fret_man
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Mellotron alternatives
I thought I saw a thread on this but searching did not give me any hits. What alternatives are there to emulate/simulate/sample Mellotron voices? I know about Sampletron. What else is there? I apologize if this is in the wrong forum.
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Crowned One
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Re: Mellotron alternatives
2014/06/20 16:19:31
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Here is a free sample one that as the descriptions says it is purposely degraded. http://www.tronsonic.com/products Also there is UVI Mello which is offered at discount at times. The Kontakt library also has some samples in it if you own that.
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lawp
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Re: Mellotron alternatives
2014/06/20 16:26:07
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http://www.gforcesoftware.com/products/m-tron-pro
sstteerreeoo ffllllaanngge
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strikinglyhandsome1
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Re: Mellotron alternatives
2014/06/20 16:31:55
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A few freebies are Tapeworm, Tapeotronic and Redtron.
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Glyn Barnes
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Re: Mellotron alternatives
2014/06/20 16:34:18
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Hollow Sun's Newtron Bomb is the main competition to GForce M-tron pro.
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mumpcake
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Re: Mellotron alternatives
2014/06/20 18:25:19
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Don't forget the Kontakt factory library has a few. There's also the eSoundz Infinite Kapsule which has a good variety of tron sounds as well.
If you want to check out some alternatives, I'd first suggest the Optomotron by Hollow Sun. It's based on the Optigan, which is like a Mellotron except that instead of tape the sounds are stored on an optical disc (a sheet of plastic with some markings on it). Also their MLM series have a few titles with some seriously crusty string, brass, and choir sounds.
One other thing to check out is the VP-330 (also Hollow Sun). A lot of prog artists used to take that on the road as a replacement for the choir and string sounds because Mellotrons are not known for their roadworthiness.
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ShellstaX
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Re: Mellotron alternatives
2014/06/20 18:28:15
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Digital Sound Factory / Cakewalk do a Mellotron pack for Sound Center: www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZb71XPJIJ0 Somewhat 'tweakable' by the looks to create your own variations. Note: Sound Center is only 32bit, but seamlessly BitBridges to Sonar/64bit.
post edited by ShellstaX - 2014/06/20 18:29:47
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scook
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Re: Mellotron alternatives
2014/06/20 18:32:50
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The DSF Mellotron pack was recently on sale for $10. Not bad at the price, especially after moving the sfz+samples into Rapture. Another free option http://forum.cakewalk.com/FindPost/1410821
post edited by scook - 2014/06/20 18:36:47
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ShellstaX
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Re: Mellotron alternatives
2014/06/20 18:38:20
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scook
The DSF Mellotron pack was recent on sale for $10. Not bad at the price, especially after moving the sfz+samples into Rapture. Another free option http://forum.cakewalk.com/FindPost/1410821
Nice one @scook ... I've not actually thought about migration to Rapture before ... massively 'tweakable'.
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southpaw3473
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Re: Mellotron alternatives
2014/06/21 10:25:40
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I've got UVI's Mello that I use with MOTU's Mach 5. I know there were some issues folks here experienced with it and it requires an iLok (all of MOTU's and UVI's stuff does, I think). I actually really like it. I got it for free on a promo a few months ago. It's $99 at the UVI site and works with the free UVI player. I probably wouldn't pay full price but it's a good Mellotron. http://www.uvi.net/en/vintage-corner/mello.html
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JohnKenn
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Re: Mellotron alternatives
2014/06/21 12:38:55
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Another excellent mellotron and more. Wusik EVE. Allows 3 samples at a time and extends the range above and below the original. Not free but known to go on sale now and then or get bundled with Wusikstation... Lots of soundbanks available. http://www.wusik.com/ww/products/wusikeve John edit they have a demo that works for 30 minutes before restart required
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scook
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Re: Mellotron alternatives
2014/06/21 12:50:33
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Nori Ubukata's "Art Rock Basics" contains Mellotron samples and presets for Synthmaster. Being sfz based they work in any synth with support sfz just like the DSF pack mentioned above.
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dstrenz
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Re: Mellotron alternatives
2014/06/21 17:17:24
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The best I ever heard are these very expensive samples: http://www.mellotron.com/cdlist.htmhttp://www.mellotron.com/cdrom.htm Before you click, realize they cost $240 bucks (U.S.) and the cd is Akai sampler format. You'd think they would have lowered the price by now, since they were made in 1994! But maybe the fact that the tapes were not as old as the newer sampled products contributes to the quality of the sound. Plus, it was sampled by Mike Pinder (Moody Blues), who worked as a technician on Mellotrons and maintained his very well. Here's a video with a few sounds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVxX_ooPWSg
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JohnKenn
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Re: Mellotron alternatives
2014/06/21 20:50:57
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Spendy for sure. Was wondering your opinion if you think the price is worth an extra kick over the free wav's we can download and with a bit of effort, compile into sfz.
One comment from somewhere about mellotrons that stuck with me as true. Extreme mellotron freak here...
We got digital samples of the tapes and optical data to whatever resolution. The actual ambiance of the hardware mellotrons however was in the imperfection of the device.
36 or however many keys of tape loops that were wow and fluttering if they didn't break on stage..
Claim is that no matter how well we sample a hardware device, we will never emulate the beauty of the hardware device delivering it's real time flaws.
John
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dstrenz
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Re: Mellotron alternatives
2014/06/22 10:10:24
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I'm an extreme mellotron freak too. Especially love those mesmerizing strings and choirs.
It's not worth the extra kick for me. It's over my budget as a hobbyist and don't own it. Plus, I don't have anything that can read an akai sample disc. A friend had this and it sounded great to me so I figured it was worth mentioning. I imagine that if one was to buy a new mellotron and tapes, this is what it would sound like. There are no clicky sounds and wow and flutter isn't very noticeable so I don't recommend it if you want those effects.
