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 Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 2:56 pm
Okay, I'm going to set up the current scenario that is...my life.
I've been playing flute for six years now, so that puts me at being a junior in high school. I practice about 3-4 hours, spread out throughout the week, and I've been contemplating buying a piccolo for quite some time now in order to liven up some of the pieces in band that do require a piccolo. (I'm not in the top ensemble at my high school, so piccolo players in the "middle" band I'm a part of are far and few. If even in existence.)
So...
I'm at a loss.
What brand of piccolo would you guys recommend me to get? I'm afraid I won't be going over $800 on a piccolo with my budget, and I plan on using it 2 years from now in university on their marching/pep band (hopefully). So I'd like one that's relatively versatile - can sound relatively good in a concert setting, as well as a marching/pep band setting (if that's possible?).
Thanks for your time! ^^
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Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 4:30 pm
Well, for brand, I would reccomend a Gemeinhardt. That's what I have. It plays really well. I play it in concert band once in a while, but mostly in marching and pep band. I'm not sure how much it was, I got it for my birthday, but it was probably pretty expensive, 'cause it's got a gold lip plate and the rest of it is silver, but I'm pretty sure you can get cheaper ones that work just as good. I've seen some where the body is wood, bout the eys and head joint are sliver for like 500. The other picc. player at my school has ne of those.
Whatever you do, don't go and buy one that's plastic. Trust me. I know their cheapness is tempting, but they sound like crap. I tried one while I was at schmitt looking.
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Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 9:35 pm
Thanks for the tips!
But aren't most of the $500 ones plastic with a silver head? o_O
The wood ones are usually more warm sounding and more well-suited for concert band, I've heard. But they're not very good for marching because they don't hold up to certain weather conditions. Since I'm planning to mostly use it for marching up at the university (if I make it onto their band. xD), I don't know if I want a wood one. xP I live in a pretty rainy area.
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Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2008 10:06 am
No wood for marching band. I love my all-metal Selmer. It's just a basic model. I think I paid about 300 dollars for it, new. It's worked well for marching band and symphony orchestra alike. It's also been really easy to keep in tune, which is a big deal for piccs.
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Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2008 11:28 pm
(Thanks for replying to both of my threads. xD)
I'll keep the all-metal models in mind when I'm making my purchase, definitely.
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Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 2:40 pm
I have a Gemeinhardt 4PMH that I bought used 3 years ago for about $400. I'm not exactly sure how much it would be new, but I don't think it would be more than $800. I play it for marching band and concert band, and I really like it. It's held up very well. The headjoint is silver (or maybe nickel-silver) and the body is I believe a plastic-wood composite. It has a warmer, less shrill tone than all-metal ones, but has not shown any noticeable reactions to bad weather conditions/changes (except for weird tuning. But it's a picc, what do you expect? XP).
Also, I'm pretty sure I've seen University of Michigan piccolos marching w/ this. biggrin
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