Inventor Harry Chamberlin originally designed the Mellotron (which he called, of course, the Chamberlin) to re-create the sound of an orchestra at home, or in the local lodge or cabaret, presumably. This is the use Paul McCartney divines in the funky demonstration of his Mellotron above.
http://www.openculture.com/2013/06/rick_wakeman_tells_the_story_of_the_mellotron_the_oddball_proto-synthesizer_pioneered_by_the_beatles_.html
Don's Mellotron Page. My Favorite Sounds Are Eight Seconds Long. The Mellotron is an electronic musical instrument invented around 1960 to provide the sounds of violins, cellos, flutes, choirs, horns, pretty much anything, from a keyboard. Given the technology of the day, the reasonable way to do this was with strips of magnetic tape.
http://www.till.com/articles/Mellotron/
The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It evolved from a similar instrument, the Chamberlin, but could be mass-produced more effectively. The instrument works by pulling a section of magnetic tape across a head.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mellotron
The Mellotron evolved in a much different way. After many calls to make the Mk II more portable, the Bradleys designed and built the Model 300 Mellotron. This unit (the oddest of the bunch) hints at the direction that would lead to the M400. The 300 had one 52 note keyboard, quarter inch tape and no pitch control!
http://www.mellotron.com/history.htm
The Mellotron became more popular after the Beatles used it on several tracks. It was subsequently adopted by the Moody Blues, King Crimson and Genesis, and became a notable instrument in progressive rock.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mellotron
I think everyone is confusing the hired Strawberry Fields Mk. II Mellotron with the FX Console model that EMI bought in early 1968. Paul owns the later EMI Mellotron, not the Strawberry Fields Mellotron. The Mark II model that EMI hired during the '66-'67 period was a standard wood-grain model while the FX Console was covered in a gray laminate (as seen in the pictures with Paul).
http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/where-is-the-strawberry-fields-mellotron-today.307782/
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.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mellotron
Also to suggest that The Beatles pioneered it is a little inaccurate, thankfully the article redeems itself by it’s nod to the great Mike Pinder (an ex-Streetly employee who built the Mellotron from Chamberlin’s design) who used it live with the Moody Blues as well as in the studio.
http://www.openculture.com/2013/06/rick_wakeman_tells_the_story_of_the_mellotron_the_oddball_proto-synthesizer_pioneered_by_the_beatles_.html
Oddly, this machine also had a steel subframe that was soon abandoned with the design of the 300/350 series. The lack of a subframe was the major design flaw in all of Harry's subsequent models up to the M series. It's the first thing that the Bradley Bros. would add to this design in producing their first Mellotron. Harry then built the remotely operated Model 300/350 (two separate cabinets) and the organ style cabinet Model 600/660 Music Master. These machines used 3/8ths in.
http://www.mellotron.com/history.htm
Page 1 of 4 1 2 3 4 Next >. I've always wondered what happened to the Strawberry Fields Mellotron. The book Recording The Beatles describes this particular Mellotron Mk. II as being hired or rented from the Mellotron company office. It did not belong to EMI or any of the Beatles (I imagine it was probably inconvenient for any of them to bring thier personal Mellotron to the studio).
http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/where-is-the-strawberry-fields-mellotron-today.307782/
who invented the mellotron
Harry Chamberlin invented the Mellotron. Harry Chamberlin invented the mellotron.