The Mellotron In Action 

Mellotron was at the core of a lot of great Prog.

It’s the wow and flutter that changes every time you play a note that makes it such an ethereal instrument...

King Crimson.

i love the mellotron, incredible when you realise how many times you heard it before without knowing it was that playing.

reminds me of old disney cartoon music.

Ahh, that flute sound brings me back. That's one of the sounds of my childhood. Almost 30 years ago, my uncle gave me a box full of audio cassettes of fairy tales and stories and so forth. They all had little jingles and themes played with that flute sound. I'd recognize it anywhere. Love it.

To me it will always be the Moody Blues keyboard.

Strawberry Fields Forever.

This is how all 60s tv shows were scored back in the day.

My Mellotron memory is "In the Court of the Crimson King" by King Crimson. Congrads on getting such a piece of music history. Today's computers and workstation keyboards can do better, but it's so nice you have the love to obtain, maintain and restore such a device! Gonna be playing with the "Tape Flute" program on mine later tonight;-)

Such a simple idea, but so effective! So cool to see it opened up. I used a Mellotron many years ago and loved that the tapes took a few seconds to clunk into place when I switched sounds. And those flutes will always be genius. There were also a number of music loops that were on the Mellotron that are now very famous. Kelis "Trick me" is a good example, the main riff is a Mellotron rhythm. Anyway, fun video as ever! Always enjoy your presentations.

WTF?? Tape? Really? Awesome

I've loved the sound of a Mellotron ever since I heard Elton John play Mellotrons on his albums -- back in the 1970's!

That flute takes me right back to my childhood. I think every Disney nature film made in the 60s used this lol!

This was one of the favorite instruments of the progressive rock bands such as Genesis. They used a lot on their early albums when Peter Gabriel was still the singer of the band. Those strings remind me of their “Watcher in the Skies” song from the Foxtrot album. The sound is very Strawberry fields forever like. Basically the Mellotron is a 1960’s Fairlight CMI avant-a-lettre.

I've allways loved the sound of this thing. I just hope I can play one someday

It was an American invention by Harold Chamberlin, one of his employees went to Bradmatic (later Streetly Electronics) in the UK to see if they could manufacture tape heads for them, this employee ended up claiming it was his invention/had permission to sell it. When Bradmatic found out about this they did the British thing of contacting Harold Chamberlin and settling with him. I believe Harold then used the Mellotron design but sold as the Chamberlin in the US and as the Mellotron in the UK. Later (80's) Mellotrons were re-named Novatrons after Streetly Electronics lost the rights to the mellotron name. Other notable users were OMD who brought one of the last new Novatrons and featured it on Architecture and Morality and Dazzle Ships and used on the Architecture and Morality Tour, video of which it on youtube.

It sounds like pure 60's and 70's. I LOVE IT

That mechanism is crazy

1970's british soft porn films.

Genesis - "Watcher of the Skies" 1972' !!!! : D

This noises remember vintages films

Let me do the honours and chuck that great Robert Fripp quote into the comments section: "Tuning a Mellotron doesn't".

Doctor Mix Fields forever !

The flute sound is iconic

What people also forget about this instrument is that it is truly analog and must be heard in person to be believed. There was a tapehead mod for theses back in the 70's that ran at 15ips and were truly audiophile. I'm not certain, but it was either Tony Banks from genesis or Dave Stewart from National Health who used it.

Justice used this melotron in the album Audio,Video,Disco.

Most incredible thing is how he can play with all those rings!!! Now seriously, very well explained. Thank you!!!!

I really love that they are a music making/mastering channel and "is coming up" bit is him doing SFX with his mouth. One of the best channels in the platform!

So many songs, tv shows & films that I grew up on, that used this instrument/sampler..amazing.

old gear's sounds always makes me feel so high

1. It was not a British invention. It was developed by a guy named Chamberlin in California in the 1950s. One of his sales people went to Europe with a few Chamberlins and when he was in the UK he contacted Streetly Electronics to duplicate it. They did and he came up with the idea of the Mellotron as a brand. Chamberlin sued him and they negotiated a settlement. 2. You are correct in that it anticipated the sampler. 3. On a conceptual level it is one of the most important devices of the 20th century. It was the first instrument to have no voice of its own. While a synthesizer can change its voice, its sounds are inherent to it manufacture. The Mellotron? Nope. It sounds like whatever tapes are put into it, and - you could make your own. Famous composers wrote specifically for the Theremin and the Ondes Martenot. Composers wrote for analogue synthesisers. The Mellotron? Was banned. Musicians Unions would strike against Moody Blues concerts. The Mellotron never found a home. Yet it dominated so much of the music in the early 1970s, and its progeny (the sampler) dominates music to this day.

That flute so fire

The book _The Synthesizer and Keyboard Handbook_ by David Crombie (that which I discovered Tangerine Dream) says that the Mellotron was made by Streetly Electronics, and I thought, ‘I know a Streetly, in Walsall in the UK, what the...’, and it turns out that the factory was at 338, Aldridge Road, Walsall, UK. I originate from Sutton Coldfield next door, and I had passed the factory so many times as a kid without even knowing the iconic manufacturer and its iconic instrument, that used by many a progressive rock band and those iconic electronic music composers like Jean-Michel Jarre and Tangerine Dream/Edgar Froese to name just a few! The Mellotron, one of those classic instruments of history that is never to be forgotten!

