Watcher of the Skies on M400

[DeleriosoAnormal]

Great!!

[4umtator]

Thanks for the performance! This is such a haunting piece even after forty years.

[AntaresSI]

Bravissimo!!!!

[PalerShadeOfWhite]

freakin awesome that some of the "old ladies" are still alive and wheezin' out Mello-ness. excellent simulation and in general, tronfan66. there's a ~1970 pinball machine (Williams? "Seven Up" - skier motif) i wish was still around - that was my life for a few years as a kid. OK no comparison I know, was just waxing nostalgic...

[thrashmetalkills]

sounds just like it. Nice job

[muziekengeluid]

I envy you, apparently owning a real Tron... owning a real Tron, however, I have some real good samples if I may say so myself ;-)

I'd like to see/hear more...

Regards from Holland,

Alex

[muziekengeluid]

I envy you, apparently owning a real Tron... owning a real Tron, however, I have some real good samples if I may say so myself ;-)

I'd like to see/hear more...

Regards from Holland,

Alex

[RailcarFerrostaal]

amazing, take care of that mellotron, it's like that sacred instrument extracted from Rush's 2112 story, somthing you'll never find at yamaha's store!

[Dr0ctave]

That is really beautiful. What a marvellous sound!

[nbelsky]

And I used to think it was so complex and hard to play.

[willregnier]

I'm trying to find a keyboard/synthesizer that can produce realistic mellotron sounds (especially for the choir sound)... Can anyone help me?

[anbreatnach]

@willregnier buy a Memotron.....you would need to have owned a Mellotron to tell the difference. You can buy them new for around £1500. You get a CD-ROM with it with most of the classic 'tron sounds.

[hope2prosper]

well done

[Pappatunsa]

Great stuff!

[vacuumtube1954]

Wonderful sound and playing. Thank you for posting. Keep them coming.

[paperpichu]

Good.



[chrisofnottingham]

Great stuff. I love to hear all the mechanical stuff going on too.

[pete671]

I can't play keyboards . However when I hear the mellotron, played with such pinache, it hammers home how much I regret not doing so.

[blademon7]

This is spot on. I think I could learn this by watching you .Well.. the notes anyway. Won't sound as good as you, mate.Or Tony either, LOL.Have been re-discovering Genisis on you tube(have it all on vinyl, but need a new stylus, yes,I'm "old school")and this is very welcome. Thanks.

[drebatista]

how about a "virtual" Genesis cover band?

[oliasdoug]

Tremendous job!

[rickfreslanta]

You got the sound dead on. Nice job!

[Nikkodemis]

well done!!!

[chairdude1]

Cool as hell!

[Tisafuni]

Plain perfect.

[doobon]

Brilliant !!

[deerfish3000]

Yeah, Watcher of the Skies intro and Strawberry Fields intro on Mellotron are like Stairway to Heaven and Smoke on the Water for guitar.

[767fife]

@deerfish3000 I'd include In the court of the crimson king along with that

[tomasciccola]

@deerfish3000 smoke on the water's riff it's not played on guitar, they used a hammond organ with A LOT OF distorsion :P

[pueblos1chidos]

where can i find the chords or the score???????

[dvision23]

You are a star!  Really. I agree wth your cutoff date for Genesis music. WTF got in to those aholes!

[kingtarkus]

I think what Tony Banks is doing is playing that intro on both the Mellotron (left hand) and the Hammond organ (right hand), playing the exact same part on either instrument simultaneously. The bass would be courtesy of Mike Rutherford's Dewtron Mr. Bassman pedals.

[wrs6565]

I read somewhere that the bass sound is a Mellotron set on "bass accordian," but I can't be sure.

[tronfan66]

It is, on the original studio version on 'Foxtrot' - bass accordion on the left hand keyboard of Tony Banks' MkII.

[tamistamistamis]

@tronfan66 I also love Trespass.

[tamistamistamis]

@tronfan66 I also love Trespass.

[JackBlair2]

@wrs6565 Rutherford also adds a cello line, which makes it even weirder.

[JackBlair2]

Rutherford also plays a line on a cello on the recorded studio version.

[Keijz74]

The position between gives off a nice eerie sound.

[lowbatt65]

Very nice. One of the greatest song intros of all time.

[Tuvadog]

I suppose you like Genesis from the good old times?

[tronfan66]

Absolutely! 'Nursery Cryme' up to 'Wind and Wuthering' is their golden age as far as I'm concerned.

