Mellophone vs Mellophonium
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ต.ค. 2024
- In this video I compare these two different style mellophones with each other.
The two instruments I compare are an Olds and Son mellophone, and a Conn Mellophonium.
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that moment when your inner horse comes out
Nicolas more like your inner donald duck hahahaha
Yeah that was hilarious 😂
You definitely already know this, but the mellophone is only used in marching bands, so I think that's why the bell is so big, is to get increased sound to carry it to the audience. Its also the marching equivalent to a french horn, which also has a big bell as well.
A lot of people don't know this, but the marching French horn and marching mellophone are actually completely separate instruments. Most groups use the marching mellophone of course, but some groups use the marching French horn instead, which is quite literally a French horn with the bell facing forward. So while the mellophone is the alto voice of a marching band or drum corps, it's not at all the equivalent of a French horn, it's actually a lot closer to an alto trumpet because of the cylindrical bore and trumpet mouthpiece receiver. You are definitely right about the reason the bell is so big, though.
The french orn has twice the tubing length of the mellophone which means the two horns are playing in different places in the overtone series. This difference makes the mellophone more "cornet-like" as well as resulting in tighter "slots"
The size of the bell is intended a lot more to decrease the brightness of the tone, so it can hide behind the trumpets in chords. However, the large bell introduces a couple of glaring tuning issues, as the open F-series is more likely to stray from perfect whole integer ratios.
cooljw1 And of course the bell’s most important feature is to hide the drum major.
the bell is also there so we cant see what is front of us
3:28 A short visit by Donald Duck.
Usually you don't flop your lips when you play the sneeze, weird technique of playing the instrument.;(
Trent, I've got to be honest with you.
Your continous harassment of large-belled instruments such as the mellophone deeply bothers me. Just because you do not understand the simple concept that size DOES indeed matter, you do not have to mock the operators of these instruments.
Signed
A fellow french hornist
PS: Now on a more serious note, none of that above should be taken seriously ;)
I do agree, that intonation on these instruments is a lot harder and kind of bonkers but the sound you get for it, when you nail it, is more than worth it, in my opinion. The same applies for euphoniums in a lesser degree.
Remember that moment when Trent became the instrument
LOL
Seth Thibodeau
No Patrick, Trent Hamilton is not an instrument either.
Seth Thibodeau HAHAHA LOL
3:21 my alarm
@@nikomitrione LOL--that's funny! I wasn't sure whether Trent was sneezing or simply trying to indicate disgust--perhaps it started with the former and he added the latter!
3:21 WTF?
Cole Donnelly he dont only play the instrument, he be the instrument
Best comment. I said "What the fuck?"
Brief demonic possession by Donald Duck.
I'm fucking dead what the hell.
It was worth the watch just to see that sneeze in context. Bless you!
The first time I saw a mellophonium in person my jaw dropped. I thought the normal mellophones were weird enough… I gotta admit though the mellophonium definitely looks cooler.
It looks like it has a giant french horn mouthpiece on it though, and after playing french horn in Junior high so many years ago for a year, I didn't want to go through that amount of pain on my lips and face again
Am I the only one who thinks the mellophonium looks beautiful?
nope, I love the design
Agreed
I play a mellophonium and I have the oldest Conn in existence. It's the 3rd one made. Made in March, 1956.
It has a beautiful tone and a very versatile with any music. I love my horn!
I also play my horn in Eb, which I think makes it sound better.
Superior to the mellophone by an infinite margin.
When your inner marching band gets its feelings hurt 😢. I wanna show Trent just what these bad boys can do in the hands of some crazy DCI bands.
I love how Trent’s sneezing registered as applause with the closed captioning
"The lesser of two weaveils"
- T. Hamilton, 2017
I think that was a reference to master and Commander
Correct! I hoped someone would get it.
Bennett Meale Yes I quote that every once in a while it's quite clever
"I've been accused of click-bait a couple of times.... Yes, but such is life".
-T. Hamilton, 2017.
