Introducing The Mellophone
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- Опубліковано 7 лют 2025
- Here's a mellophone I got pretty cheap. Designed to be a 'marching french horn', they look odd. Ridiculous, in my opinion. Slight correction - this instrument is in the key of F, not Eb.
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My Dear Brother Trent. Mark here. I know that you put up this mellophone video way back in 2015: when we were both young. I just simply want you to know how much I do deeply appreciate your plethora of brass musical instruments. By the way I would probably be older than your grandfather.
You may remember me was the whacko weirdo who ofttimes writes to you in early Middle English, Frisian or Faroese, (the Faroe Islands you will remember are 123.6 kilometers due East of Tasmania.
I may be the only other hominid on earth that has most unfortunately managed to collect more musical instruments than you; and that is something that of which I am quite ashamed, and humbled, almost to the point of begging for the mercie of the courte.
Most unfortunately, I too have managed to get myself into quite the mess perhaps a decade or two ago when I became the belated possessor of a Blessing Artist Model Marching F mellophone. Serial number 296,444 places that after 1980. The inner spiritual turmoil that until this very day perplexes my soul was/is WHY would anyone design, let alone actually buy this instrument? I believe I purchased mine for 6 ruppies, Indian. The vendor actual paid ME 759 ruppies to take the instrument from him (something to do with a “family curse” or some such thing). But the shipping from Hydrabad to my remote private island locate due East of Tasmania actually cost me Ruppies 765 so at the end I actually only paid Rs 6/ for the item.
Can you please HELP me. It plays rather well, and surprising has the original Blessing mouthpiece. All four slides move freely and the valves (as expected) are in excellent shape. Of course ALL mellophone valves are ALWAYS in very good shape, even the prototype model dated to 1,723 B.C. found by the noted Latvian oceanographer Professor Dr. Istwan Eglis Levitz Hatoriieq in 569 meters of water buried under 268 cm of silt just off the south east coast of the Greek Island of Santorini (aka Thera). The reason that the valves are always in excellent shape despite their antiquity was/is of course because no one actually ever plays more than three bars before they return it to the case for permanent internment. In fact, I am the designated courier from the court of the leader of an obscure tribe of Mongolian horse trainers from Ulan Bator which I will officially present to you in public as soon as I hitch I ride on a two man kayak from my remote island to Tasmania ( but due to the monsoon season it will be at least four month’s ere the winds are fair. I shall then rent a jet ski and beach in Southern Australia where I will hitch a ride to the nearest bush airport to bum a ride to Christ Church. From their I will trek on foot to your hut. Fear not you will receive fair warning before my arrival. I shall use the bush plane’s radio to forward my estimated year of arrival to the Christ Church aero drome tower.
Your 3 min 4 second now immortal mellophone recording of “Believe Me of All of Those Endearing Young Charms” made number two of the 2016 hit parade at Radio Ulan Bator for almost the entire winter season.
Unfortunately your performance of the world’s longest song title was bested in the first day of the sixth month of the following years Cimbasso solo by the noted Sicilian brass master Maestro Signore Giacomo Gigolo Giaccometti’s rendition of the more recently written piece of music entitled “Would You Believe Me of All of Those Endearing Young Charms” which was written and published by the noted Irish poetaster and hymn writer/vaudevillian Mikey Monbatten Mauro Mohammed Moore in 1912. As you are now quite aware Mr. M.M.M.M.Moore was the great grandson of Thomas Moore, who publish his song in 1808 if my memory still serves me. Poor M x 4 Moore was only slightly injured while single handledly taking out a machine gun nest in the ill fated battle of Gallipoli a couple of years later. (Luckily he was safely taken off the battlefield by two Kiwi army medics both of whom were promptly demoted one rank for their actions. But we’ll leave that episode for another epistle.
By the way, Brother Trent, now that I have this Blessing (poor choice for a name) Mellophone, what shall I do with it?
By the way, when I do finally arrive at your hut in your village you will most please that I managed to find a two man hand powered leather organ bellows fabricated in Bratislava, present day Slovakia in 1753. I was donated to me by Dr Anton Hrabnicky, musicologist and mayor of the fair city when he realized that I was going to visit you in your tiny remote village on the top of a perhaps extinct volcano in Neuva Zeelandia. He too watched your recent UA-cam major production where you referenced your gigantic lego set of organ pipe paraphernalia.
So you see Brother Trent you have indeed been deemed world famous.
But I still don’t know why I ever answered the heartbreaking pleas of Swami Rama Chandra Narayan to mercifully remove the mellophone from his household.
