What the f#@*! is a mellotron and why do I love it so
- scottdavismktg
- Sep 21, 2018
- 3 min read
In several of my reviews I will note how lovely this or that song is because it is awash with the sounds of a mellotron. Now many of my musician friends know the instrument... a polyphonic tape replay keyboard. However, this is for most of those that are unaware that many of your favorite songs use this forgotten instrument. It looks a lot like that organ grandma had in her house, but it was an electronic and mechanical keyboard which uses analog audio tape strips. If you press down a key engages a tape playback head underneath the corresponding strip of tape, which will play for about eight seconds before the tape strip stops and needs to rewind. Different portions of the tape can be played to access different sounds.
It is often used to set mood...or simulate orchestration, or in a world before sampling, providing musical or rhythmic loops.
Most Mellotrons featured two side-by-side keyboards; the right side featured the most notable usage sounds: strings, cello, eight-voice choir, flute, brass, etc. The left side of the Mellotron keyboard played pre-recorded music tracks and other sounds such as a classical guitar loops. By the late 70s synthesizer technologies surpassed the mellotrons capabilities, but many, despite its hit and miss live reliability, many keyboard purists love the warm, rich sounds the original mellotron provides. Yet it's popularity waned in favor of other keys like the Fairlight. It also fell out of favor because it is a pain to set up and maintain. Others now simply use a mellotron emulator (like Rick Wakeman) to reproduce the vintage sound. But I feel it just isn't authentic as the original...the sound is a shade thinner. It's similar to the "I love the sound of vinyl versus digital recording" argument.
Some of the more famous songs using this include “Strawberry Fields Forever” (The Beatles), "Nights in White Satin," "Tuesday Afternoon" and "Question" by the Moody Blues (Mike Pinder was a bit of a pioneer in terms of being one of the first to use it in popular music recording), Bowie's "Space Oddity,' “Kashmir” (Led Zeppelin). Radiohead's Exit Music, "Dream On" (Aerosmith), "Wonderwall" by Oasis....oh yes, there is a great deal of 'tron goodies by Rod Argent (for you Matt Jones!) on the Zombies on Odessey and Oracle And, the most obvious is found in King Crimson's Court of the Crimson King.
(demo of mellotron Court of the Crimson King)
So why do I love this instrument? Is it because it was used by practically every progressive rock band from Pink Floyd to Porcupine Tree. I'm sure that's part of it, but I think the sound is its orchestral dreaminess and the fact that it allowed creative people a new technology to get even more creative during a time when artists were allowed to experiment.
My favorite songs featuring mellotron
As with my other lists I try to limit it to one song per band. Most progressive and art rock bands used mellotrons prodigiously throughout the late 60s to the mid 70s and my list could easily be a list of my favorite songs by Yes, Genesis, King Crimson, and Moody Blues. Surprisingly Keith Emerson (of ELP did not like the sounds. He liked to create the sounds it would provide more naturally (although it was employed on rare occasions) so he created his own wild, monster rig (it's a Moog modular system see at left!).
SO SOME OF MY FAVORITES TO GIVE A LISTEN:
Watcher of the Skies - Genesis
And You and I - Yes
Kung Bore - Anglagard
Zarathustra - Museo Rosenbach
Luminol - Steven Wilson
6:17 PM - The Aunt Turns Into An Ant - Regal Worm
Shadow of the Hierophant - Steve Hackett
The Light - Spock's Beard
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