Mellotron V

Psychedelic analog sampler.

Long before synths, the Mellotron put an orchestra at the keyboardist’s command using tape recordings of real instruments. Mellotron V harnesses all of its lo-fi goodness in an authentic virtual instrument, respectfully enhanced for modern music-making.

Tape-Based
Orchestra Keyboard

Flutes, strings, brass, organs, choirs — if you wanted these sounds in the 1960s, the Mellotron was the only solution short of hiring section players.

Its unheard-of realism was infused with the quirks of each key playing a moving analog tape, creating a sound that went down in history with The Beatles, The Moody Blues, King Crimson, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, and countless others. Mellotron V brings that history, with every beautiful sonic imperfection, to your musical future.

More Than Sound

Mellotron samples have been readily available for decades, but Mellotron V provides the full, immersive experience of playing the genuine article.

Original Samples

Mellotron V’s collection of 65 original tape banks is utterly authentic, recorded directly from the actual tapes.

Inspiration Machine

Realistic and otherworldly at the same time, Mellotron V’s tones will lead to riffs and musical ideas that the best hi-fi orchestral samples won’t.

Roll Your Own

Load external samples and stamp the Mellotron’s vintage signature on any sound you like.

Strawberry Fields,
Everything Is Real

In the 1960s, sampling wasn’t yet even a fantasy. But what if you could cross a tape player with a musical instrument? That’s the Mellotron, and it literally rewrote the rules for what keyboards could do.

The idea was genius: a bank of tapes, one for each note, in a cabinet with a keyboard on it. Pressing a key pushes a play head onto the tape, triggering the recorded sound. Finicky? Very. Expensive? Half the price of a starter home in the UK in the ’60s. Perfect sound? Not even. But it captured musicians’ imaginations at the exact time rock music was going high-concept and welcoming artistic influences.

Discover the history of Mellotron

The first tape-based keyboard, the Chamberlin, dates back to 1959. Inventor Hal Chamberlin intended it for home use as a compelling alternative to the organ, but technical difficulties made success elusive. It was the company that supplied his tape heads that would release the first Mellotron-branded instruments: the Mk. 1 and Mk. 2 in 1963 and ’64. These had side-by-side keyboards, with the left covering rhythm/accompaniment and and the right playing the melody. When they worked, the sound was not terribly far behind the “auto-arranger” portable keyboards of today.

The M300 followed in 1968, with a rhythm section in the lower part of its single 52-note keyboard and pitch-shifting capability. However, it was the smaller M400 that would become the go-to for bands with the resources to maintain and transport it. It’s the reference for what a Mellotron looks and sounds like and the basis of our model in Mellotron V.

M400 tapes used three tracks, letting players choose instrument sounds via a knob that moved the play heads. If you wanted different sounds, you had to change the entire tape frame. A motor kept capstans running, and pressing a key both engaged the play head and pinched the tape between a roller and the capstan, causing it to move. Each note had enough tape for eight seconds of sound, and lifting a key would trigger rewinding.

Though the sustained notes were impressively real, all the factors of tape — wow, flutter, saturation, sensitivity to temperature and humidity — were intensified by the rigors of the road. Kept under control, this added up to a sound not only seminal in early prog, but timeless enough that bands like Oasis, Radiohead, and Vampire Weekend have all reached for it. With Mellotron V, you can reach for it as well, without cleaning a single tape head!

Nights in
White Plywood

Purists will love Mellotron V’s authentic, uncluttered interface.

Unlike the synths and samplers that would come later, the Mellotron didn’t resemble the helm of a spaceship. We kept that look, but with deep FX power just a click away.

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01. Roll Tape

Mellotron V’s keyboard response duplicates the unique attack phase of the play head connecting with tape with utmost accuracy.

02. Good Things Come in Threes

Choose between the A, B, and C sounds on the loaded “tape” or select a blend of all three — something not possible on the hardware.

03. Tune your ’Tron

The simple Tone control applies the same EQ curve as on the original. Simulate varying the tape speed with the Pitch knob.

04. Stompbox FX

Vastly expand Mellotron V’s sonic palette with four FX slots, each of which lets you choose from 13 essential pedals.

05. Spin Doctor

We may not be the first to think of running a Mellotron through a rotary speaker or Twin Amp, but we’re definitely the first to make it this easy!

06. Inner Space

Set your Mellotron in gorgeous virtual acoustic spaces with our state-of-the-art convolution reverb — without leaving the plug-in.

The best of
Both worlds

Mellotron V goes way beyond sampling to give you the most authentic, versatile, and straight-up usable emulation ever..

Faithful modeling

Our proprietary technology reproduces the electro-acoustic behavior of the original Mellotron at component level. The reason it sounds so recognizable is because we reverse-engineered the actual tape system, right down to the transport and tape heads. That means you can even dial in the amount of tape flutter, tape saturation and mechanical noise you want, along with the beautifully crisp preamp and electronics that perfected its classic sound.

World-class sampling

No expense was spared seeking out mint Mellotrons and tapes, including the M400 production unit and all its predecessors. With the finest sampling technology, those timeless sounds have been translated and preserved digitally with Mellotron V - now they’re yours to craft your own musical music with.