At any rate, I hope to see you soon at the Mongolian Consulate outdoor yurt in Christ Church to formally present you with your well deserved accolade. (What exactly IS an “accolade”?). Until later!
May the winds be fair and the camels well watered, and may your “Wall of Many Things” never tarnish or have their valves or slides seize up.
Most Sincerely Yours,
Brother mark f
Founder, CEO, COO and
Second Janitor of the
448th Division of the
Trent Hamilton Fan
Club and Iron Ingot
Foundry
Wtf
What
This took so long to read
mans wrote this like a full ass formal letter
what does this mean?
In America, marching bands are In almost every high school, so mellophones are extremely common
Jared Davis no not really
Link Da Hero yes they are
Link Da Hero yeah they are , in my district high school the mellophones replace the French horns
Agreed my band only has two but I’m seen lots of them in other bands at football games/Competitions
Yeah Mellophones are in just about every highschool in the US
there's a reason that the mellophone sounds the way it does. it is one of the most specifically designed instruments. it only does one job and it does it very well. it's meant to be played in sections of 5+. if it were to sound like a euphonium or trumpet it would get lost in the sound. marching bands and drum corps use them for a complete color change. and they perform best when playing parts in chords like augmented 5th and things like that. I'll also post a link. they're not generally used as a solo instrument and they really fill a hole in a band.
Yes and no, they were designed to be effective as marching instruments. Their main purpose is to be an alto/tenor voice. In the upper range their timbre can cut through an ensemble; however that isn't their purpose. They aren't necessarily bright instruments, especially since they need to blend with the rest of the hornline.
Daniel Rodriguez yeah but they do need to stick out because they always have unique parts from the rest of the band that are meant to stick out
Agreed 100%. You get above E above the staff and those things can project sound like a cannon.
Moo moo
These usually replaced frenchies in marching bands that's why woodwinds are lacking in most hbcu mellos are deep
Here in the US they're everywhere.
💯 th like. Congrats
Especially in Wyoming.
>150 New Zealand Dollars
>1000+ US Dollars
>35 British Pence
I love you
lmao My King mellophone was upwards of $1500
sounds like the British do not appreciate this instrument. WHERE can I get one at that price?
I'm sorry for your loss
😅😂🤣😂😂
@@xavieronativia529 Yeah, but he got it cheap.
I played a mellophone in US Drum Corps. It's a wonderful instrument that complements the sopranos (trumpets) and bridges the gap between their bright, piercing sound and the warmer, lower sound of the baritone and euphonium. Look up up any Drum Corps International video if your interested. The overall sound is simply unreal. I suggest anything from the late 90's/early 2000's when all of the horns were still in the key of G.
@@ChiptuneDCI There are some in this video : ua-cam.com/video/IEJyhZS_hKc/v-deo.html&
'90's cadets shows (especially '98) have the most insane mello licks you'll ever hear
Okay I'm going to point out. Mellophones are mostly in F, you use them for marching. I feel like this particular horn was $100 for a reason. If you go out and play a King Yamaha or even Jupiter mellophone you would change your mind. There's multiple Drum Corp videos of mellophone lines. This shows what they are used for. In all its the particular horn not the not horn family.
Yay more drum corp enthusiast
Sheldon Rosenblum Can't get enough of DCI :)
that's because its amazing. auditioning for Genesis was amazing (i was on Contra and was cut)
mesirpez Yeah I wanna tryout someday for drum corp
its amazing. it you can go to a camp next year I strongly recommend it
It's about 75 US dollars. Dang, you got that cheap.
+Mrthesamster its actually closer to $100 USD.
+Trent Hamilton mellophones run around 500-1000 USD new in the US
+Trent Hamilton yeah I put it into some money converter thing online so its probably not that accurate. still that's VERY cheap.
+Mrthesamster do take in mind that it is from 1975
+condormovies Even higher than that.
I've heard that Mellophones come from a special place called Mellophonia
Probably, that's where Bach is from.
xShadows yes they do
Is that a JD fun corps joke?
They also require a strict diet of mello-yello and marshmallows
That's a weird way to spell hell
What the fuck am I doing? I have to work In the morning. I don't even own an instrument.
The Russian Bear Lol 😂
Your not a Russian bear anymore
I've played many in the key of F. But we always used a french horn mouth piece not a trumpet mouthpiece, like you have on it.
we use king 7 and blesson 6 mello mouthpieces. better tuning
OK I need to get a Mellophone mouthpiece. The french horn mouth piece is difficult yeah to keep in tune.
