M4000D Micro short instruction guide

Introduction For rev 2 hardware and firmware ver. 4.3 2020-05-20, DSP 3.0 2015-05-10 and later

The Mellotron Micro is a keyboard instrument developed by Mellotron in Stockholm, Sweden. It features a velocity sensitive
semi-weighted keyboard and full resolution playback of 100 Mellotron and Chamberlin sounds without any data compression.
The sounds are selected instantaneously, there is no delay for loading.
The samples are not looped, but played back in their original form and length, which means 7.5 to 9.0 seconds of audio.
Two sounds can be played back simultaneously (A and B) and the ‘Mix’ knob can be used to mix between these two sounds.
This works the same way as on a tape-based Mellotron (like the M400 or MkVI) where you can place the playback heads
between adjacent tracks (A and B or B and C).
The sounds have been taken from the first generation original master tapes, therefore they are of superior quality. Playback is
done via advanced signal modeling of the different instruments, the desired instrument can be selected in a sub-menu.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE
The sounds in the digital Mellotron are copyrighted editing performances and have analog watermarking in dedicated spots,
making them universally identifiable by copyright authorities. It is forbidden to sample and resell/rent/license the sounds in the
digital Mellotron in any shape or form.
Mellotron is a world wide registered trade mark that is owned by the Mellotron Company, Stockholm, Sweden.

IMPORTANT MAINTENANCE INSTRUCTIONS

Only use the enclosed microfiber cloth or a similar clean cloth to clean the screens. Preferably use one celan microfiber cloth
especially for this purpose. Do not use any brushes or vaccum cleaner nozzles, those might scratch the screens.

Technical data

Dimensions: 49.1 x 18.4 x 6.3 cm (19.3 x 7.2 x 2.5 inches)

Weight: 2.5 kg (4.8 lbs)
Current consumption: ca 0.4 A at 12V (ca 5 VA power)
Power input: 9-15Volts, AC or DC, 2.1 mm adapter plug. Preferably use the Mellotron orignal power supply, but the Mellotron
Micro can be used with any power supply that can deliver the above voltage and current. The Mellotron power supply can be
used with a mains voltage between 100 V to 240 V, 50 or 60 Hz.

Outputs/connections

The Mellotron Micro has one signal level outputs, ‘Master’. It is an unbalanced line level 1/4 inch jack. The Master output is
controlled by the volume and tone knobs and the MIX knob.

There is also one headphone output with volume and tone control from the front panel; it is the same signal information as the
‘Master’ output.

The sustain jack is used for sustaining Mellotron sounds and also to transmit MIDI data when the Mellotron Micro is used as a
MIDI controller. The sustain jack can also be used to step forward in the playlist (see below on how to program playlists).
See below for more info.

Bluetooth

The revison 2 of the Micro has a Bluetooth connectivity that is used to update the firmware (OS) of the instrument. The sounds
cannot be updated via Bluetooth due to the large Wav files of the sound library. Please check out our Instagram
‘Mellotronfactory’ for information on updates and the app for IOS and Android.

Illuminated logotype

The illuminated logotype on the back panel is touch controlled. Just put your fingertip on it and it will cycle through the whole
spectrum. If it does not react, use a larger part of your finger. The chosen color is stored, so it will return when you switch the
Micro off and on again.

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 M4000D Micro short instruction guide
Controls

• Volume/Tone:
The volume and tone controls are fully analog and have the same characteristic as on an M400 Mellotron.
• Pitch:
Changes the playback speed of the samples up to +/- 700 cents (+/- 7 semitones).
• Octave switch:
The sounds in the Mellotron library have three octaves, F-F. The keyboard of the Micro has two octaves, C-C. To cover the
three octaves, the keyboard range can be moved in three steps. In the lowest position (left LED is lit) the five lowest keys are
silent since the lowest note in the Mellotron library is the F. In the highest position (right LED is lit) the the seven highest keys
are silent since the highest note in the Mellotron library is the F.
• Mix:
Stepless mix control between channel A and B.
• Select A, Select B:
Endless rotation selector used to select the sounds and to select in the menus. Both have a momentary pushbutton function. The
‘Select A’ pushbutton is often used to leave or quit a menu (Esc), the ‘Select B’ pushbutton to activate or accept an input or
selection.

