@@SamuelPlaysBrass yeah, my junior high is from the 60s and all the mellos are blessing bm100s from when it opened. I used one for most of last year but then I found my 201 for under 300 and decided to get it. Best investment of my life
I remember using a mellophone to double a horn part in my high school pit last year. I think it might've been the YMP-204MS. I loved playing it but it drank over 10fl. oz. of valve oil through the 3 month season.
I play on a Jupiter JMP1000MS for our marching band and my section leader plays on this Yamaha horn (albeit in silver plate) and compared to my Jupiter it plays like a dream. Great video as always Sam!
Great to know-I’ve never played a Jupiter mello before! Hope you get to be section leader and play that Yamaha someday! Thanks for your kind words too :)
I agree with your comments on intonation. There are random notes on the horn that are squirrely and not in tune without adjustments (like the concert Bb, ironic for a marching instrument). This model is still the gold standard as far as mellos go, but I'm looking forward to seeing future models be more in tune with themselves.
The concert Bb you’re referring to is a written F, which is one of the most likely notes to be sharp on any brass instrument, from Bb trumpet to Eb, from flugelhorn to euphonium to indeed mellophone. That’s almost an inevitability if you don’t pull the 1st slide. But it is a little frustrating how combos like 1+2 and 2+3 don’t seem to get along, which is an issue that comes up most in sharp keys.
In the brass band, they tune often on that middle C and indeed it's very often sharp by nature. So what follows next is a middle C in tune but many other notes too low. I tune in between the g (bit too low) and the c and if it's worth it, I take the c then with 2-3@@SamuelPlaysBrass
Amazing video, I have been trying to tell people to stray away from horn mouthpieces vs mellophone mouthpieces. Does the statement actually hold water about being flat in the higher register on horn mouthpieces?
Thanks Joe! Yes, every time I’ve tried to use any horn mouthpiece on any mellophone, the notes above the staff have clocked in at close to a quarter tone flat, especially around high C.
Have you ever tried one of the Venture custom mello mouthpieces? I was never a fan big fan of the Yamaha mello mouthpiece and others with a similar ID. I always thought they were too small and too bright. I have the Venture MD1 which is much wider and deeper than any other mello mouthpiece I've ever come across. They do have less extreme sizes available as well and even though they're a little pricey, it might be worth a look. The MD1 has a much richer and darker sound but it can still be pushed to get that iconic, robust mello sound. Although it does take a lot more air to get there.
I haven’t had the chance to try anything from Vennture. That’s a good idea in theory, and if I desire a darker sound from a mellophone for close-mic recording I sometimes use a Blessing copy of a Denis Wick 5 alto horn mouthpiece.
Hi, i'm searching for a Bb mellophone ( maybe it's called Baritone mellophone), i do not mean the "marching baritone". Does It exist? Can you recommend some good beginner models? Im a trumpeter
great review of my favorite instrument sam! one question, i have a yamaha 201ms and got a 14f4 yamaha mouthpiece and idk if i got the wrong one because it fits poorly (like if u had a tuba and put a small bore trombone mp in it), any idea what happened?
Thanks for your kind words, Railee! Unfortunately the mouthpiece dilemma is tricky. The model 14F4 is originally a flugelhorn mouthpiece, which has a narrower shank than a trumpet/mellophone mouthpiece. Then they made the same cup on a trumpet/mello shank and called it the MP-14F4. Seems like you might have ended up with the flugel shank rather than the MP version. Sorry to hear it :/
@@SamuelPlaysBrass darn, thank u for ur input! one final question before i let sleep (it's 12:13am for me rn lol), my high school actually requires the bach 6 mello mp for marching but from what i have seen it wouldn't fit in the mello properly, but they seem very insistent on it, do u know if maybe that would work better? again thank u so much
@@RaileeLovesJazz That seems really strange that they insist on the Bach… From what I know, Bach uses a narrower shank size designed to fit older mellophones, not the modern ones with trumpet-sized shanks. There are other companies that make the “6” size, like the Hammond 6MP, King/UMI Mello 6V, and I’m sure many others (Dynasty, Benge, CKB, etc.) so I have no idea why your school would go with the odd duck that doesn’t even have the right shank dimensions.
