Meet our buddy

This section is dedicated to one of the best inventions ever: The Mellotron. Here you can find a small description of this wonderful instrument (still alive and kicking!), some sound snippets and some photos, which show Simone Stucchi busy changing the tapes and taking care of our "small" jewel. We actually own a M400 (serial no. 1689) which was bought in an Italian studio where Zucchero Fornaciari usually records his albums. It was brought on tour by Zucchero and used by many other artists, such as the Nomadi and Brian May of Queen. When the Mellotron joined The Watch family it had tapes that were 20 years old. Altough these tapes sounded perfect they were not compatible to The Watch sound. It was a hard decision to buy some new tapes from the original mellotron makers in London.

The change of tapes gave a new life to our buddy. Today we happily listen to a brand new perfect sound generated by our small buddy. Currently the tape set consists of the following sounds: 3 violins (partition C), 8 mixed choirs (partition B), Flute (partition A) We consider this piece of music-history as a real companion. We always bring our best-mate with us and sometimes we share some beers together (he really enjoys Belgian beers...). The Mellotron is an essential instrument in The Watch music. At the beginning, it was replaced by some nice samples but when the band had the chance to get the "original" one, things went better, expecially during live sessions. Today The Watch "monster" (aka "Il Mostro") has a new engine that allows its mechanisms to keep the tune stable and perfect. However it's still a very delicate instrument that needs a lot of maintenace. This is why Simone Stucchi and his screwdriver always take care of the mellotron before every live performance. We do hope that you enjoy this page and we will be very pleased to read your comments and notes at Your views page.

Definition (Provided by Wikipedia)

The Mellotron is an electromechanical polyphonic keyboard musical instrument originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. The Mellotron, (along with its direct ancestor the Chamberlin), was in effect the world's first sample-playback keyboard. The heart of the instrument is a bank of magnetic tape strips (these tapes were parallel linear, not looped as has sometimes been reported or presumed), each tape with approximately eight seconds of playing time; playback heads underneath (but not directly underneath) each key enables performers to play the pre -recorded sound assigned to that key when pressed. The earlier MKI and MKII models contained two side-by-side keyboards with 18 selectable sets of specially-recorded sounds on the right keyboard such as strings, flutes, and brass instruments which were called "lead", or "instrument" sounds, and pre-recorded accompaniment music (in various styles) on the left keyboard. The tape banks for the later, lighter-weight M400 models contain three selectable sounds (per changeable tape-rack) such as strings, cello, and the famous eight-voice choir. The sound on each individual tape piece is recorded at the specific pitch of the key that it was assigned to.

Read more at: Wikipedia.org

History (Written by John R Woodhouse)

The past...

The basic concept behind The Mellotron was developed in the U.S.A. by musician/inventor Harry Chamberlin during the early 1950s. He built a keyboard that used a system of pre-recorded tapes (one for each key) composed of recordings made by real instruments used in an orchestra. The desired instrument (e.g. violins) was selected by a switch and then "played" by pressing one or more of the keys which played-back the selected sound that had been recorded at the same pitch as the musical note of the key that was being depressed. This allowed the musician to literally "play" their own orchestra although the resulting combination of sounds produced were very distinctive and unique in their own way.

This new instrument was named The Chamberlin but few were produced owing to its complexity which made it prone to mechanical or electrical failure. In an effort to improve the design, Bill Fransen who represented the Chamberlin company went to England in 1962 to search for a manufacturer who could make some essential components. He ended up in Birmingham at the factory of Frank, Norman, and Les Bradley of Bradmatic Ltd. who saw the potential and were able to substantially improve on the original design.

With the co-operation of Bill Fransen, the Bradley brothers set up a factory at 338 Aldridge Road, Sutton Coldfield called "Streetly Electronics". It was there where they produced a machine that was named The Mellotron. It had two keyboards mounted side-by-side and used a pre-recorded tape system similar to that of the original Chamberlin. Some time later when Harry Chamberlin found out his idea was being infringed upon, he was furious and took legal action against the Bradley's (they had assumed the invention belonged to Bill Fransen!). Fortunately, an agreement was later reached concerning payment and licensing for the patent so the Bradleys were able to resume production.

Despite the success of The Mellotron, it was still mechanically complex (the early Mk II model was never intended for touring) and the simplified M400 model was introduced in 1971 - specifically designed for bands on the road.


...and the future

These days, the distinctive sound of the Mellotron is kept alive by a dedicated and international group of enthusiasts who maintain surviving Mellotrons with the same energy as those who restore classic cars. Calgary musicologist David Kean revived the Mellotron name in 1991 and started building new machines in addition to supplying tapes and frames worldwide. He has done much to preserve the sounds of the Mellotron and maintains a website at www.mellotron.com. Streetly Electronics, the foremost source of knowledge concerning these unique instruments, was revived by John Bradley (son of Les Bradley) and Martin Smith who continue to operate the business locally for repair and sales of Mellotrons, tapes and spares worldwide. The Streetly Electronics website can be accessed at Mellotronics.Com and it includes samples of Mellotron sounds at their gloriously irreverent Tape Library.

Read more at: BrumBeat.Net (The Mellotron - Made in Birmingham)

News from Streetly Electronics

We would like to report some great news regarding the M400: "Six Track M400 tape frames! Why limit your M400 to just three sounds? We have been experimenting and can now offer an expanded version of M400 tapes. In an effort to maximise what can be achieved with the predetermined format we are now producing 6 track tapes. Standard three track tapes have always offered two additional blends at the mid points between A and B and B and C but now you can have 5 unique voices from the new 6 track format. It's all about maximising the possibilities and reducing the inherent limitations. These tapes open up a host of new sound combinations, all recorded on wonderful EMI stock of course" (from Mellotronics.com)

Listen to a six track M400 sample: M400 Snippet
Great Interview on BBC with Mark Radcliff (35 min.): BBC Interview
Please, leave your feedback with regards to the Tron at: Your Views

Some images of our mate