Talk:Mellophone

vs. Marching French Horn

The first line:

The mellophone is a brass instrument that is typically used in place of the horn (sometimes called a French horn) in marching bands or drum and bugle corps.

indicates that horn players will play mellophone in a marching band. This is not always accurate. There is a version of the horn called the marching french horn which may be used instead. There are fundamental differences in design and acoustics between a mellophone and horn, most notably the size and shape of the mouth piece. Horn mouthpieces can be used on a marching french horn; on a mellophone, an adapter must be added for the horn mouthpiece to be used.

--Wydok (talk) 19:06, 5 October 2012 (UTC)

Melonphone

I'm pretty confident this is vandalism, but stranger things have happened:

It is named the melonphone after the shape of the tube at the base of the instrument.

Feel free to re-add that assertion with a supporting source.

Jason Fruit (talk) 14:28, 14 April 2012 (UTC)

F & G, or E-flat / F / B-flat?

The article says:

Mellophones are typically pitched in the key of F. The overtone series is an octave above that of the horn. Many drum and bugle corps, however, use mellophones pitched in G

But then goes on to say:

Mellophones are usually in either E-flat, F, or B-flat.

It seems like these two statements should be reconciled.--NapoliRoma 19:59, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Hornplayer.net has an archived discussion from one of the main horn lists that might be helpful.--Magnificat 23:21, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

(A little late on the response) I've now read through the archived discussion twice (one in January, once in December :-), and not really, at least not in the context of this article. What I get from both the archive and the article is that there is more than one instrument that is or has been called "mellophone." Unfortunately, as currently written this article doesn't make that clear; it suffers from what I call MEPD (Multiple Editor Personality Disorder): you feel like you're listening to someone who's having a bit of an argument with himself as he talks.

What I think is needed is a subject matter expert, or someone who plays one, who can put the article in a less self-contradictory tone. Something like "Historically, 'mellophone' was a kind of rutabaga, but today is a type of marching instrument pitched in __ or __." I'm not that subject matter expert, in case it isn't already clear, or I'd take it on myself.--NapoliRoma (talk) 16:11, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

Double high C on a mellophone

I've never heard a mellophone player hit a double high C. maybe a lead trumpeter playing a mellophone, but not a mello player. Es and Fs, yes, not a double C.—Preceding unsigned comment added by 134.126.201.211 (talk • contribs) 04:23, 23 March 2007

I have, it wasn't the best sound I've heard a mellophone play, and I had to use a shallow trumpet mouthpiece to do it, but it is in fact, possible. Creamypeanutbutter 07:42, 15 August 2007 (UTC)

I can do it easily, and with a good sound. In fact, I can get all the way up to the G above that with a good sound. Granted, I'm a trumpet player, but I'm not one of those crazy drum corps lead trumpet players or anything--my highest good note on trumpet is only the D above the staff or so. Considering that several of the mellophone players I know are converted trumpet players, I'd say that the current extended range is perfectly reasonable, although I would make the highest note in the "normal" range an A. PTP2009 on June 7 2008 —Preceding comment was added at 01:47, 8 June 2008 (UTC)

Scurrilous rumors of Stan Kenton and mellophone duplicity dominating the InTarTubes?

A paragraph found in the article:

One maker/instrument of this type has proven to be of particular interest, the Conn Corporation (U.S.) and its mellophonium. These appeared in Conn's advertising in 1957, with the earliest examples having production codes dating even to 1956. This precedes by a handful of years their adoption by American jazz ensemble director Stan Kenton, though much unfounded rumor and misinformation circulates in print and online. Despite stories circulated by the Kenton circle and others, the instrument was in production and offered for sale years before the Kenton organization sought it out.

