Chords for Analysis: Genesis' Mellotron-The Musical Box
Tempo:
113.95 bpm
Chords used:
E
F#
C#m
B
A#
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
[Em] [Bm] [Em]
Welcome back, my dear Lamb [E] fanatics.
Well, tonight I'm not going to compare any retract [Em] versions from The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.
Instead, I'm going to focus on a very unique musical instrument that became so closely [E] identified with the sound of Genesis
that I thought it deserved its very own video.
And that is, of course, Tony's Mellotron.
[N] They rented one and utilized it in the studio, but when they went on tour for subsequent albums,
they realized that they were going to have to purchase some.
Now, I'm going to go ahead and play Silent Sorrow and Empty Boats because it has a lovely Mellotron offering in back of that,
so we'll listen to that while I tell you about the Mellotron.
Tony's very first one that they owned was the Mellotron Mark II,
and it was bought off of Robert Fritt from the original King Crimson's Court of the Crimson King technical setup.
They actually owned three, and they sold Genesis one of them.
It had two preamplifiers originally, with the later models using transistorized preamplifiers.
The Mellotron [E] was an electromechanical polyphonic keyboard originally developed and [F#] built in Birmingham, England,
[C#m] in the early 1960s, and was also used by groups like Yes and the Moody Blues.
The heart of [F#] the original instrument [C#m] was a bank of parallel, linear, magnetic audios, tape strips, and later loops.
All of these things are really quite amazing considering what we have now with synthesizers.
Back then, they had to use playback heads underneath [F#] each key, [C#m] enabling the playing of the prerecorded sounds.
Now, in the earlier version [G#m] of the Mellotron, each of the tape strips had a playing time of approximately eight [A] seconds,
[Bm] after which the tape came to a dead stop and rewound to the start [C#m] position.
Well, a consequence of that eight-second limit on the duration of each note is that if one wants to play chords that last longer than eight seconds,
[B] one must release different notes in a [E] sequence in a process that has been compared to a spider working its way, crawling across a keyboard.
Of course, Tony, with his jazz, Bach-like mathematical mind, probably got a kick out of having this type of challenge at first,
since he has always been known to be such a disciple of the chord progression.
But he said that it was the right-hand [F#] keyboards with [B] the strings and [C#m] brass which had the real impact on a track like Watcher of the Skies,
because people had never really heard of that big, big sound like that before.
Genesis always had a tendency towards an orchestral sound anyway, so the [G#m] Mellotron was a natural addition to [E] their work.
Now, the newer Mellotrons, which [F#] Genesis used during the period of [E] the Lamb Tour,
offered three selectable sounds of strings, brass, and an eight-voice choir,
and the sound on each individual tape piece was recorded at the pitch [F#] of the key to which it [E] was assigned.
There's the Mellotron coming in, along with Steve [A#m] Hackett making those wonderful [E] bird sounds on his [F#] magical guitar.
[B] But like the Hammond organ, [E] the Mellotrons were a roadie's [F#] nightmare, because they were heavy, bulky, [B] and fragile,
[F#] and they [E] had an inherent tuning problem, [F#] too.
The tape banks were also notoriously [Bm] prone to breakage and jams,
[C#m] and those groups that could [G#] afford to typically took like two or more [E] Mellotrons on the road to cope with the inevitable [F#] breakdowns.
Well, Tony said that he [G#m] [C#] experimented heavily with the Mellotron
until he whittled down his repertoire with the machine to two main chords,
[G]
which would sound good no matter how out of tune it [E] was.
Well, for Genesis, the most famous of these came with the first time they played in the States,
when Tony Stratton Smith and Ed Goodgold booked them in to play their first two U.S. concerts,
one in [N] Boston at Brandeis, and then their New York debut at Philharmonic Hall.
Well, Tony remembers that the 120-volt American power supply reconfigured for the 220-volt cycle-controlled English Mellotron
just wasn't doing its job properly, so he remembers it as being a complete failure.
