{"id":284507,"date":"2018-09-27T15:00:46","date_gmt":"2018-09-27T13:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/?p=284507"},"modified":"2019-12-27T14:01:22","modified_gmt":"2019-12-27T13:01:22","slug":"htt-sff-mellotron","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/gear\/htt-sff-mellotron\/","title":{"rendered":"Hit The Tone! Strawberry Fields Forever \u2013 Mellotron"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hit The Tone!<\/h2>\n

Welcome to the first edition of Hit The Tone<\/span>,<\/strong>\u00a0a series of articles discussing certain signature sounds in famous songs and how to obtain them yourselves, whether for playing a cover or for use in your own compositions. In today’s article we will be discussing the Mellotron sounds that Paul McCartney performed on the intro of the Beatles hit “Strawberry Fields Forever<\/span>” from the album Magical Mystery Tour\u00a0<\/i>released in 1967.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Background info<\/h3>\n
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courtesy of Wikipedia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Strawberry Fields Forever<\/strong> is a hit song recorded in various takes by The Beatles<\/strong> and George Martin<\/strong> between November and December 1966<\/strong>. It turned out to be a groundbreaking collage-composition<\/strong> that once again demonstrated George Martin’s use of the recording studio as an instrument for composition and production. The Mellotron<\/strong> plays a big part in this song because its flute<\/strong> sounds<\/strong> start off the song. The Mellotron is an organ-type instrument<\/strong> that uses pre-recorded tape loops<\/strong> of different instruments which are triggered by striking the piano keys. Watch Mike Pinder<\/strong>\u00a0(of The Moody Blues<\/strong>) describe how it works in the video below:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Paul McCartney<\/strong> wrote the Mellotron line, using the f<\/strong>lute<\/strong>\u00a0sound bank (Bank 4)<\/strong>\u00a0on the Right Hand<\/strong> keyboard of the instrument. It is quite simple for someone who is familiar with the piano or keyboards but it could be tricky for someone who is not rhythmically inclined.<\/p>\n

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What you’ll need<\/h3>\n

Of course, if you want EXACTLY the same tone<\/strong> as the one on the studio recording you’ll need a Mellotron Mk II from the 1960s<\/strong>. This may be quite hard to find these days unless you have tens of thousands to spend…<\/p>\n

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Mellotron MkII 1960s – courtesy of Wikipedia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Beatles & Co. rented<\/strong> one for the studio session at Abbey Road<\/strong>. Rumours say that Paul McCartney now owns that mellotron and keeps it at home.<\/p>\n

Here is Paul demonstrating the intro on the Mellotron Mk II\u00a0<\/strong>in front of an audience…<\/p>\n

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How to play<\/h3>\n

Here is a tutorial video<\/strong> of how to play the mellotron lines that Paul wrote. If you are familiar with piano<\/strong> or keyboard playing<\/strong> this should be a breeze for you…<\/p>\n

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Alternative methods<\/h3>\n

The Mellotron M4000D<\/strong><\/a> is the closest you can get these days with a brand new instrument<\/strong>. It is made by the\u00a0Swedish manufacturer<\/strong>\u00a0“Mellotron<\/strong>” and they do a great job of recreating the original tape loop sounds<\/strong> and tones<\/strong> but in 24-bit digital audio<\/strong>. It also allows you to expand your sound library<\/strong> using a\u00a0Compact Flash card<\/strong>. Find it in our shop by\u00a0clicking here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Mellotron M4000D<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For a more compact<\/strong> (and more affordable)<\/strong> version, check out the Mellotron M4000D Mini<\/a><\/strong>…<\/p>\n

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Mellotron M4000D Mini<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The German brand\u00a0Manikin-Electronic<\/b><\/a> <\/b>makes a similar product, the Memotron M2K<\/b><\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/b>which is almost identical<\/strong> to the Mellotron M4000D Mini. One difference is that the Memotron has an SD card slot<\/strong> for expanding<\/strong> your instrument samples <\/strong>(instead of a CompactFlash one). There are debates online as to which is better or \u201cmore authentic sounding\u201d but we\u2019ll let you be the judge. Come try out both of these fantastic products<\/strong> in our shop!<\/p>\n

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Memotron M2K<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Software versions<\/h3>\n

If you use a DAW<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0you can also buy \/ download<\/strong> the Mellotron sounds and record it via MIDI controller<\/strong><\/a> (or even computer keyboard). You can also find certain products at Thomann.de<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>which will help you obtain those characteristic Mellotron sounds<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Here are the products available in our shop:<\/p>\n

Toontracks\u00a0EZkeys Mellotoon\u00a0<\/a>– <\/strong>this virtual instrument<\/strong> is compatible with all top DAW<\/strong><\/a>s<\/strong> and features real sampled sounds<\/strong> from the 1960s Mellotron M400<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

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MOTU Electric Keys<\/a><\/strong>is another software plug-in <\/strong>and this one not only features the Mellotron<\/strong> but an impressive array of other legendary keyboards and organs<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Note:<\/strong><\/span> To make it sound even more like the original make sure to tweak<\/strong> the Mellotron sound using an equaliser (EQ<\/strong>), namely by applying a Low Pass filter <\/strong>and\u00a0setting it around 550Hz <\/strong>or whatever sounds right. Trust your ears!<\/p>\n

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Key-less Mellotron?<\/h3>\n

Do you want those Mellotron sounds but you aren’t keyboard inclined? Not a problem: there’s an effect pedal for that! The\u00a0Electro Harmonix MEL9 Tape Replay Machine <\/strong><\/a>can simulate 8 Mellotron sounds<\/strong> and can be used with guitar and<\/strong>\u00a0bass<\/strong>\u00a0(but also works with\u00a0keyboards<\/strong>)! <\/strong>Now there’s absolutely no stopping you…\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Check out this Spotify playlist<\/strong><\/a> to hear more great songs<\/strong> that feature the Mellotron<\/strong>…<\/p>\n

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Conclusion<\/h3>\n

There you have it folks, if you practice<\/strong>, listen<\/strong> and have the right gear<\/strong> and settings<\/strong> you can sound just like Paul on SFF.\u00a0 If you want to use similar sounds in your own songs go right ahead but remember to be original<\/strong> and always add a bit of your personality<\/strong> to your compositions. Happy playing and tweaking!<\/p>\n

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back to the top<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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Ever wondered how to play the intro to Strawberry Fields Forever? Wonder no more…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":296626,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tblog_post_audio_url":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1083,10676,10720],"tags":[10610,5402,5400,10614,3823,3441,10620,10612,4861,10606,10608,10618,10616,8447],"class_list":["post-284507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gear","category-inspire","category-learn","tag-abbey-road","tag-beatles","tag-flute","tag-george-martin","tag-keyboard-en","tag-keys-en","tag-magical-mystery-tour","tag-mccartney","tag-mellotron","tag-melotron","tag-mkii","tag-sff","tag-strawberry-fields-forever","tag-strings"],"category_colors":{"color_key":"gear","css_classes":{"text":"cat-gear","text_light":"cat-gear-light","bg":"cat-bg-gear","bg_light":"cat-bg-gear-light","border":"cat-border-gear","text_on_bg":"cat-text-on-gear"}},"reading_time":{"minutes":4,"formatted":"4 min"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=284507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284507\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/296626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}