TheMelloFan's Channel

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Velvet Knights - Angels We Have Heard On High TheMelloFan 1,153 views Please rate and comment.
John Graas - Mulliganesque TheMelloFan 497 views Please rate and comment.
The Paul Desmond Quartet (Don Elliott) - A Watchman's Carol TheMelloFan 524 views Please rate and comment.
Sandy Smith - Concertino TheMelloFan 2,162 views Please rate and comment.
Blue Devils - Goodbye Yesterday (Live) TheMelloFan 2,231 views Please rate and comment.
Sandy Smith - Meiso TheMelloFan 3,639 views Please rate and comment.
FAMU Marching 100 - Malaguena (Live) TheMelloFan 12,237 views Please rate and comment.
Blast! - Malaguena TheMelloFan 3,701 views Please rate and comment.
101 Strings Orchestra - Malaguena TheMelloFan 32,500 views Please rate and comment.
Future Corps - Malaguena TheMelloFan 1,386 views Please rate and comment.

About The Denis Wick 3 Is The New 6V!

Welcome to my youtube channel! This channel is primarily dedicated to a very underappreciated instrument, the Mellophone. However this channel is also for fans of any Eb/F alto range brass instrument. I hope you enjoy the clips and information I have on this channel.

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Created by

TheMelloFan

Latest Activity

Jun 24, 2010

Date Joined

Nov 10, 2009

About this user

My Opinion on Mellophone Mouthpieces

Mello 6/Mello 6 clones (6V, M6 etc.): Should only be used if nothing else is available. These mouthpieces were developed for the G Mellophone Bugle; G Mellophone Bugles and Eb/F Mellophones are completely different animals.

Trumpet/Cornet Mouthpieces: Almost as bad as the Mello 6 and its many clones but due to the wide selection of Trumpet/Cornet mouthpieces there's more to work with. A Trumpet/Cornet mouthpiece should be no smaller than a 1C in diameter (around 17.30mm) with a cup as deep as one can handle and the bore at least the size of a No. 24 (3.86mm/.152') drill bit or larger preferably matched with a large backbore.

French Horn Mouthpiece with an Adaptor: The best choice of the common mouthpieces used for the Eb/F Mellophone today. Care should be given to the cup depth and bore as the cup should be quite shallow and the bore no larger then a No. 22 (3.99mm/.157') drill bit to prevent the Eb/F Mellophone from losing focus

Alto (Tenor) Horn/Bach Mellophone Mouthpieces: These mouthpieces are ideal for the Eb/F Mellophone and should be given preference before all others. Though much larger then contemporary Eb/F Mellophone mouthpieces (18.50mm - 20.00mm) Alto (Tenor) Horn mouthpieces which have trumpet shanks and Bach Mellophone mouthpieces which have cornet shanks serve the Eb/F Mellophone better acoustically then contemporary Eb/F Mellophone mouthpieces and are similar to mouthpieces found on other alto brass instruments like the Eb Contralto Trumpet.

Exotic Mouthpieces: Exotic mouthpieces such as the Hammonds and the Larry Kerchner Mellophone Mouthpiece are quite popular with Drum and Bugle Corps. However these mouthpieces' intonation and tonal qualities are not much different then a well selected French Horn mouthpiece with an adaptor. This coupled with their high price diminish the appeal of these exotic mouthpieces. While an option an Alto (Tenor) Horn or French Horn Mouthpiece are still superior choices.

My Opinion on Tone

The ideal tone from an Eb/F Mellophone is a Valve Trombone/high Baritone like sound (think Bob Brookmeyer).

My Opinion on Intonation

Notes Below The Staff: Mellophones almost universally play very flat on notes below the staff. These notes should rare if every be used in music.

First Line E through Third Space C: The best range on most Mellophones. Nearly all of notes in this tight range play in tune with a few being mildly sharp.

Third Space C# through Fourth Space E: The Fifth Partial is another universally flat range on Mellophones. A large mouthpiece combine with alternative fingerings under most conditions will keep this delicate range in tune.

Fifth Line F And Beyond: From fifth line F to A above the staff Mellophones tend to play in tune with A above the staff being sharp on most Mellophones. However starting from B flat above the staff and upwards a strong pitch reference is require as the slots in this range tend to get very mushy and undefined, with notes being predisposed to playing flat and "whining".

History

The Mellophone can trace its origins to the modern day Czech Republic around 1890. The first Mellophones were alto Post Horns with valves and oversized bells. The bells were oversized to help the Mellophone produce a unique tone; setting it apart from similar instruments during that time period. These early Mellophones often came with extra valves along with slides and crooks to pitch them in keys such as F, Eb, D, C and Bb. Their purpose was to make the Mellophone a versatile horn able to cover alto or tenor parts which made them very popular during the community band movement of the 1930s.

When the community band movement faded away the Mellophone started to fall into obscurity until players like Don Elliot and Ray Starling of the Stan Kenton Orchestra rocket the Mellophone back into the mainstream during the 1950s and early 1960s. The custom bell up Mellophone used by Don Elliot and the Mellophoniums (Mellophones with their bells straighten to point forward) used by the Stan Kenton Orchestra caught the attention of school marching bands looking for a more convenient alto brass solution over marching with French Horns and were quick to adopt the Mellophonium into their alto brass sections.

While Mellophoniums were easier to use then French Horns they had their own share of problems such as tricky intonation. When F.E. Olds took one of their Bb Cornets and extended the tuning and valve slides to pitch the Cornet in F then replaced the Cornet bell with a Mellophonium bell the modern Marching Mellophone was born. Though some of the unique tonal qualities of the Mellophone were lost in the hybridization the new Marching Mellophones solved or reasonably controlled many of the problems that Mellophones traditionally had. They soon supplanted the Mellophonium and are the dominate Mellophone in use today.

Age

Country

United States

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