Instructions for use

Manual Mode
The Mellotron Micro is delivered in ‘Manual’ mode with the sounds sorted according to instrument versions, which means
more or less chronologically for each instrument type. First the Mellotrons are listed, then the Chamberlins.
In this mode the sounds on channel A and B are shown on screen A and B respectively, together with a picture of the
instrument where the sound originally was featured.
If you push down ‘Select A’, hold it for a second and thereafter release it, the sounds will be sorted alphabetically. If you press
‘Select A’ again and hold it for a second and release it, the sounds will be sorted according to instrument category. That means
that the string sounds are grouped together, the brass sounds are grouped together, etc.

List Mode
If you press ‘Select B’ you leave the ‘Manual’ mode and open the ‘List’ mode. In this mode the sounds are presented in list
form without any pictures of the instruments or category information. Everything works basically the same as in ‘Manual’
mode, but the sounds are presented without pictures. Hold down ‘Select A’ to sort the sounds differently.

Playlist Mode
If you press ‘Select B’ once more you leave ‘List’ mode and open ‘Playlist’ mode. This mode is significantly different from
‘Manual’ and ‘List’ mode. In ‘Playlist’ mode you can program the order of the sounds yourself.
In ‘Playlist’ mode the sounds are selected and programmed in pairs, which are called ‘Entries’. By turning ‘Select A’ you
jump between the Entries, by turning ‘Select B’ you jump between the Playlists. In the top of screen A the entry name/number
is indicated, in the top of screen B the playlist name/number is indicated.
The yellow text can be edited (see below) so you can name your sound pair (Entry) for example after the songs your are using
them in. In the lower left part of the left screen the number of the Entry (EN:) is shown, in the right screen the corresponding
number of the Playlist (PL:) is shown. This information serves as an orientation and cannot be edited.
Each Playlist can have 32 Entries, and you can define 16 Playlists. You can leave ‘Playlist’ mode by pressing ‘Select B’. Then
you are back in ‘Manual’ mode.
At the bottom of the screen you can see three rows. The middle row shows the Entry (sound pair) that is currently selected. The
row above shows the sound pair of the Entry before and the row below the sound pair of the next Entry.

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Editing Playlists
Turn the selectors so that they show ‘Entry 01’ and ‘Playlist 01’. Press ‘Select A’ and ‘Select B’ simultaneously. If you have a
problem doing this, try pressing ‘Select A’ slightly before ‘Select B’.
Now you are in the playlist edit menu. Here you have several choices for how to edit your Playlist.
- List View Edit
- Copy from Manual
- Copy from Entry
- Copy to Entry
- Swap Entries
- Copy Playlist
- Swap Playlists
- Rename Entry
- Rename Playlist

List View Edit:

Here the sounds are presented in list form. Turn ‘Select A’ to choose sound A and ‘Select B’ to choose sound B. Press ‘Select
B’ to save the Entry. Then the screens will show the two sounds that you have selected. Use ‘Rename Entry’ in the playlist edit
menu to change the Entry name. Turn ‘Select A’ to the next Entry if you want to edit that Entry.
Program as many Entries as you like, up to 32 per Playlist. Press ‘Select B’ to leave ‘Playlist’ mode. Use ‘Rename Playlist’ in
the playlist edit menu to change the Playlist name.

Copy from Manual:

This copies the sound pair that are currently selected in ‘Manual’ mode to the currently selected Entry.

Copy from Entry:

Opens a sub-menu where you can copy any Entry in any Playlist to the currently selected Entry.

Copy to Entry:
Opens a sub-menu where you can copy the currently selected Entry to any Entry in any Playlist.

Swap Entries:
Swaps the current Entry against any Entry in any Playlist. The other Playlist gets the current entry.

Copy Playlist:
Copies the content of the current Playlist to any Playlist.

Swap Playlist:
Swaps the content of the current Playlist with any other Playlist.

Rename Entry:
A keyboard is opened where you can change the Entry name. Turn ‘Select A’ to jump between the keys and ‘Select B’ to jump
between the rows.

Rename Playlist:
A keyboard is opened where you can change the Playlist name. Turn ‘Select A’ to jump between the keys and ‘Select B’ to
jump between the rows.

Each playlist can have 32 entries, and you can define 16 playlists. Leave ‘Playlist’ mode by pressing ‘Select B’. Then you are
back in ‘Manual’ mode.
Turn the selectors so that they show ‘Entry 01’ and ‘Playlist 01’. Press ‘Select A’ and ‘Select B’ simultaneously. If you have a
problem doing this, try to press ‘Select A’ slightly before ‘Select B’.

