Lots of Mellotron tunes make me happy – Watcher of the Skies, Nights in White Stain, and the like. I had no idea how they were actually constructed. Crazy/cool. Thanks!
@LordJohnWhorfin @blood23 yeah, those things are amazing but have always been a maintenance sinkhole- the spring system, the rotors, and not to mention the tape frames themselves which are ridiculously unweildly to load in and out (and need to be changed every time you wanted a different set of sounds). still, always wanted one
@blood23 the optigan is also super neat- i was introduced to it many years later by way of jon brion's music. people laugh when i say it but i really like the whirling sound the disc makes when it's in operation. also, one of these days i want to get rips of some of the drum and rhythm tracks from those optical discs.
@blood23 yeah! i am envious of your friend. would love to hear that warpy sound sometime
that's awesome to hear about them making discs still. doesn't the dude from optiganally yours do some sort of preservation work or something with the brand?
My dad was director of marketing for Optigan, a job he was utterly unsuited for, knowing nothing of music. We had the deluxe walnut edition, which sounded every bit as cheesy as any other. Until watching this video I never suspected that the noble mellotron was so similar in conception.
@jonbro as far as i know they never were able to fit record heads inside the tape frame, but apparently you could make recordings of notes and sounds and have them fitted into a custom tape frame by the mellotron folks
@Davezilla always glad to discover that someone that shares my obsession! it's such a fascinating instrument. we've been using samples of the m400 to fake some "mellotron tracks" on the next windmills record.
@blood23 the optigan is also super neat- i was introduced to it many years later by way of jon brion's music. people laugh when i say it but i really like the whirling sound the disc makes when it's in operation. also, one of these days i want to get rips of some of the drum and rhythm tracks from those optical discs.
that's awesome to hear about them making discs still. doesn't the dude from optiganally yours do some sort of preservation work or something with the brand?