Two Views Of Electronic Music and Synthesizers

These are two well composed documentaries regarding the time scale of which electronic music appeared and who the musical artists were who used synthesizers and composed with them.  "The Evolution of Electronic Music (1929-2019)" sketches out very early applications considered electronic music and plays a small sampling of the works being represented.  Although popular recordings which dabbled with synthesized tones in this documentary are skipped over in this work (No Beatles, Monkees, Byrds, Beach Boys mentions!). 

Our second documentary clearly focuses on this pop music synth implementation:

 The First Bands To Use Synths

The surprise is that The Beatles were far from the first popular band to use a synthesizer in their arrangements.  Our host travels back quite a bit further in the past to find his answer.  Amazing!

Mike Pinder and The Mellotron

Mike Pinder was a founding member, and once the keyboardist, of the band The Moody Blues.  Pinder passed recently.  Mr. Pinder was an acolyte of the weird instrument, The Mellotron.  

What was The Mellotron?  I asked ChatGPT to provide some illumination.  Here is what they said:

A Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in the early 1960s. It works by triggering prerecorded sounds stored on magnetic tape when a musician presses the keys on its keyboard. Each key on the Mellotron is connected to a tape playing a recording of an instrument, such as strings, flutes, or choirs, allowing musicians to produce orchestral sounds and effects that were difficult or impossible to recreate in live performances at the time. The Mellotron became famous for its distinctive sound and was prominently used by bands like The Beatles, The Moody Blues, and King Crimson, particularly during the 1960s and 1970s, adding a unique, ethereal quality to rock and progressive music.

Mike Pinder adopted the instrument to create some unique and memorable passages for the Mellotron.  Witness his use of the instrument on "Nights in White Satin", "Tuesday Afternoon", and "Legend of a Mind".  Symphonic, atmospheric, haunting.  Awesome work!  RIP, Mr. Pinder.

View the very interesting documentary on The Mellotron by clicking on the link below.

A Brief History of The Mellotron