How to Make a New Mellotron Sound Old (with no external effects)

The Mellotron M4000D family has a number of onboard settings you modify in the configuration menu to make the modern Mellotron sound like it's been around the world and back. The one setting I don't cover is tape rewind, which to me is a little finicky on the modern Mellotron. I do cover motor modulation, character settings that mimic specific older Mellotron models, and pitch settings.
I recommend using headphones to hear the differences between the settings.
To hear more of the sounds available on the Mellotron M4000D, here's a video I made that goes through every sound with no talking or effects added: • All the Sounds of the ...
Signal chain: Mellotron M4000D Mini-Focusrite Scarlett 18i8 interface-iPad Pro (2021)
Produced on an iPad Pro
Recorded by Jonathan Block
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Some of the gear I use:
Apple iPad Pro 12.9” www.apple.com
Mellotron M4000D Mini www.digitalmel...
Rob Allen Deep 4 fretless bass www.roballengu...
Focusrite Scarlett 18i8 interface focusrite.com/...
apeSoft apeMatrix, iVCS3, Mood www.apesoft.it
Ruismaker Mononoke, Ripplemaker, Ruismaker Noir, Rozeta, Gauss Field Looper ruismaker.com
IceGear Kronecker, Mersenne, Laplace icegear.net
Fingerlabs Mellowsound fingerlab.net
Klevgr Hillman klevgrand.se
Moog ModelD www.moogmusic.com
BeepStreet Zeeon www.beepstreet...
Audio Damage Axon 02 www.audiodamag...
AudioKit Synth One, Digital D1, AR-909 Drums, Digitalism 2000 audiokitpro.com
Imaginando K7D www.imaginando.pt
…and a whole lot more effects apps from Audio Damage, Ruismaker, Bleass, FAC, and Eventide, among others
Thanks for watching!

[@DeusExAurum]

Fantastic video, thank you for the incredible deep-dive! I often wish for people to go as in-depth as you on features of synths/keys, but they rarely do, so thank you so much! I guess I'll need to save up for a M4000D now ;)

[@synthblock]

Glad it was helpful. Thanks for watching!

[@graemem111]

Well done! Nerdiness way above and beyond. Thank goodness I am not the only one.

[@synthblock]

Thanks for watching!

[@AriannaCunningham]

This is pretty interesting! I understand that this is your own opinion on how you can setup the Mellotron settings. If I were to have a Mellotron M4000D, my settings would be Chamberlin EQ, Pitch Shift Semi-Tones, and no Motor Modulation.

[@synthblock]

I'm going to try out those settings. Thanks for watching!

[@jeffjackson5277]

Agreed, thanks for this. I commented a while back on one of your mellotron videos that I was getting one soon. I love it so much! Haven't changed the parameters yet so this is helpful. The manual just gives the most basic info.

[@synthblock]

Glad you got one; they are fun. Yeah, I find the manual a little hard to follow for some of the settings so I’m sure I missed something. Thanks for watching!

[@lowandodor1150]

I'm still in the saving up period, but i am sooo looking forward to it. I was so enchanted the other week when i found it and first listened to the 100 standard sounds. In all my years of making music, there were only a very few when i immediately knew: i MUST have this. There are so many possibilities and the sounds are just sooo sweet. I am also glad i found this because i was not even aware you could manipulate the sounds this way. Continued enjoyment with your instrument!

[@synthblock]

@@lowandodor1150 I'm glad the video is helpful. Good luck on your Mellotron journey!!

[@joeblack7841]

Thanks so much for this video. I plan to get the mini soon and this is very helpful.!

[@synthblock]

Glad it helped. Good luck with the Mini when you get it; it's a lot of fun. Thanks for watching!

[@neutralearth1061]

Nice demo! Thanks! Another tip to help simulate older worn tapes is to reduce the high end (treble) using the Tone Knob. Also of notice, the Mellotron Micro does not have the Motor Modulation settings.

[@synthblock]

Great tip about using the tone knob! Thanks for pointing that out. I also didn't realize the Mellotron Micro didn't have those settings to control the motor mod.

[@synthblock]

@@neutralearth1061 These are all great tips. Thanks for sharing them! I've tried the Rewind Time feature a bunch of times and really can't get anything out of it. It wouldn't surprise me if I'm doing something wrong.

