Why not piccolos?

Gaaslaj · Post by **Gaaslaj** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 1:48 pm

I read somewhere that piccolos were popular for playing Irish at one time. Are they difficult to play? How much louder are they than a whistle? Would one dominate a session? J.

Jay-eye · Post by **Jay-eye** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 3:44 pm

I was playing a Sweetheart piccolo the other day - talk about shrill! And the bit that really put me off
is that you couldn't play it softly, not like a flute. It was flat out or nowt.
If you didn't blow it hard you didn't get the note.

Good for blasting out the earwax though!

glauber · Post by **glauber** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 5:23 pm

I like piccolo. Best thing for a crowded or loud session. You can control the sound, just takes practice.

Bretton · Post by **Bretton** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 8:12 pm

I've got a recording called FLUTE FOR THE FEIS by John Doonan that's all solo piccolo. I haven't listened to it for a while but from what I recall, I think I'd prefer whistle. Nice playing though...I picted up a few varyations on tunes I already knew from that recording.

-Brett

Doug_Tipple · Post by **Doug_Tipple** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 8:36 pm

Why not piccolos? They scare my cat, that's why. I'm sorry, but I have to plug my ears when the piccolos go at it on "Stars and Stipes Forever". Lets be more reasonable and all play the real thing, flutes.

busterbill · Post by **busterbill** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 8:45 pm

the piccolo is a tricky instrument and most of us haven't mastered it. A scarey idea is someone who's played piccolo for a couple of months shrilling away at a session. If it were to be truely mastered like John Doonan referred to in another email it could make sense. Most of us don't have they years to put in to it. The instrument would also make a huge difference. you can fool about on a $10 whistle and sound pretty ok but a good fife or piccolo is hard to come by. I have an older sweetheart i thought use to keep my embrochure up playing privately in small places (my car) etc. but it went into a drawer and remains there. A couple of antique simple system piccolos have come my way and I had one reworked by Michael Hubbert but somehow they don't have the emotional draw of the flute or the ease of the whistle... If cast off on a desert island with a piccolo though, someone could get the hang of it. Its just there's so many more interesting instruments to play. As for volume, there's a reason that the they were a favored instrument in the marching armies of the 18th and nineteen century.

glauber · Post by **glauber** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 9:14 pm

Ralph Sweet makes surprisingly good piccolos. I have one, and also have a Hamilton (which looks exactly like what you would get if you ran one of his flutes through a shrinking machine set to 50%). I've been playing flute and piccolo for more than 20 years, but i don't think piccolo is so hard. You have to overcome the fear or whatever it is that makes people blow them so hard. They're just little flutes, really.

artsohio · Post by **artsohio** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 9:18 pm

I have a bamboo piccolo in C bought about twenty years ago from "Little River Fluteworks" (or something similar) in Virginia. Anyone have a clue who that was/is? It's a wonderful instrument, not a bit shrill. I don't know if that's because of the lower pitch or the construction. It is very mellow and fun to play. My fingers fly on it!

The concert piccolo, however, is the single most horrible instrument ever invented. I have to wear earplugs to play it. Of course, most of the time it's played in the third octave which wouldn't be the case on a simple-system instrument. I hate playing the concert picc.

I want to pick up a D-piccolo one day. If I can find one with the same mellowness and joy-of-playing as my C-piccolo, I think it would be a nice alternative to the whistle.

glauber · Post by **glauber** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 9:25 pm

artsohio wrote:The concert piccolo, however, is the single most horrible instrument ever invented. I have to wear earplugs to play it. Of course, most of the time it's played in the third octave which wouldn't be the case on a simple-system instrument. I hate playing the concert picc.

If you have a chance, try an Eldred Spell headjoint. Beautiful, blends nicely, not shrill at all.

I.D.10-t · Post by **I.D.10-t** » Fri Oct 15, 2004 7:34 am

I am not an accomplished player but here is my view. I have a Bb and D
instrument in the piccolo/fife range. I also have a D flute. I could never
get use to the flute. (Although my wife liked it when I play the flute better)

As I have improved, her dislike for the piccolo has diminished.

The D flute has a larger finger spread and feels big and clunky. It takes
more breath and I cannot play as long of a phrase (might be just me
though)

I started playing a Melbay fife and so I know what a low-end fife is like. I
have since upgraded. I have also played some Toy flutes of similar
quality. Both can be as bad as a whistle that is out of tune.

If you are willing to buy a high-end flute, a high-end fife will often cost
much less (compare prices).

As for whistles, the higher you get the louder you get. With a piccolo/fife,
you can often make the sound soft and sweet while still having power in the
lowest octave (Better than I can with the flute). You can always
talk to the manufacturers and ask if they have options for smaller holes
and embrochure if you are concerned.

Most importantly, I like playing the fife and the piccolo. I like their history
and think that they had an important role. Play what you love and you will
love what you hear.

Chiff and Fipple Forums

Why not piccolos?

Why not piccolos?

Fife, Piccolo, flute