Neal Morse patch question..

[mutation]

Hey all,

Would anyone happen to know the source of the tremolo-string sort of patch that Neal uses frequently? That's not the mellotron strings, is it? Come to think of it, there's a similar string sound in many Yes songs..Hmmm

[rutgerv]

Hm, i'm not sure what sound you mean. Perhaps you could give an example from a Neal Morse cd? Just name the cd, track and the time where you hear it :),.

But...if you also hear the same sound in some Yes songs i'm almost sure that it is a mellotron, Rick Wakeman used it quite alot.

Rutger

[pmarafio]

Neal is quite fond of the old Mellotron sound. Most samplers/romplers today have a patch or two that can emulate this. Look for names like Tronstrings, Mellotron, Tapestrings, etc.

It's a pretty cool sound and he uses it very effectively!

Bert would know for sure since he covered keys on Neal's last tour.

[rutgerv]

Hi,

i spoke to Bert when he was on tour with Neal and he told me he got his Mellotron samples from Neal who has an enormous collection of mellotron samples :). So the use exactly the same live :). I guess it's an akai mellotron sample set or something.

Rutger

[mutation]

Hey, guys.. thanks for responding! It sounds like, from what you've described, that the patch I was talking about is, in fact, the mellotron string sound (or a sample of it), but just to be sure:

This is from memory, but I think, among other places, you can hear this sound in "crack the big sky" off of the "day for night" album. There's a soft part after brass solo in the middle, when Neal sings:


Rain came and soon became
the color of the sky.
Night stayed and music played,
we could not shame this high.

Friends gathered 'round eachother,
no one was alone.
And you want to run and tell your brother
that you've finally found a home,

but you can't find a phone.