Orchestron Manual

8/17/2019 Orchestron Manual

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This manual is copyright GForce Software Ltd 2012©. All rights reserved. No part may be reproduced without permission. All trademarks are acknowledged.

An Expansion Pack for M-Tron Pro


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OrchesTron History

Initially developed by Opsonar, the same company behind the Optigan, the

Orchestron was adopted by ex-Moog super salesman David Van Koevering under

the company name VaKo and offered to professional musicians in the mid 1970s as

a potential alternative to the Mellotron®. The main advantage was looped sounds,

increased portability due to its smaller size and a quick way of changing sounds.

Instead of the sounds being stored on bulky and nite length tapes, as per the

Mellotron, Orchestron sounds were stored on celluloid discs in a manner almost

identical to that of the Optigan. However, unlike Optigan discs, Orchestron discs

contained no chords, effects or rhythmic motifs, only individual notes spread

across a 37 note keyboard.Each disc contained a single sound and the initial library consisted of Cello,

Choir, Flute, French Horn, Hammond B3, Pipe Organ, Saxophone & Violin.

These sounds could best be described as lo- - perhaps slightly higher in

quality than the Optigan but not in any hugely discernible way. It’s rumored

that some of the Orchestron sounds actually came from original Optigan master

recordings. Additionally, some were created by Paul Beaver - one half of

pioneering synth duo Beaver and Krause.

Despite their Lo- glory, the Orchestron sounds have a genuine charm and

ciné-like quality that really hits home when used in conjunction with more

high delity sounds. Even a mere whisper of a Orchestron Choir or Strings on

a contemporary track will evoke the grainy quality of days gone by and it’s forthis reason that we fell in love with the instrument years ago.

There were several models produced before the company folded only a few

years after the Orchestron debuted and it was used by a wealth of diverse artists

from Yes to Kraftwerk. The latter used an Orchestron Model A on Radioactivity

and Trans Europe Express and its successor, the Model B, was used by

Patrick Moraz on his album, Story Of I . Later, Vako made him a custom three

manual monster which he toured with Yes but sadly this model seems to have

completely vanished over the ensuing years.

Our Orchestron is a Model C which is essentially a more ‘space age’ looking

Model B and although ours is a single manual, there were dual and single

manual Model C and Model D’s made in very small quantities. In fact, the total

amount of Orchestron models manufactured is estimated as being between 50

and 100.

Today, the number of surviving Orchestrons is thought to be somewhere around

40 and as such prices have risen sharply. The last Model B we saw on eBay

sold for well over $6000 and in the UK we recently heard of a private sale of a

Model C for £6000 (approximately $9000) with only four discs.

Finding original discs to purchase, without actually purchasing an instrument,

is a near impossible task these days but thankfully there is help at hand.

Optigan.com owner, Pea Hicks occasionally makes limited runs of Optigan and

Orchestron discs and in this expansion pack we’re been privileged enough to

include several of these.

Firstly, in order to use this expansion pack you must own a copy of M-Tron Pro.

To use this in the M-Tron Pro simply place the file named ‘OrchesTron.cpt2’ into the folder on your computer named ‘M-Tron Pro Library’

Once this is done, when you next open the M-Tron Pro and click on the Layer A and B windows you will have

access to the samples from this OrchesTron Expansion Pack. LIkewise, when you click in the M-Tron Pro’s Patch

Selection Window you will be able to access the patches created using the Orchestron sounds.


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This Expansion Pack gives you access to both old and new Orchestron

sounds in all their grainy, scratchy and lo- quality. As such we give you

the same advice as we did with the Optigan sounds. If you’re looking for

cleanliness and audio perfection, these sounds aren’t for you. However,

if you’re looking for something grainy and lo- that you can use to inject

vintage and evocative character into your music this expansion pack might

just be the ticket.


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; Piano

One of our favourite new Orchestron

sounds. Just play and hold for

beautiful old vibe piano rhythms.

The OrchesTron Expansion Pack Sounds

; Choir.

A superbly grainy choir sound fro the

original Orchestron Library. As used by

Kraftwerk on Europe Endless.

; Flute

If you love the Mellotron Flute then

this original Orchestron ute is

guaranteed to inspire.

; French Horn

Another gloriously lo- original

Orchestron disc recording.

; Marimba

One of the newer Orchestron discs, a

repeating marimba.

; Hammond B3

From the original Orchestron library,

the classic organ sound.

; Pipe Organ

From the original Orchestron discs.

; Saxophone

Scratchy and grainy and not the

most elegant of Saxophone sounds

but, again, an original Orchestronsound.

; String Ensemble

From the newer Orchestron discs,

an elegantly grainy and lo- string

ensemble.

; Cello.

From the original Orchestron Library.

A cello bank in all its lo-, crackling

glory.


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; Tremolo Guitar

Another one of our favourite new

Orchestron recordings. A magnicent

Electric Tremolo Guitar.

; Violins

A classic original Orchestron sound.

Patches

As with other M-Tron Pro Expansion Packs, The OrchesTron Expansion Packcontains loads of Patches. These are broken down into several sections for each

sound.

Patch names containing “Basic” are Patches using a single layer and have no

effects or velocity sensitivity assigned to the sound.

Patch names containing “Basic Wide” are Patches that use both Layers A and

B with each layer panned L and R respectively. These Basic Patches are great

starting points for your own experimentation.

Patch names containing “Dyn” are Patches offering a degree of dynamic control

via velocity, this may be routed to either Amplitude or Filter Cutoff or both.

Patch names containing “Slow” are Patches that have a slower amplitude attack

than the “Basic” Patches and will more often than not offer velocity sensitivityand contain effects.

Finally, the more interesting and ambitious sounds will be found in the Artist

Presets. We’re very particular about who we use to create presets and each of the

artists here will have used the M-Tron Pro in their normal work for a considerable

time before being invited to submit Patches for an Expansion Pack. That way you

can be assured that these are carefully constructed and considered Patches and as

such we thoroughly recommend that you dive in here to nd the real gems.


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Acknowledgements & Thanks

Pea Hicks and Ian Legge.

www. optigan.com

Mellotron is a registered trademark of David Kean, www.mellotron.com

Patch Design

Roger Lyons

Dave Spiers

Yorkie - MOONGOOSE. www.moongoosetheband.com

Legal Notice

All product names used in this product are trademarks of their respective owners

and are in no way associated or afliated with GForce Software Ltd. These

trademarks of other manufacturers are used solely to identify the products of

those manufacturers whose tones and sounds were studied and or recorded during

development of this product.

The data contained within this product is licensed to you for use in your own

musical compositions both for commercial and personal projects. Redistribution

of the data in any other form is strictly forbidden.

Put simply, we went to a great deal of expense and effort to provide M-Tron Pro

users with something very cool and unique and we do not want to see any of this

work miraculously appear in other products or provided in other formats. It also

goes without saying that we do not want to see this work passed around on the

internet and will pursue anyone who thinks it’s a good idea.


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Documents

Orchestron Manual