KVR Audio

galwaypark · Post by **galwaypark** » Thu May 10, 2007 2:49 pm

No, I haven't built one, but how about this:

Imagine a sampler / soundfont player that loads the usual sample / multisample /soundfont formats and gives them a real rough mellotron treatment - like a tape saturation emulator, wow & flutter (and a lot of it), dirt, grit, tape hiss, perhaps even an 8 sec duration limit?

Yes, I know it can be achieved using already existing software samplers, but wouldn't it be nice if we could have it all in a dedicated, well coded, stylish and preferably free app?
It would be sort of like a tron with unlimited sound supply.

Is there such a thing out there?
Would it be worth developing, in your opinion? I sure would like to see it!

Meffy · Post by **Meffy** » Thu May 10, 2007 3:09 pm

Interesting idea. The purist in me finds it distasteful but the practical side sees potential applications.

galwaypark wrote:wow & flutter (and a lot of it)

In honor of a long-gone spammer it could be called WOW GOLD.

Shy · Post by **Shy** » Thu May 10, 2007 3:40 pm

I'd love to see a complete solution for adding high quality audio degradation of that kind

I'm unimpressed by any of the current virtual tape saturators, wow & flutterers, etc, so it would be very useful.

Bob Nova · Post by **Bob Nova** » Thu May 10, 2007 4:02 pm

I like the idea of being able to run any string samples through something like that.

I can live without the 8 sec. limit though. Not everything about Mellotrons was groovy.

Meffy · Post by **Meffy** » Thu May 10, 2007 4:19 pm

Part of the charm (IMO) was the way some notes would get raggedy toward the end of the eight seconds. Oughta be optional.

MitchK1989 · Post by **MitchK1989** » Thu May 10, 2007 4:31 pm

Another peice of the mellotron magic is the way the samples were recorded, with very different tones on different keys sometimes and 50s style recording equipment... Drifting tuning, no loop points, ect... The fact it used tape wasn't the only thing that made it quirky.

Bruce Bartlett · Post by **Bruce Bartlett** » Thu May 10, 2007 6:42 pm

Another thing that could be added is mapping aftertouch to modulate the playback head azimuth, so it gets clearer or muddier when you press harder... even Mtron doesn't do that.

galwaypark · Post by **galwaypark** » Sat May 12, 2007 5:04 pm

MitchK1989 wrote:Another peice of the mellotron magic is the way the samples were recorded, with very different tones on different keys sometimes and 50s style recording equipment... Drifting tuning, no loop points, ect... The fact it used tape wasn't the only thing that made it quirky.

That's true. That could probably be emulated (to an extent) with some random pitchshifting and lfo per key, and I love the aftertouch controlling the characteristic smearing at the end of the "tape" idea.

And as much as I agree with the pursuit of purism, we can think of it as something similar to what Isotope Vinyl is doing - there's nothing it does that can't also be accomplished with clever use of existing samplers / soundfont players - even the free ones, but some people still adore the Vinyl, myself included.

So, it would be safe to say that the targer group is out there

Any devs up to the task?

guitama · Post by **guitama** » Sat May 12, 2007 7:09 pm

Nice idea, some things could sound great, it's like the old custom tapes service.
One thing about all the free Mellotrons I've heard is that they don't emulate this attack sound. I heard Macca talking about it on BBC radio, about how you hit the keys quick and you get this sound. I thought it was just the acid damage talking, but then he demonstrated it and i recognised it from so many beatles/Moodies records.

liqih · Post by **liqih** » Sun May 13, 2007 2:29 pm

that's simply incredible, I mean how ideas can be synced,
but actually it could also be obvious since I made EVE and and EVE has a good library of mellotron samples, so to give me the idea
for that,

so what I'm saying is that I already started to make the mellotronizer as FX to add to the Dash sample player and it will be included in this http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=177945 at start,

that means that you could apply the effect to all DASH ans Wusik soundSets,
(but you can convert Wav files to those, right?)

ah, of course I'll use your input here to make it better

thanks,

Meffy · Post by **Meffy** » Sun May 13, 2007 2:43 pm

Isn't nature wonderful?! :-D

galwaypark · Post by **galwaypark** » Mon May 14, 2007 6:56 am

taijiguy · Post by **taijiguy** » Mon May 14, 2007 12:22 pm

guitama wrote:Nice idea, some things could sound great, it's like the old custom tapes service.
One thing about all the free Mellotrons I've heard is that they don't emulate this attack sound. I heard Macca talking about it on BBC radio, about how you hit the keys quick and you get this sound. I thought it was just the acid damage talking, but then he demonstrated it and i recognised it from so many beatles/Moodies records.

You can get different sounds just by the way you press a key, since you're controlling how the tape comes into contact with the playback head. A soft touch will sound different on the attack than pressing the key quickly. But there is the instrument attack as well that only unlooped samples can come close to duplicating. For example, the MkII 3 Violins has the sound of the bows coming into contact with the strings at the beginning of the tapes. In order to loop a sample of a Mellotron tape, you have to chop off the beginning of the sample, thereby losing the spirit of the original intent.

Rangtangtang · Post by **Rangtangtang** » Mon May 14, 2007 12:32 pm

Iv got a grinding wheel, see how that feels mannnnn

duncanparsons · Post by **duncanparsons** » Mon May 14, 2007 1:01 pm

hmmm... gives me yet another idea for DC07...

DSP

How about a sample-mellotronizer?