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The Streetly Tapes - Vol 4 Expansion Pack for M-Tron Pro

This manual is copyright GForce Software Ltd 2018©. All rights reserved. No part may be reproduced without permission. All trademarks are acknowledged.
The Great British Mellotron Story
For the in-depth story about the original
instrument and its history, please
head over to our YouTube channel
GForceSoftwareTV and watch the
video ‘The Great British ‘Tron Story’.
There’s enough info in this film to
educate even a hardened Mellotron®
enthusiast and was made with the help
and cooperation of Streetly Electronics’
Martin Smith and John Bradley. This
Click to watch
film is a comprehensive and fascinating
story of the trials, tribulations and ultimate resurrection of a truly iconic instrument which
still grabs our sonic attention more than 50 years after its birth.
The recordings here are taken from the same library that’s been used in everything from
the M400 to the mighty modern M4000 and contain a mixture of rare, more recognisable
and downright esoteric, yet classic, Melly sounds.
Patches
As with other M-Tron Pro Expansion Packs, The Streetly Tapes Expansion Pack -
Vol 4 contains a wealth of Patches from various ’Tron fetishists and sound designers.
These patches are broken down into several sections for each sound.
Patch names containing ‘Basic’ are Patches using a single layer and have no effects
or velocity sensitivity assigned to the sound.
Patch names containing ‘Basic Wide’ are Patches that use both Layers A and B with each
layer panned L and R respectively. These Basic Patches are great starting points for your
own experimentation.
Patch names containing ‘Dyn’ are Patches offering a degree of dynamic control
via velocity, this may be routed to either Amplitude or Filter Cutoff or both.
Patch names containing ‘Slow’ are Patches that have a slower amplitude attack than
the ‘Basic’ Patches and will, more often than not, offer velocity sensitivity
and contain effects.
Finally, the more interesting and ambitious sounds will be found in the Artist Patches
folder. Each of the artists here will have used the M-Tron Pro in their normal work for
a considerable time before being invited to submit Patches for an Expansion Pack.
That way you can be assured that these are carefully constructed gems.
The Streetly Tapes for M-Tron Pro Vol 4
Working under the tutelage of the original British Mellotron manufacturers, Streetly
Electronics, making these sounds available to M-Tron Pro users has been a huge
voyage of discovery and an immense thrill. But to be brutally honest, after The
Streetly Tapes - Vol 3, we thought we’d exhausted the vast library of tape banks
original Mellotron users could request Streetly Electronics lace to their tape frames.
Throughout our association, it’s fair to say we’ve learned a great deal about the history
of the instrument line and associated sounds from Streetly’s Martin Smith and John
Bradley, to the point where we’ve forged a bond that sees us regard them as true
friends. So imagine our excitement when Martin Smith called to say, “I’ve found
some more tapes tucked away in the tape storage cupboard. Do you fancy a listen?”
The answer was a fast and unanimous “Yes!” However, in the back of our minds we
were slightly concerned about releasing sounds that have been asked for so infrequently
that they’d largely been forgotten. “Would they be fillers?” “Is there a reason they’ve
not been asked for?” were two nagging questions in the lead up to the first listen.
A few weeks passed while Martin transferred the tapes to the digital format via their
Skellotron (a bare bones M400 built to allow detailed adjustment of every component
including the azimuth alignment of each tape-head). When this first listen took
place our jaws dropped such was the range and quality of the sounds. Granted, the
‘Tympani’ may only see occasional use: So too will the ‘Tympani Hits’. But they’re
about the only tape banks that will. Put simply, while we’ve lost count of the number
of variations of the ‘MkII Three Violins’ tapes we’ve heard over the years, the ‘3
More Violins’ tape bank here has a sonic vibrancy and brilliance that sets it apart from
the traditional MkII ‘Three Violins’, while still maintaining all of that etherial ‘Tron
character. Likewise, the ‘Plain Cello’ sound may be based on the original ‘Cello’ tape
bank so beloved by King Crimson and others, but here it has an energy and clarity
that cuts and shines through. Likewise, the awesome ‘Octave Cello’, ‘M300B Lower
Violin’, ‘Soft String Section’ etc etc.
One particular set of long forgotten recordings actually took our breath away and it
was at this point we knew we had to compile and release this set of super rare sounds.
Strangely, these alternative Sad Strings recordings were made at the same time as
the originals, but had been locked away, unloved, unedited and unheard for decades.
This is little short of criminal because the Sad Strings Chord Inversions are probably
the most beautiful Tron strings we’ve ever heard. A set of chord inversions, largely
based around the key of Ab, and played with ‘passionage’ (according to the voice of
conductor on the original tape recordings). This is where the happy accidents lie.
Even the dirtier recordings like ‘Moody Moog’ and ‘6 Wives Moog’ have a snarling
character that’s musically and historically valid, casting us back to a time where
musicians would record monophonic instruments and transplant these sounds into
their Mellotrons to give them eight seconds of true polyphony and reinforcing the idea
that the Mellotron was the first sampler.

