Why all Mellophones?

[dc oldtimer]

I don't know but I have to tell you, 1974 Muchacho's soundeds pretty darn awsome with 16 mello's playing spanish music. WOW!!!!!!!!!!!

[Roger Ellis]

Kanstul still offers a french horn G bugle. The folowing information was taken directly from the Kanstul website. It is interesting to note that the french horn is somewhat more expensive than the mello.

Mellophone Bugle

KMB 180

Bore = .470

10 1/2" Bell - 17 1/2" Length

3 1/2 lbs

$770.00

French Horn Bugle

KHB 185

Bore = .470 10" Bell - 18" Length

4 1/2 lbs

$1015.00

[J.C.]

Mellophone Bugle

3 1/2 lbs

$770.00

French Horn Bugle

4 1/2 lbs

$1015.00

Interesting.

Both instruments cost about $222 per pound (give or take a couple bucks).

[CSGreen]

I am all for French Horns, of course I have never marching nor taught a line that had more thatn 4-5 *true* french horn players, they were mostly trumpet players that could play runs well, lol *including myself*

Actually I am attempting to add Flugels to our hornline this year. It all depends on instruments. If I can find 3 more flugels, our 3rd sopranos will play them this year.

I would love to have a full compliment of alto voices to play with... makes things so much nicer color wise.

[stylites]

I am adding french horns to the alto line this year. When we are larger, I would like to go with a smaller sop line and have a mid line of flugals, mellos and frenches. I think that this gives a depth to the sound which is fantastic. With the low voices, I would eventually like to go with all Euphs instead of a bari line, but that is an entirely separate topic!

[batmanrenegade]

So the question is: Will we be seeing French Horns back in the Renegades horn line?

Yes Evil Mello, your wish has come true, there are French Horns in the Renegade Hornline.

[Shadow_7]

Yes Evil Mello, your wish has come true, there are French Horns in the Renegade Hornline.

Yea, but I don't live in California... Anymore, anyway...

Having switched from Euphonium to French Horn to Mello. I can give this insight. French horn is a lot of work for not much(quantity) of sound. The mellophone is so much easier to play. You can play 2x's as loud with like 30% the effort. Not that I care for the tone of the mellophone.

And then there's the economics. French horns costs more, and the ones currently being produced for marching are not improvements on older models. Not that I've played the 3 valve version, but just looking at it, a square tuning slide? Why not give it a square bell too, since you don't intent to sell any of them. The instrument has enough resistance from the bore size, it doesn't need it in the bends of the tubes too. IMHO

[MelloHorn13]

I marched with a midrange line of 3 Mellos 2 French Horns with Racine Scouts during the winter camps. French Horns sound great with the line. But if don't have a really good true french horn player on the horn, it can cause trouble. Centering pitch on some notes that aren't in the A-F(on the staff) is hard for anyone who haven't studied French Horn. It adds depth to the hornline sound overall, kinda makes up for a lack of Lead Bari.

But I would LOVE to see a hornline with Flugels, Mellos and French Horns. Could be one interesting book.

[upperleadlove]

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.

I have marched both trumpet and mello... Yes the basic mechanics of playing are the same but they play totally differant. The harmonic series of the mellophone is much more difficult to control than trumpet(the pitches seem very close together). Most corps also mandate which mouthpiece members must use... that rules out using what you are used to. Another thing that I have thought about is the overall sound quality of french horns or using horn mouthpieces on mello. Example: Madison Scouts pre 2005... Madison's mello line uses french horn mouthpieces and the sound that they have obtained by doing this has been very bright and offensive. Lead tape was put on the bells of thier horns in a poor attempt to darken up the sound a little(they still do this to the trumets). If you look closely on the 04 dvd's you can clearly see a nice gray colored ring of tape around thier bells. The did however get some very nice new mellos for the 2005 season. I just dont think that horns or horn mouthpieces fit the "dark" sound that some corps are trying to achieve now. The sound of the mello can also be regulated by choice of mouthpiece. Two examples: Carolina Crown uses a UMI 6M (narrow rim, deep, v-shaped cup) and obtains a very full, dark sound. Phantom Regiment uses a UMI 1B trumpet mouthpiece (fairly large, deep, bowl-shaped cup) and also gets a full, dark tone ... but it is somewhat more open and maybe a little more bright. I think it is a matter of preferance and the concept of sound that a hornline is going for. As far as flugles go... Don't the crossmen still use them??? I know they did in 04...

[Scerpella]

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'm with you Chris. Being of your era (Scouts 77-78) I remember some great sounding FH lines. Scouts did Kentons WSS in 77 and even though Kenton used Mellophoniums, the singing FH lines in "Somewhere" are beautiful. Scouts famous arranger Ray Baumgart (69-79) had a very distinct arranging style much of the time writing FHs as the high bass voice, something the mellophones cannot be used for because of their timbre. Does anyone make a long FH anymore? That sound was particularly distinctive.

Edited October 17, 2005 by dans24103