Mellotron Extractor

How to isolate the mellotron in a song

1. Upload the song. MP3, WAV, M4A or FLAC, up to 10 minutes. You sign in with Google the first time.
2. Press Extract the mellotron. The price shows on the button before it runs: 1 credit per minute of the song. New accounts start with 5 credits.
3. Play and download. Two reels appear, Mellotron and Without the mellotron. Click one to hear it alone and download it as an MP3 at 320 kbps.

Failed jobs are refunded.

What a mellotron is

The mellotron is an electromechanical keyboard from England in the early 1960s. Each key plays a length of recorded tape: strings, flutes, choir voices, brass. It was one of the first instruments that let a band have an orchestra at the touch of a key. The sound is a little wobbly, a little dusty and slightly out of tune in a charming way, because it is made of real tape playing back.

You hear it in psychedelic, progressive rock and art rock from the late 1960s and 1970s, and again in indie, post-rock and modern retro records that want that faded, dreamlike color. Because the tape runs out after a few seconds, players tend to hold chords or play slow, drifting lines.

Who wants it alone

• Keyboard players learning the voicings and the way the notes wobble.
• Producers sampling a flute or string phrase with that old-tape tone.
• Fans and students of progressive and psychedelic music who want to hear the part on its own.
• Cover bands swapping in their own keyboard.

If you take the Mellotron file to Audio to MIDI and choose Piano / keys, you get the notes, which you can then play with any sound you like.

What it gets confused with

The mellotron plays string and flute sounds, so the obvious confusion is with real strings and flutes in the same song, and with a string synth or pad. Because it sustains, it can also be mixed up with an organ, see the Organ Extractor, or with a synth, see the Synth Extractor. If a real orchestra is playing too, expect some blending across files. To pull every keys part out at once, use the Keyboard Extractor.