Cyberus wrote:
Are you thinking of a mellotron? I've used one of them, kinda cool I suppose, but heavy in novelty...
Are you sure you don't mean a Theremin? The mellotron was an upright piano keyboard instrument that in many ways predated the sampler. Reels of tape containing recordings of real instrument (or voice) were played for each note pressed.
-edit-
I should point out that the mellotron has a male voice choir sound that is simply awesome. Due to the nature of the machine, the wow and flutter of the tape gave it a very spooky sound. It got the nickname "choir of the undead". I have a multisample of it and am still trying to find a use :lol: