are piccolo's really harder?
William McLaughlin
Is that really true, and are they worth buying? Also, what are the
average prices of a used, fairly good condition and brand, piccolo?
- Randy -
> Is that really true, and are they worth buying? Also, what are the
Yes!! I've picked up my friends piccolo a few times, and I'm
always amazed at how difficult it is to play. You'd think it would add
that octave to your range -- no way. I can get another four notes,
maybe. And I just sound awful. Granted, I don't play it much, but you'll
notice how hard you have to push to get a nice sound. Intonation is a
little bit more of an issue too, just becuase you can bend notes a LONG
ways (the lower ones anyway).
Are they worth buying? Depends on how rich you are and what
you're going to be doing with it. I just play jazz if I can help it, and
can't dream of affording one (college'll do that to you), so no way.
- Randy -
- mailto:rshe...@abacus.bates.edu -
- http://www.bates.edu/~rshepard -
Murray Zenk
>> I heard that piccolo trumpets are actually more difficult to play.
>> Is that really true, and are they worth buying? Also, what are the
> Yes!! I've picked up my friends piccolo a few times, and I'm
>always amazed at how difficult it is to play. You'd think it would add
>that octave to your range -- no way. I can get another four notes,
>maybe. And I just sound awful. Granted, I don't play it much, but you'll
>notice how hard you have to push to get a nice sound. Intonation is a
>little bit more of an issue too, just becuase you can bend notes a LONG
>ways (the lower ones anyway).
Not necessarily. It depends on your playing style, and how you play
the pic. For me, palying the piccolo trumpet is easier, it takes less
air. In fact, that's the catch. If you remember that it takes less air,
you won't try to force too much air through the horn, and you'll sound
better and play easier. Playing the piccolo will not give you any
extra range, but it will allow you to play cleanly and in tune in the
upper register.
When you play the pic, make yourself blow less air. Make your air
passage smaller (the idea for playing higher notes is to move a
narrow band of air at higher speed), and push the air through the
horn. Once you get the hang of using less air, the piccolo trumpet
becomes easier to play, and the sound improves.
My .02,
Murray Zenk
Trumpeting
as the harmonics are closer together and it's harder to misspitch.
As it has been pointed out though, you still need the lip flexibility to
be able to play the higher notes.
My preference is to use my C trumpet whenever possible as I much prefer
the tone I get. (Maybe I need more practice on the Picc.) I only use Picc
when neccessary (like in the middle part (6th Movement?) of Pictures at an
Exhibition.
Sometimes I use it in place of a F Trumpet if the part is high as I don't
have an F.
Trumpeting
Ken Christianson
give me your impressions as to how it stacks up to a straight valved
insturment with regards to response time, pressure required and
anything you would like to change on the instrument?
Many thanks.
Ken Christianson, Califiornia
Andrew!
>
> - Randy - <rshe...@abacus.bates.edu> writes:
>
> >> I heard that piccolo trumpets are actually more difficult to play.
> >> Is that really true, and are they worth buying? Also, what are the
>
> > Yes!! I've picked up my friends piccolo a few times, and I'm
> >always amazed at how difficult it is to play.
(other stuff about playing pic munched)
> Not necessarily. It depends on your playing style, and how you play
> the pic. For me, palying the piccolo trumpet is easier, it takes less
> air. In fact, that's the catch. If you remember that it takes less air,
> you won't try to force too much air through the horn, and you'll sound
> better and play easier. Playing the piccolo will not give you any
> extra range, but it will allow you to play cleanly and in tune in the
> upper register.
> When you play the pic, make yourself blow less air. Make your air
> passage smaller (the idea for playing higher notes is to move a
> narrow band of air at higher speed), and push the air through the
> horn. Once you get the hang of using less air, the piccolo trumpet
> becomes easier to play, and the sound improves.
While I agree that pics don't give you any extra range, I've found
that I'm more in tune by thinking of the airspeed and air volume that
I use in playing lead trumpet. I don't advocate blowing your brains out
on every note, however. The smaller aperture required for pic will
result in less air moving through the horn, that is true. But do not
overlook the importance of a large potential air volume every time
you put the instrument to your lips. I guess in summary, I don't know
if I could bring myself to ever think of blowing less air on any
trumpet. I feel the sound would almost necessarily suffer.
