Keyboardists - what's being used on "No Silver Bird"

[chas_kit]

What's creating the moog-ish echoey sounds and the string-like sounds on No Silver Bird?

Norman Petty's studio was known for having an old Hammond Solovox, but this was a recent purchase of his in '68 - a Mellotron? a Moog?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojidZY0VsxU

 

[Frantic]

A lot of the sound on that track is Norman Petty treating the keyboard afterward with various effects - tape delay and use of the famous 7th Street Studio echo chamber, plus eq and compression. But some of it probably is the “Sugar Shack” Solovox keyboard

 

[chas_kit]

The Solovox would have been an antiquated instrument even in 1968. The keyboardist in the group talks about Petty acquiring a brand-new toy, for making string sounds. But yeah, Petty was a wizard at sound effects and treatments.

 

[HarvestmanMan]

While we are on the topic - how about the keyboard (or is it a guitar with some sort of pedal?) in the Velvet Seed's "Flim Flam Man"?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPhvTxDQWlE

 

[chas_kit]

I asked Alec P. and he believes Petty had a Chamberlin, which is a US made precursor (by many years) to the Mellotron.

 

[buckeyebeat]

Possibly an Ondioline? They were in widespread use in '68 (Blues Project). A Solovox was used by the Four O'Clock Balloon (Northland Battle of the Bands) - Sounds way too "monochromatic" for the sound on NSB.

Solovox in action. The band overwhelmed the studios recording equipment which caused the distortion http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8-ehnutcoo

 

[chas_kit]

The Ondioline is an interesting possibility. The Solovox is definitely too simple and too basic a technology to fit this description. Check out this video - it's from a 70's Chamberlin model and is obnoxious but generates sounds like the single:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym7uN3QiTIs