sounds

Free Mellotron Choir Instrument Rack | Beat Lab Exclusive

The mellotron is now a classic, vintage instrument that made its mark on legendary tracks like The Beatles' "Strawberry Fields Forever" and David Bowie's "Space Oddity". The instrument had a spacey and haunting vibe that hadn't been heard before in the 1960s. It behaved like a pre-cursor to our modern samplers as well. Sound was created by a section of magnetic tape connected to the keys that would playback when a key or keys were depressed, and playback would then stop when the keys were released. This allowed for a variety of sounds depending what instrument or sound was recorded onto the magnetic tape. The mellotron was designed to replicate the sound of the original instrument, but replaying a tape created minor fluctuations in pitch and amplitude.

So a note sounded slightly different each time it was played. How hard a player hit a key affected the sound as well. Another distinction in the sound of the mellotron was that each "sampled" note was recorded in isolation and so the sound had hints of being natural and unnatural at the same time.

Read More

Santuri Safari – East African Live Pack

Santuri Safari – East African Live Pack   It’s an absolute delight to see and hear such ambitious projects as this one. A brand new instrument rack has been developed by Ableton’s own Emile Hookenhout, (a.k.a Behr,) that captures the excitement and authenticity of a revitalized East Africa. Attempting to stick as true as possible to the cultural roots of the instruments and sounds recorded, Hookenhout came up with the Santuri Safari Instrument Pack. East Africa is going through a refreshing look at their regions music, revitalizing it into something totally new. Musicians from Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda are working to move the regions sounds towards the global trend of electronics. Though with limited access to recording studios and equipment, the emergence of labels and collectives such as Santuri, who is taking it upon themselves to represent and put the region on a global stage, and third parties like Hookenhout, are allowing the …

Read More
top

© 2023 Beat Lab Academy