GForce Software

Sixty years ago, when the 60s were really
swinging and music technology was in its
infancy, an extraordinary instrument appeared.
Providing the unthinkable, you could have an
instrument in your lounge, which would not be
out of place with your home furnishings, that
was literally a band-in-a-box!
The fi rst sampler
The much revered Mellotron is considered to be
the irst sampler, long before digitisation took
efect. Sounds were recorded, and stored on
large numbers of tapes, with each providing a
set of sounds that could be selected and played
at will. The most commonly referred to sound
can be heard at the beginning of Strawberry
Fields Forever by The Beatles. The haunting
lutes, generated by the Mellotron, have become
iconic, but the Mellotron was capable of far
more than just providing lutes. The dual-
manual Chamberlin and MkI and MkII
Mellotrons, provided a two-keyboard setup. The
lower keyboard, or ‘manual’ as they’re
described, would provide accompaniments and
rhythms, while the upper manual would provide
lead sounds. We’re all well versed with the Casio
concept of the auto-rhythm within the lower
section of a home keyboard. Imagine the same
scenario, but every time you pressed a note, you
heard a full-on traditional rhythm section
playing in a variety of diferent musical styles.
Lest we forget, in the case of the Mellotron,
every time you pressed down a note, a tape
would roll and provide the audio, and unlike
your old Casio, that’s a lot of moving parts!
Plugging in!
It’s hardly a surprise therefore, that good quality
Mellotrons are rarer than hen’s teeth. Enter
GForce software, with their care and passion for
vintage equipment, coupled with an
GForce Software
M-Tron MkII £299.99
If vintage kudos and retro styling appeal to you, the latest update from
GForce Software may provide some contemporary inspiration too
“It’s hardly a surprise
that good quality
Mellotrons are rarer
than hen’s teeth. Enter
GForce software”
Lurking beneath the
retro-cool status of the
dial-based interface, are
a host of original and
crafted Mellotron samples
Patch memory menu
Lower manual for
accompaniments
Tape delay
section
Tape-speed
brake, for
wind-down
effects
Filter and
pitch controls
Spring and Modern
reverb emulations
Sample
loading
menu
Tape
direction
and control
buttons
Upper manual for
lead sounds
Balance control,
between manuals
extraordinary capacity to reengineer vintage
products in plugin form.
0782MTron MkII could be considered a
sizeable update to their much adored Mk1
plugin. There is some degree of repetition, from
the more familiar sounds, but it now ofers a
two-manual setup, which can be used across a
full 88-note keyboard, or assigned to two
smaller keyboards, if you want to go for that
classic Mellotron combo look and feel.
In keeping with the traditions of the original
machines, GForce have included all of the
Mellotron sounds that were assigned across
sections of tape, originally described as
‘Stations’. The hardware models would scroll to
the appropriate point on the tape, in order to
produce the selected sound. Thankfully, that
process isn’t required here, but the concept has
remained true. Hence the lower manual
provides a full set of rhythms and
accompaniments. Being of a certain era, these
styles and accompaniments relect the musical
leanings of the age; you’ll ind plenty of
swinging rhythms and bossanovas. In fact, the
full 132 tapebanks are delivered through the
authentic stylings of the new user interface,
which includes more than 150 patches.
68 / COMPUTER MUSIC / June 2022
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