She should write a book hahahaha i'm dying xD
Ariel Alexander Sosa Sanchez
".... Yes, but such is life".
-T. Hamilton, 2
----
Reference to the last words of The Australian outlaw, Ned Kelly right before he was hanged...
I think you need to remember that the mellophone is really only used for drum corps/marching band. Just remember the uses and roles it has for that.
Maxwell Osborn REMEMBER THAT WHEN DCI USED BUGLES, THE MELLOPHONE BUGLE WAS IN G.
why'd you explicitly cut in the sneeze poor Trent?
I was just bored so I started practicing my mellohpone, then I went to TH-cam ad saw this video
Also what mouthpiece is on it? Is it a trumped one or a proper mellophone one? I play on a mellophone one, but I play an actual French horn when I'm not doing marching
I used a French Horn mouthpiece on my Mellophone, too. It made an easier transition to French Horn, in my opinion.
I use a 7c sized mouthpiece of my mellophone
@@chichow08 its better to play with a mello or trumpet mouthpiece imo as a horn player whos tried both
*“Pinning the tail on the donkey when you blindfolded it.”*
i was watching this relaxed and I was not expecting a horse so I laughed my arse off when I heard it!
I love that sneezing
Flute: Ffs why do you play Ab?? plays Ab
Clarinet/Oboe: woodwinds are better than brass! squeaks
Sax: plays careless whisper
Bassoon: assembles instrument quicker than a trumpet
Bass clarinet: when there's a bass part, 1 Bass CL equals the loudness of 6 low brass players
Trumpet: I'm better than you
Fhorn: I used to play that!
Trombone: plays fortissississimo whole notes
Euphonium: when my teacher calls it a baritone I cringe, when my classmates call it a tuba I start getting angry, when my mom calls it a trumpet I cry
Tuba: hi
I used to play that
hi
*fortissississississomo intensifies*
Correction - French Horns: my instrument is the best
Trumpets: I’m too scared to play above a mp
Oboes don’t squeak 👀👀
That mello is beautiful. I want one!!!
I prefer the mellotron
Both sound like a trombone being played while still in its case.
When you turn captions on at 3:21 it says applause
Everyone just look at blue devils, Carolina crown and bluecoats, especially blue devils 2014👍👍👍👍
I just got a Mellophonium for myself. I absolutely love this thing and would gladly take it to my grave
A real mellophone looks like a French horn without the extra three feet of pipe that serves principally to make the upper register harder to play.
I understand the concept of the marching mellophone, but the concert mellophone looks more classy to me.
If was my understanding, and I could be wrong, that the Conn was developed on the behest of Stan Kenton to have an alto brass voice in the big band. Then can be heard on his Christmas Album and it's clear that the players were working it big time to keep them in tune. They were used in marching bands to take the place of the old upright Eb alto horn (peck horn).
Kenton had nothing to do with the creation of this instrument. It's a Conn 14E mellophone but with the bell left straight instead of being curved. It was made as a novel concert and marching band instrument and produced in somewhat large numbers. Stan Kenton experimented with a couple different instruments before Conn reached out and said basically "we have something you might be interested in"
I've heard that they were originally built in E-flat only, and Kenton insisted they be modified to play in F instead, which is why the intonation is bad on the F slide, but I don't believe this story yet.
0:10 I’m watching in the morning
love your vids dude, keep making more!
Thank you, Trent, for your interesting and important overviews!
3:22 it sounds like if donald duck were a car that won't start
I think you've only come part way to the sound of a orchestral french horn. The answer I think is pretty straight forward. Look at the shape of a french horn, the tubing runs are much more open than the mellophone you have there. The main difference is that with the french horn you have a much more open, rich sound.
Now you need to do a comparison between a mellophonium and a "classic" or "concert" mellophone. Extra points awarded if the concert mello is a Conn 14E as it is supposedly the instrument the 16E was created from.
The mellophonium, to my ear, has an almost oboe-like quality.