+Major Tim To Ground Control yeah the french horn mouth piece is too small for mellophone
yes ours also uses a french horn mouthpiece but ours is in the key of bflat not F
Major Tim To Ground Control i play mello and the trumpet mouthpieces look just like mello mouthpieces
Yeah, My marching band uses exclusively mellos to take the part of French Horns.
We group them in with saxes though.
Forte Piano yup, that's what almost all bands do :)
KDS lol we have our own mellophone section, so.....
same
In college, the Horns are grouped with the Trumpets where Saxophones are grouped with the Clarinets.
wait do marching bands ever march French Horns? idk how you would do that...
I play mellophone in a college marching band in the United States; we currently have 18 in our section. Most of our section plays horn primarily, but we have a couple members whose primary instrument is trumpet. The instruments we use are manufactured by Yamaha (who also manufactures our trombones, baritones, sousaphones, and percussion). In marching band repertoire, the mellophone can fill the alto voice along with the saxophones, but it can also harmonize with melodies played by the trumpets. In normal playing range (written C4 to F5) it does have a warm, mellow tone, but when played above G5 at loud dynamics, as college marching band music is wont to do (looking at you, Tom Wallace), it can drown out an entire trumpet section (we have 65 in our band) due to its larger size.
Great video, very informative! After watching a few of your other videos about brass instruments, I've subbed to your channel. Looking forward to more videos!
They're actually a great source of color in drum corps, and have some of the coolest sounding horn rips, but they can have a beautiful, dark tone for solos. If you want, Trent, be sure to check out some current DCI videos (full shows or headcams)
airborne592 Downside Up Bluecoats 2016
Yup... lots and lots of mellophone in that show.
Mellophones are the most frequent instruments in 6A high school marching bands in Oklahoma. I've seen a band with 34 mellophones.
usually bands i see have around 8or 9
DFssbm In Texas I've seen a marching band with 22 baritones, and they didn't make the trombones switch to baritones
Turtle Guy jesus
Most Texas bands are pretty big so that doesn't surprise me. My marching band has 16 baritones.
Sealio That's still huge. I'm a baritone and I only have 5 in my section (total)
When I played the E flat mellophone in a marching band in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Canada during the 1950s into the sixties my horn had a different configuration than this one. It was curved like a french horn … but in the opposite direction. So the bell was on the left and the piston style valves were operated by the right hand. It was an oddball instrument but I really liked it. It even attracted the interest of Queen Elizabeth when we played for her during her visit to Saskatoon in 1961. She approached me and asked me what was that unusual instrument I was playing. That lady really reached the far corners of the commonwealth.RIP QE II.
This was always my favorite brass instrument when I was in marching band. Its capable of doing trumpet pieces and softer sounding music as well. Sounds so majestic especially when you're in the stands.
The mellophone was forged in hell to mess with horn players
D#mn👿
Try seeing the drum major with that bell 😂😭
Sometimes when we play inside to practice music, I have to turn sideways a little bit just to see the drum major.
March facing away from the sun and get blinded when you catch the glare right in your eyes
You have no idea
I suspect the real reason for that bell is so the band director can pick them out from up in the booth.
@@greenguy5294 i mean everyone has to do that if whoever is conducting is at the same level
"E flat or if"
Trent, greetings from an ex-pat New Zealander. I now live in Toronto, and am grateful to have found your videos to use in my music classes here. Thanks so much.
No worries :) My videos in music classes? That's incredible!
Shouldn't he be paying you for doing his job?
Trent Hamilton i play trombone and im getting a trunpet wich one should i get. i want a b flat
“It must be nice to actually be able to see the drum major.” -The mellophone section in my band
That's a clarinet
Sassy Shark 191 No that is a xylophone
Sassy Shark 191 its a trombone
It's clearly a fucking tam-tam you walnuts
Its a Euphonium, m8
its a timpano
to get some good examples of great mellophone playing look up Canton Bluecoats drum and Bugle Corps from 2015
or even better star '91
Alex Barn ex fucking d my man. They didn't even win brass that year
Ouity just because you don't win brass doesn't mean the mello section didn't kill it, and I felt that Crowns brass largely wins because of their trumpets being just on another level from the other corps
The Bluecoats book does nothing to highlight the mellophones as a section in that show though, that's why I'm dubious. Mellos in Bluecoats mostly just blend into the sound. If he wants to hear characteristic mellophone sound without listening through an ensemble, he should listen to Cadets 2015. That book is 110% mellophone.
listen to the Bluecoats mellos from this year
I feel like no one uses a f horn mouthpiece with a mellophone except for French horn players during marching season. I cri evry tiem
I do, In my opinion it makes the tone much better.
