Mel9 advice if you please

[leevc5]

Is it a worthwhile contraption or just another toy? I have read a reasonable amount about it but have come to trust the SDUGF members opinions more than most of the internet blather.
If you think it's goody to be had, what is a reasonable price?
Or are there other options available?

 

[VinceT]

Re: Mel9 advice if you please

With all of these EH pedals, my feel is they'd be great for home/recording but I'd likely never use them live, or if I did only on one or two songs - too expensive for me as a 'spot' sound. Intriguing though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Mel9 advice if you please

As a MIDI Guitarist, I regard the EHX -9 series of pedals as a halfway house for those who do not wish to commit time and money to full-on guitar synthesis.

It is obvious from the video product demonstrations that the polyphonic pitch tracking is up to the job. The disadvantage is that the pedals track string bends - something that pianos cannot do and that organs and mellotrons can only manage by switching the electricity supply off and back on.

The question that you need to ask yourself is, how much do I need these nine sounds? Clearly, there are times when a synthetic string wash behind a clean guitar is extremely effective. Overuse would soon induce boredom.

One of my favourite examples of an EHX -9 series pedal in use is a Greg Koch Fishman Fluence pickup demonstration trade show performance. GK is accompanied by Roscoe Beck on bass guitar. At one point, Beck is alternating root notes with comping "organ" chords played as double stops on the D and G strings of his Fender bass. The mix is subtle. The playing is tastefully understated. Just enough backing to support the lead instrument.

I have repeatedly almost purchased the EHX C9 pedal. My recording experience has been that I can introduce enough suggestion of organ pads by applying a rotary cabinet modulation effect to guitar or Chapman Stick parts to fool the ear. Hence, I would put my money on the Leslie-G pedal.

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: Mel9 advice if you please

Is it a worthwhile contraption or just another toy? I have read a reasonable amount about it but have come to trust the SDUGF members opinions more than most of the internet blather.
If you think it's goody to be had, what is a reasonable price?
Or are there other options available?

It is absolutely NOT a toy; it is a serious contender for getting 'tron sounds live. Unfortunately there are precious few good demos of the pedal in action at this point in time.

My biggest gripe with the Mel9 is that it is super sensitive to the signal being fed and the guitar is perhaps too dynamic an instrument to use it with the Mel9 straight out of the box. STRONGLY recommend using a compressor in front of the Mel9 to even out the guitar's response, and then it behaves brilliantly. I wish they had a compression circuit in the unit, but this was obviously built to a price point.

Otherwise, in the studio ... if you have access to a really good 'tron hardware reproduction or MTron software, they are more versatile and better-sounding than the Mel9 in my opinion, but the Mel9 will be very convincing live.

This is a song demo I wrote using the Mel9; it comes in at 2:40. The other synths are an Oberheim OBX.

 

[noroads2002]

Re: Mel9 advice if you please

I have been asking myself the same question. After hearing and playing one today at Nashville NAMM, it is on my list to buy. I was really impressed with the sound quality and response. I am remembering back to the early 90's when you could get decent sound, but if you so much as slightly bent the string, it would wobble back and forth and sound horrible. The sustain works almost more like a delay which helps overall. I was specifically looking to hear the cello sound to see if it was versatile enough to get almost a staccato sound as well as a good bow drawn sound. It sounded great, staccato was achieved by pick control more than anything but the adjustments helped as well. Hope this helps.

Jeff

 

[leevc5]

Re: Mel9 advice if you please

I have been asking myself the same question. After hearing and playing one today at Nashville NAMM, it is on my list to buy. I was really impressed with the sound quality and response. I am remembering back to the early 90's when you could get decent sound, but if you so much as slightly bent the string, it would wobble back and forth and sound horrible. The sustain works almost more like a delay which helps overall. I was specifically looking to hear the cello sound to see if it was versatile enough to get almost a staccato sound as well as a good bow drawn sound. It sounded great, staccato was achieved by pick control more than anything but the adjustments helped as well. Hope this helps.

