Ok so i was watching this orchestra programme on t.v and i noticed they only had two flautists and a seperate person on piccolo. I thought this was kinda weird cause in my orchestra we have six flutes and myself and a friend double on piccolo. So i was just wandering how many flautists/piccolists are in your orchestra/band? And do they double on other instruments or not?

Leprachaun

traditionally there are meant to be only 2 flautist and a piccolo. in my orchestra there are 3 flutes and i double on piccolo

In a traditional orchestra there are just two flutes. If a piccolo is required, it is either doubled by the second flute, or played by a separate third flute player. Occasionally, four flutes are needed, but this is rare. As so few flute players are needed in orchestras, the competition to get into orchestras on flute is very intense due to the huge number of people who play the flute. Some student and amateur flutes get round this problem by having more players doubling the parts, which is why some orchestras have more flautists, but in the profession, this never happens.

Our school orchestra used to have about 3-4 flutes and 1 piccolo, this year we have 11 flutes and 2 of us are doubling up on piccolo... it`s crap lol that`s just WAY too many, usually there`s about 2 flutes and 1 piccolo in an orchestra

The concert band that I`m in has 3 flutes (no one plays piccolo) and in my orchestra we have like 7 flutes but thats just because its a homeschool string orchestra that lets other instruments in and they dont care how many flutes that are in it.

In my school band we have only 5 flutes at the moment but usually we have upto around 12 and i double piccolo whereas in my regional orchestra there are 9-10 flutes and two of us that double piccolo but usually you dont have that many its just that some people are on trial in our orchestra

In my Marching band, there are 13 Piccolos. Two of them play flute at the moment because the rest of the piccolos need repaired. In my concert band, there are 12 flute and 1 piccolo. Our school doesn`t have an orchestra though

Yes this is correct. Usually in a Wind ensemble there are 6-10 flutes depending on the instrumentation. In most symphonies there are 2 flute players and 1 piccolo player. Sometimes there are 3 flute players and 1 piccolo player but that rarely happens.