Say, that thing is in the key of F, so, does it have the length of an F French horn OR a discant F French Horn ( same as an F in trumpet)? Asking for a friend.
Good question. It is a single-length instrument like the trumpet or descant horn. Double-length mellophones like the traditional F horn are very rare. I’ve only heard of a couple in existence, usually made on special order by marching makers such as DEG Dynasty or Kanstul.
This is a good question. Let’s see if I can give you a good answer… AT A GLANCE: Yes. Mellophone reads in F like the French horn, so there’s no reason you couldn’t play concert band parts written for horn (except in rare instances where 4th horn goes below a low F#, in which case you might be out of luck on mellophone). WHY DON’T PEOPLE ALREADY DO IT? The marching mellophone is a bell-front instrument designed not for superb tone quality but maximal projection and cutting power. The horn is almost the exact inverse: bell reversed, designed to play with the most beautiful and soloistic tone possible in spite of acoustical weirdness. You’re likely to stick out of the section if you use a marching mellophone in concert band. Additionally, it might be hard to play in tune with other horns. BUT… it was once, long ago, popular to use mellophones in concert settings! TYPES OF MELLOPHONES: What we call a ‘mellophone’ today is really a marching version of an older instrument also called the ‘mellophone. Let’s call the original variant a ‘concert mello’ and the current iteration a ‘marching mello.’ Concert mellophones had the same tubing as the modern marchers but configured in the shape of a right-handed French horn-bell down and to the side. These were indeed used as a common substitute on horn parts, and although the concert mello’s sound wasn’t a perfect imitation of a horn, it didn’t stick out too much and played relatively in tune. The heyday of these concert mellos was in the early 1900s. A lot of the 100 year-old ones that are still around are in really bad condition. Yamaha did produce some from the 1960s to the 1980s for use in Japanese concert bands. If you got an old Yamaha YMP-201, you could in theory use it more effectively in a concert band that the YMP-204M you see in this video. Hopefully that helps somewhat!
@@SamuelPlaysBrass Ah, I see… I was wondering if they would even use a mello in concerts because I heard that you literally cannot see anything because of the massive bell. Kind of annoyed that the horns usually aren’t loud enough, and I was pretty tired of holding that thing. Might actually consider getting a mellophone, thanks!
@@BlockBuster681 I will say, seeing the conductor in pep band around a mello bell… not fun LOL. But if in concert band you didn’t have your bell angled perfectly horizontal and instead played with a slightly lower bell angle, that would probably work fine. I feel your pain, though. It’s hard to get enough projection on a horn since the bell faces backwards.
4:35 The loudest mellophone (or substitute) is the Getzen Frumpet… which is unfortunate, because from experience, it’s absolutely horrid in any other category. In regards to tone, I find the conn mellophonium 16E to sound the prettiest, if you can find one. I tried my college’s YMP-201M, it plays good, but the Conn 132E (king stencil) had its third valve wrapped in a way that lets me brace my pinky in a good spot and plays just as well.
You found the Frumpet of all infernal things to be the alto brass instrument capable of the greatest decibel output? I must have played a VERY different one from you. The one I got for $100 and that has sat around virtually unused in my closet has a dull, soft, lifeless tone that is patently lacking in volume, particularly when working outside the confines of the treble staff. I've never gotten to try either of the Conns you described. I recently played an Olds Ambassador mellophonium, though, and found that my impressions were very much "meh." B-grade alto brass instrument tone quality and C-grade intonation.