[@neutralearth1061]

@@synthblock There is a "Rewind Enable" in the menu, I'll bet that needs to be turned on for the Rewind Time to function.

[@nx01craig]

Repost of a comment that disappeared... A couple more little things you can do with the M4000D to replicate an old M400 with typical keyboard adjustment variations, is adjust each key volume by +/- 6dB. (not available on the Micro) And (I haven't tried this yet) from the manual... You can adjust the Rewind Time". "Here you can set how long it takes for the playback to start at zero again. Set a long rewind time and you can get a percussive sound." (when playing fast) Similar to an M400 tape mounted in a position where the "attack" of the instrument is a little late.

[@nx01craig]

@@synthblock I tried messing with last night, and like you I couldn't get to do anything as well. I saw something in the manual about some settings that are for controlling external samples... From the Manual... Attack Time & Release Time - Some players are used to this type of setting for the sounds from different plugins and virtual instruments. This is really not a feature in a mechanical Mellotron or Chamberlin, but some users might find it useful.

[@justinhayward42]

Ah, the Moody Blues! The first band to feature the mellotron.

[@synthblock]

Such fantastic Mellotron sounds from Mike Pinder. Thanks for watching!

[@chandeleerjet5637]

I run mine through a shallow water pedal ifs one of my favorite sounds out of all my synths

[@synthblock]

I love their pedals. I have an Accountant and a Barbershop for my bass. Such great pedals.

[@galleryofrogues]

Sounds great because it sounds so bad. Just beautiful. ❤️

[@synthblock]

Nice and crunchy!

[@chandeleerjet5637]

Had no idea! Thanks!

[@synthblock]

Thanks for watching!

[@alanhaynes418]

I have the 3 violins and mixed brass sounds (each note) from a knackered M400 just before it was refurbished by Streetly Electronics. Interestingly, although this particular M400 had some serious problems, it's still very usable and sounds quite different to the mangling options on the digital version. Some of the notes do go haywire towards the end of their run, so you have to be careful if that's not what you wanted.

[@synthblock]

Nothing beats the real thing. They each have their own personalities. Thanks for watching!

[@peterrowcliffe747]

did you adjust the pinch rollers under the keys that always helps, digital mellotron sounds are to pure and not true sounds

[@rogercormier5610]

Thank you for this

[@synthblock]

Glad it was helpful!

[@filmusikchannel7596]

Great

[@synthblock]

Thanks for watching!

[@stargate1555]

The owners manual for the Mellotron probably explains how to make these setting changes, but I'm terrified I'll mess up and make unrecoverable mistakes by changing the settings. I wish there were training classes available for Mellotron owners. Maybe I should shoot Marcus an email and see what he has to allow. I love my Mellotron, but I'm not going to chance changing settings if I don't know what I'm doing.

[@synthblock]

You can always do a factory reset to get back but it takes a few button presses to save any changes and I often forget to do it doesn’t save the changes anyway. Good luck and thanks for watching!

[@stargate1555]

@@synthblock Thanks for the reply Johathan. Your tutorial is very informative. Maybe I should go ahead and jump on the grenade and experiment. Your factory reset fail safe tip makes sense. Thanks buddy. I've had my Mellotron for 5 years and still haven't scratched the surface regarding it's capabilities. Rock on.

[@synthblock]

@@stargate1555 I hear you. I think about buying one of the Sound Cards but there are still so many sounds already on the unit MkI haven’t explored enough.

[@BILLYPATRON]

This is exactly how I felt then after a couple weeks, it really opened up the diversity of the board when I mastered the settings. I basically stay inside the menu when I pick a sound and change settings depending what Im playing. Sometimes I turn the start time up or the attack time, sometimes I automate the wobble or change the lower range to play at 1/4 time instead of halftime etc.. its actually pretty fun once you learn all the settings and it makes it more dynamic like a synth

[@robertpearson8146]

how do I save sounds to a playlist?!