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For many though, the highlights of this collection will be the Jack Bruce and Steve
Hackett vocal tape banks. Jack’s vocals were recorded with automatic double-tracking
(or artificial double-tracking) also known as ADT. This was an effect invented by
Ken Townsend for John Lennon, who was bored with double tracking his vocals to
thicken them up, and requested a technical alternative. It certainly works for Jack’s
vocal recordings to the point where you might believe it was recorded using a sampler,
particularly in the upper registers. It wasn’t though and the rumour is that by recording
his voice across the 35 note range, Jack Bruce achieved something that Paul McCartney
previously tried and failed at.
Steve Hackett’s The Voice Of Necam, from the 1978 album Please Don’t Touch, further
reinforces the Mellotron’s use as the first sampler. NECAM was actually an acronym
for Neve Computer Assisted Mixdown and was one of the world’s first automated
mixing systems. ‘Necam’s Voices’ were recordings of Steve and others, which were fed
into individual channels of a mixing desk, with NECAM used to control the movement
of the channel faders. This effectively simulated a technique used by 10cc in their 1975
song I’m Not in Love.
And that’s the beauty of these tape banks - in line with the previous Streetly Tapes
volumes, there’s a musical and historic relevance here in abundance, with almost every
sound having an associated story, aptly indicated by Martin Smith’s descriptions.
Patch Design
Chris Macleod, Dave Spiers, Duncan Parsons, Graeme Rawson, Matt Berry,
Jarrod Gosling, Nick Magnus.
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Legal Notice
All product names used in this product are trademarks of their respective owners and
are in no way associated or affiiated with GForce Software Ltd. These trademarks of
other manufacturers are used solely to identify the products of those manufacturers
whose tones and sounds were studied and or recorded during development of this
product.
The data contained within this product is licensed to you for use in your own musical
compositions both for commercial and personal projects. Redistribution of the data in
any other form is strictly forbidden.
Put simply, we went to a great deal of expense and effort to provide M-Tron Pro users
with something very cool and unique and we do not want to see any of this work
miraculously appear in other products or provided in other formats.
Please understand, most piracy these days is all about ad-revenue and kick-backs made
off the back of affiliate deals and cyberlockers etc. It’s an industry worth millions of
dollars and the criminal gangs have moved in, often using it as a way of funding some
wholly unsavoury activities. We ask that you choose to support those who create so
that they can continue to create, instead of those who seek to profit from the work of
others for nefarious activities. Thank you.
Vol. 4
The Sounds
The Streetly Tapes - Vol 4 consists of 26 tape banks as follows:

;; 3 More Violins ;; Octave Recorder

Wot, three more bloody violins? How many more ‘ave you got? Well the answer See Octave Cello for the gist. A bit crumhorn like in the lower register to be honest.
is plenty so rejoice. A thrilling alternative to the MKII classic. ;; Piercing Wine Glasses
;; 6 Wives Moog STAND WELL BACK AND PUT ON EAR PROTECTION.
Yes, the very sound Rick W used on his seminal solo album, Trampolining With ;; Pizzi Cello
Frogs. Pluck my cello! Go on, you know you want to.
;; BIG Brass ;; Plain Cello
No, not a euphonium ensemble from Latvia but a loud’n’proud affair, just right A Scandi drama cello that drones on without a hint of vibrato or happiness.
for a Bond movie soundtrack. Atmospheric to the max.
;; Bowed Vibes ;; Recorder
A vibraphone attacked by an out of work violinist who had just sold his Stradivarius Now you too can play Three Blind Mice without having to blow. What a thrill.
to pay for gin, but kept the bow. The result is a very haunting but unique sound.
;; Bruce Vocal ADT
This is Jack’s voice with Automatic Double Tracking, an invention from Abbey Road SPECIAL NOTE: SAD STRING INVERSIONS
to thicken up John Lennon’s vocals. 3 tape banks created from a set of curious chord inversion recordings from the same
;; Electric String Section tape that gave us the essential Sad Strings. Unused, unedited and forgotten for many
Dark and brooding. Cello, viola and violin plugged directly into the mains. years.
The sound you hear comes from musicians with 240V running through their veins. ;; Sad String Chord Inversions
;; Electric Violin A series of chord inversions mainly based around Ab. These do not follow the
A very sweet violin, well pitched and gently played by Ric Sanders of Fairport normal chromatic note layout from G-F. Instead, you have a variety of chords ascend
Convention. Lovely. through the Ab scale twice with an initial split at middle D. Arguably the most
;; Guitar Harmonics beautiful Tron String tape bank we’ve heard.
Gordon Giltrap recorded these for us nearly 20 years ago. They are clear ;; Sad String Notes Variations
and precise as you would expect from this outstanding guitarist. Again, taken from the Sad Strings sessions, only this time chromatic recordings
;; Layered Choir 2 of each note across the entire 35-note key range. A valid alternative to the original
Naughty goings on of a vocal nature betwixt Ladies, Men and Boys and Sad Strings tape bank.
a mad Soprano with issues, all vying to be loudest in a choral free for all. ;; Sad String Split
;; M300B Lower Violin With a key split at G2 this tape bank offers 12 Chords in the lower split and
This is a rarely heard version of the B violin which has added weight due chromatic Sad String notes in the upper split. Unlike the Sad String Chord
to an additional lower octave. Inversions tape bank the chords in the lower split correspond to the note played
;; Moody Moog (i.e. G1 = G Min, G#1 = G# Maj, A1 = A Maj) so you can play both chromatic
notes and chords with confidence.
This recording can be heard in the mix during Patrick Moraz’s stint with the
Moodies. A dirty recording but given the right treatment, very useable.
;; Octave Cello
Each recording is of an acoustic cello playing the note along with one an octave
higher. Chords quickly become powerful and dense.