I’m writing a piece for a sort of jazz big band at the moment, and am seriously writing one or two of the trumpets on mellophonium. The whole thing is written for weird instruments (C saxophones, bass sax, and more)
Don't forget about that Getzen frumpet! It has a proportional bell and horrendous intonation. I'm sure you'd think the French horn mouthpiece on an f alto instrument is the culprit. However, I've got one that someone put a mellophone leadpipe and reciever on, still has both the F and Eb slides, and still has horrid intonation. It does play better in Eb, but still not great. I've wondered what a tighter bell would do for that horn...
I had a frumpet.....briefly
I played a Getzen "Frumpet" for 2 marching seasons in H.S. It is a musical abomination in the brass world. The Mellophonium is FAR SUPERIOR to that and to any Mellophone.
I used to play French Horn in the Houston Symphony Orchestra, so perhaps I know something about these instruments.
That sneeze sounds like you keeped playing the Carnival of Venice
I play the melephone and French horn. It’s hard listening to people tell you how “easy” they are to play.
That sneeze though then the recovery
I prefer the mellophonium
I completely and emphatically concur.
the horn bells are that particular shape to make the sound reminisent of a french horn (also a massive bell that puts a large amount of weight on the leg)
I have been playing the mellophone for years and take a little offense (sniff) to your calling it "ridiculous." (Actually I laughed when you said that.) It is an underrated instrument. I also play the B flat cornet and always have a hard time choosing which one to use to play the same tunes, even though they are in different keys. One thing I like about both instruments is that there is not much difference in mouthpieces. A traditional French horn mouthpiece is different than that of the mellophone. Never liked the traditional French horn because of that weird left hand key thing.
I played a Dynasty Mellophone from DEG and the only tuning problem is the 5th open tone, I played the E with 1st & 2nd valve and the Eflat with 2nd & 3rd valve and thats all.
A section of mellophones can sound pretty fucking spectacular ;-)
The G bugle version of the mellophone (it’s original incarnation when it was made) is pitched higher and gives more of a French horn effect when played (large ornamental glissandos and octave slurs sound great). Phantom regiment was able to do similar with F Mello writing and performance technique, as you can hear in their 2008 show Spartacus. Drum Corps did have French Horn bugles at a time, but they were replaced by Mellos, Altos, and flugelhorns as time went by due to the difficulty of using a small conical mouthpiece while Jazz running at high BPMs, so as movement became more important in drum corps, they became unwieldy. Fun fact, the Blue Devils Drum Corps built their own horns called Meehanophones in the 80s and used them until the late 90s that were a part of the Alto section of the brass choir.
You are a showman! your humor touch is really cool
Love your videos but I think you could invite someone who has played this instrument for a drum Corp or marching band to play a piece for you. This instrument is not a traditional concert instrument and music selections are usually rearranged for a marching show. The mellophone section can add a whole new depth to music. I recommend watching blue coats a brave new world show. Creep is one of the music selections in this show and is very popular among pro who love drum Corp.
I'm strongly concerting switching to mellophone from trombone in marching band next year. It would be interesting to play a mellophonium in place.
I am so glad that Trent didn't cut out 3:23
Conn (and perhaps other manufacturers) also made mellophones that resembled French horns except that the bells curved to the left instead of the right, and used piston valves (activated by the right hand) instead of rotary valves (activated by the left hand). I believe this "configuration" has also gone the way of the mellophonium.
Some updates--I just learned the configuration resembling a French horn was called a "concert" or "classic" mellophone. I own the model Conn called the "French horn alto" which has the tubing slightly different to the other model they labeled simply as a mellophone (in their catalogs from the 1920s).
Last night I bought a mellophonium from a seller on eBay. I guess I like the "freakiness" of the instrument and the funny shape of the case, although I'm hoping I can also use the mouthpiece (the original with this instrument) on my FH alto, for which I'm currently using a FH mouthpiece. I'm looking forward to receiving and playing this instrument when it arrives within a week. I have about a dozen Conn instruments--but I'm NOT planning to go as far as getting a double-belled euphonium!
