The mellotron uses tapes with recordings of actual instruments on them to make sound. Some classic sounds are flute, strings, cello, choir, and violins. Each key has a tape loop with three different instruments, so when you press a key, the tape is played and you get about 7 seconds of sound.
Mellotron tapes
The mellotron is very quirky and has lots of problems, but it just has such a unique dark sound. This instrument can be heard on many classic recordings such as the flute intro to"strawberry fields forever" and the string sounds in pretty much every Moody Blues song. Anyway, I really want one but they very rare and hard to come by (and expensive too!). So I had the idea to use a sampler to play mellotron samples and use a midi keyboard to control it. Others before me have done the same thing, but I like the idea. What I want to do is build a case for it that resembles a real mellotron, but instead uses the digital sampler to play the mellotron samples. It will also include a mixer that I will build to run all my other keyboards through. Then the base will be a big, high wattage tube amplifier that the mellotron and mixer will run through.
The keyboard part can be removed from the base and each part can be used separate from each other. It will also be easier to transport that way.
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