Awesome mecanics.

Watcher of the skies

This video is amazing and the mellotron sounds brilliant!!

I love that mess of tape. I love that sound. I love it.

when I started in music, around 1991, there was no internet of course...and all we knew were myths and tales about instruments like these. good times

Woooo! This thing is incredible !

We love our Mellotron M400 and use it quite often!

Love that brass sound! 😍

Did the Beatles use this in one of their songs

"Let me take you down, 'cause I'm going to.... Strawberry Fields...."

Recently took an oddly specific interest in the Mellotron, and goddamn I'm glad this video exists. I've wanted to see under the hood of one pretty bad

the tapes are very strong 👍👍👍

Sometimes homework isn't so bad.

What a fantastic video of a revolutionary machine. I feel humbled seeing such a primitive vintage classic. 👍👍

In the wake of poseidon is my favorite mellotron song!

The first "hardware sampler" :-) Fortunately it is easy to get good sample libraries of the Mellotron !

Very interested instrument!

Love the Mellotron.

Genesis supergroup sounds cool well demonstrated .

This thing is cray cray

It just sounds sooooo 60s!!

Legendary instrument

Lovely - as usual! And so interesting you opened the Mellotron body. Thank you.

Thx for sharing! The flute reminds me of old Children Movies and fairy tales!

Awesome, next show us the mother of all synths, the Ondioline! There aren't many good videos of this versatile and obscure synthesizer. Maybe ask Gotye if you can play his unit.

Strawberry Fields and early Tangerine Dream... And that would be enough for most instruments but its done so much more...

Amazing.

OG sampler/ Sample library with keyboard controller

Sounds Very Nice ....

this video made me happy, thanks bro

I never knew the Mellotron contained so much tape! Good video!

Thanks!!!

Aqui no Brasil, Esse Instrumento foi Muito Utilizado na Década de 80 em Hits de Vários Artistas Brasileiros. Fagner : Deslizes e Retrovisor; Chitãozinho e Xororó : Que Mundo é Esse (Intro), Somos Assim, Será que Eu Sou e Evidências; Amado Batista : Escuta; Kiko Zambianchi : Hey Jude. Aliás, se Não me Falha a memória, Tem Outros Hits que Esses Teclados foram Usados. Parabéns pelo Vídeo, Muito Legal Mesmo 🏆😃

Sounds exactly the same in Omnisphere, great sound 🔊🔊

nice machine,so nostalgic sound and our story😊,thanks your chanel best !!!💞

It sounds awesome... even today ! New VST plugins still struggle to make some of these sounds right,

lofi loop maker deluxe! so dope

Jean michel jarre use Mellotron in oxygene of 1976

awesome video

Wow! Never seen this before. Such a great sampler

I didn't even know what the hell a mellotron was until I looked at the liner notes of Michael Jackson's song "Give in To Me" from his 1991 album Dangerous a few minutes ago. A mellotron was used on that MJ song just in case you were wondering.

Hmm interesting mechanisms on that. I would love to buy one just to sample every note and turn it into a Ableton instrument. So like a year of work but way worth it.

I'm glad that Mellotron sounds have been captured for DAW use these days. It's great for those who make hip hop and want that 'sampled album' sound without actually sampling a song from an album.

I absolutely love the Mellotron! Keep up the good work.

Gorgeous!

Great nostalgie :-)

Just so fascinating that musicians provided real life samples for people to use long after their life is over

That Thing is awesome :D

Wow! I am a big fan of the mellotron! Thanks for the awesome video guys!

David Bowie's songs Space Oddity and his 80s hit Ashes to Ashes, has the strings sound, and it sounds great..

That was a great summary! Clear, concise, and informative.

Epitome of the 60's pop sound.

Cool! Always wondered about how it worked.

Hey Liverace, what are you, Lord of The Rings? You're not aging well, Pops.

LOVE

I love it😍😍😍 Quite simple mechanism but very ingenious and gorgeous!

Would like to hear a full Rammstein set with Flake on Mellotron. Would it sound as peaceful as I expect? Or may it come out that guys like Ramnstein are a modern Genesis with Till a contemporary version of Peter Gabriel's masquerades? Yeah, Mellotron pushes mellow fantasies.

Reminds me of I love Lucy. Prestigious piece of history you got here. Well done as usual!

Prodigi di altri tempi , elettromeccanica..

Bro while you were playing the flute medley It made me say “ah yes” and then seconds later I hear “AHH YESS” 🤣🤣🤣🤣

such a cool instrument and must have been looked at as space age technology when it first came out, to see how it works and what it does is so impressive, what a crazy device that is

These sound amazing!.I wish I had one...I might make one!

King Crimson!

It’s amazing that there are so many tapes and tape heads in this machine playing back audio that was recorded in the 60s. Was the flute used for Strawberry Fields?

thats crazy, love it.

I love the Mellotron it can bring a Sample feeling from old Movies in now days Trap Music really nice. But i like more the M-Tron Pro Plugin with extra Sounds like guitars and pianos