Rotary piccolo vs. Short-bell piccolo

[tyler.slamkowski]

There's a lot of forum dedication to the "best picc" conversation, but most center on the long Schilke vs. short-bell conversation. How do you compare your experiences on short piccs vs rotaries?

Just for some context, I play a Kanstul 920 (long...and not awesome). I go to graduate school and tried my companions' horns. What I loved most, more than my friends' brand new P5-4s, was a Getzen Eterna, a short bell! As I do mostly Baroque chamber playing, I'm looking at moving away from the bright orchestral horns. I love the sound of rotaries too.

[trumpetlane]

I play a Getzen Eterna Pic and tend to agree with you. I really like the sound as well. My only difficulty is struggling with the intonation a bit on the Bb side.
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Gregory Lindquist
Educator, Conductor, Performer

Bb - XO 1602S-R
C - Jupiter XO 1624s
D - Yamaha YTR-751
Cornet - Yamaha YCR-231
Flugel - Getzen 895 Eterna
Pic - Getzen 940 Eterna w/ Blackburn leadpipes
Stork Vacchiano Mouthpieces

[jazzvuu]

I only have experience with a Schilke P5-4 I had in college and now, a Yamaha YTR-988 rotary picc (gotten on a great deal on ebay (probably the only one I seen for sale used in the last year or two). The P5-4 I feel projected more, with a tighter blow and brighter sound. The YTR-988 blows open (but will shut you down if you over blew) and has a round sound to me.

[Andy Del]

It all depends on WHICH rotary and short form piccolo you are talking about.

Scherzer made in East Germany (pre 1989) is a very different beast to today's version. Schmidt? Pater? I play on an old 1985 Scherzer Bb/A and it is wonderful. Warm, open, singing feel and sound.

At the same time, I came into possession of a Thein short Bb/A. Totally different, but also has a similar feel - open, singing, much, much warmer than any other piston piccolo I have played.

They are different, as in the Thein can carry and cut through much more, but they have the same sort of open free-blowing feel.

Getzen? Sorry I have played quite a few and they are just not in the same league...

cheers

Andy
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so many horns, so few good notes...

[trumpetchops]

I have an old Selmer 4 valve. The sound is nice. I like it anyway. The trumpet is kind of hard to play. I bought Blackburn pipes and that helped a lot. I still have the trumpet but, it's been replaced with a Scherzer. Easy to play and I think a nicer warmer sound.

I've never owned a Schilke. I've played a bunch. I think they play a little easier than the Scherzer but, I don't care for the sound.

Just as a side note. A piston trumpet is easy to clean and oil. I still would get the Scherzer again.
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Joe Spitzer
Monroe Ct.

[RandyTX]

[tyler.slamkowski]

Thanks for your thoughts! My Kanstul just isn't cutting it...I'm really disappointed 😞 And I've put LOADS of mindful practice time into it.

Are there even any other reasonable short bell models made today besides the Getzen?

[rmch]

I would try as many as possible. With piccs, this will probably take a while because most stores won't have a dozen different models in stock, but just be patient and put up with your Kanstul until then (at least you won't have to turn down a picc gig because you don't already have one). Try the old Selmers, try the newer Selmers they made just before they stopped making trumpets, try Benges, Courtois also made a short model decades ago, try the short Yamahas, try the Getzens too (Maurice Murphy of the London Symphony used to play one and got a nice sound on it). Worst case scenario, you could always buy one of these old horns and end up selling it if you find something you like better - it might take a bit, but there is a market for these old horns, so you could probably sell it for around the same price you bought it.
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1919 King Liberty
1923 Conn 22B
1955 Selmer 24A (Balanced Action)
1981 LA Benge ML #3 bell
1938 Couesnon Flugel
1907 HN White Co. "King" Cornet
1977 Selmer Picc