Klarinet Archive - Posting 000792.txt from 1997/08

From: "Edwin V. Lacy" <el2@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: What's a mellophone
Date: Mon, 18 Aug 1997 23:09:16 -0400

The mellophone is a brass instrument which has approximately the same
range as the French horn and which is sometimes used to substitute for the
French horn in the marching band and other situations. The instrument is
something of a hybrid between the cylindrical and conical brass
instruments. It has about half the tube length of the French horn, a
larger bore, and a less "covered" tone quality. The mouthpiece is shaped
much like a trumpet or trombone mouthpiece, but some players who are
primarily French hornists use the French horn mouthpiece with an adaptor.

Originally, the mellophone was configured something like the French horn,
except that it had pistons instead of rotary valves, the player fingered
with the right hand instead of the left, and the bell was held on the
players left. However, now there are many other versions. Especially
popular are several bell-front models. These were originally called
mellophoniums, to distinguish them from the bell-to-the-rear model.

In the early 1960's, Stan Kenton led one of the most famous jazz bands of
the day, and for a time he included a section of four mellophoniums. He
regarded them as a bridge between the trumpets and trombones. That
experiment was ultimately abandoned for several reasons. First, the
problem of having to pay four additional players was an economic factor
which could not be overlooked. Second, the mellophoniums which were
available at that time were notoriously out-of-tune. Third, no concensus
was ever reached as to what the instrument should sound like, and
therefore, no one really knew what approach to take to playing them. As
there were no trained mellophonium players, it was always a matter of
converting trumpet or other brass players to the instrument, with varying
degrees of success.

In the marching band of today, none of those musical factors seem to be
major considerations.

Ed Lacy
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Dr. Edwin Lacy University of Evansville
Professor of Music 1800 Lincoln Avenue
Evansville, IN 47722
el2@-----.edu (812)479-2754
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