Plucked The mellophone is a brass instrument used in marching bands and drum and bugle corps in place of French horns.

Owing to its use primarily outside concert music, there is little solo literature for the mellophone, other than that used within drum and bugle corps, and a single concerto written for the instrument.

The direction of the bell as well as the much-reduced amount of tubing (compared to a French horn) make the mellophone look like a large trumpet.

Some trumpet players who double on mellophone use a trumpet-style parabolic ("cup") mouthpiece on the instrument, resulting in a much brighter, more trumpet-like sound.

The traditional instrument is visually modeled on the horn, with a round shape and a rear-facing bell and has come to be known as a "classic" or "concert" mellophone.

Unlike French horns, it is played with the right hand, and the bell points to the rear left of the player and is generally keyed in F with facility to switch to Eb.

In a French horn, the length of tubing (and the bore size) make the partials much closer together than other brass instruments in their normal range and, therefore, harder to play accurately.

The F mellophone has tubing half the length of a French horn, which gives it an overtone series more similar to a trumpet and most other brass instruments.

The mellophone is an instrument designed specifically to bring the approximate sound of a horn in a package which is conducive to playing while marching.

American bandleader Stan Kenton himself was not involved in the design of the mellophonium; in 1961, however, he provided an endorsement for Conn's advertising upon adopting the instrument.

Kenton had, for several years, wished to add another brass voice alongside the trumpets and trombones in his orchestra and experimented unsuccessfully with additional instruments, before discovering the Conn Mellophonium, which bridged the gap he was seeking to fill: In 1962, Kenton explained: "For some time, I recognized the need for using an instrument that would not only give the orchestra another solo voice, but would add more warmth and emphasis to the thematic line.

Both the arranging staff and myself realized the need for an instrument that would capture the width of sound that virtually lay untouched between the trumpets and trombones.