But despite this glitch, the audiences still loved them, and no wonder,
because to this day, more than any other supergroup,
the unique, otherworldly, and powerful musical emanations of the Mellotron are identified with those sounds of early Genesis.
And an interesting side note here, the esteemed Canadian Genesis tribute band, the Musical Box,
uses a Kurzweil synthesizer disguised in a wooden box made specifically to resemble a [C#m] Mellotron,
while presenting their remarkably accurate historic recapitulation of historic Genesis tours.
I'm told that they're planning another revival of their now-famous Landmines Down on Broadway presentation
this fall, 2011, in North America, and then bringing it to Europe in 2012.
Well, I personally hope to be able to finally see the show in its original slides that Genesis has provided them,
with my very own eyes, even if I have to fly east to do so.
So, I'd love to see you there.
Thanks for watching this, [Dm] and good night.
[Am]
[A#] [G] [A#]
[C] [F] [D#]
[Am] [F] [Dm]
[C] [Am] [A#]
[G] [A#] [C]
Welcome back, my dear Lamb [E] fanatics.
Well, tonight I'm not going to compare any retract [Em] versions from The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.
Instead, I'm going to focus on a very unique musical instrument that became so closely [E] identified with the sound of Genesis
that I thought it deserved its very own video.
And that is, of course, Tony's Mellotron.
[N] They rented one and utilized it in the studio, but when they went on tour for subsequent albums,
they realized that they were going to have to purchase some.
Now, I'm going to go ahead and play Silent Sorrow and Empty Boats because it has a lovely Mellotron offering in back of that,
so we'll listen to that while I tell you about the Mellotron.
Tony's very first one that they owned was the Mellotron Mark II,
and it was bought off of Robert Fritt from the original King Crimson's Court of the Crimson King technical setup.
They actually owned three, and they sold Genesis one of them.
It had two preamplifiers originally, with the later models using transistorized preamplifiers.
The Mellotron [E] was an electromechanical polyphonic keyboard originally developed and [F#] built in Birmingham, England,
[C#m] in the early 1960s, and was also used by groups like Yes and the Moody Blues.
The heart of [F#] the original instrument [C#m] was a bank of parallel, linear, magnetic audios, tape strips, and later loops.
All of these things are really quite amazing considering what we have now with synthesizers.
Back then, they had to use playback heads underneath [F#] each key, [C#m] enabling the playing of the prerecorded sounds.
Now, in the earlier version [G#m] of the Mellotron, each of the tape strips had a playing time of approximately eight [A] seconds,
[Bm] after which the tape came to a dead stop and rewound to the start [C#m] position.
Well, a consequence of that eight-second limit on the duration of each note is that if one wants to play chords that last longer than eight seconds,
[B] one must release different notes in a [E] sequence in a process that has been compared to a spider working its way, crawling across a keyboard.
Of course, Tony, with his jazz, Bach-like mathematical mind, probably got a kick out of having this type of challenge at first,
since he has always been known to be such a disciple of the chord progression.
But he said that it was the right-hand [F#] keyboards with [B] the strings and [C#m] brass which had the real impact on a track like Watcher of the Skies,
because people had never really heard of that big, big sound like that before.
Genesis always had a tendency towards an orchestral sound anyway, so the [G#m] Mellotron was a natural addition to [E] their work.
Now, the newer Mellotrons, which [F#] Genesis used during the period of [E] the Lamb Tour,
offered three selectable sounds of strings, brass, and an eight-voice choir,
and the sound on each individual tape piece was recorded at the pitch [F#] of the key to which it [E] was assigned.
There's the Mellotron coming in, along with Steve [A#m] Hackett making those wonderful [E] bird sounds on his [F#] magical guitar.
[B] But like the Hammond organ, [E] the Mellotrons were a roadie's [F#] nightmare, because they were heavy, bulky, [B] and fragile,
[F#] and they [E] had an inherent tuning problem, [F#] too.
