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#541'S NEW HOME
Photos and text contributed by Lee Richards

MONEYPIT weekend was great. Jerry, Mali, and Ken were just like I envisioned them from other MONEYPIT sites...fun, cool...'tron heads like myself.

As I returned to Alabama and waited for my M400 to make it home, I turned my attention to the CD I had been working on for a year. I left "holes" in 7-8 tracks for #541 to add flutes, strings, and choir over my violins, violas, cellos, piano, and guitars and synths.

When #541 finally arrived...

...we rolled the 'tron into the keyboard area in my Phantom Lake Studios.

After hooking up to the recording devices and powering up, what I heard was the worst noise in the universe. A very nearby TV/radio tower was sending signals through the tape heads so loud that you could barely hear #541's voices! It wasn't just noise but rap music! Horrified, I called Jerry and explained to him the dilemma: "WRAP is coming through my 'tron into the speakers!" (It would be "KRAP" if the station were west of the Mississippi River.)

After Jerry consulted with Martin at Streetly, I was instructed to line the M400 lid, panels, and inside walls with aluminum foil and ground the foil to the power supply. The unwanted RF signals were reduced to almost a normal level. I recorded a song to hear back the 'tron's voices with piano and "real" violins. Listen closely and you can hear a low frequency rumble under the other instruments.

Lara's Spell (Demo)

Right click, Save As... here for the MP3, 1.5MB, 3'06"

Not satisfied that the noise wasn't completely gone, I had one of the two brilliant ideas I've ever had in my life.

Brilliant Idea #1: I found a quilt they use for moving furniture and covered it with layers of foil. Over that I placed a cool tye-dye cover and made a hidden slit to uncover just the keys and controls.

I powered up and---wow!---pure 'tron, no rap crap!

I completed the CD "Another Day in Paradise" and proceeded to Brilliant Idea #2. I "Left for the Black Sand" of Hawaii and married the girl of my dreams.

At the end of Summer '06 Enjoli and I are returning to Hawaii to live there. I will always have a deep love in my heart for all things Mellotronic and for the warm friends I met on that cold Vermont weekend.

I hope you have enjoyed this sojourn through Ken's web sites as much as I always do.

You can bet you will be hearing more from #541 in the future with other projects.

Aloha from Lee, Enjoli, and #541!

All the very best to Lee and Enjoli---and #541!! :-)

This brings to a close MONEYPIT - February 2006.

Aloha!

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