Editing Mellotron (section)

==Notable users==
[[File:The Moody Blues 923-9509.jpg|thumb|[[The Moody Blues]] ''(pictured in 1970)'' made significant use of the Mellotron in the 1960s and 1970s, played by [[Mike Pinder]] ''(left)'']]
The first notable musician to use the Mellotron was variety pianist [[Geoff Unwin]], who was specifically hired by Robinson in 1962 to promote the use of the instrument. He toured with a Mk II Mellotron and made numerous appearances on television and radio.{{sfn|Awde|2008|p=59}} Unwin claimed that the automatic backing tracks on the Mk II's left-hand keyboard allowed him to provide more accomplished performances than his own basic skills on the piano could provide.{{sfn|Awde|2008|p=69}}

The earlier 1960s Mk II units were made for the home and the characteristics of the instrument attracted a number of celebrities. Among the early Mellotron owners were [[Princess Margaret]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Aronson|first=Theo|title=Princess Margaret: A Biography|publisher=Regnery Pub|year=1997|page=[https://archive.org/details/princessmargaret00aron/page/231 231]|isbn=978-0-89526-409-1|url=https://archive.org/details/princessmargaret00aron/page/231}}</ref> [[Peter Sellers]],<ref name="sellers">{{cite book|last=Lewis|first=Roger|title=The life and death of Peter Sellers|publisher=Arrow|page=939|year=1995|isbn=978-0-09-974700-0}}</ref> [[King Hussein of Jordan]]<ref name="shennan">{{cite news|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/I+gave+Lennon+a+few+rock+tips%3B+Chief+feature+writer+Paddy+Shennan...-a0188212501|title=I gave Lennon a few rock tips|first=Paddy|last=Shennan|work=Liverpool Echo|date=31 October 2008|access-date=8 November 2013}}</ref> and [[Scientology]] founder [[L. Ron Hubbard]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.planetmellotron.com/oddballs.htm|title=Oddball Owners|first=Andy|last=Thompson|publisher=Planet Mellotron|access-date=14 September 2012}}</ref> (whose Mellotron was installed in the Church of Scientology's head UK office at [[Saint Hill Manor]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mellotronics.com/clients.htm|title=Clients|publisher=Streetly Electronics|access-date=8 November 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109011947/http://www.mellotronics.com/clients.htm|archive-date=9 November 2013|df=dmy-all}}</ref> According to [[Robin Douglas-Home]], Princess Margaret "adored it; ([[Lord Snowdon]]) positively loathed it".<ref name="sellers"/>

After Mellotronics had targeted them as a potential customer, the BBC became interested in the possibilities of the instrument, hoping it would allow them to increase throughput at the [[BBC Radiophonic Workshop|Radiophonic Workshop]]. Two custom-made models loaded with sound effects were acquired in 1963, but the Radiophonic Workshop were unenthusiastic and problems with fluctuating tape speed and noise meant the sound was not up to professional broadcast quality. They ended up in the BBC FX library.{{sfn|Niebur|2010|p=126}}

{{Listen|filename=NS2 Tron.ogg|title=Mellotron Strings|description=The distinctive "3 violins" sound of a Mellotron <small>(here sampled on a [[Nord Stage 2]])</small>|format=[[Ogg]]}}
British multi-instrumentalist [[Graham Bond]] is considered the first rock musician to record with a Mellotron, beginning in 1965. The first hit song to feature a Mellotron Mk II was "Baby Can It Be True", which Bond performed live with the machine in televised performances, using [[solenoid]]s to trigger the tapes from his [[Hammond organ]].{{sfn|Awde|2008|p=91}} Manfred Mann then included multiple Mellotron parts on their single, "[[Ha! Ha! Said the Clown]]".{{sfn|Cunningham|1998|pp=126–27}}