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musichoo
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Re: Mellotron alternatives
2014/06/22 10:40:46
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Ikmultimedia has sampletron. I am not a fan of tron so I can't really tell you how good it is. It is only in 32 bit. However it's samples will be able to load into sampletank 3 (64 bit only) which is now available for preorder.
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JohnKenn
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Re: Mellotron alternatives
2014/06/22 10:52:13
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Thanks Dstrenz,
Wow and flutter of the original would be nice, but not looking for the artifacts and noise. Will look for soundclips of these samples now that you bring them up. Possible also that something like ESC or Translator could convert the Akai format to another file type.
Musichoo,
Can't believe that a mellotron thread got this far without someone mentioning IK Sampletron. Excellent option.
John
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Leadfoot
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Re: Mellotron alternatives
2014/06/22 13:00:58
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JohnKenn
Can't believe that a mellotron thread got this far without someone mentioning IK Sampletron.
Sampletron was mentioned in the original post. 
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JohnKenn
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Re: Mellotron alternatives
2014/06/22 13:33:06
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Yeah, you're right...missed that one... 
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JohnKenn
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Re: Mellotron alternatives
2014/06/22 18:22:02
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☼ Best Answerby fret_man 2014/06/23 22:58:47
Friends, Wanted to put some links with the mellotrons. This probably a mystery to the young dudes as to why anyone could get fixated on a lo fi relic from the dark ages. Just gets in your blood. Duplicating some sage advice in this thread only to get links consolidated. Free and not free. MTPro from Gforce is killer but limits the original range (bummer): http://www.gforcesoftware.com/products/m-tron-pro Wusik EVE already mentioned with mellotrons and a lot of lo fi keys. Demo download with time and preset save restrictions: http://www.wusik.com/ww/products/wusikeve IK’s Sampletron. Excellent tron and worth getting if you don’t already have it. Allows lush layering where Cake set us out to dry. http://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/sampletron/ Some say the UVI sample is great and was free awhile back. Screwed here because the activation mess says it is activated on my PC and the PC says there is no activation. UVI support says I’m screwed and nothing they will do except acknowledge that they got a serious problem, meaning I got a serious problem. Glad I didn’t buy the thing. Did however increase my love affair with online activation crap. Use at your own risk, especially if you are still running win XP, which they said was the terminal problem and they will not fix. http://www.uvi.net/en/vintage-corner/mello.html There are some good freebies out there that are basic romplers working off samples. Was mentioned already a good source for the wav files that you have to work to change formats depending on the format of your player.. http://www.leisureland.us...s/MellotronSamples.htm Tapeotronic. Dev has some other good free synths as well: http://www.elektrostudio.ovh.org/index.php?go=tapeo Lots of the romplers for the mellotron are synth edit creations and have problems. Can only try them and see if they don’t crash on your system. Not all these are synth edit, but too burned out to separate them out. Tapeworm: http://www.tweakbench.com/tapeworm Nanotron: http://www.dreamvortex.co.uk/instruments/ Redtron: http://rekkerd.org/artifake_labs-releases-redtron/ Stringer. Secondary link. Thing the dev might have passed on or at least out of the market. Tuning is not exact over the spectrum, but worth having. Has a nice Solina. http://www.vstplanet.com/Instruments/VST_Synthesizers3.htm Samples have already been covered well in this thread. Would only add Taijiguy’s sampling of the M400S tron. Freebie: http://johngumpontheweb.com/Mellotron.html Mellosound. Here’s a dead link claiming it’s no longer available from Batsounds. Excellent freebie unit. If you can’t find this and have to have it, PM me and can pass it on. http://www.kvraudio.com/product/mellosound_by_batsounds Do a Google search for RedTron and there are several free versions available. Too many beers to quantify further. May this be of some use, and please fill in anything I missed. Mellotrons are cool... Love, John
post edited by JohnKenn - 2014/06/23 02:39:38
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Bajan Blue
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Re: Mellotron alternatives
2014/06/23 12:18:41
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strikinglyhandsome1
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Re: Mellotron alternatives
2014/06/23 12:40:29
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Does the newtron sound like the one in EW Fab Four?
post edited by strikinglyhandsome1 - 2014/06/23 18:29:17
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JohnKenn
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Re: Mellotron alternatives
2014/06/23 14:52:33
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Thanks Nigel,
More choices!!
John
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Bajan Blue
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Re: Mellotron alternatives
2014/06/24 13:10:42
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Another one - just downloaded - whilst not exactly a Mellotron, very interesting and lots of tweaks can be done - I liked the sound quite a bit. The download is down the page a bit Nigel The Expressive Tron http://www.tronsonic.com/products
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Bajan Blue
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Re: Mellotron alternatives
2014/06/24 13:57:17
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Opps, forgot to say The Expressive Tron is a Free Download
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scook
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Re: Mellotron alternatives
2014/06/24 14:29:36
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JohnKenn
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Re: Mellotron alternatives
2014/06/24 22:11:42
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Scook, Nigel, Thanks for these links. Downloading Expressive Tron. Will take my limited brain some work to understand the progression of the wav to sfz files from the leisureland wavs. The data set from all the trons was (is) limited. Anything that can throw some envelopes and modulation into the finite set is worth exploring to craft that signature sound into present day productions.. My secret tool for really driving the lo fi ambiance of a Mellotron to extremes is an ancient plug, placed downstream from the tron. Either you have this already or it is so old to be forgotten. So 2000's, but check a tron with Spinner out of the box downstream. Beautiful and can't find any mix where this doesn't fit. Hope this link works: http://freemusicsoftware.org/1822 John
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scook
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Re: Mellotron alternatives
2014/06/25 00:04:07
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