I don`t think much of us here can follow whats going on in your head either, Arak. Good day to you too.

I wouldn`t reccomend all metal or all plastic. Your safest bet is to go for a plastic body with metal head joint and keys. I have an Artley and it was in bad cindition but it`s not half bad. My all silver Yamaha picc is harder to keep in tune >.<! I had my first experience with that in the 4th of July parade, but I know I will get the hang of it by the time we start band camp. It basically just all depends on which is best for her. If it`s a surprise...surprise her by telling her that you plan on getting a new picc for her and let her try the different ones out. That`s what worked best for me.

Good luck,
Mateo

I fail to see how some people continue to peddle the theory that all metal piccs are shrill when we`ve now had several respondants say that they HEAR metal piccs being played well with a mellow sound?

What I`ve gathered from this thread is that metal piccolos may tend to sound shrill, but this is by no means always the case. As ever in music, there are no absolutes.

Opinion alert: As I`ve stated elsewhere, I haven`t had as much experience with pics as many of you have, but I have one opinion....I LOVE the way a wooden pic feels on my lip/chin! Sigh...

To whoever feels scared enough to post anonymously: There is no connection- if I can take that to mean that we are the same person or working together in some kind of underground plot to take over the world and/or 8notes. I don`t mind being thought of as arrogant, but I do resent being called annoying based on my two posts here. I can`t help but feel you`re judging me too quickly.

to kippsix: I love the feel of a wooden picc too, although I play a Yamaha 32 with a metal headjoint. This must be connected to what Arak was saying about the psychology of playing something you have an emotional connection with )

No, not judging you by just these two posts on this group. I have seen your other posts on flute.com.

From memory, MOST of the people on flute.com actually enjoyed Mrs Carbohydrate`s thoughtful and sometimes lively contributions. Perhpas the odd one or two objected to the products of a well-functioning brain and general broad-mindedness.

Even so, that is no reason to immediately pass judgment in this DIFFERENT forum.

I have far more respect for Mrs C, or ANYBODY else with a long-standing forum name, than I do for somebody who posts as "----"!

I have always enjoyed a well informed, educated post. I especially appreciate Mrs. Carbohydrate`s different perspectives that are presented due to such a diverse experience base compared to my own.

Anyway, it`s boring if we all know the same, all say the same, and all feel the same.

To the poster-with-no-name, feel free to be more precise in your feelings, lively discussions are always welcome when presented in a mature fashion. Use precise, acceptable terms so that we can better understand your concerns. Thanks

Indeed, I have no problem with ------`s feelings about me. After all, I`m a big girl and this IS only the internet after all. I`d be interested to know just what you have based your opinions on though: I posted a variety of things on flute.com I can`t possibly remember all my misdemeanours

Yes, a huge variety. It would seem sad and wrong to take a small part of a person`s writing and condemn everything about the person based on that.

Thanks Arak. I keep seeing terrible grammatical mistakes in my messages. I must be getting old.

I see this topic is a few weeks old, but I`m going to give my two cents regardless.

As someone who has played piccolo for a number of years, I find a huge difference between metal and wooden instruments. The oaky, deep sound of a wooden piccolo is completely opposite the bright tones of a silver one. You can compare this difference to trying a wine aged in oak to one aged in stainless steel.....to the beginner they taste the same, but to anyone with experience the difference is immense.

That having been said, I think a silver piccolo is suited fine for high school purposes. I played a Gemeinhardt through high school with a plastic body and silver head with great success, learning the tuning intricacies and compensating without even realizing it. These instruments also translate easily to the marching scene, and are more durable and practical than a wooden instrument for teenager, who tend to lose or drop things much easier then adults!

However, a silver or plastic piccolo is not really suited for serious indoor playing, and she will realize this as she makes the transition into college. I played ONLY piccolo in my college ensemble and used a wooden Yamaha. As my ability grew, I found more and more wonderful reasons to play a wooden instrument and am now looking for a professional model, if anyone has any suggestions. I can still play my Gemeinhardt with a beautiful, resonant tone, but I simply cannot produce the same tone that I could with the Yamaha.

Anyway, the beauty is certainly in the eye of the beholder in this case, but be prepared for your daughter to eventually outgrow this piccolo in favor of a more advanced one. For now, though, it seems she has chosen an instrument appropriate for the situation she is in and hopefully will enjoy great success with the Armstrong (my first flute was an Armstrong and I have a soft spot for these instruments!)

YES! I agree. I have been saying the same thing. There IS a huge difference between wood and silver, but SOME people like to disagree and bring up a whole bunch of science BS!

Katie, when you compare these piccolos you are comparing a huge range of factors other than just what the material is. The real influences are these other factors rather than the material. Anybody seriously researching/studying this issue, eliminating other factors, including the huge area of human subjectivity, will come to accept this, either completely, or very close to completely.

I think that if you managed to eliminate these other factors as much as possible, then you would find the material immaterial. Unfortunately this is pretty well impossible to do unless in a seriously constructed test. When such tests have been done, the material has been found to be immaterial.

I concede that Kara considers such tests to be of no significance whatsoever. That is her right.

However I personally find little intelligent basis for such a stand that simply refuses to even consider the most valid evidence available, no matter what the issue might be.

But I hope nobody takes this personally. We are all different, and have different perspectives of what is `truth`.

I do take it personally. I am not some student player that does not know the differences in sound and feel. I guess all of us are wrong then and of course Arak, you are always correct in every issue. I bow down to the master. Maybe someday I can get lessons from you. Lol!!