Instrumentation

[mchromik]

The one time I used a french horn piece with an adapater on a Mello was because you generally can't just walk into a store and find a mellophone mouthpiece. You can however walk in and find/buy adapters till you're blue in the face. You generally have to order mellophone mouthpieces, assuming the store is big/good enough to even know what a mellophone mouthpiece is. And if you order it from wwbw.com you can expect to wait 2 to 3 MONTHS till you get it. Even though it's listed as on-order or two to three weeks. There's probably better sources depending on where you live, but that's my experience from where I live.

Hmmmm. I would think that any new mello purchased would include some variation of the mello 6, save for the trumpet-shanked Yamaha mellos. My Kanstul came with a short-shanked Kanstul 6 whose cup feels and plays identical to the UMI/Benge Mello 6s that I have. Not that I have put a set of calipers on it to be certain. If buying a used horn I wouldn't be shy in asking about it's original mpc.

Checking with one of my favorite places to buy mouthpieces, http://www.mouthpieceexpress.com/catalog/, the only 6V I see is the Kelley plastic variety. That may be a way to try the cup without spending big $. Though I would imagine that the plastic is not everyone's cup of tea.

If one doesn't have timely access to a proper mello mpc, then you might try as deep a cornet piece as you can find. Like a Back 5A cornet. Some flugel pieces will work to, but you have to beware of the differernt tapers. I believe the 'standard' aka 'american' taper is the ticket for the short shanked receivers. For the trumpet shanked mellos like the newer Dynastys & Yamahas, you might get away with a Bach 5V, Bach 5MV, or Yamaha 14F4. Though to be honest all of these pieces might be as rare as the mello6. I think any deep cuped mouthpiece that can fit in your receiver without an adapter would be superior to a horn piece in an adapter. That 'step' in the beginning of the leadpipe just cannot be good. Who knows what kind of turbulence that gap creates. Not to mention the demands of keeping that tiny rim on your face when moving.

The other school of thought is; use whatever works. You will just have to adjust your embouchure, throat opening, air support, and brain till you get a proper 'mello sound'. That and sound consistant with the rest of your section. The mello mpc just makes it all a whole lot easier. For reference I have used a Warburton5 Flugel piece and the Benge (UMI) Mello6 on the field, and currently play on a Curry 3TF. But I will try anything once. ;)

[tran]

Now that we've switched to any key option which hornlines are actually using F mellophones rather than Bb?

In thunder we are using F melos from kanstul!!!

I really like them.

[ctbari]

I was able to get a UMI Mello 6 from the Carolina Crown store. It doesn't show on their site, but since they had mpcs for all the rest, I called... I got it in 3 days. It sure does make a difference in the sound... though I still wish it were a little bigger... and I still wish we knew more about the IYM... I have a hard time justifying that much money to try it "blind". Oh well, I am getting used to the UMI... It's worth it for the sound!

[randomnoise]

Good points being made. Here's my 2 cents:

If you want to stay with the French Horn mouthpiece, play French Horn. You will sound better and it is a great timbre in any ensemble.

If you want to play high register stuff, play mello and use a good mello mouthpiece. I like the Kanstul, but there are several good mouthpieces. A trumpet mouthpiece will probably make you flat, unless you get a mello is made for a trumpet mouthpiece.

[BMBob]

I agree with what Chris said above.

[Joe]

Scroll down to the bottom.

DEG 6V

[mchromik]

A trumpet mouthpiece will probably make you flat, unless you get a mello is made for a trumpet mouthpiece.

The Curry TF cup is technically a trumpet moutpiece, but the shank is about a half an inch shorter then the standard shank. It seems to fit the short shaked mellos well and only requires a minor tuning adjustment. The cup is very deep, actually going convex toward the throat, produces a wonderful mello sound. And it is available in all the Curry cup sizes.

My experience with trumpet mouthpieces isn't so much about tuning, but more tone quality. Bright and harsh being the issue here. Regardless of shank, you seem to need that deeeep cup for a good 'mello' sound.

[Mick Krackin']

The mellophoniums used by the Kenton band were Conn 16Es. Horrible monsters to tune, but with a .500 bore, very loud. Kenton did sit the mellos apart from the rest of the ensemble in concert situations to prevent the mellos from overpowering the ensemble; considering that there were only four mellos in the Kenton set-up, they must have been quite loud indeed.

BTW, the 16Es were in the key of F, but came with an Eb crook. From interviews with the Kenton mellophonium players, the horns actually played much better in Eb.

Kenton Mellos

Interesting article about the evolution of the Mellophonium. I love the part where Stan Kenton takes a hacksaw to a Mellophone at an Indiana band camp to create the original monster.

More than you could possibly want to know about this red-headed stepchild of a horn! B)

[BMBob]

The Curry TF cup is technically a trumpet moutpiece, but the shank is about a half an inch shorter then the standard shank. It seems to fit the short shaked mellos well and only requires a minor tuning adjustment. The cup is very deep, actually going convex toward the throat, produces a wonderful mello sound. And it is available in all the Curry cup sizes.

My experience with trumpet mouthpieces isn't so much about tuning, but more tone quality. Bright and harsh being the issue here. Regardless of shank, you seem to need that deeeep cup for a good 'mello' sound.

I used one of the Curry TF mouthpieces (1TF, to be exact) my second year on mello at Gold. It gave me a nice sound very much like the mello 6V, but let me play louder without trying as hard, and letting me have more flexibility, which I attribute to the wider cup (the mouthpiece I play on horn has a very wide cup as well). I liked it a lot - just more expensive than a 6V. Luckily, I got mine for $20 even from a trumpet player friend.