My Mellophone had an adapter for a F Horn mouthpiece and a Trumpet mouthpiece. I used the F Horn mouthpiece. The mellophone I used in high school looked nothing like the one you're holding. Ours looked like an oversized flugelhorn.
Use a system blue mouthpiece. It's a fairly good substitute
the mellophone you are using is probably in the key of f as oposed to the eb pitched instruments that is shown here
I heard our mellos switch from the french horn mouthpiece to actual mellophone mouthpieces and it made the whole section sound better because they could actually blend and stay fairly in tune so personally I think using the french horn mouthpiece is just dumb
We're in america, and we just got one in our marching band this year. Great sound, we have a great player.
I played the Holton version that was pitched in F when I was in college. It was a marching band instrument that actually took the place of the late, UN-lamented French Horn trumpet; a horror which actually used a French Horn mouthpiece and was absolute hell to control. The Holton used a slightly larger piece than a trumpet, but could accommodate a a trumpet mouthpiece. It blew freely, had a great range and could be as loud as hell is hot. Somebody also made one pitched in G back in the 70's. The version Trent's using looks to use an altonium mouthpiece.
Was nice to hear that song without an explosion after the 5th note ( À la Looney Tunes)
I'm in the US and we use the mellophone in our bands and drum corps. They are primarily designed for volume and to kind of fly above the ensemble. I'm not sure but I think the placement of the pinky ring is not for playing, but rather when you need to hold it only in your right hand. It gives you a place to hold the instrument while holding it at your side
Yeah, Mellows replace the Horns. All of the Mellow players I've met like Mellow better than Horn. The Marching ones (at least the ones I've seen) march in F.
The Note Block Interesting. I think that's likely because Horn is a pain in the ass to play in general. Most would argue it sounds better than Mellophone, but I've seen decently good Trumpet players toy around with Mellophone before with some ease and sound decent. I think it's just a much easier instrument to deal with. I always think of French Horn as the instrumental equivalent of highly intelligent child that is ultimately annoying. It's so advanced that it's just a brat.
Trent, thank you for the video. As much as it pains me to admit it, I was in marching band. As someone who was also in Orchestra and Jazz, I can understand your confusion. That thing wasn't meant to replace an actual French horn. It was meant to fill in the register in the field that a French horn had. You also had G tuned single and double valved horns as well. Well, I have to admit back when I was playing they were all G 'bugles'.
The mello is likely the loudest, most voluminous instrument on the field. They have huge bells, big tubes, and very free flowing mouth pieces. Out of a marching band of 120 persons, we only had 8 mellophones. It's all we needed. Well, that's what we told other bands anyways. Mellophone players were often recruited from the trumpet ranks, with a few of them being French horn players. I was second seat trumpet, so got lured to a promotion of first Mellophone. But, usually you would be lured with sweet talk like 'Hey, ya wanna march with something that is far heavier than your trumpet, is impossible to keep in tune in terrible weather, is freaking loud and requires an insane amount of air to keep it from sounding like shit, and is in a completely different key than what you are used to most of your young life?' Yeah, most mellophone players were insane. Yeah, I asked all the girls to join before I invited any of the boys.
Though you could play a mellophone soft and dark, it's main element was barking brightly and madly up into the air at a 30-45* angle. When you have a mellophone, everything starts to look like a nail.
Here's an example: ua-cam.com/video/rFiSYwYT-Vw/v-deo.html
Mellophones are very common in the US I live in North Carolina and I'm in my high school marching band and symphonic band we have a couple mellophone players
Alex Harris me too! what band?
what school? im in North Carolina too
Alex Harris well almost all marching bands have a mellophone, but I've never heard of a symphonic band with a mellophone, that's very odd
I live in North Carolina too
I play mellophone I'm my marching band... I love how you noticed the abnormally large bell (it is a struggle to see the drum major) but I haven't had any issues with tuning. I may have not noticed that I was out of tune but after you get the main tuning slide fixed the notes are in tune besides the high notes. Love the videos. Keep them coming!
This is a rather poor example of a Mellophone. Not only is it poorly designed, Eb Mellophones are typically shunned for favor of the F ones. There's simply no use for it. A proper marching band Mellophone would be in F and also use a French Horn mouthpiece. This particular Mellophone sounds like garbage compared to a proper one.
Most mellophones actually use trumpet or mellophone mouth pieces, unless you can find an adapter
This one is actually in F. Read the description.
