My spaghetti western knock off uses the famous Mellotron strings and the less famous Diddley Bow.
Listen for the rattlesnake, horse hooves, and tuba.
I believe the Mellotron was the first sampling instrument. It was uniquely analog--each key using a tape. Thus, giving it a highly saturated, sometimes warbled sound. You may recognize its timbre from budget movie soundtracks of the 60s and 70s. When I discovered it in my sample library, it rang nostalgic. Why do we love crappy sounds from the past? For instance, Fender's attempt to sound like an acoustic piano resulted in something very un-piano like. But I love the sound of the Rhodes. The argument that it's good because it's analog falls flat because the youngins love their 808 sounds for hip hop. I had one of those god awful schmaltzy electronic drum kits for studio demos. I guess it isn't so bad in its newer context.
Ha! I just realized this is Americana. Duh, of course it is! The clip clop takes me back to Ferde Gofé (Grand Canyon Suite was in my parent's collection), Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein (Jazz American?), Elmer Bernstein (Magnificent Seven or Marlboro Country; no relation to Leonard), Gershwin (Maybe it's Americana since Gofé composed for him). I don't know the rules for Americana but to me it's orchestration that paints a picture of iconic American landscapes.
Mellotron Link
Diagram ⬇
