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News
Updated
March 18, 2009
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"THE PROBLEM CHILD" COMES HOME...AGAIN...
August, 2005 - The ARP 2600---a.k.a. "The Problem
Child"---is back from
Phil
Cirocco's excellent care after an overhaul and a number of upgrades.
More on that later. (Check out Phil's page about restoring a Hammond Novachord!) |
| 2005 DOESN'T STOP!
We've had a MONEYPIT adventure in August 2005...and
this time there was a special guest. |
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"IMPROVISED WAVES" RELEASED - April 2005!
Recorded during Christmas Week 2004, Mellotronist
Jimmy Moore and I released a CD of Mellotron and synthesizer improvisations.
Click here for more
information. Also featured on the CD is Mellotronist Brad Schuman (on
guitar).
The first track on the CD, the Berlin School-ish
Arpeg Two, received airplay
from The Greatest Show From Earth by
DeLorenZoid (and where else? :-) ) on May 29, 2005. |
| GATHERING AT THE
GATHERINGS Yours Truly and friends
Mellotronic gave a
demo at The Gatherings
in December 2004. |
| * NEW ARRIVALS
GET POKED AT...2004 a busy Mellotronic year!
Not long after its arrival in the
summer of '03, the "new" MG-1 had an oscillator fixed, a frequency
divider replaced, and an un-modification. See "MG-1 #2"
here...
March 2004:
M400 #1037 makes noise
Mellotrons galore with
MONEYPIT adventures in March, April, May, and
July 2004! |
| NEW ARRIVALS...
Summer 2003: A second MG-1 (in need of
repair, but aren't they all?)
Fall 2003: Mellotron M400 #1037 (in
need of repair, but aren't they all?) |
|
AIRPLAY! In
early 2003 DJ Mark DeLorenzo was scouting around for Mellotron information,
and he stumbled across my tunes. Check out The Greatest Show From
Earth!
The Greatest
Show From Earth - The Voice of DeLorenZoid |
A new job...
On April 1, 2001 HighGround Systems, Inc. officially became Sun
Microsystems.
In January 2002 I said farewell to Sun Microsystems and embarked on a new
stint at a startup company called AppIQ.
We've been...uhhh...busy. |
| THE MELLOTRON BOOK is readily
available! Check your bookstore! |
THE
MELLOTRON BOOK
Frank Samagaio's THE MELLOTRON BOOK is set for release in
September 2001. Click
here for more details. |
Web Site
Changes
I've been hashing out the web
sites, just trying to organize things a little better. |
HAMMOND
A-102 Arrives
On June 30, 2001 a
gorgeous old Hammond A-102 arrived. Very nice, excellent sound!
You owe it to yourself to check one out. |
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| Mellotron M400 #805
sees the light!
 |
FREE SYSTEM PROJEKT and WAVE
WORLD to play in Philadelphia - October 13.
I'm planning to
go! Marcel Engels (FSP) and Wave World will be part of
The Gatherings this fall.
Click on the link for ticket information. You can hear sound clips of
both FSP and Wave World on the Groove
Records web site. |
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| SURPRISE GUEST
for the Toronto Mellotron Symposium...Think King Crimson, think
flute, think Ian MacDonald! Plus Rick Blechta is cooking up some
other 'tron goings on. If you're hedging on attending, just plunk down
your $95 and sign up, will ya!!?!?! |
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PATIENT PONDERING
and TELLTALE on the air!
Finnish Broadcasting Company's weekly radio
broadcast Avaruusromua
("Space Junk") put the spotlight on the Mellotron on February
22, 2001. Aired were Patient Pondering, an excerpt from TellTale,
and a demo I cooked up. Details... |
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TWO Mellotron
Symposia in 2001!
 | MELLOTRON SYMPOSIUM PHILADELPHIA
For those Mellotron owners who find Toronto a bit too far to lug
your
Mellotron to, Martin, John, Jim and Joe would like to announce a
Mellotron workshop in the U.S. It is to be held in Concordville,
Pa., which is 20 miles southwest of Philadelphia PA. in historic
Delaware County. The tentative dates are Saturday and Sunday, May 19
and 20, 2001. This is a perfect opportunity for Mellotronists to bring
their machines and have new tapes, machine tune-ups, and adjustments
with John Bradley and Martin Smith of Streetly Electronics, the
original Mellotron manufacturers.
Martin and John have also extended their tapes, frame, and parts
pricing
specials to the U.S. workshop participants and will personally deliver
and
assist with the actual installation of new tapes, other Mellotron
parts, and motor cards. They also will be demonstrating keyboard and
machine adjustments and maintenance tips to keep our machines at
optimum audio order. Attendance will be on a first come first serve
basis, as there are a limited number of slots available. The cost of
the workshop is $95.00 U.S. dollars which will include brunch for both
days.
E-Mail to Jimmy Moore at JMoore6397@aol.com for your reservation.
Don't miss this opportunity to "tame your beast" and
fine-tune our machines with the lads from Streetly electronics.
