Mark plays the Chamberlin on 'Gold Day' on 'It's a Wonderful Life'. Scott plays a Chamberlin on 'Sea of Teeth'. Alan Weatherhead plays one on 'More Yellow Birds'. Dave Fridmann tries one out on 'Comfort Me' and 'Babies on the Sun'. Harry Chamberlin developed the innovative Chmaberlin as early as 1946 from mucking around with a tape deck and his piano. The resulting Chamberlin M1, manufactured in Harry's garage in 1948 and 1949, was essentially the first sampler, with a selection of prerecorded drum loops available at the touch of a key. Unfortunately the idea was a little beyond the technology and funds available to Mr Chamberlin at the time, and the first few Chamberlin models were plagued with reliability problems. Compounding Harry's bad luck was his marketing man's decision to run off to England with a couple of Chamberlins and find new financial backing. |
Mark plays the Mellotron on such tracks as 'Little Bastard Choo Choo', 'Heart of Darkness', 'Sea of Teeth', and 'Babies on the Sun'. Dave Fridmann warmed up his Mellotron for 'Gold Day'. Alan Weatherhead plays one on 'More Yellow Birds'. The Mellotron was developed in England during the 1950s from a 'borrowed' Chamberlin, and, with the help of some financial backing, eliminated many of the flaws in Harry Chamberlin's machine. Harry was hopping mad when he found out about the first Mellotrons, but was paid off, and both the Chamberlin and the Mellotron continued to be developed. The Mellotron probably hit the heights of its popularity in the eighties, when its distinctive frame was to be seen on any credible synth band's stage. |
Mark plays the optigan on 'It's a Wonderful Life', 'Gold Day', 'King of Nails', 'Dog Door', 'Comfort Me', and 'Babies on the Sun'. The budget organ was produced by a subsidiary of Mattel, yes, the toy company, in the early 70s, and was aimed at the home/amatuer market. The different sets of keyboard sounds are loaded from 12" celluloid discs, and summoned by a light, which on cue would shine through the disc, and onto a photoreceptor cell. Limited chord range and inherent design flaws spelt an early end to the Optigan's popularity. 'Optigans Anonymous' details one man's obsession with the instrument he describes as "pretty crappy sounding," but "perfect fodder for an obsessive, almost fetishistic website". |
Scott plays the Orchestron on 'Gold Day'. Alan Weatherhead plays one on 'More Yellow Birds'. Mark plays one on 'Babies on the Sun'. After Mattel discontinued Optigan production, a subsidiary company, Vako, launched its own sucessor, the Orchestron. Abandoning the campy sing-a-long home market of the Optigan, the Orchestron was aimed at more professional users. Although many of the Optigan's flaws were ironed out, the Orchestron fared little better than its predecessor commercially. |
'More Yellow Birds' lists Mark as playing the Magic Genie Organ. The only 'Magic Genie' I've found reference to is some kind of chord-related add-on to the Lowrey company's range of organs. Lowrey organs produce big, bold, organs designed primarily for churches and community halls, although they have some smaller, but no prettier, organs for the home. |
Mark plays the Prophet 5 on 'King of Nails' and 'Comfort Me'. The 61 key, 5 voice Polyphonic synth was "one of the first fully programmable polyphonic analog synths", and became "the most classic synthesizer of the eighties" according to Vintage Synth. The 61 key synth has 5 voice polyphony, with two oscillators per voice, plus a white noise generator. For more info, besides the VintageSynth site mentioned above, try Synthchap's Prophet 5 page. |
Mark and Dave Fridmann both play the Wurlitzer Piano on 'Gold Day'. Joan Wasser does her thing on one for 'Little Fat Baby'. Wurlitzer produced a range of electric pianos and organs throughout the 60s and 70s, and who knows which one exactly was used on 'It's a Wonderful Life'. |
Mark plays the harmonium on 'Hundreds of Sparrows' and 'Pig' on the album 'Good Morning Spider'. Scott Minor plays it on the album's title track. A harmonium is a small, portable, bellow-blown reed organ. The player usually sits on ground, one hand fingering keyboard, other pumping the bellows. Larger models have the player sitting at the keyboard, and pumping the bellows with a foot pedal. |
Mark plays some kind of Moog keyboard on 'Comfort Me'. One of the most popular of Moog's range is their Minimoog which Vintage Synth describes as "the very first compact affordable synthesizer for musicians! Probably the most popular synth of all time, even still to this day! Excellent fat analog sound and the best filters. It featured 3 oscillators that could be individually de-tuned and offered multiple waveforms . . . The Minimoog is responsible for some of the warmest and best analog synth bass, lead and whistle sounds ever. It's control panel can lie flat or propped up perpendicular to the keyboard. It also has a great wood casing. Very rugged." |