I just got back from playing in a band at an outside concert.
I have a wood Burkart piccolo, and the third register was so hard to play and would barely come out. It was awful! When I got to the piccolo solo on Stars and Stripes, I had to miss half the notes.
It was extremely hot and humid too! (Unfortunately, I live in the South.)

After I came home and played in an air conditioned house and took out my piccolo, it played like a charm again. Weird?? It had to have been the weather. I am going to have to invest in a silver piccolo for those hot humid outdoor concerts I guess.

Arak, what do you think? I KNOW it was not in my head either. Could have the weather effected it? I would love to get yours and others imput on this. Thanks!

I think your experience would have been the same with a metal piccolo.

Perhaps it had something to do with you sweating, or being hot and bothered, or a breeze interfering with your airstream.....

The reason for not playing wooden piccolos outside is not because they are more difficult to play, but because the sun, or lack of humidity, can make the timber split.

There is a slight chance that your timber DID split, say causing a leak where the split crossed a tone hole, and later, in a more normal atmosphere, the split closed again.

Also could have got some condensation / spit in a key hole? Even a big drop of moisture in the body can wreak havoc on notes.
It`s easy to have moisture inside if the body was cooled from air conditioning and you went outside and played it. A wood body may warm up slower than a metal one and have more time to collect breath condensation.
~Bilbo

Thanks guys.
It was outside for a good hour and a half before I played it, so it didn`t come right out of an air conditioned building. That rules that out.
I had also checked to make sure there was not condensation blocking any or the tone holes, and I even swabbed it out.
Mechanically there was absolutely nothing wrong with it.
There was no wind or strong breeze either. I have played many times on an all plastic piccolo at outside performances and never had this problem.

I should mention that I did try my friends all metal piccolo at the same concert and I was able to play it just fine. He also could not get the third octave out on my picc. So, it was definitely the piccolo.

It was all very strange.
It is playing perfectly now. I have examined it and found no cracks or splits in the wood. The only other thing that I could think or is that the weather was affected one or more of the pads?

At any rate, I bought a silver piccolo to play for all the out door performances that I have up coming this year. I am sure that I am being over protective of my wood picc, but I would just rather be safe than sorry and just play my wood picc for inside concerts only.
After all, it took me a long time when hunting for the right piccolo, when I found this one (Burkart) and I would be very upset if anything happened to it.

There are many other intermittent things or subjective issues that could have caused it.

As just one example, if the timber shrinks, from drying caused by the temperature, then the trill key mechanism (or either `stack` key assembly) can jam slightly so that the springs do not close pads with sufficient force for a reliable seal.

You seem to be asserting that wooden piccolos inherently cannot play high notes outside compared with metal ones. This is simply not so.

"You seem to be asserting that wooden piccolos inherently cannot play high notes outside compared with metal ones. This is simply not so."

No, I simply said that my friends metal piccolo played just fine outside. The only reason I chose to purchase a silver piccolo is as a back up so I don`t risk any damage to my expensive wood one by taking it out side.

"It had to have been the weather. I am going to have to invest in a silver piccolo for those hot humid outdoor concerts I guess."

Okay, sorry, I see what you mean. I just read back at my original post.

Now that I think back, before I purchased my Burkart, I owned a Yamaha 62, and I did play it at an outside concert a couple of years ago, and didn`t run into any problems. Then again, the temperature was not hot and humid and more comfortable and mild. Hmmm......

It must just be my Burkart was mad at me for daring to take her outside. Lol! Who knows.....

Arak, I think your explaination is about the best though. It makes perfect sense. Thanks.

Still could have been moisture.
A drop of water , condensation, spit located at the top of the head agains t the cork may stop all the high notes. It could have acoustically changed the location of the cork temporarily. An area which is also hard to swab out. After it dried out, it played normally.
~Bilbo

another reason, excess moisture on a trill key could have swelled the key causing it to not seal.
~Bilbo

Thanks Bilbo, that would make sense also. It was so humid that day that my hair was wet, so it could have very well been what you described.

I am kina confused. What does "timber" and/or "timbre" mean!

Timber = wood.
Timbre = French word, incommon usage in English, meaning tone (of a sound, not skin!)

You are better off just buying a silver or plastic one for those out doors concerts. It is not wise to play a wood piccolo outside where temperature changes occur.