{{Reduced pull quote|right|There's one thing I can do /<br />Play my Mellotron for you /<br />Try to blow away your city blues|Mike Pinder|"One Step Into the Light" on ''[[Octave (album)|Octave]]''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.metrolyrics.com/one-step-into-the-light-lyrics-moody-blues.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170607130104/http://www.metrolyrics.com/one-step-into-the-light-lyrics-moody-blues.html|archive-date=2017-06-07|url-status=unfit |title=One Step Into The Light Lyrics |first=Michael|last=Pinder |date=1978 |work=Octave|via=MetroLyrics.com |access-date=16 October 2014}}</ref>}}
[[Mike Pinder]] worked at Streetly Electronics for 18 months in the early 1960s as a tester, and was immediately excited by the possibilities of the instrument.{{sfn|Awde|2008|pp=88–89}} After trying piano and Hammond organ, he settled on the Mellotron as the instrument of choice for his band, [[the Moody Blues]], purchasing a second-hand model from Fort Dunlop Working Men's Club in Birmingham{{sfn|Awde|2008|p=169}} and using it extensively on every album from ''[[Days of Future Passed]]'' (1967) to ''[[Octave (album)|Octave]]'' (1978).{{sfn|Awde|2008|p=94}} 

Pinder says he introduced [[John Lennon]] and [[Paul McCartney]] to the Mellotron, and convinced each of them to buy one.{{sfn|Awde|2008|p=94}} The Beatles hired a machine and used it on their single "[[Strawberry Fields Forever]]", recorded in various takes between November and December 1966.{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=146}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mikepinder.com/mellotron.shtml |title=Mellotron |first=Mike |last=Pinder |publisher=Mike Pinder (Official Web Site) |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070620130649/http://www.mikepinder.com/mellotron.shtml |archive-date=20 June 2007 }}</ref> Author Mark Cunningham describes the part in "Strawberry Fields Forever" as "probably the most famous Mellotron figure of all-time".{{sfn|Cunningham|1998|p=127}} Although producer [[George Martin]] was unconvinced by the instrument, describing it "as if a Neanderthal piano had impregnated a primitive electronic keyboard",{{sfn|Brice|2001|p=107}} they continued to compose and record with various Mellotrons for the albums ''[[Magical Mystery Tour]]'' (1967){{sfn|Everett|1999|p=247}} and ''[[The Beatles (album)|The Beatles]]'' (1968, also known as "the White Album").{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=248}} McCartney went on to use the Mellotron sporadically in his solo career.<ref>{{cite book|last=Benitez|first=Vincent P.|title=The Words and Music of Paul McCartney: The Solo Years|year=2010|publisher=Praeger|location=Santa Barbara, CA|isbn=978-0-313-34969-0|pages=23, 47, 86, 139}}</ref>

The instrument became increasingly popular among rock and pop bands during the psychedelic era, adding what author Thom Holmes terms "an eerie, unearthly sound" to their recordings.{{sfn|Holmes|2012|pp=448–49}} [[Brian Jones]] of [[the Rolling Stones]] played a Mellotron on several of his band's songs over 1967–68. These include "[[We Love You]]", where he used the instrument to create a [[Music of Morocco|Moroccan]]-sounding horn section,<ref>{{cite book |first=Stephen |last=Davis |title=Old Gods Almost Dead: The 40-Year Odyssey of the Rolling Stones |publisher=Broadway Books |location=New York, NY |year=2001 |isbn=0-7679-0312-9 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/oldgodsalmostdea00step/page/209 209–10] |url=https://archive.org/details/oldgodsalmostdea00step/page/209 }}</ref> "[[She's a Rainbow]]",<ref>{{cite book|title=Please Please Me: Sixties British Pop, Inside Out|page=301|first=Gordon|last=Thompson|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2008|isbn=978-0-195-33318-3}}</ref> "[[2000 Light Years from Home]]"{{sfn|Holmes|2012|p=448}} and "[[Jigsaw Puzzle (song)|Jigsaw Puzzle]]".<ref>{{cite book|title=The Rolling Stones: Beggars Banquet – Legendary sessions|page=[https://archive.org/details/rollingstonesbeg00clay/page/246 246]|first=Alan|last=Clayson|publisher=Billboard Books|year=2008|isbn=978-0-823-08397-8|url=https://archive.org/details/rollingstonesbeg00clay/page/246}}</ref>

