mellotronworks

[MikeDickson]

Ladies and Gentlemen, a gift to you all

mellotronworks

A series of popular classical music pieces played entirely on the Mellotron

• Mars, The Bringer of War (Holst)
• Adagio in G minor (Albinoni)
• Adagio for Strings (Barber)
• Air on The G String (Bach)
• Canon in D major (Pachelbel)
• Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis (Vaughan Williams)

A free album available for download from http://www.mikedickson.org.uk/mellotronworks/


mellotronworks

A series of popular classical music pieces played entirely on the Mellotron

• Mars, The Bringer of War (Holst)
• Adagio in G minor (Albinoni)
• Adagio for Strings (Barber)
• Air on The G String (Bach)
• Canon in D major (Pachelbel)
• Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis (Vaughan Williams)

A free album available for download from http://www.mikedickson.org.uk/mellotronworks/

Further to the previous release of mellotronworks, I am happy to release a further five pieces in the same series. Although considered for the original album they were shelved temporarily, but have now been resusitated.

The pieces have again all been recorded only on the Mellotron (aside from a couple of samples of timpani and cymbals). The music that I have recorded are versions of

• Also Sprach Zarathustra (Strauss)
• Nimrod (Enigma 9) (Elgar)
• Sheep May Safely Graze (Bach)
• Moonlight Sonata (Beethoven)
• Hallelujah Chorus (Handel)

A further series of popular classical music pieces played (almost) entirely on the Mellotron

* Fanfare for the Common Man (Copland)
* Fratres (Pärt)
* Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten (Pärt)
* Spiegel Im Spiegel (Pärt)
* Dance of the Knights (Prokofiev)
* Fantasia on Greensleeves (Vaughan-Williams)
* Jerusalem (Parry)
* Pomp and Circumstance (March No 1) (Elgar)
* Pavane (Faure)
* Symphony No. 3 (Saint-Saëns)
* Ode to Joy (Beethoven)
* Bolero (Ravel)

A free album available for download from
www.mikedickson.org.uk/mellotronworks II

Please enjoy - comments are welcomed!

kind regards

Mike Dickson, Edinburgh
September 2012

 

[Soubasse]

Greetings Mr. Dickson and welcome to the forum.

This is a wonderfully generous gift and I thank you for it. You've married one of the most remarkable keyboards ever invented with some of the most affecting music ever written.

If you don't mind, I'll get the niggly stuff out of the way first. Whilst I'm not going to overly criticise someone with a Mellotron )), your self-confessed inability to read music has on occasion done the works a bit of a disservice. However, bear in mind that I speak from the point of view of a composer and arranger, and the fact that I am very well acquainted with the Holst, Barber and Vaughan-Williams pieces, having performed in, studied, analysed or arranged (in varying proportions) each of them (at varying times). There are certain inner parts of each of those works in particular which I was listening for but missed. Also, (and I realise this is steering away from the original sound quality of the Tron) there were a few times in the soft string passages where I would have cheated and use a filter pedal or something like that to makes them a bit more mellow (but then that would make it the Mellowtron :grin::grin: .... ai!)

What you have done though, is capture and accentuate the essence of these pieces that everyone knows (rather than the bits that nerds like myself know). You've also coaxed the most extraordinary textures from this noble - if sometimes ungainly - instrument and in doing so, cemented what it is that folks like myself (and you, and thousands of others) absolutely love about the Mellotron. It has held it's own supremely well in these recordings thanks to your obvious understanding of it and its marvellous eccentricities. Excellent production as well. I'm thoroughly impressed.

Many thanks for sharing this, especially since I'd be happy to part with cash for these sorts of projects - you should be charging for it!

Kind regards,
Matt

(PS: I recognised your name eventually - you have been collaborating recently with one of my online chums )

 

[Soubasse]

One 'core value' I had was to assiduously avoid any form of compression at all as it simply the ruination of nearly anything it touches.

Yes I noticed that and I couldn't agree more on that point. It's something that simply doesn't work with classical pieces - usually regardless of whatever instrument it's played on - as it completely dispenses with dynamic ebb and flow that so many of those works depend upon. The Mellotron being the rather organic instrument that it is, is far better served without compression.

I opted to balance and mix everything down and then bounce it to and from a reel to reel tape deck for that pleasing sheen you'd otherwise miss.

Now there's an interesting technique - I might try that sometime.

By the way, I was amazed at the middle sections of the Vaughan-Williams (around the 7 min mark) where it became highly remeniscent of a snippet from Tangerine Dream's Rubycon!
Re the Holst - I note that you said you were interested in attempting the whole suite, but for my money, Neptune would be the one to tackle next. I can truly hear the Mellotron's voice in that one - and it would be a fun chance to use the choir tapes! Just my $0.02.

Cheers,
Matt