The Streetly Tapes Vol 4

Authentic 'Tron tapes for M-Tron Pro

Working under the tutelage of the original British Mellotron® manufacturers, Streetly Electronics, we have released three volumes of tapes already, so when Martin Smith called to say, “I’ve found some really rare tapes tucked away in the archives. Do you fancy a listen?”. The answer was a fast and unanimous “Yes!”

This add-on pack contains 26 carefully curated tape banks for M-Tron Pro. Those are derived from original EMI tape-stock from the original UK ‘Tron masters. The pack also contains 100s of factory patches from Tron aficionados including; Jarrod Gosling, Matt Berry, Nick Magnus, Dave Spiers, Graeme Rawson & Duncan Parsons.

Tapes Descriptions by Martin Smith, Streetly Electronics.

3 More Violins – Wot, three more bloody violins? How many more ‘ave you got? Well the answer is plenty so rejoice. A thrilling alternative to the MKII classic.

6 Wives Moog – Yes, the very sound Rick W used on his seminal solo album, Trampolining With Frogs.

BIG Brass – No, not a euphonium ensemble from Latvia but a loud’n’proud affair, just right for a Bond movie soundtrack.

Bowed Vibes – A vibraphone attacked by an out of work violinist who’d just sold his Stradivarius 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 to thicken up John Lennon’s vocals.

Electric String Section – Dark and brooding. Cello, viola and violin plugged directly into the mains. The sound you hear comes from musicians with 240V running through their veins.

Electric Violin – A very sweet violin, well pitched and gently played by Ric Sanders of Fairport Convention. Lovely.

Guitar Harmonics – Gordon Giltrap recorded these for us nearly 20 years ago. They are clear and precise as you would expect from this outstanding guitarist.

Layered Choir 2 – Naughty goings on of a vocal nature betwixt Ladies, Men and Boys and a mad Soprano with issues, all vying to be loudest in a choral free for all.

M300B Lower Violin – This is a rarely heard version of the B violin which has added weight due to an additional lower octave.

Moody Moog – 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.

Octave Recorder – See Octave Cello for the gist. A bit crumhorn like in the lower register to be honest.

Piercing Wine Glasses – STAND WELL BACK AND PUT ON EAR PROTECTION.

Pizzi Cello – Pluck my cello! Go on, you know you want to.

Plain Cello – A Scandi drama cello that drones on without a hint of vibrato or happiness. Atmospheric to the max.

Recorder – Now you too can play Three Blind Mice without having to blow. What a thrill.

*SPECIAL NOTE: Sad String Inversions – 3 tape banks created from a set of curious chord inversion recordings from the same tape that gave us the essential Sad Strings. Unused, unedited and forgotten for many years.

Sad String Chord Inversions
A series of chord inversions mainly based around Ab. These do not follow the normal chromatic note layout from G-F. Instead, you have a variety of chords ascend through the Ab scale twice with an initial split at middle D. Arguably the most beautiful Tron String tape bank we’ve heard.

Sad String Notes Variations
Again, taken from the Sad Strings sessions, only this time chromatic recordings of each note across the entire 35-note key range. A valid alternative to the original Sad Strings tape bank.

Sad String Split
With a key split at G2 this tape bank offers 12 Chords in the lower split and chromatic Sad String notes in the upper split. Unlike the Sad String Chord Inversions tape bank the chords in the lower split correspond to the note played (i.e. G1 = G Min, G#1 = G# Maj, A1 = A Maj) so you can play both chromatic notes and chords with confidence.

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!

Timpani 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.

Timpani 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.

ALSO AVAILABLE AS PART OF

The Streetly Tapes Vol 4 is also available with new purchases of the “M-Tron Pro – Complete” bundle which includes the M-Tron Pro IV and all the Expansion Packs. That is a superb 12.5GB+ sound library with 525+ tape banks and 3700+ presets.

Compatibility