Mellotron

Under each key sits a length of magnetic tape, about eight seconds long, carrying a flute, string section or choir at the right pitch. Press the key and the tape is pushed against a playback head; let go and a spring pulls it back. Hold a note for more than eight seconds and it simply runs out. The Bradley brothers in Birmingham built it from 1963 on the basis of American Harry Chamberlin's design, which ended in a settlement over the patents.

The flute intro to the Beatles' "Strawberry Fields Forever" (1967) made it famous, and prog rock from the Moody Blues to King Crimson leaned on it heavily. Tape wears, stretches and drifts out of tune, which made touring miserable and is exactly what today's samplers and romplers go to great lengths to recreate.