Yes, the previous owner probably wanted to show the Conn logo and cleared rhat area. There is indeed a lot of tarnish that is very hard to clean on the horn. I am in the process of cleaning it entirely, but it will take some time and effort.
I newer heard this before and it is beautiful melody. It is clearly made for mellow or alto horn and this one has that warm but tender still caring tone. Thank you, thank you, for bringing this horn to live.
There's two types of Mellophones & two types of French Horns. Concert and Marching. Concert is bell down. Marching is bell front. Concert Mellophones have a wide 90 degree angle between the lead pipe and bell. Concert French Horns have a narrow 60 degree angle between the lead pipe and bell. Which is why it's hard to mute the Concert Mellophone with your hand. Draw a line through the leadpipe. Draw a line through the bell. You will see the angle at which they intersect. Once you see it you will never be able to unsee it. Also all Mellophones are played with the right hand vs French Horns are played with the left hand.
They did, especially the French and the British makers in the 19th and early 20th Century where known for these so-called "piston horns", before the German-style Rotary valves became the standard for Horns . Conn also made piston horns. However, this is not a true Horn but a Mellophone. I do have examples of true piston Horns in my collection.
@@BradleyUppercrustIII345 The modern Mellophone is, but that is a very different instrument than the original Mellophones of the late 19th and early 20th Century.
There's two types of Mellophones & two types of French Horns. Concert and Marching. Concert is bell down. Marching is bell front. Concert Mellophones have a wide 90 degree angle between the lead pipe and bell. Concert French Horns have a narrow 60 degree angle between the lead pipe and bell. Which is why it's hard to mute the Concert Mellophone with your hand. Draw a line through the leadpipe. Draw a line through the bell. You will see the angle at which they intersect. Once you see it you will never be able to unsee it. Also all Mellophones are played with the right hand vs French Horns are played with the left hand.
@@user-sk1eh3pg6j -- I played French horn, mellophone and trumpet in my high school band including marching band, switching instruments as needed for what the performance required. Played the flute as well, but there was almost never a need for me to step in, because we had a zillion other flute players available. My family was able to purchase a used flute and a used trumpet for me, but we never had enough money for a horn. Luckily there were always enough school-owned single horns as well as double horns available, because horn was a much less popular instrument. My district didn't invest in mellophones until toward the end of my high school career, and only ever had concert French horns, so this is my first time seeing piston valves on a horn instead of rotary, or a mellophone with a bell that does not face forward.
Thank you for watching. I myself perceive the sound as a slightly brassy French Horn sound, but it could be very well possible that others perceive it differently.
Perfect intonation and tone !! I bought recently a rather cheap Dutch second hand instrument which looks like a single horn and has rotary valves, tuned in Es. It's perhaps 50 years old. The mouthpiece is 100% conical, horn, not "alto" shape and has a wide bore and it's too big to fit on a French Horn. The sound is dark and beautiful but more open, broader than that of a French Horn. When played loud, it sounds really like the horns in American movies. I can't do much with it, I realize now.
Thank you for your comment! That horn sounds interesting. Is it played with the right hand on the valves? It is probably not a true French Horn, though often mistaken for one, but could be either (I am not exactly sure what the difference is) a Mellophone or a circular Alto Horn, sometimes in Dutch called Corhoorn or Es-hoorn.
@@RetiredBrass The case says "Blasom" but on the instrument itself I see not directly a brand name. Yes, right handed. I think too that it could be a circular alto or perhaps this was custom made for somebody wanting a "very close" horn sound in a wind band since I have seen also a Courtois circular horn with normal valves (Perinet?) and also right handed. That latter instrument was smaller and sounded less noble. I had problems tuning it high enough to Es. I tried it only a week and gave it back because I got problems in my wrist joints. These instruments are hard to hold for long. For the moment I practice more on a plastic Hornet. I have no idea if I will ever play horn somewhere. I am normally a (frustrated and tired of it all) trumpet player.
