Editing Mellotron (section)

==History==
[[File:M400 Mellotron Tape Frame.jpg|thumb|left|A Mellotron M400 tape frame as removed from the instrument]]
Although tape samplers had been explored in research studios, the first commercially available keyboard-driven tape instruments were built and sold by California-based [[Chamberlin|Harry Chamberlin]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nordkeyboards.com/main.asp?tm=Sound%20Libraries&cllibr=Nord_Sample_Library&clslib=Chamberlin|title=The Chamberlin history|publisher=Clavia|access-date=17 August 2012|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105234944/http://www.nordkeyboards.com/main.asp?tm=Sound%20Libraries&cllibr=Nord_Sample_Library&clslib=Chamberlin|archivedate=2012-11-05}}</ref> The concept of the Mellotron originated when Chamberlin's sales agent, Bill Fransen, brought two of Chamberlin's Musicmaster 600 instruments to England in 1962 to search for someone who could manufacture 70 matching tape heads for future Chamberlins. He met Frank, Norman, and Les Bradley of tape engineering company Bradmatic Ltd, who said they could improve on the original design.<ref name="clavia">{{cite web|url=http://www.nordkeyboards.com/main.asp?tm=Sound%20Libraries&cllibr=Nord_Sample_Library&clslib=Mellotron|title=History of the Mellotron|publisher=Clavia|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105234938/http://www.nordkeyboards.com/main.asp?tm=Sound%20Libraries&cllibr=Nord_Sample_Library&clslib=Mellotron|archive-date=5 November 2012}}</ref> The Bradleys subsequently met bandleader [[Eric Robinson (conductor)|Eric Robinson]], who agreed to help finance the recording of the necessary instruments and sounds. Together with the Bradleys and television celebrity [[David Nixon (magician)|David Nixon]] (Robinson's son-in-law), they formed a company, Mellotronics, in order to market the instrument.{{sfn|Awde|2008|pp=44–46}} Robinson was particularly enthusiastic about the Mellotron, because he felt it would revitalise his career, which was then on the wane. He arranged the recording sessions at [[IBC Studios]] in London, which he co-owned with George Clouston.{{sfn|Awde|2008|pp=64–66}}

The first model to be commercially manufactured was the Mk I in 1963. An updated version, the Mk II, was released the following year which featured the full set of sounds selectable by banks and stations.<ref name="clavia"/> The instrument was expensive, costing £1,000 ({{Inflation|UK|1000|1963|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}), at a time when a typical house cost £2,000–£3,000.<ref name="shennan"/>

Fransen failed to explain to the Bradleys that he was not the owner of the concept, and Chamberlin was unhappy with the fact that someone overseas was copying his idea. After some acrimony between the two parties, a deal was struck between them in 1966, whereby they would both continue to manufacture instruments independently.{{sfn|Brice|2001|p=107}} Bradmatic renamed themselves Streetly Electronics in 1970.{{sfn|Awde|2008|p=44}}

[[File:MELLOTRON (panel).jpg|thumb|The simplified control panel of the M400]]
In 1970, the model M400 was released, which contained 35 notes (G–F) and a removable tape frame. It sold over 1,800 units.{{sfn|Vail|2000|p=233}} In the early 1970s, hundreds of the instruments were assembled and sold by [[EMI]] under exclusive licence.<ref name="reid"/> Following a financial and trademark dispute through a US distribution agreement, the Mellotron name was acquired by American-based Sound Sales.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Sound Sales brings Mellotron to the United States|journal=Music Trades|volume=126|issue=1–6|publisher=Music Trades Corporation|year=1978|page=69|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ptzjAAAAMAAJ}}</ref> Streetly-manufactured instruments after 1976 were sold under the name '''Novatron'''.{{sfn|Awde|2008|p=44}} The American Mellotron distributor, Sound Sales, produced their own Mellotron model, the 4-Track, in the early 1980s. At the same time Streetly Electronics produced a road-cased version of the 400&nbsp;– the T550 Novatron.{{sfn|Vail|2000|p=232}} By the mid-1980s, both Sound Sales and Streetly Electronics suffered severe financial setbacks, losing their market to synthesizers and solid-state electronic [[sampler (musical instrument)|samplers]], which rendered the Mellotron essentially obsolete. The company folded in 1986, and Les Bradley threw most of the manufacturing equipment into a [[Skip (container)|skip]].{{sfn|Awde|2008|p=57}} From 1963 until Streetly's closure, around 2,500 units had been built.{{sfn|Holmes|2012|p=448}}

Streetly Electronics was subsequently reactivated by Les Bradley's son John and Martin Smith.{{sfn|Awde|2008|p=33}} After Les Bradley's death in 1997, they decided to resume full-time operation as a support and refurbishment business. By 2007, the stock of available instruments to repair and restore was diminishing, so they decided to build a new model, which became the M4000. The instrument combined the features of several previous models, and featured the layout and chassis of an M400 but with a digital bank selector that emulated the mechanical original in the Mk II.<ref name="reid2007"/>{{sfn|Awde|2008|p=45}}