The only way to get "the pure experience" is to own one! It is bizarre (to me) that people want to inherit all the failings and inadequacies of an old instrument, especially when they are so easily overcome today. For me, the only thing of charm on a Tron is the sound - the overhead of getting that sound is a PITA. Many other genuine Tron owners would agree (which is probably why Rick Wakeman ceremoniusly dragged two of his to the top of a hill, poured petrol over them and set light to them!!!).emdot_ambient wrote:I've heard that from other former Tron owners, and read that from famous producers who worked with the beasts over the years. It's funny how the legendary status of an instrument will make some people want nothing but the pure experience, even if that pure experience was frustrating to people who used the gear before in its day.
It depends on a whole raft of conditions:emdot_ambient wrote:Excellent point. I've wondered about that (how fast the original tape mechanism could rewind).
* If the key isn't fully released and there's still some pressure on the tape from the pinch roller or tape head pressure pad, it can slow the return down (and you're likely to get tape 'chatter' through proximity of the tape to the head as it whizzes back).
* If the return spring has stretched over time, then the return will be slower of course (and it's hard to 'tighten' a spring' once it has stretched)
* If there is any slight obstruction in the mechanism due to mis-alignment, it will be slower; the spring can just jam and only return halfway.
* And further to the above, is there is any mis-alignment, in severe cases, this can result in the tape getting creased/wrinkled (or even ripped if the tape sticks but the return spring insists on pulling it back!!!)
All sorts of problems!!!
On a well maintained (or brand new) Tron, the tape return snaps back quite quickly and is pretty swift but that generally doesn't last long!!! Of course, the weird phenomenon with the tape return mechanism when you are actually playing the thing is the acoustic 'slapping' noise coming from inside the case as the tapes spring back to position!
But there are other issues too that extend beyond just the argument of looped/unlooped with regard to total authenticity. For example, the whole keyboard is serviced by a huge capstan that runs the entire length of the keyboard and each key has its own pinch roller that engages each key's tape with the capstan to pull it forward and over the tape head. Fine but....
Play big chords and the pressure exerted on the 'master' capstan causes it to slow down and so the tapes don't play back at the correct speed. Or another scenario.... you're playing a chord and everything's fine - then you add some extra notes to that chord and that extra pressure causes the whole lot to varispeed down slightly (and when you release those new notes or the original chord, the whole lot reverts back up to normal speed).
In light of the above, to only focus on looping Tron samples as some kind of herecy is missing the point - there is much more to retaining 'authenticity' than that!
In his review of my CDs in Sound On Sound, Nick predicted that my looping the samples would cause "spontaneous combustion" amongst Tron purists (*) but as an ex-Tron owner himself, he knows which one he'd prefer! He said of my Trons:emdot_ambient wrote:Again, it's all in what you want. If you want to make a song that emulates old Mellotron songs, you have to make sure you don't hold notes over the maxium of about 8 seconds. The physical nature of the Mellotron forced players to adopt an unnatural staggered playing if they wanted to hold chords for a long time. If you just want to use those amazing sounds for ethereal pads and non-immitative infinitely sustaining chords, then loop away.
"I found the overall character of these samples to be superb. In comparison to my extensive personal collection of Mellotron sounds garnered from numerous sources, this set beat mine hands down for sheer presence and clarity within a mix .... the Mellotron sounds are as fine as you’ll hear anywhere."
And he should know!
(*) The irony of this is that the greatest furore about looping Tron samples appears to come not from genuine Tron owners but from those using samples!!!!
emdot_ambient wrote:And being the humble owner of a lot of the old Hollow Sun free samples--THANKS!--I would recommend anyone interested in the Mellotron sound to look into Steve's product. I'm sure it's fantastic!
Steve
