The instrument that changed the sound of rock: the mellotron.
The mellotron is a musical instrument, a kind of analog synthesizer developed in the early 60s. He has a unique hypnotic sound and without him, many compositions of psychedelic and progressive rock of the 60s and 70s would have turned out much less interesting.
Mike Pinder (Moody Blues) behind the mellotron
The idea was successful for its time: inside the mellotron there are looped tape tapes that are played when certain keys are pressed. The sound turns out to be completely unearthly, ghostly.
One of the first recordings released on which he can be heard was Baby Can It Be True by The Graham Bond Organization (1965).
The following year, Manfred Mann used it to arrange their Semi-Detached single, Suburban Mr. James.
Mike Pinder from The Moody Blues became a great enthusiast of the instrument: he sounds on all the albums of the band from 1967-78. He also introduced the Beatles to the mellotron, and they instantly used it on the recordings of Strawberry Fields Forever.
It was possible to replenish the musical bank of the instrument with completely different sounds - starting from the sounds of various instruments and ending with the sounds of fireworks, sirens, sounds of battles, the noise of rain, wind, thunderstorms, the sound of the surf, etc., the duration of such tracks could not exceed a duration of more than 8 seconds, given the design feature of the instrument and the length of the magnetic tape, which the track was being recorded. And after playing 8 seconds of recording, the pickup head returned to its original position, and the recording was looped in this way (a kind of sample was obtained).
And after that, mellotrons began to be in great demand. King Crimson, for example, purchased two of them at once!
Let's just remember and listen to some of the compositions to which this wonderful instrument gives its magical aura.
theartofmadeline
origamiaround
kianamaiart
turnnoffyourmind
