

It has a massive 3.5GB library of sounds and is widely considered the most extensive and accurate representation of the instrument in the software realm.

M-TRON Pro by GForce is sort of the de facto Mellotron plugin for many people. The most notable Mellotron plugins are featured here, so you can get that authentic vintage Mellotron sound in VST form. Today, the M4000D exists as a digital version of the legendary instrument.įresh from a brief history lesson, let’s check out the best Mellotron plugins that you can get right in your DAW! Best Paid Mellotron Pluginsīelieve it or not, there aren’t a ton of Mellotron VSTs in existence like there are with other instruments. Enough so that the original manufacturer, Streetly Electronics, introduced the new M4000 in 2007. Manufacturing of the instrument stopped in 1986 after four iterations however, prominent ’90s artists Radiohead and Oasis featured the instrument and it surged back to popularity. King Crimson and Genesis eventually added Mellotron to their instrumentation, and the keyboard became a staple sound in prog. The instrument really came into fashion when rock bands of the mid to late ’60s began using it, including The Moody Blues and The Beatles “Strawberry Fields Forever” prominently features the Mellotron. This gives the Mellotron a completely unique timbre and has become what we associate with the Mellotron sound. Its purpose was to reproduce the sounds of various instruments, which it did accomplish-but, as a tape-based instrument, there are slight fluctuations in pitch and volume (a.k.a., wow and flutter) each time you press a key.

Technically speaking, the Mellotron was the precursor to digital sampling and uses sample-based synthesis to generate its sound. Each key could produce a seven or eight second-long note before the tape needed to rewind itself. Samples included flutes, violins, cellos, horns, choirs, and more. When you press a key, the internal mechanism pushes analog tape across a playhead, which then plays back a sound sample recorded to that tape. Today, we’re highlighting the best Mellotron plugins in 2023, both free and paid! What Is Mellotron? The range of sounds you could get from a keyboard were limited in the days before digital synthesizers, but the Mellotron introduced impressive new technology. When the original Mellotron debuted in 1963, it was a groundbreaking new instrument.