BTW I bought a wonderful (and bargain-priced) Conn 14-D (single) French horn last month, and I absolutely LOVE playing it.
I own and play both of the horns demonstrated in this video. I prefer the tone and response of the Conn mellophonium to the Olds mellophone. I don't like the OEM mouthpiece for either. I machined adapters on a metal lathe and use french horn mouthpieces Each horn takes a different mouthpiece IMHO.
“Question the answer that no one has been asking”
Is there grammar in that sentence?
Dear Brother Trent. I must admit that unfortunately I must totally agree with you. Please be so bold to see my your other excellent 2015 video on the mellophone. I placed about four different comments for your enjoyment, edification and confusion! Thank you. Brother mark f
3:21 when trent becomes a duck
You are a good man trent.
Try flight of the bumblebee on these horns......
Stan Kenton added a mellophonium section to his band in the 1960s. While it did add a unique sound quality that was well-suited to ballads and medium-tempo swing, it definitely overbalanced the sound and added massive intonation problems. Kenton mostly used trumpet players, and, according to legend, they tended to enjoy out-powering the actual trumpet section. To get an idea of the sound, listen to the Kenton West Side Story album and a later effort called Adventures in Blues, one of my favorite big band records.
Trent is right, this is a ridiculous instrument, difficult to play in tune and bereft of the gorgeous sound of the French horn.
That mellophone is so out of tune it's literally playing a whole different note
Trent! Great work, as always. Would you be I would be VERY interested on you getting your hands on a stinker ebay mellophone, and chopping off the bell flair.
Trent, the reason they have such huge bells is because they are derived from the concert mellophone. To my knowledge, the mellophonium is identical to the mellophone but with the bell facing forwards instead of to the side. Then the marching mellophone, the one people usually mean when they say mellophone, was just a different arrangement of tubing from the mellophone to make it easier to hold and march. Both are attempts at emulating the sound of the French Horn in marching bands, but why they didn't simply just use forward-facing marching-style French Horns, which have been successfully made, I have no idea.
Not quite, There are some fairly major differences between the mellophonium and mellophone. The bell is bigger, the mouthpiece is different, and the bore size is quite a bit smaller.
I note that the Mellophone looks like it has a trumpet cup-like mouthpiece, whereas the Mellophonium has a Horn cone-like mouthpiece, does that change the experience? Also, am I correct to understand that these are half the length of the actual horn, meaning their fundamental is an octave higher than the horn.
Trent can you make a video just messing around and combining different instrument parts with a euphonium
TRENT, THE GUYS IN KENTONS BAND HATED THEIR MELOPHONIUM SECTION SO MUCH THAT THEY WERE SEATED WAY APART FROM THE REST OF THE BAND FOR RECORDINGS AND CONCERTS.
The mellophonium has a bigger and richer sound. Concentrate on that and melt the mellophone down to make a fantastic paper weight.
make the bell smaller and see if there is a different sound or tunning issue
Trent,
I turned my computer on this morning for the sole reason of sending you a note asking you to do a presentation on the difference between the mellophone and the flugelhorn, but when I opened TH-cam I noticed you had just done so! or at least I thought so until you mentioned mellophonium! I then REread and checked the title on the video to realize I and misread the tile as Flugelhorn vs Mellophone! Is a mellophonium pretty much the same as anellophone? please let me know Thank you for the info you shared in this video, though I'm sure it will help me decide on which brass instrument to purchase next!
Thanks,
Dan S.
I wish I had your collection
Someone should send him down one of our Yamaha 204m mellophones that DCI and every marching band in the USA uses. I live your videos Trent, but I feel your comparisons are a bit narrow minded at times. Like when you are comparing these two instruments, you do not take into consideration the intended uses of these instruments. They are marching instruments exclusively and I feel comparing them to alto horns is a bit of a stretch. I am a trumpet player, but I do enjoy messing around with a mello, and I can't deny the awesome way they are used in Drum Corp International. I'm sure you are familiar with DCI and I'm sure you have watched shows, but if you haven't, you should check out the Bluecoats 2014 show. The first movement utilizes a lot of mello rips and it just sounds amazing. Keep up the good work, I just wanted to get in my 2 cents.