[[File:Robert Fripp 2.jpg|thumb|right|[[Robert Fripp]] played the Mellotron on several [[King Crimson]] albums, and said that "Tuning a Mellotron doesn't [tune it]"<ref name="fripp"/>]]
The Mellotron became a key instrument in [[progressive rock]]. [[King Crimson]] bought two Mellotrons when forming in 1969.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://faculty-cervero.ced.berkeley.edu/crimtron.htm|title=Crimson's trons|access-date=March 19, 2018}}</ref> They were aware of Pinder's contributions to the Moody Blues and did not want to sound similar, but concluded there was no other way of generating the orchestral sound.{{sfn|Awde|2008|pp=116–117}} The instrument was originally played by Ian McDonald,{{sfn|Awde|2008|p=118}} and subsequently by Robert Fripp upon McDonald's departure. Later member [[David Cross (musician)|David Cross]] recalled he did not particularly want to play the Mellotron, but felt that it was simply what he needed to do as a member of the band.{{sfn|Awde|2008|p=187}} 

[[Tony Banks (musician)|Tony Banks]] bought a Mellotron from Fripp in 1971, which he claimed was previously used by King Crimson, to use with [[Genesis (band)|Genesis]]. He decided to approach the instrument in a different way to a typical orchestra, using block chords, and later stated that he used it in the same manner as a [[synth pad]] on later albums.{{sfn|Awde|2008|pp=200–201}} His unaccompanied introduction to "[[Watcher of the Skies]]" on the album ''[[Foxtrot (album)|Foxtrot]]'' (1972), played on a Mk II with combined strings and brass, became significant enough that Streetly Electronics provided a "Watcher Mix" sound with the M4000.<ref name="reid2007"/> Banks claims to still have a Mellotron in storage, but does not feel inclined to use it as he generally prefers to use up-to-date technology.{{sfn|Jenkins|2012|p=246}} [[Barclay James Harvest]]'s [[Woolly Wolstenholme]] bought an M300 primarily to use for string sounds,{{sfn|Awde|2008|p=133}} and continued to play an M400 live into the 2000s as part of a reformed band.{{sfn|Awde|2008|p=148}}

[[Rick Wakeman]] played Mellotron on [[David Bowie]]'s 1969 hit song "[[Space Oddity]]". Having previously found it difficult to keep in tune, Wakeman had discovered a way to do so using a special fingering technique.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/jan/08/the-day-i-played-mellotron-for-david-bowie-space-oddity |title=The day I played the Mellotron for David Bowie |author=Rick Wakeman |date=8 January 2017 |work=The Guardian |access-date=5 February 2017}}</ref>

The Mellotron was used extensively by German electronic band [[Tangerine Dream]] through the 1970s,{{sfn|Stump|1997|p=39}} on albums such as ''[[Atem (album)|Atem]]'' (1973),{{sfn|Stump|1997|p=39}} ''[[Phaedra (album)|Phaedra]]'' (1974),<ref>{{cite book|page=129|title=European Film Music|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tpwu4wK5I44C|first1=Miguel|last1=Mera|first2=David|last2=Burnand|publisher=Ashgate Publishing|year=2006|isbn=978-0-7546-3659-5}}</ref> ''[[Rubycon (album)|Rubycon]]'' (1975),{{sfn|Stump|1997|p=64}} ''[[Stratosfear (album)|Stratosfear]]'' (1976),{{sfn|Stump|1997|p=70}} and ''[[encore (Tangerine Dream album)|Encore]]'' (1977).{{sfn|Stump|1997|p=70}} In the late 1970s, French duo [[Space Art (band)|Space Art]] used a Mellotron during the recording of their second album, ''Trip in the Centre Head''.<ref name="OuestFrance">{{cite news|url=https://larochesuryon.maville.com/sortir/infos_-musique.-space-art-pionniers-de-l-electro-a-la-francaise_54135-3092333_actu.Htm|title=Musique. Space Art, pionniers de l'electro à la française|language=French|trans-title=Music. Space Art, pioneers of French electro|work=Ouest France|first=Philippe|last=Richard|date=29 November 2016|access-date=28 April 2021}}</ref> In 1983, the band's [[Christopher Franke]] asked Mellotronics if they could produce a digital model, as the group migrated towards using samplers.{{sfn|Stump|1997|p=119}}