@@SamuelPlaysBrass The frumpet I got for $85 from a school system feels kinda tight and there isn't too much behind the bell, but the mello convert I had try it said he could tell a lot comes out of the bell for the effort he puts in. It is one of two instruments I've made my own ears hurt with. I bought it for pep band for volume purposes, and I probably won't end up using it, because the tone is genuinely bad, and my endurance is horrible on a french horn mouthpiece as a trombonist. It's so horrible that sticking a trumpet mouthpiece in a valve trombone and praying is a better bet.
Mellophones are the bestophones, I march Mello and you can hear me and 1 other Mello out of 150 people, we need new mello's all lost their plating, dented, missing parts, ect.
@@SamuelPlaysBrass thanks, this year we are doing a "black out" halftime show of back in black, paint it black, and welcome to my black parade. Sadly we didn't get the solo in black parade
What do we think, y’all? More marching brass reviews for Scholastic Brass Month?
Yes please! I love my 201ms
@@RaichuEnjoy Nice! That’s the model that stemmed from the circular mellophone I showed on screen (YMP-201; note the absence of the “M” suffix)
@@SamuelPlaysBrass yeah, my junior high is from the 60s and all the mellos are blessing bm100s from when it opened. I used one for most of last year but then I found my 201 for under 300 and decided to get it. Best investment of my life
Marching brass reviews by farr
@@RaichuEnjoy Sounds much better than the school mellos. I got a decent condition Reynolds a few months back for $100 :)
I remember using a mellophone to double a horn part in my high school pit last year. I think it might've been the YMP-204MS. I loved playing it but it drank over 10fl. oz. of valve oil through the 3 month season.
What a greedy horn! Also, very interesting choice for pit music, but whatever works, I guess.
As a sax player I can confirm it is a mello
… I don’t think anybody was arguing otherwise?
@@SamuelPlaysBrass it’s a mello
Alright, Einstein.
@@SamuelPlaysBrass it’s a mello
@@seymour_as2498 yo what instrument is it
Great video! Being in the UK, didn't know much about the mellophone as we don't get many round here, very informative!!
You’re not missing out on much, don’t worry 😂 I kid, of course-mellophones are fun, but they definitely are fussy too!
I play on a Jupiter JMP1000MS for our marching band and my section leader plays on this Yamaha horn (albeit in silver plate) and compared to my Jupiter it plays like a dream. Great video as always Sam!
Great to know-I’ve never played a Jupiter mello before! Hope you get to be section leader and play that Yamaha someday! Thanks for your kind words too :)
thanks a lot for your detailed demo 🙏
Glad you enjoyed it!
HAAAA tuning in...
Great video Samuel!👍👍
Thanks Peter!
You're welcome!
I agree with your comments on intonation. There are random notes on the horn that are squirrely and not in tune without adjustments (like the concert Bb, ironic for a marching instrument). This model is still the gold standard as far as mellos go, but I'm looking forward to seeing future models be more in tune with themselves.
The concert Bb you’re referring to is a written F, which is one of the most likely notes to be sharp on any brass instrument, from Bb trumpet to Eb, from flugelhorn to euphonium to indeed mellophone. That’s almost an inevitability if you don’t pull the 1st slide. But it is a little frustrating how combos like 1+2 and 2+3 don’t seem to get along, which is an issue that comes up most in sharp keys.
In the brass band, they tune often on that middle C and indeed it's very often sharp by nature. So what follows next is a middle C in tune but many other notes too low. I tune in between the g (bit too low) and the c and if it's worth it, I take the c then with 2-3@@SamuelPlaysBrass
Amazing video, I have been trying to tell people to stray away from horn mouthpieces vs mellophone mouthpieces. Does the statement actually hold water about being flat in the higher register on horn mouthpieces?
Thanks Joe! Yes, every time I’ve tried to use any horn mouthpiece on any mellophone, the notes above the staff have clocked in at close to a quarter tone flat, especially around high C.
