PR Mello Line

[boxingfred]

Suncoast Sound - I taught that middle horn section in 1983, and it was actually made up of Mellos, Flugels, and FRENCH HORNS (Suncoast vets will add my own special, southern, way of saying that!). The Mellos and Flugels did play on the correct mouthpieces for the instruments when I was there.

Anyone who uses horn mouthpieces with adapters on mellos needs to have both their hearing and brain checked to make sure they work. "Hey, here's a neat idea, lets just have everybody in the hornline play on a trumpet mouthpiece, no matter what instrument they play, they're all about the same anyway... We can just order 64 of the same thing. It'll be easy... Hello, music store? Can you send me 64 Bach 7C's please?"

This qoute in response to another post that said if someone marched Bb Horns, they'd go there in a second. Although going back to something we had is not really innovation.

Both of these point directly to my post about "French" Horns. We are missing an important voice. Imagine a wind ensemble or orchestra without horns because they are "hard to play". Wagner or Mahler without horns? Sounds totally stupid, right?

My son is now the third generation horn player in our family, but he's not too sure about doing corps because he won't be able to play his main instrument. My mom never got to march (but she was a professional horn player for over 30 years), but she LOVED to listen to our horn line with it's 8 "French" Horns. I let her play my corps horn once, she nearly ripped the bell off with her sound! We also marched "only" 4 mellos, but you never have problem hearing them. The first section feature in our 79 opener is only the middle horn section - 12 people! Listen to the recording and tell me it's not good.

(Thanks to Tim Salzman for having the confidence in us to write us all those cool parts! And he never once went "Wait, the horns can't play that". It was always "If I write it, they'll figure out a way to get it played". And we did.)

And no, the corps I teach now does not use "French" Horns. We have talked about it in passing, and I make a "joke" now and then about them, but they don't fit our musical style right now. If we were to go to classical or concert band style music, I'd be the first one in line saying that we have to march "French" Horns. Our mello section uses mello mouthpieces, and we are looking into getting custom mouthpieces made by Warburton for this summer. All horn mouthpiece to trumpet leadpipe adapters should be banned, melted down, and made into crowbars to get the last few out of the leadpipes.

I think I'll go start working on that marching arrangement of the Schumann Konzertstuck now...

Hello, music store? Can you get me 16 Dynasty Bb Marching Horns please?

Pretty Cool Info, I'll watch the 79 DVD when I work out tomorrow. Thanks!

[year1buick]

No. Well, not as of a few years ago. I think their approach has changed slightly in the last two years or so. However, prior to this I know that much of the horn line's rehearsal time, especially in the beginning of the season, is devoted to "finding the edge" and then expanding it further and further while also attempting to control it. That is what JD does with his own playing and has done with probably every horn line he's been in front of, so I'm sure he realizes the risk in this system. I'm also sure that he realizes not everyone likes the results, and I'm pretty sure he and nobody else at Regiment really care a whole lot, because there are several die hard Regiment fans and people that really enjoy performing at the edge. So while the reward is never a guarantee, it must feel good to stand in front of a horn line that has "found itself", a la 2005 - 2008, IMO, of course and with few exceptions...

I love that Regiment isn't afraid to wear their emotions on their sleeve, in a sense. I'd rather have a little hype like finals in 2007 (although I believe that semi-finals was a much better show) and 2009. Yeah, it is a little out of tune, and there are a couple individuals popping out of the ensemble, but I feel that if you're really listening so closely and picking out so many minute details, then you really need to just step back for a second. I got to that point a couple years ago, and when I was watching a show I couldn't enjoy a single corps because I was SO CRITICAL of everything that every corps did! It really wasn't any fun and definitely not my money's worth.

Last thought. I'm watching a performance of Mahler's 2nd right now. I can't imagine the brass section performing this piece any other way than "on the edge"... it is borderline crass, and there are a few intonation problems, but overall, listening to this piece is a deeply emotional and moving experience that would likely not have quite the same effect without that aspect of the performance - the human factor, if you will.

And yes. Euphoniums Buicks FTW.

[Nex]

Other then for the occasional effect, I don't feel that the mello voice should be 'cutting through' anything. The counter melodic line adds support, interest, and body. It should not be an intrusive presence, a sideshow if you will. The technicality and movement of the mello voice will be heard and noticed regardless. It should compliment the main melodic statement rather then compete with it for the interest of the listener.

