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Mellotron
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Technology
Beneath every key of a Mellotron is a strip of recording tape with a recording of a real instrument: a violin, a flute, a choir. If you press a key, that strip of tape runs past a playback head. After about eight seconds it runs out. The instrument was built in Birmingham from 1963, on the model of the American Chamberlin. The strings and choirs sound not quite real and float a little, and precisely that became a sound of its own. The Mellotron is a forerunner of the sampler and became the sound of prog rock.
Listening
Listening tip. Do the strings or choirs sound like a real orchestra? Notice how the notes float a little.
Nights in White Satin · The Moody Blues, 1967
Epitaph · King Crimson, 1969
Watcher of the Skies · Genesis, 1972
In School of Rock
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- Genre Map · TechnologyNL Map
- Mixtape 3: The BeatlesNL Reader
- Mixtape 4: When Rock Was Still PopNL Reader
- Mixtape 9: The InstrumentNL Reader