So, it sounds like the Kenton/others circle has unjustly sought the glory of inventing the mellophone, only to be thwarted by Meddling Kids or the equivalent -- frankly kind of sensationalistic for an encyclopedia entry. I made a tentative stab at making this paragraph more encyclopedic in tone, which would be something more like:

1. Conn had mellophones in 1957
2. This precedes their adoption by Kenton
3. ...and we mention this because...

...which is where I got stumped. If we untwist the paragraph above, it says "the Kenton circles and others have circulated stories that mellophones were not in production nor offered for sale years before the Kenton organization sought it out." But we have no specific cite that they have said this. Without a cite, there's no point in having the article refute a claim that the article does not lay sufficient groundwork to show was ever made.

Long story short: I've hacked that article down to the "Conn made the instrument in 1957" bit. That could use a citation, too, but it seems a lot less provocative than the other part which I've removed. Feel free to edit it back, but please make it more encyclopedic in tone and provide a reference.--NapoliRoma (talk) 00:03, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

Mellophone vs. Flugelhorn

What are the differences between the two instruments?

125.60.235.220 (talk) 04:35, 6 June 2010 (UTC)

Mellophone is, in a way, a kind of marching french horn while the flugelhorn is more or less a kind of trumpet. Gingermint (talk) 04:57, 30 November 2010 (UTC)

Ken Albers of The Four Freshmen and the Mellophone

I recently saw an old Four Freshmen vid where Ken Albers is playing an unusual brass instrument. His bio here, mentions he played the mellophone. But the instrument in the vid resembled a small tuba, and looked different than the picture in this article. The sound did resemble that described in the article as being between a trumpet and trombone. Albers held the instrument with his left hand on the bell, and this appeared as a method of physical support, rather than a mute effect of any sort. Eelb53 (talk) 03:22, 23 September 2010 (UTC)

History

The article states, "The "vintage" instrument was visually modeled on the (French) horn, with turned-down bell; it was used as a horn substitute both outdoors and indoors by amateurs and school ensembles. The recent instruments are visually modeled on the trumpet, and marketed strictly for outdoors use by marching bands and drum corps." It says the "vintage" instrument (circular) was made until the 1950s... and that more recent ones are shaped more like a trumpet (actually they more resemble a Flugel Horn). I beg to differ - the "vintage" instrument is still made and is commonly used in schools and smaller ensembles - at least outside America. I have owned two of them, my wife still plays one in a town band, both made in Europe. In fact, until reading this article I had never heard of a mellophone in the flugel-horn format - that must be an American variation (much emphasis is given to the American drum corp needs). Is this article simply misinformed? Or is it Americo-centric? Also in the history, I see no reference to the circular alto horn as either a comparison, or an influence on the mellophone. More research please! Ptilinopus (talk) 07:41, 20 October 2011 (UTC)

"Mellophone fingering is different to that of a trumpet."

The linked fingering chart directly contradicts this assertion. Captain Pedant (talk) 10:28, 4 February 2013 (UTC)

Cylindrical Bore?

Is the Mellophone a cylindrical-bore instrument from mouthpiece to bell flare? Can tuning slides be turned over, for example? If so, the instrument is more aligned with the trumpet lineage. Cornets and euphoniums are conical-bore instruments with a distinctly different sound. Virgil H. Soule (talk) 15:54, 21 July 2014 (UTC)

Assessment comment

The comment(s) below were originally left at Talk:Mellophone/Comments, and are posted here for posterity. Following several discussions in past years, these subpages are now deprecated. The comments may be irrelevant or outdated; if so, please feel free to remove this section.

I've played the mellophone since I was 16 years old, in both high school marching band and college marching band. The photo on this page is of a flugelhorn, you can see a picture of an identical instrument on the wiki page for flugelhorn. If I knew how to change it I would but I don't know how. Mellophones can be seen at the following sites: http://www.instrument-musical.com/mellophone.htm http://www.interstatemusic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10001&storeId=10051&productId=900041525&langId=-1

Last edited at 01:03, 24 June 2009 (UTC). Substituted at 20:06, 1 May 2016 (UTC)