombone
Half Speed Brass (old Moodies trick)
Mk II Rhythms and Fills

Foxtrot/Sax Phrases
Dixie Land/Trombone
Cha Cha/Swinging Flutes
Bungalow Bill Guitar intro (just for grins) :-)
Moving Bass/Cello and Violin Chords (block)
Bossa Nova/Cello and Violins Moving Chords

Chamberlin Samples

Cello
Flute
Oboe
3 Violins
Alto Sax
Trumpet
Tenor Sax
Trombone
Bass Clarinet.
Male Voice solo
Female Voice solo

The presence of the two "three violins" samples brings up an interesting point. Since these sounds come from the same source (at least one extra generation for the tron set), it's an excellent opportunity to A B compare the sound difference between a Mellotron and a Chamberlin. Remember: these samples were taken directly from restored machines, not from the tape masters.

"This most famous Mellotron sound was used on countless recordings from 1964 to the present. Michael Pinder used this sound in his Mk II Mellotron for every Moody Blues album he recorded. Performance tips for this sound are: Use a volume pedal. Michael double tracked all of his string arrangements. Judicious use of EQ, particularly on the upper octave and a good plate reverb setting ( Tony Clarke used an old EMT plate). The real trick to Michael's Mellotron sound is a very smooth legato technique and Tony's engineering genius, but the above mentioned approach will get you close."

sturoc
These samples are available again

JAHFUNK wrote:Found some interesting free stuff here
Use the link and then click "get em while there hot" link
WAVEFORMLESS
Free Mellotron Samples!

I know someone with the Pinder CD and while it is excellent, at $200 its one for the committed or rich. I recall the chamberlain sounds being particularly interesting and full of character but most of the other stuff is readily available elsewhere.

If you can find them, the old Roland vintage keyboards CDs are really good - which are my goto for authentic, naked, warts-and-all tron in a mix. The sounds from these disks were the basis of the JVx080 and Fantom vintage keys expansions. The 'three violins' bank from this set is particularly good, and this would be the disk I would turn to if I were to cover 'Strawberry Fields'.

The set I keep returning too is however Hollow Sun's Newtron Bomb disk. Cleaned, retuned and perfectly looped at the full tape length, they sit in any track. The disk I bought had Akai S/Z series files which I imported into my EMu both at the full length and shorter, re-looped versions for a live set bank. Steve also included his string synth samples - the Eminent 310 is to die for - and some lovely 24bit Taurus samples, all of which are squeezed into my 128Mb live set bank.

Steve

JAHFUNK wrote:The real trick to Michael's Mellotron sound is a very smooth legato technique...

Mike had a dual manual MkII which he replaced the 'rhythm' tape bank with a second lead bank. He would then use the volume pedals to fade between the banks getting over the maximum sustain time if the same sound was selected in both banks, or access layers that you couldn't achieve from the front panel alone.

Steve