PR has had some really technical and obviously very talented lines in the last few years. JDShaw obviously has a special place for them in his arranging. But he often has them in such a high range that they exceed the good quality limitations of the instrument. Almost every year there is a point in the book where the mellos go into lazer-phone land or just get plain crass. I have a tough time putting them on the pedestal of best mello line because of this despite the brilliance of the technical playing. If restrained a bit and placed in a more mello-friendly register, I wonder how dark, full, and beautiful their middle voice might be? Anybody can pound the listener over the head with a sledge hammer. It takes an artist to come up and hit them between the eyes with a ball peen hammer. The effect is the same, but the latter is far more interesting and challenging.

This 10x. The crassness that's used in (a lot of, not necessarily all) orchestral music that calls for it is generally a specific effect. However, I have a hard time understanding why it is a go-to effect of the PR mellos. Don't get me wrong, in spite of this, they're still in my top 3 favorite mello sections in the activity, but it's really something I wish they wouldn't use as an identifying characteristic.

Edited March 10, 2010 by Nex

[cowtown]

Outside of marching, where are mellos used?

Are they like the hundreds of pit players DCI churns out yearly, way too many for far too little post marching gigs

Yeah, I don’t follow or teach band, always looked at mellos as a fake instrument made only for marching with little outside usefulness….and I’m not saying that as a slam, that's just my impression, limited knowledge.....you folks do some nice work on the field that I do very much enjoy, thank you

And to Guardsmen 79, one of my all time fav shows – the ranges of voices in the closers are sorely missed today

[tdmooring]

[Cough, Cough]

Dear anyone from Phantom Regiment,

Please ignore those that post about any issue relating to "crash, brash, bad, too loud ( REALLY?!?!?!), ect..." style sounds in the Phantom method of musical performance. There is a reason Phantom is so highly reguarded by a great number of Drum Corp fans, year after year (and it's not because they "tip-toe" around music)...

Good luck, have fun, stay healty and strong.

Thank you,

That is all...

[rockinbrass]

This 10x. The crassness that's used in (a lot of, not necessarily all) orchestral music that calls for it is generally a specific effect. However, I have a hard time understanding why it is a go-to effect of the PR mellos. Don't get me wrong, in spite of this, they're still in my top 3 favorite mello sections in the activity, but it's really something I wish they wouldn't use as an identifying characteristic.

I have never heard a phantom mello marching member say that crassness was their identifying characteristic... EVER!!

lol

[idontwan2know]

Keep in mind when comparing G mello lines to F mello lines that the arranging and relative place in the ensemble has a lot to do with how well they "cut".

G mellos were in the same octave as the sopranos and they frequently crossed above the lower soprano parts. This is a big part of why they are seemingly more "present" even at lower dynamics. The Cadet and Star mello lines from the 90s had the benefit of this phenomenon in their normal playing range.

F mellos, by virtue of being a true alto voice in a Bb/F line, offer a much more homogeneous ensemble sound, but they have trouble speaking as clearly on melodic lines. I suspect this is precisely why JD Shaw writes his mello parts so high on the dramatic stuff...to mimic the G mellos' place in the ensemble. Unfortunately that means putting the parts in a range where it is very difficult to maintain a quality sound.

[mellophonium]

I have never heard a phantom mello marching member say that crassness was their identifying characteristic... EVER!!

lol

Do you hear cavaliers saying that one of their defining characteristics is their ahem... "easy" marching technique? No. Is it? You bet your a## it is.

[CuriousMe]

Outside of marching, where are mellos used?

Are they like the hundreds of pit players DCI churns out yearly, way too many for far too little post marching gigs

Yeah, I don’t follow or teach band, always looked at mellos as a fake instrument made only for marching with little outside usefulness….and I’m not saying that as a slam, that's just my impression, limited knowledge.....you folks do some nice work on the field that I do very much enjoy, thank you

And to Guardsmen 79, one of my all time fav shows – the ranges of voices in the closers are sorely missed today

Not sure if they are used outside of marching music. Most of the lines I marched in were roughly 2/3 trumpet players, 1/3 horn players. I played trumpet in legit gigs.....I just liked the mello voice on the field (all those fun wiggly parts )

Edited March 16, 2010 by CuriousMe