Mellotron...
The Mellotron is a musical instrument developed in England in 1963. It consists of a piano-style keyboard with recording tapes instead of strings. Each tape has several 'voices' so you can switch from sounds. Flute, human voice are some that I recall.When you press a key, the play head runs along the tape and you hear the sound of that note. So if the Mellotron has 36 notes, there are 36 tapes, one for each note.
Unfortunately the tapes aren't endless. You only get 8 seconds before the tape ends. At that point, you have to lift the key a second for the tape head to retract and you can play the note again.
I recall there was an issue with Mellotrons and the musicians union as the recording studios who had Mellotrons didn't need to hire real musicians every time an artist wanted to add a track where the Mellotron had that voice on the tape. Want a violin to play a short solo? Use a Mellotron. Need 10 singers in a chorus? Use a Mellotron.
Here is a demo with explanation of the inner mechanism.
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Paul McCartney demonstrates the Mellotron fitted with tapes like the Chamberlin.
(the end is very cool)