WHAT HAPPENED TO THE MELLOTRON???

[jaywa]

I my dark days as a roadie I worked a tour as a keyboard tech, there were 3 of us, one guy's only job was to baby the Mellotron.

Three techs just for the keyboards?! Am I reading that right?

Who were you with, ELP?

 

[Passinwind]

Something of interest:

A guy from my home town, Meriden, CT, invented a thing called a Byrotron. His name was Dave Byro (sp?).

It was a homegrown thing made out of 8 track (cha chunk) tape machines.

I heard that Rick Wakeman had interest in the product.

Don't know what happened with the thing.

john m

Check this out.

I was working in the ARP factory back when the Birotron was being hailed as the next big thing, in the mid-70s. I actually saw one of the prototypes, can't remember where though.

 

[Bob Lee (QSC)]

Who were you with, ELP?

Oh man, can you imagine babying a Mellotron and a giant custom analog Moog?

It would be interesting, anyway! Never a dull moment.

 

[Bob Lee (QSC)]

A Birotron?

Did it use ball-point pens?

 

[SanDiegoHarry]

Three techs just for the keyboards?! Am I reading that right?

Who were you with, ELP?

Oh, Jaywa, you are showing your youth...

In the '70s, the typical keyboard player had to schlep the following:

Hammond B-3 (two guys AT LEAST, to lift/move)
Fender Rhodes (again, two guys - maybe more if it was a "Suitecase Rhodes)
Mini Moog / ARP Odyssey (okay, one guy could carry that)
Amp

If he had a mellowtron, that was one more thing to move - and it was about the size of B-3.

I used to really pity keyboard players back then - So darned much gear... I'd feel guilt getting all set up and seeing him still schlepping/setting up. And yes, I've helped carry my share of hammonds/rhodes/etc.

 

[Jumbotron]

Robert Fripp once said that tuning a mellotron doesn't.

That's some funny stuff.

 

[bassbrad]

Three techs just for the keyboards?! Am I reading that right?

Who were you with, ELP?

There were 3 of us, total production crew was about 100, but it was not ELP, no one that famous. MY job was setting up the pianos; a grand, Rhodes, Wurlitzer and Helpinstill - being sure they were in tune and working with the monitor/FOH sends. The other guy did the organ and synths.

 

[Hoover]

Check this out.

That's a great article, lottsa info there. I saw Rick Wakeman using two Birotrons on the Tormato tour in 1979. Based on the sound of that concert (and of the Tormato album) I'm not sure I'd agree that it was a viable replacement for a Mellotron sonically...but then again, I'm pretty sure that my (and most other people's) fetishization of the Mellotron's sound is an aquired taste that would've had us committed to the looney bin if we'd expressed it in the 70s or 80s.

 

[b_carville]

Ok. How many oldtimers remember the Elka string unit?
Sounded almost like a Mellotron only thinner & cheezier
No tape loops though.

 

[Bob Lee (QSC)]

Ok. How many oldtimers remember the Elka string unit?
Sounded almost like a Mellotron only thinner & cheezier
No tape loops though.

Yeah, I remember renting one for a studio session once. It sounded fairly decent played one note at a time and kept far back in the mix. It distorted badly when you played multiple notes simultaneously.

 

[b_carville]

Yeah, I remember renting one for a studio session once. It sounded fairly decent played one note at a time and kept far back in the mix. It distorted badly when you played multiple notes simultaneously.

Yep! That sounds right. The Elka was used by many bands on the New Jersey/Philly club circuit in the 70's. They were pretty cheap price wise.The deluxe version had an electric piano built in that sounded identical to the Univox electric piano (Remember those?).Probably built in the same factory. Showing my age here. Next I'll be going off about Davoli synths! All these fine Italian products still
tur up from time to time my way.

 

[oldbassplayergu]

Dallas Arbiter was the UK-based manufacturer. They also made the Fuzz Face, a bit smaller-scale electronic product.

The US distributor was Dallas Musical Industries, which eventually bought Crest Audio and assumed the name.

dallas arbiter also made soundcity amps, and the rangeboost pedal. they were imported by a new jersey co. right?

 

[bassbrad]

Don't forget all the other forgotten keyboard all-stars like Crumar, RMI and those awful but cool Hohner clavinet, harpsichords & pianets and those cheezy old Yamaha Electric Organs.

 

[lunarpollen]

For what it's worth, the currently-made Mellotrons are a lot more solid and reliable than the old ones.

 

[bassbrad]

For what it's worth, the currently-made Mellotrons are a lot more solid and reliable than the old ones.

One would hope, how much$?

 

[Chrisk-K]

There were 3 of us, total production crew was about 100, but it was not ELP, no one that famous. MY job was setting up the pianos; a grand, Rhodes, Wurlitzer and Helpinstill - being sure they were in tune and working with the monitor/FOH sends. The other guy did the organ and synths.

Were you with Supertramp?

 

[85vf500rr]

John Paul Jones talks a bit about the Mellotron on the BBC sessions album. He used it to great effect on The Rain Song, but said it was very difficult to keep running in a touring environment.

 

[OPBASSMAN1994]

Are you kidding me?? Mellotron, Mark VI, Mark VII

I plan to get one of the new digital ones when I have the necessary discretionary funds available...

HOw much did the email say?

 

[Bob Lee (QSC)]

they were imported by a new jersey co. right?

Yes, Dallas Musical Industries (or DMI), which eventually bought Crest Audio and assumed the name.

 

[lowendfriend]

So I fell in love with the sound of the mellotron on "Watcher of the skies" by Genesis (from Foxtrot), and I thought I'd try to find one on ebay, craigslist, guitarcenter vintage, elderly, musicgoround, even some boutique piano shop site, just to see what one might cost, what a real one looks like (I've never seen one, which should have told me something anyway). NOTHING.

So here's my question:
How can one of the most talked about keyboard instruments of the sixties and seventies (and a mafia godfather of the modern synthesizer and sampler) just disappear?

Where did they go? Rick Wakeman or Tony Banks' house?

The mellotron was in fact a bunch of tape loops, so they were an electromechanical nightmare....reliability must've been a real challenge and preventive maintenance was probably high.

You don't see many 8-track tape players anymore either!

or any tape players....all mp3 in solid state memory.

The Synclavier (sp?) became the tool of choice (e.g., Frank Zappa) in the 80's/90's.