John H Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 (edited) that is a good question . . . don't think Karl was making them before, when Gs were the only key. surprised to recognize I never even thought about pulling my old G out of the closet and putting this mpc on it. Truth be told, I haven't even looked at the G since about a month or two after we started on the Fs. I do very clearly remember being extremely relieved to find there was little difference between F and G, and the differences IMO were all to the good for the F. Better pitch, bit less lazer tone above the staff, 'tone' is different than G, but volume felt the same to me . . . . I tend to play really, really loud . . .cuz I can . . . Edited August 19, 2009 by John H Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter Pirtle Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 Quick question..........just for information and not nit-picking but, does it make a difference if the Mello is in "F" or "G"? I play a Kanstul G Mello so I really have no expertice on others. Curious.... This is a great question and a subject that is often overlooked. For me personally, the Benge 6 and Benge 6V mouthpieces are great for G mellos, but a little small for the F mello. Of course, a lot depends on the style of music. For the trumpeters out there, there is a big difference between a C trumpet and a B-flat trumpet in response and tone characteristics. I think the same relationship exists between the F and G mellophones. I use a Monette flumpet mouthpiece (B2FL) during the off season. It has a beautiful sound (and an extremely large throat). At some point I make a switch to the Hammond (5mpv). It's a much more efficient mouthpiece and I can use sound concepts from the Monette to get an acceptable result with the Hammond, without the additional work. Karl only stared creating these mouthpieces a few years ago, for the Bluecoats, but they've been quickly accepted by many corps. There's an interview with him at mellocast.com (click here for episode 37). I use his mouthpieces religiously for trumpet and Karl is highly respected in the trumpet world. The fact that he would take time to develop mouthpieces for drum corps, particularly midvoices, says a lot about him. I was surprised this summer to see the Hammond mouthpieces being used by a lot of the top 12 corps midvoices: Troopers, Blue Stars, Boston, Phantom Regiment, Bluecoats, Cadets, Crown. There are also three top 12 corps utilizing the IYM mouthpieces: Cavaliers (an early adopter), Blue Knigths, and Santa Clara Vanguard. SCV surprised me a bit this year by utiilzing a mixture of mouthpieces, but mostly outfitting the line with the IYMs. I also saw what appeared to be a Curry TF and a standard Yamaha 14F4 in Vanguard's line. So the staff may have fitted mouthpieces to the specific player and their part. Correspondence with John Meeham preseason revealed that he developed a custom mouthpiece for the Blue Devils' midvoice that I would like to try at some point. Lots of options available these days. More than ever! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jksmusic Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 (edited) Correspondence with John Meeham preseason revealed that he developed a custom mouthpiece for the Blue Devils' midvoice that I would like to try at some point. Send me an e-mail with your mailing address Scooter, and I will send you one. We're hoping to release them early 2010. I could not have been happier with how they played and sounded this season. John Edited August 21, 2009 by jksmusic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bracknbras Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 I'm curious what mouthpieces DCI/DCA corps use for their mellos. I know a lot of corps have their members use one particular brand and size. I'd like to get a list going... Used Benge Mello Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBbabe Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 I know of only one person who played with a Hammond. He said it was great for his higher range, but did not work for his middle range. It's probably just the way he played on it. He sold it to another mellophone player who was fine with it. Now he plays on a Curry, but he did play on a 6v mello mouthpiece before the switch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randomnoise Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 Dude! You try telling Bonnie Ott to change her mouthpiece! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melligene Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 You try telling Bonnie Ott to change her mouthpiece! LOL !! What does she use......AND.....does it come pre-programmed with those "Lip Trills"? She is MY Hero....Err...Hero-ess .......somethin' like that.......SHE ROCKS !!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randomnoise Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 She plays a Schilke 18 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poprocks Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 I know Phantom's mellos play on Hammond 6MP mouthpieces and they always sound incredible IMO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BUCKINGFRONCO Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 The Kilties mello line all used Kelly mouthpieces Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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