G-horns Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 (snip) Someday, a top corps will win with a mix of instruments other than the standard 4 instruments, and it will change. Maybe. As my late father-in-law always said, "There's a correct tool for every job". One of these days some corps tool box is gonna have more than a hammer, screwdriver, pliers and flashlight. I can only hope that the next tool isn't an offset screwdriver with a reed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonataForumusic.com Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 I realize this doesn't help you, but if I had to guess, I'd say there were both practical and musical reasons. I surmise that the musical reasons had to do with a different sound quality and different tessatura. I think the practical reasons might have something to do with ease of playing. But maybe it was just an experiment! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkHorner Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 Having experience with marching Bb marching horn in high school and F mellophone in college, I would have to say that Bb marching horn is 10x worse to march than an F mellophone. Bb marching horn Pros The tone of these are spectacular in comparison to the mellophone, and while they do seem to break up in tone quality earlier, that is not always a bad thing. The switch from F horn to this is much more fluid as this is basically the Bb side of an double horn. The fingerings are more familiar to horn player (although this ties into that second pro). Excellent for small bands. Cons Absolutely ridiculous to get in tune and to keep in tune (I think everyone has had an experience with crazy out of tune F horns before). They are much heavier on the bell side of the instrument than a mellophone. The playability of these instruments suffers greatly while marching (for an example, hold an F horn and try to march and play it without hearing your steps). Being a longer instrument, it takes more air to create a big sound. Larger bands or corps (from the more intensive marching) should stay away from such a volatile instrument. F mellophone Pros There is virtually no tone break up at loud volumes. They are very playable instruments. Trumpets can be drafted to this instrument with ease. They are lightweight and easy to march with. They are LOUD instruments. Excellent high range. Perfect for any size band or corps. Cons The tone is not the greatest. A horn player would have to learn new fingerings and adjust to a new mouthpiece. The tuning on certain notes seems to be terrible on every one I have played (usually forth space Es have issues). Overall, the F mellophone is easier to march with and play than the Bb marching horn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piper Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 Scout House may be a case in point. Back in the 60's everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY were playing on G's. They were playing on Bb's and nobody ever noticed. It still cracks me up to this day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hrnguy500 Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 Having experience with marching Bb marching horn in high school and F mellophone in college, I would have to say that Bb marching horn is 10x worse to march than an F mellophone. Bb marching horn Pros The tone of these are spectacular in comparison to the mellophone, and while they do seem to break up in tone quality earlier, that is not always a bad thing. The switch from F horn to this is much more fluid as this is basically the Bb side of an double horn. The fingerings are more familiar to horn player (although this ties into that second pro). Excellent for small bands. Cons Absolutely ridiculous to get in tune and to keep in tune (I think everyone has had an experience with crazy out of tune F horns before). They are much heavier on the bell side of the instrument than a mellophone. The playability of these instruments suffers greatly while marching (for an example, hold an F horn and try to march and play it without hearing your steps). Being a longer instrument, it takes more air to create a big sound. Larger bands or corps (from the more intensive marching) should stay away from such a volatile instrument. F mellophone Pros There is virtually no tone break up at loud volumes. They are very playable instruments. Trumpets can be drafted to this instrument with ease. They are lightweight and easy to march with. They are LOUD instruments. Excellent high range. Perfect for any size band or corps. Cons The tone is not the greatest. A horn player would have to learn new fingerings and adjust to a new mouthpiece. The tuning on certain notes seems to be terrible on every one I have played (usually forth space Es have issues). Overall, the F mellophone is easier to march with and play than the Bb marching horn. Well said. Plus the leadpipe on a Bb horn is concert style and thus more restrictive to air. A mellophone is more free blowing with the large leadpipe. (I have seen F "mellos" with the small leadpipe and it drives me up the walls) I went through the same thing though. Bb marching horn in high school and mellophone in corps/college band. I would pick the mello any day of the week now . Back in high school I didn't know anything different. When I made the switch to mello in college I was still able to play on a concert horn mouthpiece with the adapter. The only change I had to make was fingerings. Then in corps they put me on a trumpet mouthpiece which freaked me out but I got over it. It affected my concert horn playing a little bit but I would rather use the cushy trumpet mouthpiece than the cookie cutter for marching around. After corps I switched to a trumpet mouthpiece when I was in my college band and I found I was able to last through the game days much better than before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randomnoise Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 You guys are talking like the only option is a Bb Marching Horn. This is not the case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkHorner Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 <br />You guys are talking like the only option is a Bb Marching Horn. This is not the case.<br /><br /><br /><br />The only other option that I am aware of is the F marching horn. I have no experience with that instrument and could not speak of it's playability. However, I would assume that it would suffer from the playing difficulty, tuning problems, and endurance issues that the Bb marching horn does. Although, I would like to know more about such an instrument, as I may be incorrect in these assumptions. (Also I though of another benefit of the F mellophone [for drum and bugle corps that is]. They provide a tone more of that of a bugle than a marching horn would give.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra Clark Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 (edited) Chris (randomnoise) is exactly correct...the partials are what they are, regardless of brass instrument. If one uses an F alto marching horn, for example the Kanstul Chris mentions, then one could perform the mello book from any corps using the F mello and find the partials in exactly the same places as the mello players. The deeper horn mouthpiece will afford well taught players the opportunity to create a unique sound...one not heard in drum corps since 1996, and not regularly since the mid 1980s. Listen to Phantom through the late 80s, (esp. 1979), or Madison in the early 80s, or SCV from their inception to the late 80s - or BD from their inception to the mid 80s (special shout out to State of the Art, 1980...). That sound...that depth...is the contribution of the marching French Horn. Gone...but obviously not forgotten...which makes me smile! Sandra Toledo Ohio Edited August 2, 2011 by Sandra Clark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreelancerAlumni Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 You guys are talking like the only option is a Bb Marching Horn. This is not the case. Totally agree Chris. Go back to the "G" ! Our middle Horn section (back in the day) consisted of Mello, French Horn, and Flugel Horn. What a rich sound that was ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FHdork Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 <Cons Absolutely ridiculous to get in tune and to keep in tune (I think everyone has had an experience with crazy out of tune F horns before). They are much heavier on the bell side of the instrument than a mellophone. The playability of these instruments suffers greatly while marching (for an example, hold an F horn and try to march and play it without hearing your steps). Being a longer instrument, it takes more air to create a big sound.> You naysayers crack me up. It's like you never heard top corps from the late 70s or 80s...all of whom (except Garfield) used French Horn bugles - IN G (longer horns than the Bb horns being discussed) - to stunning effectiveness, including accuracy, pitch, volume, and blend. As for them being heavier...oh my, tell it to the Euph players. <Larger bands or corps (from the more intensive marching) should stay away from such a volatile instrument.>> You get your wish without making a single valid point...now that's a win for you! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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