Mellotron 4000D – A Personal Review
I recently acquired a M4000D directly from Mellotron. For those of you who may remember, Mellotron was [arguably] the first sample playback device in the 1960s to use tape cartridges to recreate the sound of other instruments. The mechanism was clunky and suffered from tape wobble and hiss and artifiacts, which ended up adding to its charm. Mellotron was resusitated in 1989 and has been building newer, sturdier Mellotrons ever since. With the advent of digital playback [sampler] systems, the call for this kind of instrument is small though, but for those “in the know,” they are highly esteemed.
This new digital instrument from Mellotron is everything I could have hoped for. It sounds beautiful, offering high resolution capture of the Mellotron and Chamberlain sound sets and delivers the uncomplicated warble and kitsch of the original tape instruments. It has amazing horsepower and playability, allowing instantaneous playback of libraries that few could afford in the past. The wooden keyboard is expressive
[Dave Kean, keyboard, Mellotron M4000D] [Gear, Production philosophy, Recording]
Couldn’t agree more. Have had mine for about 6 weeks and have totally fallen in love with it. Simply beautiful, and Markus somehow kept the 8-second note limit of the originals, too, ensuring that it’s exactly in character with its heritage. So far, I find the best orchestral strings tone to be M400 3-violins with about 25% of M400 Cello B mixed in. That is truly stunning.
Amen… a thousand times amen!! I own #26 of the first production run and the fidelity of the M4000D totally blows all software and computer driven samples off the planet. I’ve compared them side by side thru a studio reference amplifier. The craftsmanship is 1st class and the ability to blend any two of the 100 settings makes for a sonic menu that cannot be matched by the old tape driven models.