The 3 Violins and Combined Brass samples were recorded in 2003 from a 1973 Mellotron M400S, serial #500. The Tron's condition was very good. The heads were cleaned and the azimuth aligned by Streetly Electronics in England (the original maker of this Tron) just prior to sampling. The capstan was clean, but the pinch rollers were a little dry. The cabinet was a bit out of square. The tapes and frame were brand new. The 3 Violins sound is the harsher sounding MkII violins and not the M400 violins, which are really the MkII violins with the top end rolled off. The samples were recorded "hot" with the tone control fully clockwise. This is not how M400's are normally played. The tone control is generally set from about 1/8 to 1/3 clockwise, assuming the amplification system tones are flat. You may want to cut the top end due to the brightness of the samples. Each set of samples is about 20 megabytes.
These samples have not been butchered by looping them. They are approximately 7 seconds in length and retain both the initial attack, and in many cases, the bad endings.
-- May, 2008: added String Section.
-- June, 2008: added Combined Choir and GC3 Brass.
-- August, 2008: added M300A, M300B and Woodwind 2.
Restoration of M400S, serial #500 was completed on August 28, 2005 by Jerry Korb, the "Mellotron Professor", who returned it to "like new" condition. Photos are from Ken Leonard's website.
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