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Why all Mellophones?


randomnoise

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Why has the all-Mellophone midvoice section become the prevailing standard?

Are we going to let the mid-80s Garfield Cadets and the early 90s Star of Indiana rule drum corps orchestration forever?

Arrangers - write for French Horns and Flugels, too!

Wonderful timbres await you.

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I would like to use French horn bugles if we had the players. Must have a french horn background and preference. I like the Kanstul Alto horn in place of the flugel. We had these 2 years ago but I believe they have been sold. Much better for the lower alto parts and blends well with sops or loud baritones.

It seems that corps are wanting to get away from so many different instruments in the altos. Like you Chris, I don't undestand why.

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.... Must have a french horn background and preference. I like the Kanstul Alto horn in place of the flugel. We had these 2 years ago but I believe they have been sold. Much better for the lower alto parts and blends well with sops or loud baritones.

I don't think I necessarily agree with that. Of the six french horns the 86 Steel City marched, only one had the background and 'preference' (and was a former DCI I&E champ). the rest were either converted mellos/sops OR, like my wife, had little to no brass history (sorry hon!!!) Maybe it was the exception, but they were all quite capable of handling the music, and became quite an accomplished line. Take a listen to the middle section (with 8 mellos) in the 86 finals performance. We were all very proud of them.

I just assumed that the horn was no longer being manufactured.

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I agree Chris! I really miss the sound of other mid-voices, particularly French Horns.

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The reason why I think the french horn and flugelhorn have gone out of the arrangers instrument choice is because there has yet to be a company that can produce these instruments at a reasonable cost or maintain good quality intonation. As for sound quality, you really can't beat the depth of sound that a french horn can give a hornline. One issue I would imagine why these instruments have been replaced over the years is because the mellophone offers the same registers as a soprano only with a larger bell diameter, thus causing the soundqualilty to get somewhat darker. An alto has the same construction as a mello but with a smaller bell. Flugel would then be smaller than an alto and so on. The bore size of the instrument would also come into play as well with the choice of instruments. At louder dynamics (from what I have been told) the french horn tends to break up in accuracy and the partials get closer as you move into the upper registers. This can be avoided if you understand where the "Meat and Potatoes" registers are for the instruments you write/arrange for.

It is also my understanding that the bugle manufacturing companies have discontinued the production of these instruments because they were not a "Big Seller" on the market. The only compay I know that still makes a french horn bugle is Kanstul. Dynasty use to make them, but discontinued them in the mid 90's. I guess after the Scouts stopped using horns and moved to Mellos, they stopped making horns. (I am probably wrong on this information). I have seen some small Div. III corps use horns still, but not like how they were used in the 70'-80's. Now with the B-flat lines that are being produced, some companies are going to make a Mello and a horn for a mid-voice selection to corps, bands and other outdoor music groups.

It is frustrating to see that the horn has gone away in the writing of the horn books of the past 10 years. The mid-voice does seem to be lacking in depth of sound and richness of tone quality. Perhaps, the caption heads of the "Power Corps" will begin to realize the limitation with mello and resort back to the other varieties of middle voice instruments that are available today. Alto, Low Alto, Horn, Flugelhorn and Mello are all great, but should be used in the corect context. Just imagine if a corps actually used the wide variety of middle voice possibilities in an actual show. Utilizing the full range of instrument possibilities would be something to hear. Listening to a hornline of:

Soprano, Alto, Mello, Flugelhorn, Low Alto, French Horn, Baritone, Euphonium and Contra would be very inspiring to an arranger. The sonorous possibilities would be endless.

The other factor to call into play would be cost of the instruments. To outfit a corps with the instruments needed for a full 66-72 piece hornline would run in the neighborhood of $250,000-400,000. And many corps don't have those funds available to purchase these instruments.

It always seems to come back to money, doesn't it.

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The reason why I think the french horn and flugelhorn have gone out of the arrangers instrument choice is because there has yet to be a company that can produce these instruments at a reasonable cost or maintain good quality intonation.

As far as french horns go....I always assumed they were impossible to play with todays drill style (run....bounce....run.....bounce).

Flugles vs mellophones or combo of both? No clue why.

I would love to hear french horns in a drum corps again. Definitely provides a unique sound to the blend of the ensemble.

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One other thing I forgot to mention is that since the mello and soprano are essentially the same horn, the trumpet player has an option of switching to mello with ease and keeping the same mouthpiece and partial structure like that of the soprano. On a french horn, the partials are considerably closer (in the same register as that of the soprano or mello) and that makes the trumpet /soprano player have to re-learn where the notes "fit" on the instrument thus making him work towards note accuracy. With the mello, the switch is easier becasue it is essentially the same instrument anyway only with a larger bell. So the french horn and mello generate almost the same tonal color, but one is a bit more difficult to play than the other. Knowing this and what it would take to get members to work on the instrument, many hornlines opt for working with mellos than french horns because they are easier to play.

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Yeah its too bad it comes down to money. But man, it would be "money" to have those horns back in the hornline. I do recall that BD has fluegels in 93 and 94. Madison's 3rd mello part I know used to use french horn mouthpiences. And I think at times in 98 during "Remembrance" the openining statment solo was played by a french horn and not a mello.

Too bad Dynasty or Kanstul dont sponsor an entire horn line. I know drumlines get those freebies all year long.

Sly

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In working with a drum corps over the summer, I can guarantee you that many corps do not get "freebies" for drums. All of the stuff on the sidelines and on the field are purchased by the corps themselves and they have an ongoing agreement to retrofit the line and pit every 2 years or so with new equipment. So the corps will sell the old stuff and buy the new stuff for the price they sold the old stuff for.

Having a horn manufacturer sponsor a hornline would be great, but not very cost effective for the company. But a corps can use a brand of horns exclusively (Yamaha, Dynasty, Kanstul, etc.) and not get endorsements for it, but get some type of benefit for using a complete line of horns from that company.

Of course, a Division II/III corps would not recieve such benefits, because we (Div. II/III) are not in the public eye as much as the Cavaliers, Blue Devils, Cadets, Phantom Regiment or Santa Clara.

it is a tangled and sometimes one-sided web that has been weaved.

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Why has the all-Mellophone midvoice section become the prevailing standard?

Are we going to let the mid-80s Garfield Cadets and the early 90s Star of Indiana rule drum corps orchestration forever?

Arrangers - write for French Horns and Flugels, too!

Wonderful timbres await you.

I just realized I have never played with a corps or otherwise who had a middle horn section consisting of anything BUT Mellophones.

How boring.

Forget boring.

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