The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin, which was the world’s first sample-playback keyboard. The heart of the instrument is a bank of magnetic audio tapes, which have approximately eight seconds of playing time each. Playback heads underneath each key enable the playing of pre-recorded sounds.

The Mellotron uses a strip of magnetic tape, a pinch roller, tape head, pressure pad, and a rewind mechanism for each note on the keyboard.

Before the day of electronic “samplers” which are devices capable of capturing and storing (usually digitally, using computer memory rather than tapes) sounds, the Mellotron was really the only way that a keyboard instrument could produce the real sounds of violins, cellos, flutes, choirs, horns, etc.
To emulate the sound of the Mellotron flutes I used the chain below:

I started with a Soul Preacher compressor to even out the attack of the guitar.

Next in line is the POG2.
I used only the dry, non pitch shifted signal, filtered to create more of a flute-like wave form.
The attack control removed the guitar’s attack, giving the sound more “breath.”

The Poly Chorus was set for a vibrato effect.

The Mellotron “Strings with Brass and Bass Accordion” sound used the effect chain below:

This sound started with a Soul Preacher compressor to increase the sustain of the guitar.

This was run into a POG2 using the -1 octave for the bass accordion and +1 and +2 octaves for the brass and strings.

The dry signal was set to 50%. Detune was set high.

To fatten the sound I used the Poly Chorus in the chorus mode with a high feedback setting.

From there the signal was feed into a volume pedal to swell the chords in.
For ambiance I used a pair of stereo Memory Man pedals.
The first pedal is optional. It was used to create a wider stereo signal using a Mod-delay setting. Its not a necessity.

The second Memory Man was set for a long repeating delay with a reverberant decay.

All sounds were recorded direct with out a guitar amplifier.
If using an amp, set it for a very clean sound using its tone control to shape the sound.

Thanks for listening,
Bill Ruppert

Julian, which settings did you use on the HOG? I’d give an arm and a leg to re-create that sound starting at 1:18…

Thanks atlanta!
The volume pedal give me a longer deeper swell and I can duck out when I want to.
Its about more control.
A volume pedal is a must for any serious effect user.
Bill

thanks for your quick answer Bill !

Thanks Loopman.
The compressor is best as it keeps the attack of the guitar at a consistent level.
It does it it fast in millisecond of when you pick.
A volume pedal would chop off or remove the attack which is a different effect.
You would have to have a very fast foot to move it in milliseconds!

The overall flute effect can be done with out the compressor, but I found it sounded more like the real thing when it was in line.

Bill

Hey there Bill, I was attempting to get the strawberry fields-ish mellotron flute sound, but am having a bit of trouble with the Q setting. It’s hard to judge by the chart since all three LEDs for Q are just more or less illuminated orange. Just wondering which Q setting you used. Thanks a lot for the vids!

Thanks a ton! I think I’ve nailed it now. Once again, thanks for these amazing vids! They single-handedly inspired me to get a pog2 in the first place, and now I’m looking at a polychorus to replace my current chorus pedal.