As far as I know, Mellophones keyed in F have a mouthpiece that's essentially a trumpet one but with a shorter shank, Bb Mellophones use actually French Horn mouthpieces.
Proper mellophone? French horn mouthpiece? Yikes
I’m a French horn player and I have to learn one of these for school
I play mellophone in a marching band from Houston Texas and can personally attest to the terrible balancing of the front Bell compared to the rest of the main body. It makes holding the instrument much more of a workout than it needs to be.
What band? I'm from Fort Worth
Yamaha
Not only have I heard this instrument played, but I played it myself for a few months during marching band season my freshman year of high school. While it doesn't have quite the same sound as a French horn I think it sounds quite good, especially in the marching band style.
Just by looking at the fingerings, I believe that the instrument is pitched in F
what i said
My high school band was one of those that treated euphonium and mellophone as a promotion or right of passage. Euphonium was my choice of instrument. I always found that mellophone added something to the band. I can remember it being me and one other euphonium player making up all of the low brass in our small band. There were times when there was only one trumpet and a mellophone as the band’s high brass, because they moved a clarinet player to mellophone!
If you used a French horn mouthpiece with a shank adapter, it would sound better.
I'm from America and I've been playing French Horn and Mellophone for about 5 years now. The F Mellophone I have has a very beautiful sound and is very fun to play during marching season.
It's probably in F judging from your demo clip...
Same
It's e flat, that's not a mello in the key of f
Aaron Laughlin he corrects it in the description
That piece was used in an old cartoon. I remember it being played on a xylophone and Yosemite Samad hooked up one key to a bomb detonator. that key was off tune when bugs played it and only set off the bomb when Sam played it.
Never heard of it in Australia.
I picked up the mellophone in college and it was one of the nicest sounding instruments I've played. It had a conical mouth piece like a French horn. I don't remember if it was an actual French horn mouthpiece or if it had a different shank or some other difference. The band I was in rented it for a few years and returned it before I could tell them to tell the store I wanted to buy it. (That's how I ended up with a frumpet.) I was fairly new to brass at the time, having only messed around on a trombonium and a cornet for about a year and a half, but aside from some trouble hitting a few notes I found it very easy to play, and to play in tune. And it really did sound extremely similar to a French horn. It was silver.
Anyway, thanks for making these videos. My kids have just started brass and seeing all of these walkthroughs is fantastic.
The sound would probably be better if it was played better in the video
in middle/high school in the US, i played a mellophone for one season using an adapter for french horn mouthpiece. after that i was provided what are actually called marching french horns, which are somewhat similar to the frumpet you demoed, that had a french horn mouthpiece stock to preserve our embouchure for concert band season and have somewhat better tone.
In Spain we call it "Fliscorno"
Very nice horn you have there. I have three Conn mellophones I am going to be selling soon. Going to be selling several trumpets also. I am just going to keep 2 trumpets and a flugelhorn.
Timoteo Luna where are you listing them? I might buy one.
@@dire8945 I'll stay in touch I'll let you know.
my marching band has many a Mellophone
Collin Ace I myself as a mellophone player agree with that we do get a lot of solos
We have four mellophones
Luckkyyy. We need more join us
We have 17 Melos
Hello Trent!
I'm from Brazil. I live in a very, very small city called Luz, and I play trumpet in the city's band.
Well, here we have one Mellophone, but It is in the key of C. And man, when it's well played, it's beaultiful.
So, it's that! Continue with your great work in this channel!
God bless you!
It's also known as Marching French Horn. Beautiful sounding instrument.
A marching french horn is another instrument
I played that in high school, and in LSU Tiger Band. It projects the much needed alto voice. Because the instrument is never expected to be played outside of marching band, it is not a real high quality instrument, and known for it's intonation issues. You can swap out the mouthpiece for a French Horn mouthpiece, using an adaptor, and get a slightly more mellow sound at the expense of a bit less volume. As for the bell, it came in handy any time I wanted set the instrument down during a parade.
I love the megaphone err I mean what?
i mean, both have large bells and sound muffled af
EpicMeh my friend plays mellophone, we call it the megaphone, he gets mad sometimes
EpicMeh it doesnt sound muffled?
Woop well the horn players at my school sound hella muffled
EpicMeh either they suck or the horns are trash
They were prominent in Stan Kenton’s big band. They gave his band it’s own “sound”.