[Tuvadog]

tronfan66, I agree absolutely!!!! I saw Genesis in Sweden 1982 and I missed Hackett and Gabriel but it was great to see the others. I enjoyed them playing the old stuff and then there were younger people who danced to Abacab and similar. I am not that fond of Abacab or later stuff but as a Genesis-fan I have all the records on both vinyl and CD.

Thanks for demonstrating mellotron. Such a beautiful instrument!!! And the sound is great....

[SheradZakalwe]

I agree as well. Wasn't it after Wind and Wuthering that Steve Hackett left the band because he had less and less say on what was being done on the albums?

[sabbath231]

@tronfan66

I agree I got up to "From Genesis to Revelation" to "Trick Of The Tail". "Wind and Wuthering is great too. I acctualy just bought "Nursery Crime" on LP. GREAT ALBUM. tronfan66 your making me want to get a tron. I'm 16, need a job, and NEED A TRON.

[Rowdyrecords55]

@tronfan66 I completely agree. So their golden age is more or less when Steve Hackett was a member eh?

[juandhaltrich]

@tronfan66 not even a mention for 'trespass' ? great record! it has the epic song The Knife!

[tronfan66]

@juandhaltrich Oh, I do like Trespass, but it just doesn't quite hit the giddy heights for me the way the Hackett-period stuff does!

[juandhaltrich]

@tronfan66 well, your entitled to your opinion of course. for me, best period of genesis of course is when hackett arrived. but trespass is their first great album IMO, all the way to Lamb....(i equally like trespass and lamb actually)... the first records with collins singing are good too... especially trick of the tail. of course, never as superb as the gabriel years

[thedave54]

Excellent~!

[Trondoc]

This is not correct.

[tronfan66]

Ah well, never mind - I never claimed it was 100% correct or perfect, but for a 'quite close approximation', it'll do me :) .

[Bitsforboats]

@tronfan66 Agreed!

[thedave54]

No..you are not currect

[mrgoodvibrations]

I love the mellowtron too. Love the chorus versions.

[AZUREGLIDE]

These tronfan videos are great.The Mellotron is my favourite instrument, so rich warm and vibrant.We need more tron in the world, we need to reverse to the 70's and get many more Mellotron albums, there are not enough.I salute you sir!

[SixDayWar67]

Is that you Tony ????

Just kidding..but that is just great. Usually many who try to duplicate go too fast or too slow but you are spot on !

Genesis from the 70s have enough music in their library to fill 15 motion pictures if needed.

Thanks

[Keijz74]

Well you have my GO! If you make good movies ;o)#

[NCMountainDavis]

Your left hand on the synthesizer...did Tony Banks originally play that base note like you did on his Hammond organ?

[tronfan66]

He may have done that live, but I don't know for certain. One thing I do know for sure is that on the original studio version from "Foxtrot", he played the bass notes using the 'bass accordion' sound on the left-hand keyboard of his MKII Mellotron.

[floydyes]

youre a genius man!!!!,can you do the seven stones tron solo???

[tronfan66]

Thank you for that! I'm sure the Seven Stones intro and ending will be making an appearance in the not too distant future.

[floydyes]

youre a genius man!!!!!!!,can you do the seven stones tron solo?

[willveda]

Thanks, I have been wondering for about 30 years as to what Mellotron sound(s) Tony used for "watcher's" intro. My 'tron has the standard string/flute/choir tapes. Except my high key is a gong/laughtrack/audience clapping "sample."

[trontastic]

Thanks Tronfan. Great to see and hear one of the best instruments ever made. Plus seeing it played well and some of the best Mellotron pieces recorded. Keep it up. Now do me Hawkwinds Golden Void on it and i will bow down in your presence. Thanks.

[gaypray]

great work man!

you are a one man tribute band, but for who?

you put a lot of work into that, amazing!

[tronfan66]

Thanks, glad you liked it! I just do these things for a bit of fun really, but it's nice that other people get some enjoyment as well. Mind you, I did also start this profile as a way of answering the question I have frequently been asked: "What's a Mellotron?". I figured that if I did a few famous bits and pieces that have used one, then it's a chance for a few people to discover that they knew the sound all along, even if they didn't know the name of the instrument that made those noises!

[Keijz74]

You are good at doing just that :o)#

[lymph12]

how long does the tape last on average for a key?

[tronfan66]

About 8 seconds.

[lymph12]

no no. I know that. I meant how often does a key need replacement?

sorry.

