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Zoë Blade's notebook

Mellotron Archives

𐑥𐑧𐑤𐑴𐑑𐑮𐑪𐑯 𐑸𐑒𐑲𐑝𐑟

Mellotron Archives tech specs

Mellotron Archives
Mellotron Archives


Mellotron M400 "8-Voice Choir"


Mellotron MkII "3 Violins"


Chamberlin "3 Violins"

  • Released: 1994
  • Type: Sample CD
  • Format: Akai S1000 CD-ROM
  • Sample rate: 22.05 kHz
  • Sample resolution: 16-bit
  • CD-ROM: 496 MB

Mellotron Archives is a sample CD of Mellotron sounds.

It contains 28 lead sounds (11 from the Chamberlins, and 17 from the Mellotrons). These include all the famous choirs, strings, and flutes, including the epic "8-Voice Choir".[1]

It also contains 6 backing rhythms and fills, which I personally find unnecessary, having never been a fan of auto-accompaniment. It would have been nice to see that extra space spent on some of the more obscure lead sounds, such as the underrated "Wine Glasses". Admittedly, this would be a tall order, as being so obscure means they're difficult to get, including for sampling purposes.

The sounds are preserved absolutely authentically, warts and all. Demanding a generous 16 MB per program meant no major concessions had to be made in order to squeeze in thirty-five 8-second samples. Sure, they're all 22.05 kHz, but for these instruments, that's quite sufficient.

Compared to Legendary M400, it has more sounds on offer, although you'll need at least 16 MB of RAM to access them.

Unlike the later M4000D, these sounds have actually gone through real Mellotrons and Chamberlins, not straight from the original library. As a result, everything on this CD sounds as otherworldly as it should. Indeed, it includes both the Chamberlin and Mellotron MkII versions of the "3 Violins" sound, allowing an opportunity to A/B compare the two machines (see the examples above).[1]

To this day, I believe Mellotron Archives is still the most authentic sounding replica of the Mellotron and Chamberlin, in any format, hardware, software, or soundware. I personally use this sample CD in Reason's NN-XT a lot, including in the ContraPoints soundtracks.

References

  1. "Mellotron Archives CD-ROM"

Sample CDs: Datafiles | Mellotron Archives | Peter Siedleczek's Advanced Orchestra