I've been on a quest for quite a long time, seeking a "Parlor Piccolo". What I desire is a piccolo to play soft and sweet around the house.

Well I've been considering a Mollenhauer Picco for years, so I finally broke down and ordered one (Baroque Fingering Model) from Lazar's Early Music (Very friendly and pleasant to deal with! ). The Picco's fingering is a bit different, but it does not have a thumb hole like a recorder.

Here's a picture of the Picco flanked by Jem's (top) and Miller's (bottom):



The pearwood is lovely in appearance and feel, the tone-holes are all sharp and clean (nicely made). The voice was a bit weak by ITM standards, but sweet. However, I could only get the flute to play an octave and a half (the top-end was horrid). I thought perhaps the problem was me, but I worked on it off and on for a weekend to no avail. So ultimately I sent the Picco back for a refund.

"Close, but no cigar! "

Odd, I hope they didn't just take a recorder body and eliminate the thumb hole, because I thought for much of the second octave you vent that to tame the second octave on a recorder.

Have you tried Tony Dixon's piccolos, http://www.tonydixonmusic.co.uk (although I think he has US distributors)?

Everything I play out in public is on my trusty Angus D fife, but I keep a Dixon by the computer for in-house piccoloing for the very reason that the volume on the Dixon is a significant step down from the Angus ...

The thought of relaxing around the house with a piccolo just seems wrong, somehow... Painful. But then my upper-register hearing is somewhat compromised at this point in life, so, good luck with your search...

Hey Gordon,

What did you say?



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Thanks, Steve! I'll try a Dixon.

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Hey Denny! You left me "Laugh-In"!

The Dixon may not be very loud, but sounds rough to me.