Although the Mellotron was not extensively used in the 1980s, a number of bands featured it as a prominent instrument. One of the few UK [[post-punk]] bands to do so was [[Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark]], who featured it heavily on their platinum-selling 1981 album ''[[Architecture & Morality]]''. [[Andy McCluskey]] has stated they used the Mellotron because they were starting to run into limitations of the cheap monophonic synthesizers they had used up to that point. He bought a second-hand M400 and was immediately impressed with the strings and choir sounds.{{sfn|Awde|2008|p=401}} [[XTC]]'s [[Dave Gregory (musician)|Dave Gregory]] recalls seeing bands using Mellotrons when growing up in the 1970s, and thought it would be an interesting addition to the group's sound. He bought a second-hand model in 1982 for £165, and first used it on the album ''[[Mummer (album)|Mummer]]'' (1983).{{sfn|Awde|2008|p=387}} [[IQ (band)|IQ]]'s [[Martin Orford]] bought a second-hand M400 and used it primarily for visual appeal rather than musical quality or convenience.{{sfn|Awde|2008|p=455}}

The Mellotron resurfaced in 1995 on [[Oasis (band)|Oasis]]' album ''[[(What's the Story) Morning Glory?]]''<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AVQbF9lTBwgC|title=The Mojo Collection: 4th Edition|publisher=Canongate Books|year=2007|page=622|isbn=978-1-84767-643-6}}</ref> The instrument was played by both [[Noel Gallagher]] and [[Paul Arthurs]] on several tracks, but a particularly prominent use was the cello sound on the hit single "[[Wonderwall (song)|Wonderwall]]", played by Arthurs.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/nov12/articles/classic-tracks-1112.htm|title=Oasis "Wonderwall" : Classic Tracks|first=Richard|last=Buskin|magazine=Sound on Sound|date=November 2012|access-date=2 September 2013}}</ref> It also notably appears on their 2000 single "[[Go Let It Out]]". [[Radiohead]] asked Streetly Electronics to restore and repair a model for them in 1997,<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.performing-musician.com/pm/oct07/articles/mellatronm4000.htm|first=David|last=Etheridge|magazine=Performing Musician|title=Mellotron M4000|date=October 2007|access-date=3 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104063749/http://www.performing-musician.com/pm/oct07/articles/mellatronm4000.htm|archive-date=4 November 2013}}</ref> and recorded with it on several tracks for their album ''[[OK Computer]]'' (1997).<ref>{{cite book|title=Radiohead and the Resistant Concept Album: How to Disappear Completely|page=30|first=Marianne Tatom|last=Letts|publisher=Indiana University Press|year=2010|isbn=978-0-253-00491-8}}</ref> The French electronic duo [[Air (French band)|Air]] extensively used a M400 on their two first albums ''[[Moon Safari]]'' in 1998 and ''[[The Virgin Suicides (score)|The Virgin Suicides]]'' in 1999.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.planetmellotron.com/reva3.htm#air|first=Andy|last=Thompson|publisher=Planet Mellotron|title=AIR}}</ref>

[[Spock's Beard]]'s [[Ryo Okumoto]] is a fan of the Mellotron, saying it characterises the sound of the band.{{sfn|Jenkins|2012|p=251}} [[Porcupine Tree]]'s [[Steven Wilson]] has acquired one of King Crimson's old Mellotrons<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.keyboardmag.com/article/adam-holzman-straddles-prog-rock-and-jazz-fusion/152915|title=Adam Holzman straddles Prog Rock and Jazz Fusion|magazine=Keyboard Magazine|first=Tony|last=Orant|date=20 September 2013|access-date=3 February 2014}}</ref> and, in 2013, gave a demonstration of the instrument in celebration of its 50th anniversary.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be/en/reviews/steven-wilson-review-of-the-concert-at-het-depot-in-leuven-on-24th-october-2013/|title=Steven Wilson – review of the concert at the Depot in Leuven|first=Philippe|last=Blackmarquis|work=Peek a Boo Magazine|date=30 October 2013|access-date=3 February 2014}}</ref>