The tape banks were also notoriously [Bm] prone to breakage and jams,
[C#m] and those groups that could [G#] afford to typically took like two or more [E] Mellotrons on the road to cope with the inevitable [F#] breakdowns.
Well, Tony said that he [G#m] [C#] experimented heavily with the Mellotron
until he whittled down his repertoire with the machine to two main chords,
[G]
which would sound good no matter how out of tune it [E] was.
Well, for Genesis, the most famous of these came with the first time they played in the States,
when Tony Stratton Smith and Ed Goodgold booked them in to play their first two U.S. concerts,
one in [N] Boston at Brandeis, and then their New York debut at Philharmonic Hall.
Well, Tony remembers that the 120-volt American power supply reconfigured for the 220-volt cycle-controlled English Mellotron
just wasn't doing its job properly, so he remembers it as being a complete failure.
But despite this glitch, the audiences still loved them, and no wonder,
because to this day, more than any other supergroup,
the unique, otherworldly, and powerful musical emanations of the Mellotron are identified with those sounds of early Genesis.
And an interesting side note here, the esteemed Canadian Genesis tribute band, the Musical Box,
uses a Kurzweil synthesizer disguised in a wooden box made specifically to resemble a [C#m] Mellotron,
while presenting their remarkably accurate historic recapitulation of historic Genesis tours.
I'm told that they're planning another revival of their now-famous Landmines Down on Broadway presentation
this fall, 2011, in North America, and then bringing it to Europe in 2012.
Well, I personally hope to be able to finally see the show in its original slides that Genesis has provided them,
with my very own eyes, even if I have to fly east to do so.
So, I'd love to see you there.
Thanks for watching this, [Dm] and good night.
[Am]
[A#] [G] [A#]
[C] [F] [D#]
[Am] [F] [Dm]
[C] [Am] [A#]
[G] [A#] [C]
Key:
E
F#
C#m
B
A#
E
F#
C#m
[Em] _ _ _ [Bm] _ _ _ [Em] _ _
_ _ Welcome back, my dear Lamb [E] fanatics.
Well, tonight I'm not going to compare any retract [Em] versions from The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.
Instead, I'm going to focus on a very unique musical instrument that became so closely [E] identified with the sound of Genesis
that I thought it deserved its very own video.
And that is, of course, Tony's Mellotron.
[N] They rented one and utilized it in the studio, but when they went on tour for subsequent albums,
they realized that they were going to have to purchase some.
Now, I'm going to go ahead and play Silent Sorrow and Empty Boats because it has a lovely Mellotron _ offering in back of that,
so we'll listen to that while I tell you about the Mellotron. _
_ Tony's very first one that they owned was the Mellotron Mark II,
and it was bought off of Robert Fritt from the original King Crimson's Court of the Crimson King technical setup.
They actually owned three, and they sold Genesis one of them.
It had two preamplifiers originally, with the later models using transistorized preamplifiers.
The Mellotron [E] was an electromechanical polyphonic keyboard originally developed and [F#] built in Birmingham, England,
[C#m] in the early 1960s, and was also used by groups like Yes and the Moody Blues.
The heart of [F#] the original instrument [C#m] was a bank of parallel, linear, magnetic audios, tape strips, and later loops.
All of these things are really quite amazing considering what we have now with synthesizers.
Back then, they had to use playback heads underneath [F#] each key, [C#m] enabling the playing of the prerecorded sounds.
Now, in the earlier version [G#m] of the Mellotron, each of the tape strips had a playing time of approximately eight [A] seconds,
[Bm] after which the tape came to a dead stop and rewound to the start [C#m] position.
Well, a consequence of that eight-second limit on the duration of each note is that if one wants to play chords that last longer than eight seconds,
[B] one must release different notes in a [E] sequence in a process that has been compared to a spider working its way, crawling across a keyboard.
Of course, Tony, with his jazz, Bach-like mathematical mind, probably got a kick out of having this type of challenge at first,
since he has always been known to be such a disciple of the chord progression.
