The M-Tron Pro virtual instrument is a remarkable emulation of the classic Mellotron — the unique tape playback keyboard made famous by such luminaries as The Beatles, Yes, Led Zeppelin and The Moody Blues.
The 3.5GB sound library features nearly 200 tape banks (sample sets) including those from the M-Tron, 19 of which have been remastered at London’s legendary Abbey Road Studios resulting in a warmth of tone surpassing the originals.
A Virtual Classic... and Beyond
Dating back to the pre-digital 1960s, the Mellotron was one of the first sample-based keyboards. Artists such as The Moody Blues, Yes, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, Genesis and later OMD, Radiohead and Oasis have used them to emulate strings, choirs and other orchestral instruments, while the BBC used them extensively for sound effects.
When pressed, each key engaged playback of a discrete strip of tape containing an eight-second recording of that note played on an instrument such as a violin. The tape rewound after key release. The lack of looping forced the player to adapt his playing style giving the instrument a unique playing characteristic in addition to its already distinct sound. The more commercial models featured the ability to switch between three different sound sets within the installed tape bank — and adventurous owners were able to physically swap tape banks with care and patience.
We first paid homage to this venerable keyboard with the M-Tron. Now M-Tron Pro goes far beyond — and is as much a labor of love as the Mellotron itself. We're also supplying over 40 of the tape banks looped.
More Under the Hood
Lift the lid of the M-Tron Pro and you’ll discover a whole new set of easy yet powerful editing controls that take the Tron experience way beyond what the original inventors ever imagined.
Set up your own splits and layers, apply vintage ensemble and delay effects, and sculpt your sound with low-pass, band-pass and high-pass resonant filters. And that’s just the beginning. You’ll find tape reverse, tape half-speed and a slew of synth-type parameters—making the M-Tron Pro a remarkable source for unique signature sounds far beyond the basic tape banks sounds themselves.
Programmable MIDI CC control implementation with MIDI Learn lets you control it all from your MIDI controller and there’s dynamic keyboard control including filter aftertouch.
Key Features
Nearly 200 total tape banks (sample sets), including:
45 brand-new tape banks not found in the original M-Tron
19 tape banks from the original M-Tron virtual instrument, remastered at London’s legendary Abbey Road Studios
Over 40 looped tape banks
Over 3.5GB of samples total
700+ patches including many created by world-class recording artists and programmers
Up to 35 notes, each individually sampled
Dual layer and split keyboard operation
Programmable MIDI CC response via MIDI Learn
29 parameters per layer including synth parameters
Vintage-style ensemble and delay effects
Low-pass, band-pass and high-pass resonant filter section
Tape reverse
Tape half speed
Dynamic keyboard control, including filter aftertouch
