Optitron
The world’s most highly prized, kitsch home entertainment instrument.
Mattel’s Optigan® read its backing tracks off LP-sized plastic discs with an optical sensor, and most of them ended up in landfills.
Recorded from GForce’s own Optigan and Coil’s disc collection, OptiTron brings 25 rhythms, five leads and a plethora of effects to M-Tron Pro.
Expansion Pack For M-Tron Pro
At a glance
30 Tape Banks
25 looped rhythms, 5 lead sounds and a plethora of effects, 35 notes per bank, with over 150 M-Tron Pro patches ready to play.
From Our Own Optigan
Recorded from GForce’s own instrument and the massive disc collection of Coil’s Peter Christopherson and Jhonn Balance.
Requires M-Tron Pro
An add on for registered M-Tron Pro users, available exclusively from this website as a direct download.
The M-Tron Pro and it’s expansion packs are completely believable and as authentic as they come. I’ve used these on many records and on tour – I couldn’t do without them in my arsenal of sounds.
”Key features
Over 150 M-Tron Pro patches across 30 new tape banks.
5 leads and 25 rhythms, all looped, 35 notes per bank.
4/4 rhythms at 110 BPM, 3/4 rhythms at 80 BPM.
Discs from Big Band and Bossa Nova Style to Nashville Country and Romantic Strings.
Optigan®
Originally manufactured by toy maker Mattel®, the Optigan was an attempt to break into the burgeoning 1970s home entertainment market. Sounds, backing tracks and effects were stored on LP-sized plastic discs and read by an optical sensor. Push a button for a backing track in a choice of keys, then play the keyboard over it. Several models were sold, from the single-speaker 34001 to the stereophonic, reverb-laden 35011, but the principle never changed.
The discs ranged from bona fide classics like Singing Rhythms and Classic Guitar, the latter used to great effect by Jon Brion on the soundtrack to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, to the toe-curling Nashville Country and the truly epic Romantic Strings. Steve Hackett used the Big Band disc on “Sentimental Institution” in 1980, but the lo-fi sound and poor build quality never caught on, and most Optigans were sold for a pittance or thrown away.
Our love affair started when we heard one in the USA at the turn of the century. The backing tracks carried the same instant nostalgia as the M-Tron Pro rhythms, and we had to have one. Our friend Scanner told us that Coil not only owned an instrument but a massive collection of discs, and Peter Christopherson and Jhonn Balance invited us to their studio to record it.
OptiTron is also available with new purchases of the M-Tron Pro Complete bundle, which includes M-Tron Pro IV and all the Expansion Packs: a superb 12.5GB+ sound library with 525+ tape banks and 3700+ presets.
