Mellotron M400

Years of Production	1970 – 1977 – Novatron: 1978 – 1986
Number of Units	about 2 000
Original Price	£795 – Novatron: £1,374
Dimensions L x H x P	86 x 86 x 56 cm
Weight	55 kg

After the imposing and very heavy Mark II and the lighter but still voluminous M300, the M400 was the first Mellotron whose size and weight allowed it to be carried easily.
The M400 is the most famous and the most widespread of the Mellotrons.

The M400 used 3/8″ tapes and had one single 35 note keyboard (G to F). It didn’t have a rhythm or an accompaniment section anymore, but only solo sounds.

The first M400s had a CMC-10 control card. This card needed a warm up period before the Mellotron could be used to its full effect. Moreover, 6 or 7 notes played at once made the motor slow down, which caused a drop in tuning.
The M400s built from 1973 / 1974 had a SMS-2, which was much more reliable.

The controls were: Volume, Tone, Pitch Control and a track selector.
An input for a volume pedal was available in the front of the instrument.
At the rear, it had a unbalanced 1/4 inch audio output, and on the most recent models (from 1973 / 1974), an balanced XLR output.

The control panel exists in three versions: the most widespread has an aluminium sheet; a rarer version has a black sheet on the M400s commercialized by Mellotronics in London, and a third version has a black sheet with black and yellow knobs, on the M400s commercialized by Sound Sales Inc. in USA (from 1977).

The Mellotron M400 and the Novatron 400 are the same machine; only the name is different (see History).

M400 Mellotrons had a cabinet made of white polished wood. Novatrons 400 were available in black or white.

The way the M400 worked was much simpler than on previous models: the banks with multiple sounds that could be found on Mark II and M300 had been given up and replaced by a removable 35 tape frame.
No more rewind between each bank change – which was a delicate operation for the tapes.
A frame was the equivalent of a bank with 3 sounds; thus, to change a bank, you only had to replace the frame by another frame. Each additional frame was supplied with a flightcase.

Thanks to this removable frame system, a wider range of sounds was available. When you ordered an additional frame, you only had to choose your 3 sounds among those that were available.
With the M400, new sounds appeared. The Choirs, which have now acquired a mythical status, are one of those new sounds.

You could also bring Mellotronics your own sounds, and they converted them to 3/8″ format; this way, you had a personalized sound frame. Steve Hackett recorded his own voice, Paul McCartney recorded bagpipes from the Mull island, as well as various sound effects.

• 

A conversion kit, including tape guides in standard 1/4″ format, was available.
With this kit, you could record your tapes with a standard 2 track tape recorder and use them with your M400 afterwards.

Each M400 was supplied with a volume pedal and a transport cover: The Protecta Muff (Protectomuffs)

Having bought a license from Streetly Electronics, EMI has sold a hundred M400s.
Streetly supplied the Mellotrons in spare parts, EMI assembled them.
The cabinet of these models was in polished wood and their serial number began with E4.
They were very badly assembled, and almost every one of them has been sent back to Streetly to be assembled again.

A left-handed model has been especially made for Paul McCartney; the controls are on the right side of the keyboard.

A Mellotron M400 FX was also available. It was supplied with 12 tape frames including 105 sound effects each.

A M400 with a Plexiglas cabinet was created by Mellotronics for the London Music Expo in 1972.
With this see-through Mellotron, you could see the internal mechanism and the way it worked.
Now this model belongs to David Kean (Mellotron Archives). A second model of this kind was built by Sound Sales in 1977.

• The Novatron Revisited – Electronics & Music Maker – February 1983
• Sampling Sixties style – Music Technology – April 1989

• M400 #256 & #1671
• M400
• Novatron 400 #B1753
• EMI 400 #E4-126S
• M400S Acrylic #1
• M400S Acrylic #2

M400 #256 & #1671

Photos: David Cilia – 2000

M400

Photos: Klaus Hoffmann-Hoock

Novatron 400 #B1753

EMI 400 #E4-126S

Photos: Klaus Hoffmann-Hoock

M400S Acrylic #1

Photos: Don Kennedy for Studio Bell – National Music Center

M400S Acrylic #2

Available sounds at Streetly Electronics

For more information and listen to audio excerpts: Streetly Electronics Mellotron Tape Library

STRINGS	BRASS	WOODWINDS
Mk II Violins	Mk II Brass	Oboe
M400 Violins (eq’d MKII)	Muted Brass	Cor Anglais/Oboe Split
M300A	Trumpet	Bassoon
M300B	Trombone	MkII Flute
Three More Violins	Mixed Brass B	Vicki Blechta C Flute
String Section	GC3 Brass	MkI Clarinet
String Section (No Cello)	Two Trombones/Two Trumpets	Clarinet-B
Electric String Section	Moog Brass	Bass Clarinet
New String Section	Soprano Sax	Piccolo
Classic Strings	Tenor Sax	Recorder
Violin	Alto Sax	Octave Recorders
16 Violins	Two Tenor/Two Alto	Ian McDonald’s Classical Flute
Viola	French Horn	Bass Flute
Dickstrings	Glenn Miller	Chamber Woodwinds
Cello	Baritone Sax	Woodwind 2
Paravicini Two Cellos	Chamberlin Muted	Chamberlin Bass Clarinet
Louise Davis Cello (Vibrato)	Trombone
Louise Davis Cello (Plain)	Chamberlin Trombone
Louise Davis Cello (Pizzicato)	Chamberlin Saxophone
Sad Strings	Chamberlin Octave
Angry Strings	Saxophones
Tony Levin’s NS Electric Cello
Ric Sander’s Electric Violin
Cyndee Lee Rule’s Viola
Chamberlin Violins
Chamberlin Harp

VOICES	KEYBOARDS	GUITARS
8 Voice Choir	St John’s Wood Church	Electric Guitar
Male Choir	Organ	Spanish Guitar
Female Choir	Piano	Steve Hackett’s Sustained Guitar
Boy’s Choir	M300 Piano	Adrian Belew’s Sustained Guitar
Combined Choir	Mk I Piano Upper Octaves	Gordon Giltrap’s Guitar
St Peter’s Choirs	Italian Accordian	Harmonics
Russian Choir	Rhodes	Ray Jung’s Fretless Bass
Birotron Choir	Moog Taurus Bass Pedals	Twelve String Guitar
Chamberlin Solo Female	Moog Whoosh	Ebow Guitar
Chamberlin Solo Male	Fairlight Arr1	Chamberlin Hawaiian Guitar
	Fairlight Saxy	Chamberlin Electric Guitar
	Fairlight Swannee	Chamberlin Mandolin
	Plucked Piano
	Hammond C3 Clean
	Hammond C3 Dirty
	American Pump Organ
	Wilden Church Organ
	Chamberlin Accordion
	Chamberlin Piano

PERCUSSION	LES BRADLEY MIXES	CHAMBERLIN
Vibes	Gothic	Violins
Marimba	Orchestra	Accordion
Glocks/Tubular Bells Split	Medieval Woodwind	Bass Clarinet
Cat		Electric Guitar
Chamberlin Vibes		Harp
		Hawaiian Guitar
		Mandolin
		Muted Trombone
		Octave Saxophones
		Piano
		Saxophone
		Solo Female
		Solo Male
		Trombone
		Vibes