Have you ever tried one of the Venture custom mello mouthpieces? I was never a fan big fan of the Yamaha mello mouthpiece and others with a similar ID. I always thought they were too small and too bright. I have the Venture MD1 which is much wider and deeper than any other mello mouthpiece I've ever come across. They do have less extreme sizes available as well and even though they're a little pricey, it might be worth a look. The MD1 has a much richer and darker sound but it can still be pushed to get that iconic, robust mello sound. Although it does take a lot more air to get there.
I haven’t had the chance to try anything from Vennture. That’s a good idea in theory, and if I desire a darker sound from a mellophone for close-mic recording I sometimes use a Blessing copy of a Denis Wick 5 alto horn mouthpiece.
Hi, i'm searching for a Bb mellophone ( maybe it's called Baritone mellophone), i do not mean the "marching baritone". Does It exist? Can you recommend some good beginner models? Im a trumpeter
You're thinking of the marching French horn. The Yamaha YFH-302M is a good choice.
great review of my favorite instrument sam! one question, i have a yamaha 201ms and got a 14f4 yamaha mouthpiece and idk if i got the wrong one because it fits poorly (like if u had a tuba and put a small bore trombone mp in it), any idea what happened?
Thanks for your kind words, Railee! Unfortunately the mouthpiece dilemma is tricky. The model 14F4 is originally a flugelhorn mouthpiece, which has a narrower shank than a trumpet/mellophone mouthpiece. Then they made the same cup on a trumpet/mello shank and called it the MP-14F4. Seems like you might have ended up with the flugel shank rather than the MP version. Sorry to hear it :/
@@SamuelPlaysBrass darn, thank u for ur input! one final question before i let sleep (it's 12:13am for me rn lol), my high school actually requires the bach 6 mello mp for marching but from what i have seen it wouldn't fit in the mello properly, but they seem very insistent on it, do u know if maybe that would work better? again thank u so much
@@RaileeLovesJazz That seems really strange that they insist on the Bach… From what I know, Bach uses a narrower shank size designed to fit older mellophones, not the modern ones with trumpet-sized shanks. There are other companies that make the “6” size, like the Hammond 6MP, King/UMI Mello 6V, and I’m sure many others (Dynasty, Benge, CKB, etc.) so I have no idea why your school would go with the odd duck that doesn’t even have the right shank dimensions.
@@SamuelPlaysBrass hmmm yeah. maybe i can ask about it in a summer band camp or something. thanks sam!
i hate but also love having a silver horn but i need to constantly polish it
Could be worse, though-back in the day, legend has it that band and drum corps kids had to polish their silver horns with toothbrushes!!
I play a king 1121 and this sounds just as good
They all probably sound pretty similar, especially when blasting at fortissimo on an open field
The Yamaha is way sturdier
What's the 4-valve instrument behind you in the intro?
Good question, it’s a custom PUJE Mod. Four made by Brent Peters. It’s not my horn, I’m only borrowing it from Brent.
Say, that thing is in the key of F, so, does it have the length of an F French horn OR a discant F French Horn ( same as an F in trumpet)? Asking for a friend.
Good question. It is a single-length instrument like the trumpet or descant horn. Double-length mellophones like the traditional F horn are very rare. I’ve only heard of a couple in existence, usually made on special order by marching makers such as DEG Dynasty or Kanstul.
Is it possible to use a mellophone in a concert band?
This is a good question. Let’s see if I can give you a good answer…
AT A GLANCE: Yes. Mellophone reads in F like the French horn, so there’s no reason you couldn’t play concert band parts written for horn (except in rare instances where 4th horn goes below a low F#, in which case you might be out of luck on mellophone).
WHY DON’T PEOPLE ALREADY DO IT? The marching mellophone is a bell-front instrument designed not for superb tone quality but maximal projection and cutting power. The horn is almost the exact inverse: bell reversed, designed to play with the most beautiful and soloistic tone possible in spite of acoustical weirdness. You’re likely to stick out of the section if you use a marching mellophone in concert band. Additionally, it might be hard to play in tune with other horns.