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;; Soft String Section 2
Gentle, like triple-ply toilet paper. Soothing but without medication.
;; Taurus Bass Pedal
This is so powerful and now you can play chords...if you dare. What a sound!
;; Tympani Rolls
For any King Crimson devotees, you can now play the introduction to Epitaph in 35
different pitches. What’s not to like? Okay, the very idea.
;; Tympani Hits
No, not a compilation of half forgotten 1960’s pop songs played entirely on
kettledrums, although that sounds enticing. More a series of single notes played by
someone at some point a very long time ago.
;; Uriah Choir
Vocal tapes from the Uriah Heap mellotron with the lads pushing their vocal chords
to submission.
;; Voice of Necam
Steve Hackett’s famous and haunting vocal tapes created for the Please Don’t Touch
album. Very nostalgic. Steve is hoping Roger King will use these in the future… and
so do we.
The Hackett Connection - A short story.
Sometime in the 1990s GForce Software’s Dave Spiers was asked by Steve Hackett
to wade through his storage lock-up and value then offer for sale various pieces
of equipment that had been accumulated over many years. Amongst an extensive
inventory were Roland drum machines and synths, all of which were easy to value
and sold quickly and easily. Tucked away in a back corner was Steve’s Mellotron, an
instrument which, at the time, was terminally unhip so Dave assumed it was worth
about £4.99. Nonetheless, he put word out to a few devoted prog fans whereupon the
questions came flooding back. “Does it contain Steve’s custom tapes?” and “Is the
Voice Of Necam on it?” However, before Dave could fire it up and confirm one way
or another, a certain Mr. P. Weller purchased it, sight unseen.
When Dave explained this surprise purchase to the inquisitors, their main concern was
that IF it contained The Voice of Necam and other custom tapes, Mr. Weller would
undoubtedly trash them in favour of more Beatles-esque tapes. Thus, for many, The
Voice Of Necam was considered lost.
As an aside, a short while later Dave was involved in the opening of the Museum
Of Synthesiser Technology to which Steve Hackett was invited and where Martin
Smith and John Bradley were demonstrating the Mellotron. Dave caught sight of
Steve looking wistfully at John and Martin playing their MkII and asked “Don’t tell
me you regret selling your Mellotron now?”
Steve confided that he did and that he was considering recording a Genesis Revisited
album and how it would need those iconic sounds. A short while later Dave was
summoned to Steve’s studio to record every note of every tape bank from a MkII
provided by John and Martin. After this session he was then given the enviable task of
tuning, looping (yes, we know it’s a cardinal sin but Steve had specifically requested
it) then importing all the sounds into an S1100, which was duly delivered to Steve for
use on the 1996 album, Genesis Revisited.
Some of those sounds also made it onto the original M-Tron a few years later (alongside
other recordings from a band whose name can never be mentioned), but that’s a story
for another day. The point here is that finally, after all these years, The Voice Of Necam
is resurrected and lives on.

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Food for your M-Tron Pro
The Streetly Tapes Volume 1
Martin Smith of Streetly Electronics explains EMI tape and why the Streetly
Tapes are special.
Click to watch
The Streetly Tapes Volume 2
Referencing the M-Tron Pro Volume 2 Expansion Pack against the modern,
magnificent M4000.
Click to watch
The Streetly Tapes Volume 3
Streetly Electronics’ John Bradley and Martin Smith talk us through a couple of
esoteric sounds in The Streetly Tapes Vol3 Expansion Pack for M-Tron Pro, before
explaining what’s special about the M-Tron Pro & Streetly Tape combination.

Click to watch
The Streetly Tapes M300 Leads Expansion.
John Bradley, tells the story behind the exceedingly rare and desirable M300.
Only 52 were made between 1966 & 1970 and it was used by The Moody
Blues, Barclay James Harvest & Marmalade.

Click to watch
Chamberlin Expansion Pack
An explanation of how the entire tape playing instrument genre came to fruition
via the work of Harry Chamberlin and how that morphed into the Mellotron
and the M-Tron Pro Expansion Pack.
Click to watch

Optigan Expansion Pack

A walkthrough of the the classic OPTIcal orGAN, known as the Optigan, and
how those sounds are available as an expansion pack for M-Tron Pro.
Orchestron Expansion Pack
The story behind the Vako Orchestron, the professional version of the Optigan,
developed by ex-Moog super salesman, David Van Koevering..

Click to watch

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