[tronfan66]

No problem. The short answer is that it depends on a lot of things - but to be more specific, as long as the machine is well-maintained, for example if the tape heads are regularly cleaned / demagnetised and the keyboard mechanism isn't over-adjusted (which can cause tapes to stick and get chewed up), then they'll last for years. I've had tapes in my machine which lasted for 15 years or more, and although I have since replaced them with other sounds, they're still playable.

[melloblue2]

nice!

I Love Genesis.

Thanks! (^^)ノ

[melloblue2]

nice!

I love Genesis.

thanks! (^^)ノ

[sqonk77]

how old is that mellotron it sounds beautiful.

[tronfan66]

This one was made in about 1972 I believe, though the tapes themselves are not very old - got them from Streetly Electronics 4 years ago, and they do sound amazing.

[kramsmada]

Nice job!

[BaronvonCase]

Such an insanely good opener. Where can I find the chords to this one?

[tronfan66]

Good question! I don't think I've ever seen sheet music to this, but I'm sure it must be available somewhere.

[BastiaanLuytjes]

Just watch, listen and try it yourself ;-)

[crucker2007]

u want that bad boy trone how bout that one and then some check out ik multimedias sampletron its the shit its a plugin for audio production

[ELIOREYES]

I want a Mellotron like yours...you know where can I buy one?? Im fan of Genesis and to me have a M400 it would be incredible!! Thanks!

[tronfan66]

There's the new M4000 from Streetly Electronics (the makers of the original), or the MKVI from the Mellotron company (made by Markus Resch in Sweden)...or failing that there's always the Memotron or M-Tron. Have a search online for all of these and you'll get more info about all of them - hope that helps!

[ELIOREYES]

I want a Mellotron m400!!! you know where I can buy it? very nice watcher of skies!!

[bbungled]

FANTASTIC!!! This sounds so identical to the original... If I owned a mellotron I'd die with all the pleasure envolved XD

[retrosound72]

great demo!

thanks for posting

[drunkenstooge]

Class sound.

[trespass59]

Great ! This sound, and execution,matches perfectly with tht original of Tony Banks(and David Myers)

Alehouse

Hope my English is good enough !

[420allday69]

where did you get your mellotron and how much was it

[tronfan66]

I bought it in 1989 from a music shop in Notting Hill, West London, for £300. That was at a time when Mellotrons were still very unfashionable and therefore, relatively cheap!

[saytra123]

Simply great, I love the sound of Mellotron in that intro....excelent!!

[taemmett]

Well thanks for the response. If you worked this out for yourself, it is even more impressive. To me, a long time Genesis fan, (since '73), it sounds identical to the Band. Well done!

A novice keyboard player.

[blapo38]

Wow! Congratulations. This ain't an easy piece to play and you've done it SO accurately, almost exactly like the original. Well done!

[tronfan66]

Thanks for that, I was really pleased with the results of this one!

[taemmett]

Excellent. Any chance of getting a link to the sheet music. I am using something I got from the web and it is just not right (could be me though). Tezza.

[tronfan66]

Thanks - I must admit, I'm not sure where you could get a link to the sheet music for this. I hope this doesn't sound like showing off, but what I did was I basically worked it out from a combination of having heard it so often, and then relying on memory really!

[niabenaur]

Hey, i saw your left hand doin diffrent stuff to your right hand? how can you do that? is it two peeps?

Seriously tho, real cool to see and hear. WHAAAAAAT A MIIIIGHTY TUNE by Gabriel & Genesis. Ethereal and powerful. Love it to bits.

Oh - whats that bit about tape heads between the two thingymebobs? Curios. My brother used to be a BBC sound engineer in the 70's & he used to string tape loops physically accross two or three machines. Weird to see and hear. The Beeb ey? tsk, pfft lol.

[tronfan66]

Cheers for that. What I mentioned about tape head positioning: on the Mellotron the replay heads are all mounted on one block which runs across the length of all the keys, and sounds are changed by shifting the position of the headblock side to side, via a knob at the front. You can also get two adjacent sounds to play together by positioning the heads just so, which was what I did here.

[Fairlight60]

I see more as a Mellotron LEGEND than cliché! I love playing that with G-Media's M-Tron soft synth, though I definitely cannot play it as fast as the original like you do. Not to mention that the feeling of playing it on a REAL Mellotron must be without comparison. Excellent!

[tronfan66]

Thanks mate, glad you enjoyed it. Yes, I think you certainly get a real sense of 'involvement' when playing a Mellotron, due to the mechanics of the whole thing!

[HadesW10]

Congratulations !

This is excellent and reminds me of my youth.

Phoni Mitchell ( a.k.a. Astragone Arglegargle)

[HadesW10]

The alternative Liberace strikes again!