M-Tron - M400 Cello

The infamous cello sound that debuted on the M400. It was fairly popular, and King Crimson took a particular liking to it. The cello was also used, oddly enough, in "Dancing With The Moonlit Knight" (Genesis, SEBTP), albeit through some sort of distortion. The story goes that the cellist refused to tune his instrument down for the lowest notes in this bank, fearing damage. In a pinch, a double bassist was brought in for those final five notes, hence the extreme difference in timbre and why I tended to avoid these notes in my example.

The first part is just some improvised chords and melodies. Imagine how many cellos that would take to play! The next part is that bit from "Dancing With The Moonlit Knight." The third part is just a little more improvising.

The tone of the upper ranges of this instrument is very harsh and unmusical. The lower ranges sound much better. Overall, I didn't do much post work on this sound. There's a touch of reverb, and I dialed back the Tone wheel a bit from the default in order to soften up those higher notes. When I did this example I was stuck by just how beautiful this sound is--even for all its flaws.

Comments and suggestions, as always, are welcomed!

-Squonk

P.S. Like what you've seen? Come visit me at my NEW WEBSITE!
http://ryderduncan.com

Category:

Music

Tags:

• m-tron
• mtron
• mellotron
• m400
• cello
• genesis
• selling
• england
• by
• the
• pound
• dancing
• with
• moonlit
• knight
• sebtp
• vst
• gforce

[Batmanaintgotshit99]

what key is this piece in?

[Squonk06]

@Batmanaintgotshit99 The first part is in F minor, the SEBTP part is from a song that's mostly in C-sharp minor, and the last part doesn't really have a home key. It kind of wanders around.

[ertyqwer]

I guess I'm musically deaf because I can't really hear anything wrong with it. Are you saying that the left hand notes are recorded from a different instrument?

[Squonk06]

Yeah, the lowest five notes were double bass. They don't really come up that much in this example, but if you play single notes, you'll definitely notice the difference.

[humpster89]

This sounds great. Nice tone, color, and most importantly reality! Are you just playing a midi keyboard with an M400 VST through your computer? If so, let me know what equipment you are using because I'm highly impressed and would like to gain these sounds myself without having to spend thousands of dollars on the not-so-stable MkII or the newer MkVII

[Squonk06]

You've got it pretty much right. It's just the M-Tron VST played using Cubase. It's distributed by M-Audio and programed by GForce Software, who also make awesome emulations of other classic keyboard instruments as well.

[Carlo8836]

Sounds nice! I am also working hard with my M-tron Pro to produce these brilliant examples. Nicest cello out there, in my opinion.

[eliasfrown]

I was so disappointed to find out that the first bit was an improvisation! I loved it!

[ertyqwer]

And the keys further to the left play their own melodies?

[weaponEX]

It always takes me by surprise when the sustains notes come out sounding 'realistic'!

I'm sure GForce are greatful for the flattering demonstrations of their products, you should try and make a deal with them like youtube legend keyboardwizard did with Dave Smith Instruments!

[CaptainSiberia]

Pull out the Chamberlin cello! Do "Isn't Life Strange"!

[CaptainSiberia]

I associate the cello with Yes's "The Ancient."