Andrew Shellenbarger
University of (God, it's cold here) Minnesota
School of Music
Andrew!
>
> Piccolo Trumpets make being accurate on the higher notes a little easier
> as the harmonics are closer together and it's harder to misspitch.
The harmonic series is a set of pitches that can be obtained by taking
a string (such as on a cello) and repeatedly dividing it in half. The
original pitch is called the fundamental. The remaining pitches
produced are called overtones, partials, or harmonics. When the string
is divided in half, the pitch produced will be one octave higher than
the fundamental. divide in half again, and you get a perfect fifth
above the previous tone. Again, and it is a perfect fourth. Next a
major third, minor third, minor third again (actually slightly smaller)
major second, major second, etc. This is the guiding principle behind
ALL wind instruments, and trumpets are no exception.
Therefore, the harmonic series of the piccolo trumpet is exactly the
same as on a Bb, C, D, or any other trumpet. The only difference
is the location of the fundamental tone. (Unlike strings, however, brass
instruments cannot produce the fundamental tone. It is a pedal tone.)
The fundamental is located one octave above that of a standard Bb.
So, on a piccolo the entire harmonic series is transposed up one
octave. That is why your finger fourth-line D as 1-3 (or 4). It is the
same partial as low D on a regular horn.The same reason causes you to
finger fourth-space E as 1-2, rather than open, etc...
The point of all this, provided you forgive my rambling, is that
"harmonics" on a piccolo trumpet are actually the same distance apart
as a regular horn, not closer together. They actually *seem* farther
apart because of the transposition of the harmonic series.
later
Andrew
J Hui
>a string (such as on a cello) and repeatedly dividing it in half. The
>original pitch is called the fundamental. The remaining pitches
>produced are called overtones, partials, or harmonics. When the string
>is divided in half, the pitch produced will be one octave higher than
>the fundamental. divide in half again, and you get a perfect fifth
>above the previous tone. Again, and it is a perfect fourth. Next a
>major third, minor third, minor third again (actually slightly smaller)
>major second, major second, etc. This is the guiding principle behind
>ALL wind instruments, and trumpets are no exception.
This is incorrect. If you continually have a vibrating length the pitch
will jump and octave each time. The frecuency doubles for each halving
causing the pitch the be an octave, not a fifth. Fifths are caused by
the length vibrating in thirds. All pitches other than the octave have
there frecuencies mutliplied by a number between 1 and 2 in relation to
the fundamental (or the octave they are just above).
-John Hukari wsb...@prodigy.com !!! It's a good thing we don't live in
an evironment that allows for instantaneous action. If it did you could
point a camara at the TV and make the universe explode...
Andrew!
> This is incorrect. If you continually have a vibrating length the pitch
> will jump and octave each time. The frecuency doubles for each halving
> causing the pitch the be an octave, not a fifth. Fifths are caused by
> the length vibrating in thirds. All pitches other than the octave have
> there frecuencies mutliplied by a number between 1 and 2 in relation to
> the fundamental (or the octave they are just above).
Touche. I was wrong there. However, my original point is still the same.
The harmonic series is the guiding principle behind all winds, and it
is a constant set of musical intervals. Thus the piccolo trumpet's
series is juxtapositioned, not different.
Later
Andrew
Olaf Lorenz
: Is anyone out there using a rotary valve trumpet? If so, could you
Hi Ken,
most of the german trumpet players use rotary valves, so me too.
The playing is very precise because of the short ways. So you can
play well fast pieces. But on the other side its difficult to play
glissandi, so they are normally used for classical pieces.
I'm very happy with my trumpet (its a Monke Bflat) but if I have to
play jazz or orchestral pieces from Bernstein etc. I use the one
with straight valves.
So I can resume, rotary valves didn't make a better sound but a
more precise handling.
So long
Olaf Lorenz