Mellophone talk

[imperialbari]

According to a story residing somewhere on the web this was what Stan Kenton did prior to havin Conn making the straight version used in a separate section in his band during a shorter period of years.

My first own brass was a Dutch Schenckelaars mellophone, which I later sold to a jazz trumpeter making much better use of it. Today I have a Martin gold plated mellophone with tilted pistons. I have no first hand knowledge of straight mellophones, but I have two straight single horns in Bb and G.

Asd a ccollector of brasses I have some sense of proportions, costwise. And the reconstruction suggested by you never would be proportional by any standards.

At best mellophones are utility instruments with a narrow scope of applications. You may put whatever amount of work hours into a mellophone and it still won’t gain any additional value.

One certain electronic marketplace offers straight mellophones frequently enough to find one there. And you probably will get one of a relevant quality for less than the costs of your suggested remodelling.

Klaus Smedegaard Bjerre

[Dan Schultz]

I would not attempt to 'straighten out' a wrap such as that. I would cut the flare off and completely remove a portion of the bell stem. Then I would scrounge around in my junk to find an appropriate bell stack that would match the horn and put everything back together.

I have two of those old Conn marching F horns.... complete with cases and Eb slides. They also take a special mouthpiece. They were a flash in the pan and don't play very well at all. Want one? Cheeeep.

[tubatom91]

my high school has about 10 of those old conns. Not counting the one they are lending me. They really are goofy instruments. If you can't find a Conn 1 mellophonium mouthpiece you can use a standard cornet mouthpiece. One of the better examples of good players making sub-par instruments sound nice is the mellophonium section in the Stan Kenton Jazz Orchestra, there is a good video of a mellophonium jazz solo on google videos it's worth a look.

[Donn]

More mellophone heros: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mellocast

[David Richoux]

More mellophone heros: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mellocast

I posted a link to that 1925 band at the Zoo picture on the DJML - we figured out that it was probably a publicity shot for a 1926 film named "Better 'Ole Club" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0016643/fullcredits#cast but we are all still trying to recognize any of the musicians. Possibly Ted Lewis on the clarinet.

[windshieldbug]

No reserve Conn "straight bell"

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Conn-16E-Me ... dZViewItem

[windshieldbug]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... :IT&ih=025

[windshieldbug]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Elkhart-Mad ... dZViewItem

[Naptown Tuba]

Please stop. You're giving me a bad case of mellophobia.

Symptoms of Melophobia - Fear of hatred or music:
breathlessness, excessive sweating, nausea, dry mouth, feeling sick, shaking, heart palpitations, inability to speak or think clearly, a fear of dying, becoming mad or losing control, a sensation of detachment from reality or a full blown anxiety attack.

[imperialbari]

Please stop. You're giving me a bad case of mellophobia.

Symptoms of Melophobia - Fear of hatred or music:
breathlessness, excessive sweating, nausea, dry mouth, feeling sick, shaking, heart palpitations, inability to speak or think clearly, a fear of dying, becoming mad or losing control, a sensation of detachment from reality or a full blown anxiety attack.

Appears like this condition is not new bloke.

K

[windshieldbug]

a sensation of detachment from reality or a full blown anxiety attack.

And here I thought that Melophobia was the inability to make a decent attack...

[imperialbari]

Who cares?"

Man did so since Adam.

K