Believe it or not ELP did use a mellotron!

[Digital_Man]

But only for four shows and it was Greg Lake playing it. Here are the details.

http://www.greglake.com/Museum/Photo...epers_062.html


I was looking up the track listing for their live album "welcome back my friends..." when I stumbled upon information in the Wikipedia page that said "Abandon's Bolero" was only played live a few times with mellotron. At first I thought it was a typo then I saw the picture. For me this is sort of like winning the lottery. I don't blame Keith for not using it but it's cool that at least one of them tried it out. So use this information to win bets with someone next time you are at a prog concert.

[JKL2000]

*I* blame Keith for not using it.

[Scott Bails]

Cool find, Mike!

[Sputnik]

Not really news, this clips was posted ages ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxtQY9fBxkI

Didn't Keith also use a Mellotron in the intro to Tarkus?

Bill

[GuitarGeek]

I thought we establish that the voices at the beginning of Tarkus go on for too long for it to be a Mellotron. Some of them sustain for almost 30 seconds, and I believe the Mellotron limit was 8 seconds.

[mellotron storm]

I guess the studio version of Abandon's Bolero used overdubbed moog according to Emerson, this from the Planetmellotron site. He doesn't mention anything about this live version.

[Digital_Man]

Cool find, Mike!

Yeah well sometimes you find the best things by accident.

Not really news, this clips was posted ages ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxtQY9fBxkI

Didn't Keith also use a Mellotron in the intro to Tarkus?

Bill

Well I don't remember anyone ever mentioning this on here before but please forgive me if someone did post it on here recently. No, I don't think that's a mellotron on Tarkus.

Does anyone know the specific reasons why Keith was so deadest against using the tron? Did he just not like the way it sounded or did he think it was too temperamental(which apparently it was)?

[GuitarGeek]

Does anyone know the specific reasons why Keith was so deadest against using the tron? Did he just not like the way it sounded or did he think it was too temperamental(which apparently it was)?

I seem to recall reading once where Keith said that he didn't like using the synth to emulate orchestral instruments, he wanted to use it for the new timbres it could produce. It would seem to make sense that one might extend that logic to the Mellotron, that he just wasn't into using an instrument that was intended to sound like other instruments.

[lovecraft]

Interesting article, even has a pic:

http://www.planetmellotron.com/revposs.htm#elp

[Trane]

Not really news, this clips was posted ages ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxtQY9fBxkI

Didn't Keith also use a Mellotron in the intro to Tarkus?

Bill

who is playing bass then?

Keith via the pedals?? not likely

[trurl]

The intro to Tarkus was likely done via tape loops along the lines of what 10cc did with I'm Not In Love.

[dgtlman]

who is playing bass then?

Keith via the pedals?? not likely

Looks like Greg on the Mini Moog. Watch the hands.

[Sputnik]

I thought we establish that the voices at the beginning of Tarkus go on for too long for it to be a Mellotron. Some of them sustain for almost 30 seconds, and I believe the Mellotron limit was 8 seconds.

True, but I'd heard at one point they used a Mellotron voice or two, in combination with some other voices, in some sort of tape loop, where they could get it to sound for as long as they liked. That could be wrong. The article posted above seems to imply they never used Tron until Trilogy. I guess I'd heard at one point there was Tron there, but that could be wrong.

who is playing bass then?

Keith via the pedals?? not likely

Probably Lake, playing the bass line on the Mini Moog. The article addresses this as well, saying there may actually be no bass part, just what is implied by the bass drum. My guess, though, is that Lake is playing it on the Moog.

The intro to Tarkus was likely done via tape loops along the lines of what 10cc did with I'm Not In Love.

Right, this is my sense as well. Whether there's a Tron voice in there, I'm not sure. It never sounded particularly like Tron to me, but they could have used an obscure tape, or treated it afterward to sound different.

If it isn't Tron (and it probably isn't), what is it making those weird voice-like sounds at the beginning of Tarkus?

Bill

[A. Scherze]

Tony O. posted a link to the video back in May. Check the thread for that and other photos.
(BTW, this was not a secret. Emo has talked about it in interviews going back decades.

http://www.progressiveears.org/forum...g-Lake-on-keys

[Trane]

Probably Lake, playing the bass line on the Mini Moog. The article addresses this as well, saying there may actually be no bass part, just what is implied by the bass drum. My guess, though, is that Lake is playing it on the Moog.

I thought about bass drums as a possibilty, but not likely from what I heard

[Troopers For Sound]

If it isn't Tron (and it probably isn't), what is it making those weird voice-like sounds at the beginning of Tarkus?

Bill

From Steven Wilson's notes on the reissue of Tarkus:

"For example the piece begins with Eruption that fades in with a vocal texture. This was Greg overdubbing the voice twenty times done at a completely separate session. So there is just one piece of tape with a block of Greg's voice singing 'Ah's' at many different pitches...".

[Sputnik]

From Steven Wilson's notes on the reissue of Tarkus:

"For example the piece begins with Eruption that fades in with a vocal texture. This was Greg overdubbing the voice twenty times done at a completely separate session. So there is just one piece of tape with a block of Greg's voice singing 'Ah's' at many different pitches...".

Cool. So it is sort of a Tron. It's a Greg Lake AcapellaTron!

[Mister Triscuits]

I seem to recall reading once where Keith said that he didn't like using the synth to emulate orchestral instruments, he wanted to use it for the new timbres it could produce. It would seem to make sense that one might extend that logic to the Mellotron, that he just wasn't into using an instrument that was intended to sound like other instruments.

I always had the idea that he didn't like the Tron because you can't play it fast!

[Troopers For Sound]

Isn't there a quote from Keith saying that using a mellotron was against his morals on account of it featuring other musicians on the pre recorded tape??

[Leibowitz]

Greg looks funny crouched over the tron and minimoog. Abaddon's Bolero is a great piece. It's too bad that they couldn't sort it to play live properly. I love the orchestral version.