Subscribe RSSwhat's the difference between the professional piccolo and the student piccolo?
Q: please i keep looking at pictures of both types but i cant tell a difference.
A: The picture will not tell you. PLAYING it might - but only if you have reached the point where you have the skills to make a professional piccolo do your bidding. Buying a pro-quality instrument will not make you instantly wonderful. But if you ARE already accomplished, then a pro-quality instrument will allow you to much more easily do the things you wish- with more dynamic range, colors, faster articulation, etc.
If you look at the embouchure cut on a student flute, you can see that it is not at ALL like that on a pro instrument. The student instrument is cut for rapid, basic success - decent tone, clear octave changes, etc. But this is at the expense of colors (often a factor of resistance), articulation speed, dynamic range, etc. A student cannot HANDLE a pro instrument - not just because they often have more keys and may be of heavier tubing, etc. The headjoint is cut in a way that will allow the pro to do things they CANNOT do on a student flute. Yes, a prop sound great on a student flute - but only on things that do NOT require the limits of that player's artistry.
Obvious difference in pro piccolos - they are almost always wood, although there are some decent composite (plastic) ones out there. You will NEVER see a pro *orchestral* piccolo, but might see some pro metal ones, especially fine Haynes Db vintage instruments, prized among military band people, especially.
If you move up through instruments, you will find that a decent player sounds better when they go form a $200 to a $2000 piccolo. But if they the wish to go to a $12000 piccolo - there are only a very few top players than could tell the difference at that point. You need to play only SLIGHTLY over your head - not decide that "If I only could spend a fortune, I could sound as good as _______". Nope.
Go look around on www.fluteworld.com. You will learn a great deal.
