
The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical polyphonic tape replay keyboard, originally developed and built in Birmingham, UK in the early 1960s.
Contained inside the instrument is a bank of parallel linear magnetic audio tape strips. Playback heads underneath each key enable the playing of pre-recorded sounds. Each of the tape strips has a playback time of approximately eight seconds, after which the tape stops and rewinds to the start position.
This unit features grey-blue chipboard casing with small keyboard and effects dials on left hand side. The unit can be wheeled around on casters. Tapes in this machine were loaded with pre-recorded sound effects used in TV drama production. A description of each effect is written in red pen on masking tape positioned above keyboard.
The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia acknowledges Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we work and live and gives respect to their Elders both past and present.