Mel Bay, the music instructional book publisher has distributed Walton’s products for some time, but also had its own branded line of flute-family items:
This last was sort of a fife and sort of a whistle. It was a metal fife in C, with a square embouchure hole, and a side mounted fipple-type mouthpiece. It was marketed as an instrument for elementary education. It had a nice tone, though.
Anyway, my question is, are these three items off the market? All the former retailers of them that I know of do not have them in stock, and the Mel Bay website does not list them. They only have the Walton and Clarke whistles (they used to also carry Susato).
I know Thom Larson carries the whistle and I’ve seen the fife at reenactment-type festivals. I’ve only seen one of the Melody Flutes. Actually, the Melody Flute is pretty much the same as the ones from the 60s you occasionally see on eBay that were made by the Melody Flute Co. of Laurel, Md. They’re a six-hole fife in C with a permanently attached whistle-type mouthpiece. The difference is that the originals were all metal (later all plastic) where the Mel Bay model looks like a metal fife with a plastic fipple. The tone of the older ones is pretty much that of a C whistle, but breathier
As a long time fife player I would NOT recommend the use of a metal fife unless it is vintage. The commonly made ones today are cheap and tinny at best. Those with an attached mouthpiece (and many antique wood fifes had them) are for those too young or to lazy to develop a decent embouchure. If you are really into fife I recommend getting a good wooden one. If interested in them contact me off list for more information. Fifes are NOT like whistles where many are metal and are superb. Not so with fifes.
I wasn’t intending to buy a Melody Flute (I had one years ago, though). I just wanted to mention that the entire Mel Bay Premium line seemed to be gone.
Hey Bill G! Let me take a guess: Beth Page Colonials? Or New York Ancients. There are several of us living the fipple-free life on this board. Dave Migoya is ex-St. Benedicts, and drummerboy is ex-Young Colonials, current Old Guard. I was in the old Wm Bender corps and currently play in the Civil War Troopers.
Search the flute board under fife to find Dave’s take (and mine) on the current crop of fifes out there.
I’m with you on the metal fifes out there now, but some of the old ones were nice. Have you ever played or heard a metal Cloos? They made some all-metal models, and they’re sweet. I have a 2-piece rosewood Cloos with a brass lined head joint, and it is one kick ass fife! The volume is enough to bury 2 Healy’s.