BUT… it was once, long ago, popular to use mellophones in concert settings!
TYPES OF MELLOPHONES: What we call a ‘mellophone’ today is really a marching version of an older instrument also called the ‘mellophone. Let’s call the original variant a ‘concert mello’ and the current iteration a ‘marching mello.’ Concert mellophones had the same tubing as the modern marchers but configured in the shape of a right-handed French horn-bell down and to the side. These were indeed used as a common substitute on horn parts, and although the concert mello’s sound wasn’t a perfect imitation of a horn, it didn’t stick out too much and played relatively in tune.
The heyday of these concert mellos was in the early 1900s. A lot of the 100 year-old ones that are still around are in really bad condition. Yamaha did produce some from the 1960s to the 1980s for use in Japanese concert bands. If you got an old Yamaha YMP-201, you could in theory use it more effectively in a concert band that the YMP-204M you see in this video.
Hopefully that helps somewhat!
@@SamuelPlaysBrass Ah, I see… I was wondering if they would even use a mello in concerts because I heard that you literally cannot see anything because of the massive bell.
Kind of annoyed that the horns usually aren’t loud enough, and I was pretty tired of holding that thing. Might actually consider getting a mellophone, thanks!
@@BlockBuster681 I will say, seeing the conductor in pep band around a mello bell… not fun LOL. But if in concert band you didn’t have your bell angled perfectly horizontal and instead played with a slightly lower bell angle, that would probably work fine. I feel your pain, though. It’s hard to get enough projection on a horn since the bell faces backwards.
My mellophone is just like yours but it’s silver
You must have the more common YMP-204MS variant then!
I chose trombone but I wish I chose the mellophone 😭
And what’s so bad about the mellophone?
@@SamuelPlaysBrass it’s just underrated and such a good instrument in my opinion
4:35 The loudest mellophone (or substitute) is the Getzen Frumpet… which is unfortunate, because from experience, it’s absolutely horrid in any other category.
In regards to tone, I find the conn mellophonium 16E to sound the prettiest, if you can find one.
I tried my college’s YMP-201M, it plays good, but the Conn 132E (king stencil) had its third valve wrapped in a way that lets me brace my pinky in a good spot and plays just as well.
You found the Frumpet of all infernal things to be the alto brass instrument capable of the greatest decibel output? I must have played a VERY different one from you. The one I got for $100 and that has sat around virtually unused in my closet has a dull, soft, lifeless tone that is patently lacking in volume, particularly when working outside the confines of the treble staff.
I've never gotten to try either of the Conns you described. I recently played an Olds Ambassador mellophonium, though, and found that my impressions were very much "meh." B-grade alto brass instrument tone quality and C-grade intonation.
@@SamuelPlaysBrass The frumpet I got for $85 from a school system feels kinda tight and there isn't too much behind the bell, but the mello convert I had try it said he could tell a lot comes out of the bell for the effort he puts in. It is one of two instruments I've made my own ears hurt with.
I bought it for pep band for volume purposes, and I probably won't end up using it, because the tone is genuinely bad, and my endurance is horrible on a french horn mouthpiece as a trombonist. It's so horrible that sticking a trumpet mouthpiece in a valve trombone and praying is a better bet.
"absolute goober" hahaha!
Still living down all the dumb stuff 14-y/o Sam did on the channel. Just gotta do my best to find humor in it all!
I prefer King’s tbh mostly for cosmetic reasons
I’m the other way. I think the Kings look weird compared to this style.
I play a king
Mellophones are the bestophones, I march Mello and you can hear me and 1 other Mello out of 150 people, we need new mello's all lost their plating, dented, missing parts, ect.
You two must put out a lot of sound! Big ups!
@@SamuelPlaysBrass thanks, this year we are doing a "black out" halftime show of back in black, paint it black, and welcome to my black parade. Sadly we didn't get the solo in black parade