@@jean-pierredevent970 Ah yes, Blasom, the late 80's - early 90's incarnation of Schenkelaars. Not very succesful. The Courtois most likely was a Tenor Cor, similar to a Mellophone, but with a smaller bell. It is possible that it came with separate tuning slides to play in different keys, depending on the era it was made. Maybe your instrument was fitter with a D- slide?
@@RetiredBrass I had already figured out that if I pulled several slides a bit out, I obtained an instrument in D which had a almost beautiful sound with that big conical mouthpiece of the Blasom. The original mpc was missing but had a smaller shank so I had to secure the big mpc with a lot of tape. I noticed again that I play easy everything in tune with a 100% conical mpc + these horn like instruments. There is something "advanced" here going on.
Hey buddy. Not to be “that guy” but as an American, Mellophones are not shaped like that. Mellophones are like cornets with a cartoonishly big bell. Edit: I was wrong. Those are mellophones I’m used to marching mellos, my bad, although that does look slightly different from the mellophones you’re talking about
@@Euphonium_boi Yes. Most major manufacturers stopped production of the Mellophone in the late 90s. Due to the instruments, versatility, projection, cost and love by DCI, the Marching Mellophone is being innovated upon and still being played today. I have played a Yamaha Marching Mellophone for 6 years and counting. And I own a Yamaha Concert Mellophone. The Mellophone is my favorite horn, a unique American solution to the Alto voice
@@QuietWyatt2005 also why do people I’d least expect end up being the people I see in music videos like it’s insane you created a game and still have time to pick up an instrument
I love how there’s a ton of tarnish (or whatever it’s called) on the horn except for one spot of the bell
Yes, the previous owner probably wanted to show the Conn logo and cleared rhat area. There is indeed a lot of tarnish that is very hard to clean on the horn. I am in the process of cleaning it entirely, but it will take some time and effort.
@@RetiredBrass Good luck!
I newer heard this before and it is beautiful melody. It is clearly made for mellow or alto horn and this one has that warm but tender still caring tone. Thank you, thank you, for bringing this horn to live.
Holy crap, you sound amazing!! 👌
wow thats really cool, love the sound
There's two types of Mellophones & two types of French Horns. Concert and Marching. Concert is bell down. Marching is bell front. Concert Mellophones have a wide 90 degree angle between the lead pipe and bell. Concert French Horns have a narrow 60 degree angle between the lead pipe and bell. Which is why it's hard to mute the Concert Mellophone with your hand. Draw a line through the leadpipe. Draw a line through the bell. You will see the angle at which they intersect. Once you see it you will never be able to unsee it. Also all Mellophones are played with the right hand vs French Horns are played with the left hand.
Just to be clear, the name "French Horn model Alto" is what Conn named it at the time. I know it is not a real French Horn.
@@RetiredBrass I know I read your description, I wrote that for the people commenting nonsense lol
That's a beautiful horn.
Its beautiful, appearance and sound wise 🖤💯
Look at those trumpet style valves! I didn't know they ever made horns with those.
They did, especially the French and the British makers in the 19th and early 20th Century where known for these so-called "piston horns", before the German-style Rotary valves became the standard for Horns . Conn also made piston horns.
However, this is not a true Horn but a Mellophone.
I do have examples of true piston Horns in my collection.
@@RetiredBrassaren't mellophones the trumpet style french horns used for marching?
@@BradleyUppercrustIII345 The modern Mellophone is, but that is a very different instrument than the original Mellophones of the late 19th and early 20th Century.
There's two types of Mellophones & two types of French Horns. Concert and Marching. Concert is bell down. Marching is bell front. Concert Mellophones have a wide 90 degree angle between the lead pipe and bell. Concert French Horns have a narrow 60 degree angle between the lead pipe and bell. Which is why it's hard to mute the Concert Mellophone with your hand. Draw a line through the leadpipe. Draw a line through the bell. You will see the angle at which they intersect. Once you see it you will never be able to unsee it. Also all Mellophones are played with the right hand vs French Horns are played with the left hand.
@@user-sk1eh3pg6j -- I played French horn, mellophone and trumpet in my high school band including marching band, switching instruments as needed for what the performance required. Played the flute as well, but there was almost never a need for me to step in, because we had a zillion other flute players available.
