10.6

686Logic Pro Instruments
Vintage Mellotron
Logic Pro Vintage Mellotron overview
Vintage Mellotron recreates the features and a number of sounds from this famous
keyboard instrument that has featured on dozens of classic rock and pop songs from the
1960s, ‘70s, and beyond.
The Mellotron is considered a precursor to modern sample-playback instruments. It uses a
number of magnetic tapes that are drawn across a tape head when a key is pressed. Each
key has an individual tape playhead and pressure pads on a spring-loaded mechanism.
Rollers for each key are driven by a constantly turning capstan that spans the keyboard
range.
Each key has a tape strip with up to three different sounds running in parallel. Sound length
is limited to eight seconds, at which point the sound abruptly stops. Tapes return to their
start position when the corresponding key is released. By offsetting the playheads with the
racks that hold the tapes, a musician can switch the entire keyboard between a string and
choir sound, for example. Partial offsets of the tape heads result in a layered blend of two
adjacent sounds on each tape strip.
More advanced Mellotron models can use longer tapes, with different sounds allocated at
precise positions along their length. This is similar to switching between banks of presets
on a modern synth. Even then, a maximum of around 24 sounds is possible. If you require
different sounds, the machine needs to be dismantled, and a new tape rack is used to
replace one already in place. Not ideal, and certainly tough to accomplish during a live
performance.
The original library sounds were recorded note by note, with varied performances and pitch
fluctuations. This makes Mellotron instrument mapping somewhat inconsistent across the
keyboard range, which is an essential part of its sonic character and charm.
The mechanical complexity of early Mellotrons—tape stretching, head alignment problems,
and environmental factors, such as temperature and humidity fluctuations, smoke, dust,
and magnetic fields—made them difficult to maintain. Even when new, no two Mellotrons
sounded exactly the same because of these variables.
Vintage Mellotron features painstakingly sampled versions of each note from the original
Mellotron sound library tapes, capturing the full sound length and performance quirks.
Unlike the originals, Vintage Mellotron sounds are looped, enabling you to indefinitely
sustain notes. Looping isn’t static, so sounds retain their “organic” flavor and mirror the
continuous sonic movement of the original instruments.