I recently played bass trombone and tuba in the Neophonic Jazz Orchestra in Madison Wisconsin USA for over 10 years which used modern mellophones similar to yours, in F, to recreate the Stan Kenton Mellophonium orchestra sound of the early sixties, see for example, Kenton's Grammy winning West Side Story and Cuban Fire Suite Albums, arrangements by Johnny Richards. Our band was conceived and directed and arranged for by Kenton veteran and Richards protege, the late Joel Kaye.
I live in America and most mellophone are actually keyed in F. The tenor horn is almost never used in America and only rarely in a concert setting but never in a marching setting. The mellophone is only really used in marching settings to take the place of the French Horn. But many people take it seriously over here considering how I've never seen a band March French Horn and all of the drum corps that march it. Anyways good video as usual and keep up the good work :).
When I first marched in a drum corps in my home city (back in 1974)(and no, we had no marching bands in my area at the time) I performed in parades and in DCI competitions with a marching French Horn (yes, bell to the front, not the concert band version). Mellophones fill the mid-range sounds to bridge the gap between upper pitched instruments (trumpets, soprano's, etc) and lower pitched instruments (euphonium, contra bass, etc). My corps marched with both marching French horn and mellophones.
I live in America and I have a mellophone very similar to that one. Mine’s in F. I’m a trumpet player for several of my local ensembles and I play trumpet in my university band and orchestra. But I was able to pick this up at a moments notice and fill in the F horn part for my local pep band. Also, about the pinky grip. My teacher actually had me rest my pinky on top of the grip, rather than wrap it around it. That way the muscles in my hand were more free to operate the valves for fast passages. That position on your horn wouldn’t bother me at all. I’ve seen a piccolo trumpet or two like that.
I played a similar horn in a Navy Drum & Bugle Corps back in 1983, though it didn't have the huge bell. It was a 2 valve bugle in F. Never seen another horn like it, but this one is pretty close.
I played an Olds F mellophone in HS using the trumpet mouthpiece that came with it. French horn mouthpieces were WAY too small. Yes, I played french horn during concert season. A few years after HS I played a valve/rotor G mellophone bugle in senior (all age) drum & bugle corps. Love mellophones!
The large bell is easily explainable for it is because the mellophone is a substitution for a French horn in marching band and u might like the sound of the horn better if u us a trumpet mouthpiece with a deeper or longer cup. Also mellophones come in F and Bb as well
I actually love the sound of a good mello section. It's where all the color comes from in your modern marching band.
Just picked up a mello for my schools marching band a while back and i can honestly say its my favoite instrument on the feild
Yep, most matching bands in the US replace the French Horn with the Mellowphone, or "Marching Horn" as we called it, returning to the French Horn in orchestral settings. The French Horn is kind of hard to hear outside with it's bell pointing to the ground.
At my American high school our marching band uses single Bb horns that are wrapped so that the project forward. The sound is much more pleasant than a mellophone and fits the same niche.
The most commonly used Mellophones are in the key of "F". This is because the French Horn is commonly in "F" and is an easy transfer from one instrument to the other. The Mellophone also requires a certain level of experience because of the fact that is not a normal instrument. My band director is a French Horn player and even he says that the Mellophone is an obnoxious instrument, but it adds character to a band. and the reason that the bell is so large is because that is the size of a Mellophone in the key of "F", which is almost twice the size of this Mellophone.
Omg that piece of music is our school song " Dear Western " I really love that song and enjoy playing it for my school every time we have an assembly ( I play the mellophone for marching band and trumpet for concert ban )
Our bugle corps has been sporting the same horns since the 50s, all the horns are Getzen two valves in the key of G, contra, baritone, mello, and soprano. These instruments are quite the antiques. I play the Contrabass in G with a valve and a trigger (not user friendly). Being new to these instruments, my band director kept telling me as well that the note written on the paper is not the note I am playing. So if it was written as a B-flat, I sometimes mistake playing an F. I always rely on playing the E flat scale, to find the right pitch. I can play my B flat tuba anytime and not miss a pitch, but this Contra in the key of G, I have it down to a 25% chance pitch error.
about the pinky ring, I am in a highschool marching band and we (the high brass mainly) are tought to put our pinkies on top of the ring so we don't pull our horns into our face trying to play louder or higher. In fact we often refer to the pinky ring as the "octave key" since pushing your horn into your face can make you play higher with the sacrifice of tone quality. love your videos btw!
The mellophone as you can probably tell is very heavy in the front to the point where our mouth pieces are actually very heavy to balance it out but it can be changed to a French horn mouth piece using a shank and the reason we use it is so you can hear it in those loud stand out places in a marching drill fun fact: we had a kid paralyze his left had so he uses a mellophone so he can play with his right
Marching mellophones serve as the alto brass "voice" in nearly all US marching bands and drum corps. They are there strictly for that job, but they do it so well. Most are pitched in F to accommodate French horn players from concert bands. Though, some drum and bugle corps use the equivalent alto bugles that are pitched in G as are the other bugle parts.