But he said that it was the right-hand [F#] keyboards with [B] the strings and [C#m] brass which had the real impact on a track like Watcher of the Skies,
because people had never really heard of that big, big sound like that before.
Genesis always had a tendency towards an orchestral sound anyway, so the [G#m] Mellotron was a natural addition to [E] their work.
Now, the newer Mellotrons, which [F#] Genesis used during the period of [E] the Lamb Tour,
offered three selectable sounds of strings, brass, and an eight-voice choir,
and the sound on each individual tape piece was recorded at the pitch [F#] of the key to which it [E] was assigned.
There's the Mellotron coming in, along with Steve [A#m] Hackett making those wonderful [E] bird sounds on his [F#] magical guitar.
[B] But like the Hammond organ, [E] the Mellotrons were a roadie's [F#] nightmare, because they were heavy, bulky, [B] and fragile,
[F#] and they [E] had an inherent tuning problem, [F#] too.
The tape banks were also notoriously [Bm] prone to breakage and jams,
[C#m] and those groups that could [G#] afford to typically took like two or more [E] Mellotrons on the road to cope with the inevitable [F#] breakdowns.
Well, Tony said that he [G#m] _ [C#] experimented heavily with the Mellotron
until he whittled down his repertoire with the machine to two main chords,
[G]
which would sound good no matter how out of tune it [E] was.
Well, for Genesis, the most famous of these came with the first time they played in the States,
when Tony Stratton Smith and Ed Goodgold booked them in to play their first two U.S. concerts,
one in [N] Boston at Brandeis, and then their New York debut at Philharmonic Hall.
Well, Tony remembers that the 120-volt American power supply reconfigured for the 220-volt cycle-controlled English Mellotron
just wasn't doing its job properly, so he remembers it as being a complete failure.
But despite this glitch, the audiences still loved them, and no wonder,
because to this day, more than any other supergroup,
the unique, otherworldly, and powerful musical emanations of the Mellotron are identified with those sounds of early Genesis.
And an interesting side note here, the esteemed Canadian Genesis tribute band, the Musical Box,
uses a Kurzweil synthesizer disguised in a wooden box made specifically to resemble a [C#m] Mellotron,
while presenting their remarkably accurate historic recapitulation of historic Genesis tours.
I'm told that they're planning another revival of their now-famous Landmines Down on Broadway presentation
this fall, _ 2011, in North America, and then bringing it to Europe in 2012.
Well, I personally hope to be able to finally see the show in its original slides that Genesis has provided them,
with my very own eyes, even if I have to fly east to do so.
So, I'd love to see you there.
Thanks for watching this, [Dm] and good night. _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [Am] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[A#] _ _ _ _ [G] _ _ [A#] _ _
[C] _ _ _ [F] _ _ [D#] _ _ _
_ [Am] _ [F] _ _ [Dm] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[C] _ _ _ _ [Am] _ _ _ [A#] _
_ _ _ [G] _ _ [A#] _ _ [C] _
_ _ Welcome back, my dear Lamb [E] fanatics.
Well, tonight I'm not going to compare any retract [Em] versions from The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.
Instead, I'm going to focus on a very unique musical instrument that became so closely [E] identified with the sound of Genesis
that I thought it deserved its very own video.
And that is, of course, Tony's Mellotron.
[N] They rented one and utilized it in the studio, but when they went on tour for subsequent albums,
they realized that they were going to have to purchase some.
Now, I'm going to go ahead and play Silent Sorrow and Empty Boats because it has a lovely Mellotron _ offering in back of that,
so we'll listen to that while I tell you about the Mellotron. _
_ Tony's very first one that they owned was the Mellotron Mark II,
and it was bought off of Robert Fritt from the original King Crimson's Court of the Crimson King technical setup.
They actually owned three, and they sold Genesis one of them.
It had two preamplifiers originally, with the later models using transistorized preamplifiers.
