Exciting stuff that Squids hasn't told us about,,,,

[Beardedone]

I am not trying to be flippant, but could somebody educate me on the use of Mellotron and Chamberlin sounds. I don't understand why anyone would want to use these - to my ear they sound cheezy and fake. Other than the tron flutes in "Strawberry Fields". Actually I am not familar with their use so I am sure totally ignorant. It's because I have gone through set the Sonic Synth2 and can find no use for them.

[Wade Cornett]

Check out any 70 progressive rock bands. The first King Crimson album comes to mind. Tron strings and choruses are kind of majestic sounding in their own way and sort of grow on you like Flat Wound Strings on a bass.

Wade

[Beardedone]

That is interesting. The first King Krimson was a real favorite of mine. The rest of the 70's rock I skipped at the time. I never liked anything Genesis ever did for example.

I guess I am either not using these sounds properly or they are not for me.

[james0tucson]

I am not trying to be flippant, but could somebody educate me on the use of Mellotron and Chamberlin sounds.

There's hardly a Genesis track that doesn't have a mellotron. Also, pretty much anything by Yes. They make quite the luscious pad, and mix nicely with real orchestral strings.

[Beardedone]

Yes, there's another group I skipped in the 70s.

[Frunobulax]

I am not trying to be flippant, but could somebody educate me on the use of Mellotron and Chamberlin sounds. I don't understand why anyone would want to use these - to my ear they sound cheezy and fake. Other than the tron flutes in "Strawberry Fields". Actually I am not familar with their use so I am sure totally ignorant. It's because I have gone through set the Sonic Synth2 and can find no use for them.

Not everyone cares for these types of sounds, so your reaction is completely valid. I like them because sprinkling these kinds of lo-fi sounds into modern-day digital recordings can somtimes breathe some life into a project that might otherwise sound too sterile. Perhaps someone like Beck is a good example because he will deliberately go for a lo-fi retro sound to give his music a particular quality.

Nowadays a lot of focus is placed upon trying to warm up digital tracks. Using the tron sounds can be one way of doing that. You might try taking the tron strings in SS2, putting some delay and reverb on them and perhaps adjusting the attack and release for a nice smooth sound, then try adding some single note sustained strings to a song you're working on. It won't be the realistic strings you could get from Philharmonik, but to my ear adding the tron strings is like sprinkling fairy dust on a song the moment those strings come in. It adds a familar yet somewhat otherworldly feel. The wobbly, warbling quality of the strings sounds rather somber and adds to my ear a fragile emotional quality that regular "hi-fi" strings samples cannot add. Perhaps part of my reaction to this sound is a conditioned response resulting from spending my formative years listening to bands like Yes that used trons quite extensively.

But anyway, not everyone is going to like these sounds, so it's cool if you don't care for them.

[FlounderEye]

More recently Jon Brion has used them when producing albums by Kanye West (he has also done a couple Fiona Apple albums - don't remember if he used it on their). I think he tends to go for the Beatles feel when doing so, so that might explain it.

[Beardedone]

Thanks guys. I prefer clean realistic strings most of the time. The Kanye West vibe is outside of my interest zone as is lo-fi.

I'll try your treatment Frunobulax and see what it's like. I appreciate the pointers.

[Squids]

Didn't have time to read up on everything in this thread but saw Jon was mentioned. He's awesome. Anyway, we just got done the other day with a killer session up in Woodstock New York. That will be a part of this multi-track loop series too. Boy is this awesome! Announcement should be made soon. A couple of interesting ones in fact. How cool would it be to play Steve Gadd loops in ST2 or Reason?