Ten Minute

Master No121
Up to three separate
recordings can be
stored on each tape.
The alignment of the
playback head
determines which one
will sound.

Individual section of
tape for each key

The Mellotron
The future of sampling may be digital, but with the
revival of the Mellotron, tape sampling is back.
Grant Bridgeman revisits an iconic instrument.

he original Mellotron
incorporated many of
the design principles
behind a similar
machine, the
Chamberlin, developed some
years previously in the USA. Its
design was essentially very
simple. Each key on the keyboard
would trigger playback from a
tape recorder, and on each tape
would be the recording of an
instrument playing a single note
that related to the keyboard pitch.
When the note was released, the
tape would rewind, ready for the
next keystroke.

On key
The Mellotron drew on these basic
operating principles but extended
the capabilities of the machine
indeed, the basic operation of the

current M4000 series is identical to

that of the original 1963 Mark I.
Lengths of 3/8-inch tape are
mounted directly underneath the
keys; when a key is depressed, the
tape is pinched against a rotating
capstan wheel, pulling the tape
across the playback head. A
pressure pad holds the tape in
contact with the playback head,
and the portion of tape that has
already passed over the head is
collected in a bin instead of being
wound onto a spindle. This
enables the tape to be rewound
very rapidly, with a spring returning
it to its original starting position,
ready for the next key press.
The M4000 also enables you to
adjust the attack portion of the
note by inching forwards the
starting position of the recording,
giving a harder attack and slightly

Different Recordings

Palyback Head Position

A+B B+C

quicker rewind time. The limitation

with this system is that the length
of the sample is determined by the
length of the tape, and with a tape
speed of 7.5 inches per second,
the maximum sample time is
around eight seconds.
A common Mellotron
misconception is that it uses loops
of tape to create innitely
sustaining sounds, but the benets
of xed taped lengths are that they
can include the attack and decay
portions of the recording, making
the overall sound more exible.
The Birotron was an offshoot of
the Mellotron technology that did
use tape loops, incorporating an
8-track cartridge that generated
its sustaining sounds. Very few
were ever made, however, and
there are now thought to only be
six in existence.

Tape combo
Keyboard

Cycling System
Stores 8 Stations

Active Section
Of Tape

Collecting Bin
Key Press
- Playback

An illustration of the basic operating mechanism of

the Mellotron. The tape is held under tension by a
spring until a key is pressed.

40 February 2008 MusicTech MAGAZINE

Note Released
- Fast Return

Each length of tape holds up to

three recordings across its width,
and the alignment of the playback
head determines which recording
is played back. The playback head
can be positioned either directly
over an individual recording or at
an intermediary position between
Tape Fills aCollecting Bin
two of the tracks, giving
combined sound.
The particular combination is
determined by the physical
positions of the sounds on the
tape, so the tape sets have to be
carefully arranged to give the most
useable options.

To further extend its sonic

capabilities, the Mellotron employs
a cycling system that stores a
number of recordings at specic
positions along the full length of
tape (about 20 metres). This tape
is stored on two rollers mounted to
either side of the playback
mechanism. On selection, the next
section of tape (called a station) is
cued into position over the
playback head. In the original
cycling Mellotrons, a pulse
recorded onto the tape was used
to separate the stations, but a
motorised system is now used to
accurately position the tapes.
It was this system that caused
many of the problems with the
original Mellotron and contributed
to its reputation of being
temperamental, as pressing a key
during the cycling process could
result in the tapes becoming
Noteinterlock
Held Down was builtdamaged. An
in to the Mark II to prevent this
happening, but it often failed. The
M4000, however, has an optical
sensor that detects a key press
and halts the cycling procedure.
The original M400 Mellotron
avoided the problem entirely by
doing away with the cycling
system, making the unit more
Tape Is Pulled Through
portable, but limiting the number
of sounds it could generate.

Making the break

So what was it that made the
Mellotron such a breakthrough
instrument? The answers lie in its
www.musictechmag.co.uk

on

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Ten Minute Master

No121 The Mellotron

An M4000 with its cover removed, showing the tapes, playback and cycling systems. An

The Mellotrons spring-loaded return mechanism pulls each section of tape back remarkably

optical sensor halts the cycling procedure if a keystroke is detected.

quickly, with a reassuring accompanying thunk.

character and unpredictability:

the same sample never sounds
quite the same when played in
succession. Theres not a huge
difference, but its enough to lend
a sense of human feel. And while
these sonic imperfections may not
have been part of the design brief,
the nature of the tape, the internal
control system and the recordings
themselves made them inevitable.