In the US they are in every marching band. It is just like the French horn for us. It usually play licks.
I started playing the mellophone in e flat in grade school, I played it for several years before transitioning to the French Horn in high school. The mellophone was nice because it was so easy to play. Most of the mellophones I have seen are circular in format, similar to a French Horn. Back in the 1960's I didn't see mellophones in high school bands, but I noticed the local high school no longer has a horn section, they now have a mellophone section.
I am in a drum and bugle corps in the USA. It does take place of the French horn, but since most bugles are in the key of g, the ones in my corps are also in g
It's funny to think how little mellophones are used outside of America. I happen to live in one of the most competitive areas in Florida which happens to be one of the top three band states in the country (the other two being Texas and California), so marching band is everywhere in my band culture. The mellophone is usually the instrument that cuts through the rest of the band or drum corps due to how ...ugly it sounds. Don't be so quick to judge, though; while the mellophone is clearly not a solo instrument, it definitely has its place as the alto voice of a marching band (one great example of a mellophone section bringing the pain is The Cadets' Rocky Point Holiday warm-up where the mellophone section is clearly heard through the rest of the corps, burning holes through their valves. It's very easy to find here on UA-cam).
In my high school, we had a mish-mosh of brands of mellophone, ranging from F.E. Olds & Son to Yamaha to King, the King being the newest one, which you can tell by how much better the weight is dispersed across the horn. The tubing varies across all the brands. The Olds are identical to the one in this video, but the Yamahas may have a slightly different bell size and that funny tubing that sticks out to the bell here is curved so it doesn't quite reach so far. The King's bottom tubing sticks a bit further out, requiring minutely different arm position if you're lazy, but, again, it's the best one we had.
My high school band director used marching band as a tool to strengthen the program for concert season, and you could definitely hear it in the mellophone section. His arrangement of ESPN (a popular stand tune) has the mello section hit a high G for a whole measure before the rest of band comes back in. He likens it to the airhorn sound effect that's been popping up in memes and the libraries of DJs and all that. He has also written up to high A for our shows, something that some of our mellos rejoice over and that some cower in fear over. I've noticed it's usually doubled by the alto sax, similar to many beginning to intermediate level concert pieces where many similar voices just have the same parts.
If you look up Bands of America (BOA) Finals or just random drum corps videos, you will find plenty of mello action. It's not pretty at all, but in the context of a marching ensemble, if you have good players, it will become a force to be reckoned with.
These originated in drum corps for the drum corps international competition, but now you find them all over the place in America, most horn teachers also teach mellophone because it’s standard for marching band so most horn players will need to know mellophone.
i play in a high school marching band, and im very proud of that, but we have 4 mellophones, three of which are played on the side by our 3 drum majors, and our band is located in america.
1:00, that is correct, we have the French horns use those instead of french horns for pep band and stuff like that
BTW, American (Minnesotan to be specific)
This has been up for years, but in case Trent or anyone else stumbles across this, I just wanted to add that it's not at all surprising to me that this horn has great valves - Olds has the best valves of any brass instruments I've played (I would know, I own six Olds horns and have played plenty more). Whatever horn it is, the valves (as long as they aren't damaged and are clean and oiled, of course) will always be phenomenal if it's made by Olds
I found one of these in a store in Everett, Washington, USA last weekend, but this one looks like a French horn, and that is how it is labeled. It is pretty beat up but does play.
Since you asked for folks to chime in with info...
Yeah, these are common(-ish) in the US, but specifically in the "drum and bugle corps" world as the "alto" bugle voice, and indeed is similar to (and used in the same roles as) the alto bugle which preceded it in those circles. I've only encountered them in F (which makes them a common migration target from your run-of-the-mill F-keyed French horn). They also show up in marching bands, though French horns (both traditional and a "marching" build) exist in that world, too.
I can't get a very good look at the horn in the video, but some (most?) mellophones have a thumb-actuated or finger-actuated tuning slide at the back or front (respectively) that's used for those pitchy notes. Subbing valve 3 for valves 1+2 can also help for certain notes. A lot of this just depends on the model, and I'm not familiar with that manufacturer.