My family was able to purchase a used flute and a used trumpet for me, but we never had enough money for a horn. Luckily there were always enough school-owned single horns as well as double horns available, because horn was a much less popular instrument.
My district didn't invest in mellophones until toward the end of my high school career, and only ever had concert French horns, so this is my first time seeing piston valves on a horn instead of rotary, or a mellophone with a bell that does not face forward.
nice glazunoff on antique horn! congratulations!
Thank you!
(It is Glière actually, not Glazunov)
Ноктюрн Глієра
Bassoon sound
Thank you for watching. I myself perceive the sound as a slightly brassy French Horn sound, but it could be very well possible that others perceive it differently.
Perfect intonation and tone !!
I bought recently a rather cheap Dutch second hand instrument which looks like a single horn and has rotary valves, tuned in Es. It's perhaps 50 years old. The mouthpiece is 100% conical, horn, not "alto" shape and has a wide bore and it's too big to fit on a French Horn. The sound is dark and beautiful but more open, broader than that of a French Horn. When played loud, it sounds really like the horns in American movies. I can't do much with it, I realize now.
Thank you for your comment! That horn sounds interesting. Is it played with the right hand on the valves? It is probably not a true French Horn, though often mistaken for one, but could be either (I am not exactly sure what the difference is) a Mellophone or a circular Alto Horn, sometimes in Dutch called Corhoorn or Es-hoorn.
@@RetiredBrass The case says "Blasom" but on the instrument itself I see not directly a brand name. Yes, right handed. I think too that it could be a circular alto or perhaps this was custom made for somebody wanting a "very close" horn sound in a wind band since I have seen also a Courtois circular horn with normal valves (Perinet?) and also right handed. That latter instrument was smaller and sounded less noble. I had problems tuning it high enough to Es. I tried it only a week and gave it back because I got problems in my wrist joints. These instruments are hard to hold for long. For the moment I practice more on a plastic Hornet. I have no idea if I will ever play horn somewhere. I am normally a (frustrated and tired of it all) trumpet player.
@@jean-pierredevent970 Ah yes, Blasom, the late 80's - early 90's incarnation of Schenkelaars. Not very succesful.
The Courtois most likely was a Tenor Cor, similar to a Mellophone, but with a smaller bell. It is possible that it came with separate tuning slides to play in different keys, depending on the era it was made. Maybe your instrument was fitter with a D- slide?
@@RetiredBrass I had already figured out that if I pulled several slides a bit out, I obtained an instrument in D which had a almost beautiful sound with that big conical mouthpiece of the Blasom. The original mpc was missing but had a smaller shank so I had to secure the big mpc with a lot of tape. I noticed again that I play easy everything in tune with a 100% conical mpc + these horn like instruments. There is something "advanced" here going on.
What is this lovely piece?
Nocturne, Op. 35, No. 10 by Reinhold Glière
It’s known as an American Mellophone
Hey buddy. Not to be “that guy” but as an American, Mellophones are not shaped like that. Mellophones are like cornets with a cartoonishly big bell.
Edit: I was wrong. Those are mellophones I’m used to marching mellos, my bad, although that does look slightly different from the mellophones you’re talking about
@@Euphonium_boi Yes. Most major manufacturers stopped production of the Mellophone in the late 90s. Due to the instruments, versatility, projection, cost and love by DCI, the Marching Mellophone is being innovated upon and still being played today. I have played a Yamaha Marching Mellophone for 6 years and counting. And I own a Yamaha Concert Mellophone. The Mellophone is my favorite horn, a unique American solution to the Alto voice
Don’t sweat the mistakes lol. Research and awareness is how these old horns keep on getting played and enjoyed
@@QuietWyatt2005 thank uou
@@QuietWyatt2005 also why do people I’d least expect end up being the people I see in music videos like it’s insane you created a game and still have time to pick up an instrument
Нельзя так громко набирать дыхание, портится вся картинка услышанного.
I am sorry I breathe this way.