In a utter
Variety, then, is an intrinsic part of
the Mellotrons character, and it
crops up elsewhere in the

pressed simultaneously, the load

demand on the drive motor
became too much. This resulted in
the playback speed dropping and
the notes going out of tune (a
problem thats now resolved on
the M4000).
But more often than not,
however, the recordings
themselves contributed to the
distinctive Mellotron sound. Each
recording was made in isolation,
so a performer (or a group of
performers, such as three
violinists), would perform a single
note for a maximum of eight

with others from the recording

session. When they were played
back as a chord on the Mellotron,
they would create some
fantastically rich sounds.
In the worst cases, on the
other hand, certain chords were
practically unusable, leading some
players to draw up a list of
alternative chord inversions that
would work for specic sounds.
In fact, G-Force produces a plugin version (the M-Tron) that
includes some of the samples
from the original recordings the
28 sounds are clearly advertised

The Mellotron could generate huge pad

sounds that would slice through a mix.
machine. The spring-loaded
nature of the loop-rewind
mechanism, airborne dirt
depositing on the heads and tape
coating rubbing off on the pinch
wheel all contributed to the fact
that the tapes didnt always play
back in exactly the same way
every time. Whats more, if more
than eight (or so) keys were

seconds (including a suitable

attack stage, a touch of vibrato,
perhaps, and a natural decay).
The process would then be
repeated in semitone steps until
the entire range of the instrument
had been sampled.
Without access to a reference
pitch for tuning, some of these
notes could be slightly out of tune

While a key is held down, the tape passes across the playback head and collects in a
bin. The spring mechanism rewinds the tape when the key is released.

Note Held Down

Tape Fills Collecting Bin

www.musictechmag.co.uk

Tape Is Pulled Through

as retaining all of the

imperfections that distinguished
the originals.

Mellotron heaven
Part of the beauty of the individual
Mellotron instruments was that
although they may have utilised
the same samples, each
instrument sounded unique
something the digital predictability
of a plug-in cant replicate.
It was also the possibilities of
polyphony that gave the
original Mellotron some of its
appeal. Early synthesizers could
only offer monophonic sounds,
but the Mellotron could generate
some truly huge pad sounds that
would slice through a mix. It was
also the quality of the recordings
that helped the Mellotron gain its
revered status; even with the
arrival of digital sampling (early
samplers could not compete on
sound quality or note duration), the
Mellotron ute on Led Zeppelins
Stairway To Heaven and the start

of The Beatles Strawberry Fields

demonstrate just how good these
samples were.
The full history of the Mellotron
is an interesting read: the rights to
the name has changed hands a
number of times over the years,
and manufacture moved between
companies in England, America
and Sweden. But the instrument
itself still survives and so does
that sound. MTM

Tech Terms

Wow and flutter

Wow and flutter are the audible results
of frequency fluctuation caused by
variations in tape speed.
Capstan wheel and pinch roller
The capstan is a rotating spindle
attached to the drive motor on one side
of the tape. The pinch roller pinches
the tape against the capstan and pulls
the tape across the playback head.
Playback head
A playback head comprises an iron
core coiled with wire, separated by
a small gap. Recordings are stored
on tape as a series of fluctuations in
the magnetic characteristics of the
metal oxide coating the tape. During
playback, the tape passes across the
gap in the core, inducing a current in
the coil that electrically re-creates the
signal on the tape.

FURTHER INFO
Streetly Electronicss website,
original makers of the Mellotron:
www.mellotronics.com
M4000 co-developer Norman
Leetes anecdotes and pictures:
http://members.aol.com/tronpage
An electronic copy of an original
Mellotron handbook:
www.mellotron.com/bookfr.htm
Andy Thompsons website for all
things Mellotron:
www.planetmellotron.com
The original Mellotron demo:
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=yrXtmKGkSa4

MusicTech MAGAZINE February 2008 41