Jeff

I am most interested in the sax. Can you play with the tone to get a Stan Getz like airy sound. also if you bend the string do you get a bend like a sax?

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Mel9 advice if you please

An accurate recreation of the stock Mellotron tape sounds is unlikely to possess the full range of articulation of a real saxophone.

On the Mellotron, the maximum note duration was determined by the tape loop. Typically, approximately eight seconds.

On a guitar synthesizer or MIDI Guitar system, unwanted pitch bends can be prevented by operating in Chromatic Mode.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Mel9 advice if you please

I am a midi guitarist, also, but always looking for ways to not bring out a fairly big rig. I can trigger Mellotron samples live, so I have no immediate need for this, but I am digging the technology. I am interested to see how it progresses.

 

[leevc5]

Re: Mel9 advice if you please

Picked up the pedal yesterday. Spent a few hours trying it out. Major disappointment, IMO it does not have even fair quality voices. The orchestra and chorus are the only voices that are even half way decent. Maybe playing friends Roland set ups has influenced my expectations.

 

[always SD]

Re: Mel9 advice if you please

1 ORCHESTRA - This sound is a full orchestra, including an octave below the normal guitar and produces a full gigantic.
Yes, it is great

2. CELLO - The sound of a cello solo includes natural vibrato cello.
Yes, it is great

3. STRINGS - Present her with a small string section four parts, including natural vibrato.
Yes, it is beautiful is that which looks much like a mellotron sound

4. FLUTE - This preset presents the classic solo flute sound heard on many recordings.
OK it's fine

5. Clarinet - The sound of a clarinet sounds good both as a solo (played mono) and instrument when playing chords.
OK it's fine

6. Saxophone - This funky saxophone solo British vintage is perfect for playing Beatles-like rock lines. It goes very well with a guitar overdrive.
this is where it gets complicated
roland gr 20 as well simulates the sound of the sax, but with a little latency (or if you want the tracking you fart)
so there is no nickel and is frankly impossible to have a real good and responsive sound with this preset
bad enough

7. BRASS - This preset is a trumpet sound, and when you play chords, it produces a large brass section. As previously reported, the attack and sustain buttons operate differently for this preset for the other presets. The ATTACK knob controls a filter to scan for brass synthesizer sounds and SUSTAIN button adds the "lip buzz" feature trumpet / brass sounds.

it is not good and frankly impossible to have a real good and responsive sound with this preset
bad enough

8. LOW CHOIR - This sound is a complete low voice choir composed of many voices.
Yes, it is superb

9. HIGH CHOIR - This sound is a chorus composed than the voice of many voices.
Yes, it is superb

Amateur TONY Banks and Genesis 70's (not)
get the absolute pedal!

except that sometimes, it will sound a bit garish then, that the Roland GR 20 (eg) will sound less shrill and garish, it will be even sweeter, but colder than these sounds.
It is a choice because there is no need to sensor GK3

A great product, but a bit expensive, 2 sax and brass presets are really failures and dispensable

Note that the Roland gr 20 has the same sounds and the sounds orchestras and string ensemble are more powerful,
different and will have its beefier and less garish in one direction.

We must also say that the brass and sax presets will be much better with simulations with the ROLAND effects

Following is a matter of choice, use, need, space, etc. of dosh

read the manual, there will not be the same power for each note in the handle etc.
you can connect it to an overdriven amp and an amp to sound clear, therefore, Stereo

- Attack Settings (like a swell, slow attack) and sustain but also imitation of the lips on the flute etc.

This pedal will only these sounds and no organ sounds like b9 and C9

 

[leevc5]

Re: Mel9 advice if you please

I'll give it another try later today. Maybe I didn't have the settings right or maybe I should try it thru my Mustang instead of 5F1. I must be doing something wrong because my experience with the pedal was much different from what always SD has posted.