GMEDIA TECHNOLOGY

May 1, 2001 12:00 PM, By Zack Price

Gmedia's GForce M-Tron 2.04 ($69.95) is a VST instrument for Mac and PC that emulates the classic Mellotron keyboard of days gone by. M-Tron includes 28 complete sample sets of Mellotron tape banks, such as the well-known Flutes, Choirs, Strings, and Brass sounds as well as the less familiar Rhythms, Accordion Bass, and Mandolin sounds. The plug-in's 16-bit mono samples come from a variety of Mellotrons, including the M400 used by Radiohead. According to the owner's manual, some of the tape samples are more than 20 years old “and as such there is some authentic noise, which adds character to the sounds.” Sometimes that character can be a bit intrusive; however, you can do a respectable job of whipping the sounds back into shape with judicious use of the Tone, Attack, and Release controls.

OK Computer

To install M-Tron, just pop the CD-ROM into your computer, and an image of the instrument appears. When I selected the Install option on my Windows-based computer, it launched an MS-DOS conversion program. (That's a little too retro for me.) It returned to the familiar Windows installation dialog box shortly afterwards, though.

Once you install the M-Tron plug-in, a second screen appears that asks which sound banks you want to install — all 28 are selected by default. New M-Tron users will likely want to load all the tapes just to hear how they sound. However, doing that requires 518 MB of hard-disk space, so be sure that you have room.

You may not find all the sounds appealing; I wasn't fond of the rhythm banks. Although there's no uninstall feature for erasing unwanted sounds, you can open the M-Tron sound folder and delete the appropriate sound bank files.

Knight in White Satin

Gmedia based the M-Tron's appearance on a Mellotron M400 with a white body (complete with coffee stains and cigarette burns); a 35-note keyboard; and Volume, Tone, and Pitch controls. However, the A-B-C switch, which lets the Mellotron user select among the three tape banks, functions differently in M-Tron. In position A, the panel lid is closed, and M-Tron plays the default or previously selected sound.

Position B opens the panel lid to reveal the Attack and Release sliders. Moving the sliders to the right lengthens the Attack and Release envelope times. M-Tron, like the Mellotron, plays its sounds unlooped. It plays a note for the length of the tape (sample) and then stops. That results in a 7-second limit to individual sounds. To get around that restriction, you can lengthen Attack and Release times and retrigger a note before it fades away. You may not get a perfectly smooth sustain, but you also won't get a “hard” retriggering.

Position C opens the panel lid to reveal the Tape Banks list. To select a sound, click on its name, and M-Tron loads it. M-Tron can play only one tape bank at a time, so if you want to play a second sound simultaneously, you'll have to load another instance of M-Tron into your VST instrument rack. In addition, you can use MIDI Control Change messages to control a number of M-Tron's parameters, including Volume, Tone, Pitch, Attack, Release, Pan, and Reset All Controllers.

A Question of Balance

M-Tron aptly reproduces the widely recognized Mellotron sound. Although the tape library has a couple of clinkers, it also has some pleasant and unexpected delights, such as the Bass Accordion sound. M-Tron works in most VST hosts, except for Sonic Syndicate's Orion 1.7 and VST Wrapper v2 by Audio Ease. According to Gmedia, both companies are aware of the problem and are working to resolve the issue.

If you happen to have $5,200 to spare, and don't mind waiting for delivery, buy a new Mellotron Mark VI. But if your budget is more modest and instant gratification is your thing, get M-Tron. It won't leave you moody blue.

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Overall EM Rating (1 through 5): 4.5

Q Up Arts (distributor); tel. (800) 454-4563 or (530) 477-8128; e-mail info@quparts.com; Web www.gmedia.com/gforce