Bless you
dat sneeze tho
mellephone sounds better. the mellephoium sounds like a flugelhorn. u should do a comparison.
play the clarinet part of @, Fats Waller, Milestones of a Jazz Legend - Fats Waller, Vol. 3 on the mellephone.
I think they're both beautiful
I think they both sound just as good
Sir, your self-deprecation not withstanding, those two instruments in your hands make pleasant music.
If you don't like them... maybe I could take one?
Strangely enough I did ask that question
Donald Trump I mean Duck
Trent...I think you should sacrifice a cheap trombone for the bell - and use the bell off it to replace the monstrous bell on one of those things...!! just sayin'
The mellophonium makes me happy, it’s just so ridiculous
Hey, I was curious, do you own a Cimbasso Trombone? If so, can you maybe do a review of it?
If I owned one I would have already done a review. Sadly I don't and can't see myself affording one anytime soon.
Oh that's ok. I understand
My uninformed view is that the large bodacious bells are just for show and they are there for fashion reasons as shoulder pads were for women in the 1980's. The big man playing cherry pink and apple blossom white could cast a bigger shadow with one of these. Size matters.
Exactly. the mellophonium was consistently mediocre, stuffy sounding*. The Conn was variable almost having some nice sounds then not. I started to think 'if only" then realized if only you were playing Alto or "tenor" horn... *maybe stuffy nose sound was contagious brought on the sneezing fit.
Was that "Lesser of to weevils" an literary allusion to O'Brian or "Lessor of weevils" an exotic to-hire service?
i play mellophone and i love it
Trent can you do a video of the frumpet vs the mellophonium
F Trumpet, AKA Frumpet: Horribly out of tune piece of crap, an abomination in the music world. There. No video neccesary.
What's the name of the song that you was playing with you was testing the difference?
Where do you get variations of a carnival venice for F instruments?
I thought mellophoniums only come in Eb?
Where can I buy a melloponium and are they still used for marching band 🤔
Yo i'm here because of mellophonist Don Elliott
Vibrato - I knew a french horn player who had Parkinson's. Vibrato isn't acceptable for horn players...
I like
What's wrong with a french horn?!
Hi Trent. Some Brass instruments have a tapering effect. For example, the Tuba, euphonium, and the flugelhorn. How is the tapering effect created on a metal object like these brass instruments? Is there some kind of machine that creates the effect? Or is the tapering effect done by hand?
There are TH-cam videos showing how it's done - search 'making a trumpet'
Do you know of other videos which show how instruments are made?
I watched the footage on Tubas by the way.
I'm not sure if you mentioned this on either of these instruments' reviews, but what mouthpiece do you use in both?
DAS Sorry but no. The mellophonium does not use a French horn mouthpiece. It uses a specialized Conn 1 mellophonium which is almost unobtainable because it only came with the mellophonium. Without the specific mouthpiece the instrument sounds significantly different. I had a mellophonium myself, as long as the Conn 1, and I can tell you that I have tried all sorts of mouthpiece that I could find but nothing fits except the Conn 1. Only the Conn 1 can produce the Stan Winston sound we here in recordings.
Legend Brass (Scodwell) also made a customized mellophonium mouthpiece based on the one he played in stand Winston band. I have not yet tried that.
Although I would hate to march it, I really do prefer the sound of the mellophonium over the mellophone. In all honesty, though, I think that the forward bell solo horn might trump the both of them for actual practicality to play/march. The bells are just too large.
To my ear the melofoium sounds better.
Hit or miss 4:15
3:22 gentlemen place your bets 😆
I like the melophonium because it sounds stronger and would probably be more powerful in a band.