Guy I played trumpet with in Jr. High played on this. Marvin Stamm, he hit the big time. I'm playing in Community Bands. Marvin is a great person and great trumpet player
Sat in on a set with Kenton in Covington,KY. back in 68' or 69' when the bass trombone player suddenly got sick. The man had huge hands! Will never forget that night. He literally announced after the first set if there was a bass trombone player in the house lol. Just happened to have my King 5B in the trunk of the car that night. Sadly the bass bone player recovered after just one set. Still get chills when I think about it!
Dreary. Whatever happened to the bravado of the Kenton orchestra. At his best, Kenton had moments of pure Wagner. This sounds like Puccini albeit on a good day.
@rlneesam And what the hey is wrong with Puccini (he really was a gifted writer and orchestrator)?? And, so incredibly right and perfect with Wagner?? (Abet, I give Wagner credit for many, many great things). Anyway, certainly this is an "unusual" arrangement, even for Kenton, and almost predates some of the show presentations given by drum and field groups. Though this is not a favorite work of mine, nothing in the arrangement strikes me as out of place or crying out for revision.
I've got a Conn 16E that I made an adapter to use my shilke 30. sound is warmer but still no center of pitch. some notes I can lip up and down 2 whole steps and the high range is like a kazoo.
never will forget the time I played it in a brass quintet for a christmas gig and we where tuning and the trumpets weren't with the tuba so the director had them tune to me cause I was with the tuba. after I said that's gotta be the first time anyone has tuned TO a mellophonium.
I was a music major...trumpet...always like to play trombone though. Saw Kenton a couple of times live in 1962 and 1963. I fell in love with the "sound". Always wish I had tried the mellophone.
And what is so poor about the arrangement? Tastes are subjective, I know, but let's discuss this and we all might learn something. The arrangement's not anywhere near bad enough for you to merely blow it off like that.
I bought a mellophonium just because they were used in the Stan Kenton Orchestra. The tuning is terrible. I now see why the mellophonium players were usually out of tune.
Yeah I got a Reynolds ML - 12 Mellophonium and the intonation was horrible. However with months of using the same horn/mouthpiece combination while practicing with a tuner I got the horn about 80% in tune. The brand of mellophonium you get matters a lot. The best mellophonium out there in my opinion is the Holton M602 Marching Mellophonium. It plays in tune about as good as an intermediate trumpet. Yet regardless of what horn you get the work you put in is worth getting that Kenton sound!
They used Conns on the Kenton band, but a lot of the intonation problems were as a result of sticking trumpet mouthpieces in the things and expecting them to work properly. Just because they fit in the lead pipe doesn't mean they're meant acoustically for the horn!
Which is why I use and promote the use of Alto Horn mouthpieces =) Its hard to find Conn 16Es in good shape which is why I went with a Reynolds ML - 12 Mellophonium. The built in rotary that allows you to change keys on the fly is awesome but I feel it compromises the already bad intonation of a Mellophonium. However with patience I found I can control the bad intonation pretty well but playing the modem Marching Mellophones for me is hard because they blow very tight and restrictive to me.
@jemiller226 mine has a cornet shank sometimes I play with a flugel mouthpiece but usually I stick the end from a horn stop mute and it makes like an adapter for a horn mouth piece and I think it sounds better, and that 1 1/2" brought mine in better tune. still have to lip up below the staff and down above A in the staff
Guy I played trumpet with in Jr. High played on this. Marvin Stamm, he hit the big time. I'm playing in Community Bands. Marvin is a great person and great trumpet player
OKALS3 5 months ago
Sat in on a set with Kenton in Covington,KY. back in 68' or 69' when the bass trombone player suddenly got sick. The man had huge hands! Will never forget that night. He literally announced after the first set if there was a bass trombone player in the house lol. Just happened to have my King 5B in the trunk of the car that night. Sadly the bass bone player recovered after just one set. Still get chills when I think about it!
lessmoore49 8 months ago
Excellent !
wcb1334 2 years ago
Dreary. Whatever happened to the bravado of the Kenton orchestra. At his best, Kenton had moments of pure Wagner. This sounds like Puccini albeit on a good day.
rlneesam 2 years ago
@rlneesam What's wrong with Puccini?
RogueRotting360 1 year ago
@rlneesam And what the hey is wrong with Puccini (he really was a gifted writer and orchestrator)?? And, so incredibly right and perfect with Wagner?? (Abet, I give Wagner credit for many, many great things). Anyway, certainly this is an "unusual" arrangement, even for Kenton, and almost predates some of the show presentations given by drum and field groups. Though this is not a favorite work of mine, nothing in the arrangement strikes me as out of place or crying out for revision.
callmeBe 1 year ago
amazing
themousewillbegone 2 years ago
I've got a Conn 16E that I made an adapter to use my shilke 30. sound is warmer but still no center of pitch. some notes I can lip up and down 2 whole steps and the high range is like a kazoo.
never will forget the time I played it in a brass quintet for a christmas gig and we where tuning and the trumpets weren't with the tuba so the director had them tune to me cause I was with the tuba. after I said that's gotta be the first time anyone has tuned TO a mellophonium.
Wurtle38 2 years ago
I was a music major...trumpet...always like to play trombone though. Saw Kenton a couple of times live in 1962 and 1963. I fell in love with the "sound". Always wish I had tried the mellophone.
GutpileCharlie 3 years ago
Who can deny how great this arrangement is of one of our best American composers, Leonard Bernstein.
DrFore 3 years ago
Me.
BUJaZzDJ 3 years ago
And what is so poor about the arrangement? Tastes are subjective, I know, but let's discuss this and we all might learn something. The arrangement's not anywhere near bad enough for you to merely blow it off like that.
donhartmus 2 years ago 3
Si Bueno donhartmus, Si Bueno, dr4
DrFore 2 years ago
Le grandi orchestre! Il sogno Americano che come x incanto diventa Italiano!
05027405 3 years ago
I bought a mellophonium just because they were used in the Stan Kenton Orchestra. The tuning is terrible. I now see why the mellophonium players were usually out of tune.
BradEQ4 3 years ago
Yeah I got a Reynolds ML - 12 Mellophonium and the intonation was horrible. However with months of using the same horn/mouthpiece combination while practicing with a tuner I got the horn about 80% in tune. The brand of mellophonium you get matters a lot. The best mellophonium out there in my opinion is the Holton M602 Marching Mellophonium. It plays in tune about as good as an intermediate trumpet. Yet regardless of what horn you get the work you put in is worth getting that Kenton sound!
malawolf85 3 years ago
They used Conns on the Kenton band, but a lot of the intonation problems were as a result of sticking trumpet mouthpieces in the things and expecting them to work properly. Just because they fit in the lead pipe doesn't mean they're meant acoustically for the horn!
jemiller226 3 years ago
Which is why I use and promote the use of Alto Horn mouthpieces =) Its hard to find Conn 16Es in good shape which is why I went with a Reynolds ML - 12 Mellophonium. The built in rotary that allows you to change keys on the fly is awesome but I feel it compromises the already bad intonation of a Mellophonium. However with patience I found I can control the bad intonation pretty well but playing the modem Marching Mellophones for me is hard because they blow very tight and restrictive to me.
malawolf85 3 years ago
@jemiller226 mine has a cornet shank sometimes I play with a flugel mouthpiece but usually I stick the end from a horn stop mute and it makes like an adapter for a horn mouth piece and I think it sounds better, and that 1 1/2" brought mine in better tune. still have to lip up below the staff and down above A in the staff
Wurtle38 1 year ago