What Happened to the Db Piccolo?

[Konstantin]

What has happened to the Db piccolo? When I was in high school, in the mid-1970's, Db was the standard piccolo. In fact, I don't think anyone in our band played a C piccolo. I did not even know C piccolos existed at the time. Now, I never hear of Db piccolos anymore. Do any of you know why these were once so popular, and now they are not? When new band music is published, are there typically any parts for the Db piccolo anymore?


I realize that the keys Db piccolos have to play in are unusual, but at one time, this must have been more acceptable than an alternative. I am interested on why they were so popular at one time, and not popular any longer.

Thank you

[flutepicc06]

What has happened to the Db piccolo? When I was in high school, in the mid-1970's, Db was the standard piccolo. In fact, I don't think anyone in our band played a C piccolo. I did not even know C piccolos existed at the time. Now, I never hear of Db piccolos anymore. Do any of you know why these were once so popular, and now they are not? When new band music is published, are there typically any parts for the Db piccolo anymore?


I realize that the keys Db piccolos have to play in are unusual, but at one time, this must have been more acceptable than an alternative. I am interested on why they were so popular at one time, and not popular any longer.

Thank you

Well, they certainly weren't the standard in the '70's, though your high school may have been an exception. By the 40's they had pretty much fallen out of favor, and almost anyone who played piccolo after that time would have played C picc. However, your program may have been an exception depending on the director, the music you were playing, etc.

They were popular for military bands primarily, but with the decrease in popularity of such ensembles, and the changes in instrumentation as modern wind groups emerged, instruments in Db became obsolete. They haven't been made for years, and almost no band music has a Db part. The exception lies in some old editions of marches, but other than these, Db is pretty much useless unless you're skilled at transposing. The fact of the matter is that the makers who created Db piccolos did not recalculate the scale for them...They used the same scale as on their C piccs (or made small changes with no mathematical basis to them...They were pretty much guessing), but with a different tube, which resulted in a piccolo that was very difficult to play in tune. This was also a contributing factor in their demise.

I actually have a working Db picc, and play it from time to time. I've even performed on it a few times, but its uses are limited in modern groups, and nowadays Db piccs are more a novelty or collector's item than a useful instrument.

[Konstantin]

Thank you for the reply. I understand what you are saying, but I still do not understand why they would have been populat at one time. If they were not in tune at the time, why didn't they just make them in "C" as they do today?

My high school marching band was an extremely strict, military style band, that played mainly Sousa marches and other military music. So I guess we were old-fashioned for the time.