KVR Audio

spillway · Post by **spillway** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 12:59 am

I am a big fan of chamberlin and mellotron sounds, and am coming from a guitar/bass playing background.

I was eyeing Squids Tron Collection.

All I have is an Hewlett Packard with 1 Gig of Ram.

What would I need to buy to be able to play these sounds on my home computer and possibly play them live at some point?

Do I need to buy a Sampling Keyboard? AKAI?

I am clueless, please help me.

Thanks,

Adam

John_P · Post by **John_P** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 1:11 am

Hi and welcome to the forum...

In my opinion, you should get this.

You will need a MIDI keyboard to play this instrument, if you don't already have one that is. If you don't, then consider buying one with a few realtime controllers (such as; dials, sliders, rotary encoders). This will give you even more control over this instrument as you will be able to control many of it's parameters (such as; attack, release, tone, volume, etc.).

Hope this helps.

dougsyo · Post by **dougsyo** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 1:45 am

Squids Tron Collection is one option. There's also Expansion Tank: Mello Zone. Either of them comes with ST2LE for a player.

Another alternative is Eve One + the Eve Mellotron soundset.

You probably can't go wrong with any of these.

Doug

spillway · Post by **spillway** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 1:53 am

Any advice as to what MIDI keyboard I should buy?

These can be loaded with sounds so I could play them away from my computer?

Is this strictly just a controller and does not come with any sounds of its own?

Thanks for your help.

dougsyo · Post by **dougsyo** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 3:43 am

spillway wrote:Any advice as to what MIDI keyboard I should buy?

These can be loaded with sounds so I could play them away from my computer?

Is this strictly just a controller and does not come with any sounds of its own?

You can get a workstation or synth "loaded with sounds" or a controller, it's your choice.

I have a Yamaha keyboard (PSR-2000) that I use for its own sounds. I used it (actually the PSR-550 that was its predecessor) as a controller for computer music work in the past.

I decided that for my purposes it was a bit too bulky, so I got an M-Audio Radium 49. The Radium will only work when it's connected to my laptop, but that's OK.

If I had the luxury of a dedicated work area, I'd probably have continued with the Yamaha keyboard as my controller, it's better than the M-Audio. One of its advantages (over Motif, Fantom, Triton, etc) is it has built-in speakers for when I'm playing for myself or for a small group, I don't need to deal with an external amp or headphones.

It all comes down to what you find works for you. It's not a bad thing to have a keyboard with its own sounds.

Doug

duncanparsons · Post by **duncanparsons** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 7:30 am

If you want a quick and free mellotron, you can't go far wrong with Tweakbench's Tapeworm. It has the most common sounds. There's also one by Batsounds, but it's hard to track down these days.

HTH
DSP

spillway · Post by **spillway** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 7:43 am

What would I need to get if I wanted to load these chamberlain sounds into the keyboard and play it away from the computer?

Can this be done with Squids collection?

dougsyo · Post by **dougsyo** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 9:54 am

spillway wrote:What would I need to get if I wanted to load these chamberlain sounds into the keyboard and play it away from the computer?

Can this be done with Squids collection?

Your first question: You'd need a keyboard with sampling facilities. Some Tritons (or Tritons with the optional sampler board), Yamaha Motif, and Roland Fantoms all support user samples.

Squid's Tron Collection is sold in the SampleTank format. You'd have to sample the output of SampleTank, or use a file format converter to convert them to wav files.

Doug

Frunobulax · Post by **Frunobulax** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 11:50 am

It sounds like you are completely new to computer-based music. If so, it would be best to do some homework before you try and make any decisions about which Tron collection you want to buy. Here is a good resource for basic information about computer-based music: http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm

I would explore that site, and spend a lot of time reading here at KVR to get an idea of what is out there so you can figure out what you might want to do given your budget.

However, if all you really want are some Tron samples that you can play from a hardware sampler, you might not want to even look at computer software-based collections like Squid's Tron Collection or the M-Tron. Instead you might want to get a hardware sampler that will load something like this: http://www.hollowsun.com/cds/newtron_page.html

Philly · Post by **Philly** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 12:05 pm

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but the Squids Tron Collection Vol 1 was a 'group buy' thing abaout a year ago and is no longer available accordind to the SR web site. I got in on it and have to say it's one of the best investments I made. I think Sonic Reality do have another product, or there is the Mtron or EVE plus the Mellotronix sample set from DASH mentioned above. All are pretty good.

Maybe you can badger Squids at the SR forum and get him to do Tron Collection vol 2!!

You do need a computer with a good sound card and host program to play these instruments though. If you don't want to use a computer and have the cash - why not get a real Mellotron?

The other option would be use a hardware sampler/work station - this would be a costly route too.

Mr Arkadin · Post by **Mr Arkadin** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 12:34 pm

The other option would be use a hardware sampler/work station - this would be a costly route too.

Or you could get one of these.

Personally i use M-Tron plus the three extra tape banks.

Mr A

John_P · Post by **John_P** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 12:34 pm

Just get the M-Tron and a MIDI controller keyboard, then take your PC with you for live situations.

spillway · Post by **spillway** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 1:47 pm

Thanks Frunobulax, that beginners guide is just what I needed.

Studiodad · Post by **Studiodad** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 2:55 pm

I believe you can get the Squids Tron Collection on at esoundz.com under trons. 4 cds of sounds plus SampleTank SE to play them. I'm not sure if you could use Sampletank in standalone or not to play live. Anyone?

The tron collection is only available for a few more days. One of the cool things about this is the range of notes isn't limited to the original number of notes on the Chamberlin's and Mellotrons, plus you can add effects and a whole range of processes to the sounds. I just wish I could afford to get it!
There's also about 4 pages of individually downloadable tron sounds on the esoundz site.

Good luck!

spillway · Post by **spillway** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 3:30 pm

[quote="Studiodad"]I believe you can get the Squids Tron Collection on at esoundz.com under trons.

Thanks, that's where I saw it too.

I ordered it, but still need to buy a MIDI controller of some kind.

Chamberlin + Mellotron: Complete Newbie needs Advice