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| MELLOTRON SYMPOSIUM TORONTO
Another Mellotron Workshop is being planned for this fall, “Tronto
MkII” as it were! Dates are September 22nd and 23rd. Those of you
who were present for the first workshop will be glad to know that many
things are the same--and many things are also different.
For those of you who want to learn more about the inner workings of
your beasts and how to keep them purring along, The Tron Brothers,
John Bradley and his comical sidekick Martin Smith, will again be
present to answer all your questions, personally consult with you on
your particular machines, and to also roll up the sleeves of their
tastefully designed Streetly labcoats and dig right into help you get
everything operating the way it should. In other words, if you can
bring your Mellotron to Tronto, John and Martin will be happy to help
you get it adjusted to factory standards--assuming it’s not in TOO
much trouble! If you can't bring your machine along, just watch and
take notes while the pros work on other's machines.
For those who attended last year or those whose interests lean more
towards playing and recording, this year's get-together will also
feature workshops dealing with effective playing and recording
techniques for Mellotrons. I don’t have this part of the workshop
finalized at this time, but I hope to have some very exciting
announcements on this front in the near future.
The Tronto Workshop will again be hosted by Rick Blechta and will
be held at Coll Audio’s newly expanded and incredibly sumptuous
corporate headquarters under the generous auspices of M. Craig Collett.
The fee will be only slightly higher than last year, that is $95 US or
$135 CAN. (The increase is due to the traveling and accommodation
expenses of the additional guests I’ve invited.) Attendees
accommodations will again be at the nearby Howard Johnson and our “official
pub” will be the Bow & Arrow (who are busily arranging for
hourly beer deliveries for the weekend of the workshop).
At this point, I am basically attempting to find out how many of
you are interested in attending. Please let me know as soon as you can
if you wish to join us and whether you will be bringing a Mellotron.
You are under no obligation!
Still hesitating? Streetly will be offering the following special
deals to all workshop attendees (payable in pounds sterling at the
event):
 | 1) M400 Tapes - L90 ( normally L165) |
| 2) Frame - L225 including postage and packing (normally L225 +
p&p @ L25) |
| 3) SMS2 - L225 including p&p (normally 295 + Lp&p)) and
installation at event if required. We will need to know the
machine serial number as some have a transformer that doesn't
readily like the SMS2!! These are a problem at present as we need
to manufacture replacement transformers. |
| 4) Azimuth alignment of headblock - 60 inc. return p&p
(normally 80 + p&p). This can make a tremendous
difference to the sound of a machine. (Streetly will need your
headblock a few weeks before to make sure they are returned in
time for the event.) |
How can you refuse? I hope you'll be able to join us for what looks
to be a very informative and enjoyable weekend. More information will
be forthcoming as things solidify. Please stay tuned to the
Mellotronists e-mail list or contact Rick Blechta at rblechta@cuic.ca. |
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PATIENT PONDERING
slated for airplay in Finland
Finnish Broadcasting Company's weekly radio
broadcast Avaruusromua
("Space Junk") will be dedicating a show to the Mellotron on
February 22, 2001. Yours truly has provided material for the show,
including a copy of Patient Pondering as well as a Mellotron demo in which
I demonstrate some of the Mellotron sounds and talk about what it's like
to play ol' #805.
Never heard Patient Pondering? Head
over to the ...kl...'s Tunes web site by clicking on the link above and
give it a spin. |
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| The Mellotron
Project
The success of "Rime of the
Ancient Sampler", a Mellotron tribute CD long out of print, has
inspired the Mellotronists e-mail list to create its own CD of Mellotron
tunes.
Get more information
about The Mellotron Project at the 
web site.
Do you work with the
sounds of the Mellotron in your recordings? Amateur or professional,
you are invited to participate.
12/30/05 - Well, it seems that TronSounds is
currently dead. :-( |
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The
Mellotron Symposium
'Tronto, Canada - May 20-21, 2000
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Mellotron M400 #805
appears on
Michael Oliver & Go, Dog. Go!'s latest!
Dear ol' M400 #805 appears on "Pop
and Circumstances", a release by Michael
Oliver & Go, Dog. Go! from the Buffalo, NY
area. Michael's brand of folk-rock, somewhere between Tom Petty and the Beatles
(with a little Aimee Mann thrown in there on "Vamp and Fade"), brings out the
more whimsical character of 805 and, of course, Ken M.'s #1001, which is also featured on
the CD.
You may purchase both of
Michael Oliver & Go, Dog. Go!'s CDs from Online Express Music. Look for
"Michael Oliver" in the "K to O" section. Michael's first album
"How Does This Work" is similar to the current release, and it's got "The
Argyle Cat," which is a folk-rockin' little parable that's gotta be my
fave.
Click to hear
Song samples
For more information about Michael
Oliver & Go, Dog. Go!:
P.O. Box 933
Buffalo, NY 14220
E-mail: He's Essex194 over at AOL
Thanks, Michael, for the CD and the
mention in the liner notes. Wow, this is so cool! Excellent job, and best
wishes for success with your albums! |
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