Where is the "Strawberry Fields" Mellotron today?

It's the sound of a Vickers Viscount taking off, those Rolls Royce Dart engines are unmistakable to an enthusiast. I suspect the same sample is used by Pink Floyd on DSOTM just prior to when the plane crashes

 

Paul indeed purchased the Baldwin electric harpsichord from Abbey Road - it was used on "Because," and I'm pretty sure I saw it utilized in one of the promotional films for Chaos And Creation, plus it's definitely used on "Real Love."

As far as the tape loops on "Tomorrow Never Knows," I thought all of those were created by McCartney, and would be surprised if any of the sounds utilized a Mellotron. Most sound like guitar manipulations at varied speeds, with the exception of the B flat chord that is faded up at the tagline of each verse. That sounds vaguely orchestral, but could be lifted from any recording and isn't necessarily sourced from a Mellotron.

 

I recall reading that all The Beatles went home and each created tape loops used on TNK. One at least if of Paul laughing.

 

Would it be safe to assume that most of the mellotrons shared most of the same basic tape loops? I would think that back then, the tape loops would be the most complex part of the instrument (as far as timing, length, etc, and would be shared among all the models of a particular manufacturer (maybe some models had more loop/sound options than others).

 

That is not it. The Mellotron your thinking of was a MK 2. McCartney's is an FX version previously owned by EMI. That version was created by Streetly Electronics for the BBC as a sound effect machine.

 

Same model not the same machine. Olympic studios had their own.

 

Actually Graham Bond was the first to use a Mellotron on a commercial record in 1965.

 

Didn't Nine Inch Nails use it at some point? On loan from Jimmy Iovine..

(not kidding)

 

None. Those loops were created by Paul using a guitar and a tape recorder.

 

You guys must have all seen the clip from Anthology or Chaos and Creation, where McCartney states that this is the very mellotron
we used on Strawberry fields and then he plays the intro sounding like the record and sings Let Me Take You Down, so to answer
the OP's question, McCartney bought that Mellotron and it resides in McCartney's home studio commonly called the Mill, on his
Compound in Surrey or wherever it is he lives. He has a state of the art studio on his large property probably a few acres away from
his house. I think he has a small professional staff to oversee the studio everyday. That is where the Mellotron is, along with several
other vintage instruments he wisely bought when Abbey Road was trying to dump them!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Interesting thread. I suspect many here at the Forum are still scratching their heads over John'n'Yoko and what they saw in each other. Seeing how the Beatles [John'n'Paul, mainly] were working/playing out their enthusiasm for electronic sounds points clearly to other pioneers of Electronica such as Stockhausen and John Cage. If you've heard early Musique Concrete then you know the influences that led to the Beatles experimentations with new, "Electronic" instruments such as the Mellotron and, later, the Synthesizer.

I think this moment marked a high-tide for musical experimentation. I can easily imagine John Lennon meeting up serendipitously with Yoko Ono at the Indica and being all the more attracted to her knowing that she had been involved with John Cage. Before John met or even heard of Yoko, he [and Paul] were a real enthusiasts of experimental electronica. John'n'Yoko is a marriage of Popcult and the exploding Plastic Inevitable Flameout of "High" Culture.

As regards "Paul's" Mellotron, it places McCartney in a very interesting position. We still don't have Paul's "Carnival of Light." In the realm of Musique Concrete, "Revolution #9" casts a long shadow, being a unique and uniquely successful example of experimental electronic music. I'm sure all involved in "Carnival of Light" are still trying to get away from whatever it was that has Apple sitting on it 'til all involved are dead and buried. But Paul's contributions, the sonorities and musical gestures he would choose, softened the cutting edge of these new sounds, rendered them "Pop-y" much as Les Paul's musical experiments with multi-tracking were tremendously popular because they were so appealing to the ear. Knowing how Paul was involved in the Production/Creation of the New Electronic sounds of the Beatles places him in a different light. I can't help but think of Paul's splendid solo single "Coming Up," near techno in structure and sound, irresistible as ear-candy.

 

Thanks. The earlier post left me wondering if there was new information I hadn't heard.

 

Not true, Paul actually used a mellotron for one of those loops.

The only confirmed (if inaudible) Mellotron on the album (from Paul) is during the mini-collage section of Tomorrow, in amongst the sonic maelstrom, so I wouldn't rush out and buy it on that account.

http://planetmellotron.com/revbeatles.htm

Confirmed on these other links:
http://www.beatlesbible.com/1965/08/16/john-lennon-mellotron-weybridge/
http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/181078/mellotron-a-history-of-music-sampling-playback/
http://www.beatlesebooks.com/tomorrow-never-knows

 

I was just about to post the same. I'm sure Trent Reznor has used it before. I can't for life of me remember what track it was on though.

EDIT: according to ninwiki

'Reznor is in possession of John Lennon's mellotron, which he has used on Broken, The Fragile, and Marilyn Manson's second album, Antichrist Superstar.'

 

It's not that simple. There is an orchestral Bb chord loop (not played by McCartney) that was presumably sampled from some recording. According to Mark Lewisohn, studio documentation indicated the sound of a wine glass was used on one loop, In the big Anthology book, George Harrison says he brought in a loop of a grandfather clock sound.

Finally, in the monumental Recording The Beatles, the authors claim through the use of a computer to isolate, slow down and sometimes reverse the five loops used, their true content is revealed. They are, in order of appearance:

(1) A "laughing" male voice, played double-speed (the "seagull" sound)
(2) A B-flat major chord played by an orchestra (likely copied from a classical record)
(3) A sitar phrase, reversed and played double-speed.
(4) A phrase performed on what appears to be a mandolin (or possibly acoustic guitar with tape echo) played double-speed
(5) A scalar sitar line, reversed and played double-speed.

 

Wow, I had only heard about the home made tape loops, looping around pencils and being fed to one of the tracks of the session tape.

 

Yes, it's an entire field of research

 

I nominate this thread for the one with the most incorrect information.

 

I know that happened during the recording Of Rev 9. Not so sure about TNK.

 

Can't recall where but I read somewhere about the looping around pencils thing Re TNK. 30 or so loops were made by the four Beatles but only a handful are on the track.

 

This is Geoff Emerick's assertion, but those have been proven to be somewhat dubious.
But if he says it, and the RTB book says it, it's probably true.

 

You are welcome to point out and correct any misinformation you see. Merely grumbling isn't terribly useful.

 

Guess you missed the "Mark Ronson Is Producing New McCartney Tracks" thread.

 

I've seen that footage and I think by that comment McCartney meant that the Mellotron (as opposed to a synthesizer or something else) was the instrument that they used on Strawberry Fields. He didn't mean that the one he was demonstrating was the actual instrument used. He must know that the one he owns is the "Bungalow Bill" Mellotron and not the "Strawberry Fields" Mellotron. It's possible that this particular Mark II fell into disrepair in the '70s as many of them did. At that time historically significant instruments weren't as cherished as they are today. Speaking of historically significant instruments, Mike Pinder's Mellotron, the one used during the Moody Blues heyday, has been fully restored and now resides at Q Division Studios here in Boston. Ain't she a beauty?

http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/369/mellotron.jpg

 

I saw what looks like the one on the right at the RRHOF a couple of years ago at a Beatles exhibit. It was labelled as the SFF one, I'm pretty sure.