I noticed in the video that you're pressing down on the valves with the middle digits of your fingers instead of the tips. This might be a stylistic nitpick, but that also might be contributing to why the pinky ring feels uncomfortable. Keeping the right arm at a 45° angle, the right wrist in a straight line with that arm, and the fingers in more of an open arch is usually what's taught posture-wise (in my experience, at least), since that maximizes the amount of force and precision when actuating the valves, and might very well pull your pinky into a nicer angle. Of course, it might also just be that the mellophone you've got happens to be built weird ;)
Good tone with mellophones comes with practice. It's no French horn by any means, but that giant bell helps with producing some nice rich tones in the hands of a player well-versed in the mellophone's personality.
There's actually a special instrument for marching that is much like a french horn, unoriginally called the 'Marching French Horn'. The dimensions of a french horn mouthpiece make it so that a mellophone doesn't sound quite right with such a mouthpiece used. Mellophone mouthpieces resemble a trumpet's while marching french horn mouthpieces are very close to a french horn's. Hope I helped!
In band history in America, there were horns in F and Mellophones in Eb. The main visual difference was that Mellophones had piston valves. You may still be able to find examples in the disused closet at a long established middle school here in the US. Many of these instruments have been made into lamps or fountains or found their way to restaurant walls. The marching version of both of these instruments came around when yours was made i the early 70's. These were just bell front versions to begin with. They had marching french horns and mellophones that still maintained the circular body shape. Drum Corps changed this with the widening of their gene pool starting in the 60's. Most schools here in the States now use the F version of these horns.
When marching, the bell does tend to obscure everything in front of the marcher from sight. I marched that same model last year before our school got new Jupiter Quantums. Rather interesting instrument.
Dear Brother Trent,
I am most fond of all of your numerous wonderful videos. The only reason I am not a patreon is that I lost my job. Thank you! Mark F
We did not have melloPhones in my school bands (USA) . I played trumpet in marching season (my first instrument) and French horn (my best instrument) in concert and contests. Graduated in 1973. I would have tried it for sure!
I march the mellophone in my marching band, I'm first mellophone and I'm absolutely in love with this instrument. (Florida, USA)
Hey Trent, I'm from America and I'm actually around this horn a lot and the version of the horn in the key of F sounds far, far better than the one you use here. I'm a tuba player myself but I've taken a stab at most of the brass instruments I've gotten my hands on over the years
At my school in Iowa, U.S.A. we use Mellophones pitched in Bb (one octave below trumpets) for marching band as a replacement for F Horns and this essentially fixes both the tuning problems you and many others have with Eb Mellophones and the problem with the ring being too small as it is a slightly larger horn putting the pinky ring in a much more comfortable position for most people.
isn't that called a baritone
I was in a high school marching band and the mellophone instead of the French horn. The mouth piece shank was bent at an angel to make you play holding it at a ten degree angle up.
I march with a Jupiter Quantum 5050 Mellophone keyed in F. $1,595 in America. I love the Mellophone because of its easy playability and beautiful sound.
I personally play mellophone and I can say from experience that this instrument is pretty great once you get the hang of it. Played at the highest level, mellophone is a really beautiful instrument.
I like your videos. I played mello in drum corps in Canada during the early 80s. I'm not sure if it was a DCI rule or just what our corps had, but our bugles were all two valved. This meant you had to omit or lip tune the notes missing from your scale (usually simply avoided by the arranger). We would have killed for a third valve!
I have a horn-shaped mellophone from 1891 that I play with a horn mouthpiece. I like its tone very much. However, I used to also own a "modern-style" mellophone whose second octave was oddly very flat -- until I stuffed a bugle bell into its monster real bell. For reasons I neither know nor understand, this addition did no harm to the first octave's tuning, but fixed the flatness of the second octave. I therefore sold it with its bugle-bell insert.
Mellophones are (or were) pitched in G for Drum and Bugle Corps as well as Eb and F
As a Band Director in America, I can verify that the Mellophone is a staple instrument in Marching Bands and Drum Corps. Horn in F (French Horn) is used sometimes, but not too often. In America you have to remember that the marching band faces towards the audience during a performance on the Football field or straight forward during a parade.
That instrument was made 20 miles from my house. Their successor company Kanstul was recently bought out for its tooling which is a major bummer.
We have 6 mellophone players, and when they switch from French horn to mellophone they use adapters to retain their French horn mouthpieces, and that produces a "mellow" and very beautiful sound. I live in the us.
These are very common in college marching bands in the US. I never played one, but I did play an instrument similar in shape and size: the Marching Euphonium (not sure if it has another name). They don't sound as great as your traditional Euphonium in my opinion, but they are much easier to march with.