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 M4000D Micro short instruction guide
Instructions for opening the Config menu
In ‘Manual’ mode press ‘Select A’ and ‘Select B’ simultaneously. If you have a problem doing this, try to press ‘Select A’
slightly before ‘Select B’ (so-called ‘flam’). This opens the configuration menu.
Turn ‘Select A’ to jump between the different menu items.
Press ‘Select B’ to open the selected menu item (for example ‘Audio Settings’).
Press ‘Select A’ to leave the configuration menu (Exit). If you have made any changes in the settings, you will be prompted to
save them or discard them on exit.

Here is a short description of the Config menu items:

• Keyboard Settings:
This is also an important setup menu. Here are the different options:

- Sensitivity
Highest: The playback volume of each note depends on how fast you press down the key (velocity sensitivity). This is the most
expressive setting.
This setting is also recommended when you are using the Mellotron Micro as a MIDI controller. It gives you the most dynamic
response in the MIDI control.
High (default): Here also the playback volume of each note depends on how fast you press down the key (velocity sensitivity),
but it is less sensitive than the highest setting.
Medium: Here only three levels of velocity detection are used. This might be suitable for some players.
Low: Each key is a simple on/off switch that starts and stops the sounds.
You can control this remotely with Midi CC 21. Data 0-2.

- Attack time
Some players are used to this type of setting for the sounds from different plugins and virtual instruments. This is of course not
a feature in a mechanical Mellotron or Chamberlin, but some users might find it useful.

- Release time
Some players are used to this type of setting for the sounds from different plugins and virtual instruments. This is really not a
feature in a mechanical Mellotron or Chamberlin, but some users might find it useful.

- Aftertouch
Turns the mono aftertouch on/off.

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• MIDI Settings
- Input Channel
- Output Channel
- Prgm/Bank Change: Sends ‘Program Change’ data 0-31 when turning ‘Select A’ in Playlist mode. Sends ‘Bank Change’ data
0-15 when turning ‘Select B’ in Playlist mode.
- Pitch range: Standard +/-200 cent or +/-700 cent to match other Mellotron instruments.
- Extended MIDI: When using data-intensive MIDI functions (like aftertouch) this feature can be used to reduce the amount of
MIDI data transferred. The receiving unit must have this data format implemented.

• Audio Settings:
- Nominal Gain: Here you can select the output level of the Mellotron Micro. Normally you should use the 0 dB setting.
- Character: This sets the sound character of the instrument. Default is ‘M400n’ which corresponds to an M400 with standard
new tapes. ‘M400e’ represents an m400 where the same EQ is applied as it was often done on tapes in the 70s. ‘MkII’
corresponds to this classic Mellotron, including its speaker characteristics. The ‘Chamberlin M1’ character corresponds to the
most common of the M1 preamps. The character setting affects all sounds in all modes.
- Halfspeed mode: Changes the playback speed of the samples by one or two octaves. In ‘Low’ position each sample is twice as
long as in ‘High’ position, in ‘ULow’ it is four times as long.
- Pitch Snap Semitones: Instead of continous pitch change, the pitch knob changes the pitch in steps of 100 cents.

• Display Options
- Color setting: Open the sub-menu to customize the colors of the displays.
- Show button functions: Turns the information in the lower left and lower right corner of the left screen ON/OFF.
- Show help text: Turns the help text on the right screen ON/OFF.
- Save on change: When this is ON, all changes made when you are using the instrument in ‘Manual’, ‘List’ or ‘Playlist’ mode
will be registered each time you turn ‘Select A’ or ‘Select B’. This means that the instrument will remember your last setting,
even if power is lost. If you do not want this feature, turn it OFF. Then you will be able to scroll even faster, but the instrument
will return to the setting it had the last time ‘Save on change’ was ON.
- Show mix level: Shows the bar indicators for the Mix level.

• Sustain Pedal Jack

The sustain pedal should have a MONO 1/4" plug. But it will sometimes work with stereo 1/4" pedals.
You can reverse the ‘polarity’ of the sustain pedal to adapt to the different standards of sustain pedals that are on the market.
You can also turn the sustain pedal jack off for testing purposes.

• Load Defaults:
Returns the settings in the Config menu to the default factory settings. Does not affect the playlists.

• System Information:
Info about the hardware and software versions.

If you have any questions please check out mellotron.com or write: [email protected]