[@synthblock]

It’s on page 3 of the manual, which I’ve copied here: "M4000D MINI short instruction guide Editing Playlists Turn the selectors so that they show ‘Entry 01’ and ‘Playlist 01’. Press ‘Select A’ and ‘Select B’ simultaneously. If you have a problem doing this, try pressing ‘Select A’ slightly before ‘Select B’. Now you are in the playlist edit menu. Here you have several choices for how to edit your Playlist. - List View Edit - Copy from Manual - Copy from Entry - Copy to Entry - Swap Entries - Copy Playlist - Swap Playlists - Rename Entry - Rename Playlist List View Edit: Here the sounds are presented in list form. Turn ‘Select A’ to choose sound A and ‘Select B’ to choose sound B. Press ‘Select B’ to save the Entry. Then the screens will show the two sounds that you have selected. Use ‘Rename Entry’ in the playlist edit menu to change the Entry name. Turn ‘Select A’ to the next Entry if you want to edit that Entry. Program as many Entries as you like, up to 32 per Playlist. Press ‘Select B’ to leave ‘Playlist’ mode. Use ‘Rename Playlist’ in the playlist edit menu to change the Playlist name. Copy from Manual: This copies the sound pair that are currently selected in ‘Manual’ mode to the currently selected Entry. Copy from Entry: Opens a sub-menu where you can copy any Entry in any Playlist to the currently selected Entry. Copy to Entry: Opens a sub-menu where you can copy the currently selected Entry to any Entry in any Playlist. Swap Entries: Swaps the current Entry against any Entry in any Playlist. The other Playlist gets the current entry. Copy Playlist: Copies the content of the current Playlist to any Playlist. Swap Playlist: Swaps the content of the current Playlist with any other Playlist. Rename Entry: A keyboard is opened where you can change the Entry name. Turn ‘Select A’ to jump between the keys and ‘Select B’ to jump between the rows. Rename Playlist: A keyboard is opened where you can change the Playlist name. Turn ‘Select A’ to jump between the keys and ‘Select B’ to jump between the rows. Each playlist can have 32 entries, and you can define 16 playlists. Leave ‘Playlist’ mode by pressing ‘Select B’. Then you are back in ‘Manual’ mode. Turn the selectors so that they show ‘Entry 01’ and ‘Playlist 01’. Press ‘Select A’ and ‘Select B’ simultaneously. If you have a problem doing this, try to press ‘Select A’ slightly before ‘Select B’."

[@Samadhijunkie]

Hello, can you set the attack and decay of the sounds? Thanks

[@synthblock]

Yes, under the keyboard settings you can adjust the Attack and Release. But this setting affects every sound; you can't set it per patch/sound.

[@levinsonl]

It's so disappointing to me that nothing on the Mellotron M4000D can be controlled by midi CC. Such a missed opportunity to be more creative and take the instrument into the future. I just want to do simple things like blend between the instruments or change other parameters that are already in the menu. Otherwise such an amazing instrument

[@synthblock]

There’s definitely pros and cons to this Mellotron. Thanks for watching!

[@pietrozaffutomusic]

Genesis

[@synthblock]

Thanks for watching!

[@bilonggrisimmeri]

I could hear no difference between settings, using Sony MDR-1000X Blutooth cans. P.S. I want some Mellotron .WAV samples for my old hardware sampler. Ones I've tried are pretty rubbish and .WAV samples have been superceded by propriety sounds sets for specific computer software. It's a shame, as my sampler never gets switched on these days. Hardware samplers are no longer catered for, it seems.

[@synthblock]

The differences can be subtle for sure. I'm sure like every other technology, hardware samplers will see a comeback once they're considered "vintage" enough. Thanks for watching!

[@alaincelos476]

I have a mk2 mellotron ...number 220 ,from 1967 , this machine doesn' t sounds a mellotron ,i mean i don t heard the tapes rolling ,pure electronics ,no electro mechanics !!!!

[@peterrowcliffe747]

The mellotrons as you call them the old mellotrons the real mellotrons by the way are still being made including the latest cycle system which is a digital programe system plus streetly electronics the real and orginal mellotron company have a new 48 note machine on its way by the a real mellotron has either3 tracks or 6 track mix between sound unlike the the things called so called digital mellotron im a owner and player of a real mellotron for 30 years plus

[@synthblock]

Yes, the real Mellotron has never really stopped being manufactured. Thanks for watching!

[@funone2no]

TOO MUCH TALKING.

[@DeusExAurum]

No.