The Mellotron [E] was an electromechanical polyphonic keyboard originally developed and [F#] built in Birmingham, England,
[C#m] in the early 1960s, and was also used by groups like Yes and the Moody Blues.
The heart of [F#] the original instrument [C#m] was a bank of parallel, linear, magnetic audios, tape strips, and later loops.
All of these things are really quite amazing considering what we have now with synthesizers.
Back then, they had to use playback heads underneath [F#] each key, [C#m] enabling the playing of the prerecorded sounds.
Now, in the earlier version [G#m] of the Mellotron, each of the tape strips had a playing time of approximately eight [A] seconds,
[Bm] after which the tape came to a dead stop and rewound to the start [C#m] position.
Well, a consequence of that eight-second limit on the duration of each note is that if one wants to play chords that last longer than eight seconds,
[B] one must release different notes in a [E] sequence in a process that has been compared to a spider working its way, crawling across a keyboard.
Of course, Tony, with his jazz, Bach-like mathematical mind, probably got a kick out of having this type of challenge at first,
since he has always been known to be such a disciple of the chord progression.
But he said that it was the right-hand [F#] keyboards with [B] the strings and [C#m] brass which had the real impact on a track like Watcher of the Skies,
because people had never really heard of that big, big sound like that before.
Genesis always had a tendency towards an orchestral sound anyway, so the [G#m] Mellotron was a natural addition to [E] their work.
Now, the newer Mellotrons, which [F#] Genesis used during the period of [E] the Lamb Tour,
offered three selectable sounds of strings, brass, and an eight-voice choir,
and the sound on each individual tape piece was recorded at the pitch [F#] of the key to which it [E] was assigned.
There's the Mellotron coming in, along with Steve [A#m] Hackett making those wonderful [E] bird sounds on his [F#] magical guitar.
[B] But like the Hammond organ, [E] the Mellotrons were a roadie's [F#] nightmare, because they were heavy, bulky, [B] and fragile,
[F#] and they [E] had an inherent tuning problem, [F#] too.
The tape banks were also notoriously [Bm] prone to breakage and jams,
[C#m] and those groups that could [G#] afford to typically took like two or more [E] Mellotrons on the road to cope with the inevitable [F#] breakdowns.
Well, Tony said that he [G#m] _ [C#] experimented heavily with the Mellotron
until he whittled down his repertoire with the machine to two main chords,
[G]
which would sound good no matter how out of tune it [E] was.
Well, for Genesis, the most famous of these came with the first time they played in the States,
when Tony Stratton Smith and Ed Goodgold booked them in to play their first two U.S. concerts,
one in [N] Boston at Brandeis, and then their New York debut at Philharmonic Hall.
Well, Tony remembers that the 120-volt American power supply reconfigured for the 220-volt cycle-controlled English Mellotron
just wasn't doing its job properly, so he remembers it as being a complete failure.
But despite this glitch, the audiences still loved them, and no wonder,
because to this day, more than any other supergroup,
the unique, otherworldly, and powerful musical emanations of the Mellotron are identified with those sounds of early Genesis.
And an interesting side note here, the esteemed Canadian Genesis tribute band, the Musical Box,
uses a Kurzweil synthesizer disguised in a wooden box made specifically to resemble a [C#m] Mellotron,
while presenting their remarkably accurate historic recapitulation of historic Genesis tours.
I'm told that they're planning another revival of their now-famous Landmines Down on Broadway presentation
this fall, _ 2011, in North America, and then bringing it to Europe in 2012.
Well, I personally hope to be able to finally see the show in its original slides that Genesis has provided them,
with my very own eyes, even if I have to fly east to do so.
So, I'd love to see you there.
Thanks for watching this, [Dm] and good night. _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [Am] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[A#] _ _ _ _ [G] _ _ [A#] _ _
[C] _ _ _ [F] _ _ [D#] _ _ _
_ [Am] _ [F] _ _ [Dm] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[C] _ _ _ _ [Am] _ _ _ [A#] _
_ _ _ [G] _ _ [A#] _ _ [C] _