5 ms·
Nothing next to this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1967-vintage-London-MELLOTRON-Programme-Effects-Generator-from-the-BBC-/321183275203?nma=true&si=tmAbGv85A7IcLM0%2
by JonnieCache 13y ago
Nothing next to this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1967-vintage-London-MELLOTRON-Programme-Effects-Generator-from-the-BBC-/321183275203?nma=true&si=tmAbGv85A7IcLM0%252Fnkfudu6qpfk%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557 http://www.ebay.com/itm/1967-vintage-London-MELLOTRON-Progra...
My birthday is soon. Email in profile.
- jacquesm 13y agoWow, what a find. A tape based sampler. Amazing. That would be so much fun to restore to working condition.
- JonnieCache 13y agoIt's an offshoot of the Mellotron[1] which was basically the original sampler. The mellotron was/is a keyboard where pressing each key spooled out and played back an individual tape strip of a real string section, cello, flute etc. It's the string sound that's really famous and recognisable. The mechanisms make a VHS look simple, see the wiki article for diagrams. The linked machine is a read-write version of the mellotron, created especially for the BBC to do sound effects for radio programmes. One of the many one-of-a-kind cutting edge devices commissioned by the BBC in the glory days. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mellotron https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mellotron
- hamiltonkibbe 13y agoAnd the Strawberry Fields flute sound!
- neverm0re 13y agoYou can build 'em out of essentially scrap parts fairly easily, actually. There's also dumps of the Melloton's sample reels floating around if you particularly want that sound rather than producing your own. Peter Christopherson and Chris Carter of Throbbing Gristle made their own tape loop sampler out of car tape decks, some simple soldering and a keyboard controller in the late 70s. They could control the pitch, rewind, forward, etc. and otherwise trigger various tape loops which was the basis of the band's sound. There's no reason to stop with tapes, though. MiniDisc is cheap, dead and has seamless shuffle (!!!) which means a whole stack of 'em could be chained to a mixer and played similarly. Still, you won't get the odd mechanical quirks and failings of using a cassette based system, especially if you start munging with manipulating playback speeds which may or may not be interesting to you.
- JonnieCache 13y ago>seamless shuffle (!!!) In a few years, when I inevitably get bored of melody and back into brain-melting glitch music, this is what I'm doing.
- neverm0re 13y agoYou might wanna check out Autechre's side project Gescom, specifically the 'MiniDisc' album: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minidisc_%28Gescom_minidisc%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minidisc_%28Gescom_minidisc%29 They abuse seamless shuffle with an 88 track minidisc album that's designed to be played on random shuffle. It basically sounds like a Farmer's Manual album, but it's still wild.
- JonnieCache 13y agoAutechre was the first thing I thought about when I read your post :) I was thinking more about hooking up a deck to an arduino and sending the "skip track" command at 20hz, or something like that. Record, chop, loop, and you're away.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- jrabone 13y agoInteresting that the power plate indicates 60 Hz supply - yet the UK is 50 Hz. Perhaps stretching things for the title to claim it's "from" the BBC, as opposed to "as used by" - this one was most likely was made for the US market. I wonder what its provenance was?
- alex_hitchins 13y agoCould it be to filter out the 50Hz mains interference?
- michaelt 13y agoThe whole point of broadcast TV operating at mains frequency is because it makes interference less noticeable, accdording to sources like [1]. [1] http://www.adelia.co.uk/frame-rates-ntsc-pal/ http://www.adelia.co.uk/frame-rates-ntsc-pal/