And then some

Load any instrument sounds you want from the built-in library into the three tape tracks in whatever combination you want. Dial in a mix of any two adjacent tracks, or use the mod wheel to perform crossfades across all three. Effortlessly set up splits and layers complete with multiple instruments on each track. Whether in the studio or on stage, Mellotron V perfectly balances the original’s coveted character with the cutting-edge flexibility your creative flow deserves.

Mega ’Tron

In addition to FX, we added the kind of high-key control over your sound that no hardware Mellotron ever offered.

The Advanced panel lets you dial in exactly as much lo-fi tape character as you want, manage and edit samples, and more.

  • ADSR Envelope

    Shape the volume curve with a synth-like envelope, achieving crisper attacks and longer tails than the original.

  • Tale of the Tape

    Decide how much like road-worn tape Mellotron V sounds, not to mention the loudness of the Mellotron’s signature mechanical noises.

  • Touch Response

    Make your tapes velocity-sensitive and bring in a bit of tape flutter using aftertouch for truly expressive playing.

  • Mix and Match

    Crossfade, blend, and zone Mellotron V’s three virtual tapes across the keyboard.

  • No Razor Blade Needed

    Edit, trim, loop, mix, and pan the samples on the virtual tapes in the integrated editor. There are even independent envelopes for each of the three tapes.

  • Worlds of Sound

    Load authentic vintage tapes onto each of the three tracks — or load your own samples for maximum creativity.

Hear it
in action

Let these demos from talented and creative souls in the Arturia community take you down to days of future passed. They’re just the beginning of where Mellotron V can go.

Artistscorner

Included in
V collection

Legendary Keyboards Reinvented

This instrument is also part of the V Collection -your complete dream line-up of the legendary synths, organs, pianos and more that made keyboard history. They’re modeled with the most advanced technologies for authentic realism, and enhanced with new creative options. Whether you use it as DAW plugins in the studio or standalone at gigs, V Collection puts the greatest keys of all time at your fingertips for instant inspiration.

Learn More

The features
you need

  • In-App Tutorials

    Integrated in-app tutorials guide you through every aspect of the instrument, from individual parameters to tips from our sound designers, so you can focus on the creative stuff. It shouldn't be this easy, but it is!

  • ASC

    Arturia Software Center lets you download, organize, and update all of your Arturia software titles in one place, as well as manage all of your licenses across multiple devices. Keep it simple.

  • DAW ready

    Our virtual instruments and plugins are designed to fit right into your setup without hassle. Whatever your style, you can explore sound while enjoying full compatibility with major DAWS, on both Windows and MacOS.

  • Preset browser

    Instantly find the sound that’s in your head with intelligent & streamlined preset browsing. Search with keywords, explore by instrument type, musical style, and more - you can even save your favorites to quickly recall later.

  • Resizable GUI

    Whether you want the full visual immersion of our classic instrument emulations, or to save precious screen real estate, the interfaces for all of your Arturia virtual instruments can be resized to a scale that suits you.

  • Perfect integration

    Instruments come seamlessly mapped for the Arturia KeyLab range - but they’ll place nice with other MIDI controllers too. Instant sound tweaking macros, easy DAW integration, and standalone operation.

Gallery

Main Features

65 original tape racks from MKI/MKII/M300/M400 Mellotrons

User sample import: benefit from the Mellotron sound on any sample

3 tracks to select or blend samples

Modeling parameters and modulations: flutter, tape saturation, mechanics noise, noise floor, velocity on volume and aftertouch on flutter

Amplitude envelope and loop controls for each sample

Time stretching on user samples

Dedicated effects pedal board

  • 4 slots with a selection of 10 different effects
  • 1 amplifier simulator (Fender Twin or Leslie)
  • 1 room ambiance
  • LFO with 7 waveforms
  • 1 Noise Generator
  • 1 VCA
  • 1 Mixer
  • 1 external audio input and 1 external oscillator and filter modulation input

61 presets

Platform specifications

Windows

  • Win 10+ (64bit)
  • 4 GB RAM
  • 4 cores CPU, 3.4 GHz (4.0 GHz Turbo-boost)
  • 3GB free hard disk space
  • OpenGL 2.0 compatible GPU
  • ARM processors not supported on Windows

Required configuration

  • Works in Standalone, VST, AAX, Audio Unit, NKS (64-bit DAWs only).

Apple

  • Mac OS 11+
  • 4 GB RAM
  • 4 cores CPU, 3.4 GHz (4.0 GHz Turbo-boost) or M1 CPU
  • 3GB free hard disk space
  • OpenGL 2.0 compatible GPU

Work with ASC

  • An elegant and simple solution to help you install, activate, and update your Arturia software instruments.

All manufacturer and product names mentioned on this page are trademarks of their respective owners, which are in no way associated or affiliated with Arturia. The trademarks of other manufacturers are used solely to identify the products of those manufacturers whose features and sound were studied during the development. All names of equipment, inventors, and manufacturers have been included for illustrative and educational purposes only, and do not suggest any affiliation or endorsement by any equipment inventor or manufacturer.