Subject: Re: [linux-audio-dev] EVO status...was: (open-source like hardware)
From: Joe Pfeiffer (pfeiffer_AT_cs.nmsu.edu)
Date: Fri Jan 18 2002 - 20:04:55 EET
Tony Lambley writes:
> Back in the 80's people were using the Synclavier for audio on video
> productions. I know they were serious beasts, but I doubt they would have
> kept all that data in RAM. The latter Fairlights were probably similar.
> Anyone have any first hand experience of them? Maybe they're the prior-art
> people are looking for? May be the Mellotron was implementing read-ahead
> too!
I don't know what technology Synclavier used, but Mellotron wasn't
digital at all. It used strips of magnetic tape; when you pressed a
key it pressed the appropriate idler wheel against one of the tape
strips, which dragged it under a read head. Then when you released
the key a weight pulled the tape back to its original position.
That's right, you couldn't hold a note for longer than eight
seconds -- that's how long the tape was. Dr. Who's foley work was
mostly (I've read ``completely'' but I simply don't believe *that*)
done with a Mellotron.
Good grief -- getting ready to post this, I discover they're back in
production. http://www.mellotron.com/
-- Joseph J. Pfeiffer, Jr., Ph.D. Phone -- (505) 646-1605 Department of Computer Science FAX -- (505) 646-1002 New Mexico State University http://www.cs.nmsu.edu/~pfeiffer Southwestern NM Regional Science and Engr Fair: http://www.nmsu.edu/~scifair
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