trumpetnick

Ed and Folks,

What do you think about using a Piccolo trumpet in A for the trumpet part in D for "A Midsummer Night's Dream"? So far I haven't seen any lower note than low C# (first ledger line below the staff) which is quite playable on the picc. My reason for choosing the pic instead of C trumpet is that just before #80 there is some extremely high flutter tonguing which seems almost undoable (at least to me). I was in a similar situation in college where I had to play "The Lighthouse( P.M. Davies' opera) and then I borrowed my teacher's F trumpet (schilke, tuning bell) which just did the trick. However, at present I have no access to anything but B, C and picc. However my concern is that the sixteen notes solo may not sound very well as it is playable but a bit low for a picc to sound really good...

So what is your opinion?

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Spada Bach B flat 72, leadpipe 2L/DWMM1.5C
Spada Bach C 256, leadpipe 2LQ/DWMM1.5C
1956 Olds Ambassador Cornet
Spada Custom Piccolo

If you don't know where you are going, you 'll end up someplace else

ecarroll

Nick,

Sorry not to have an earth-shaking idea for you. Just make it sound good on whatever horn you have that will make it so.

I've never been into the macho thing (play everything on the Bb or C trumpet because Maurice/Bud did it that way). I recorded high solo lines notated by Schnitke, if memory serves me right, for C trumpet on the piccolo in the world premiere (plus recording) of his opera Life With An Idiot (SONY/Rostropovich) and I dare anyone to say that it sounds inappropriate. Part of the orchestral musician's art is to make things sound effortless. If a different axe in your bag makes it so, go for it.

My 2 leva,
EC

Khora

Nick (and EC)

Not that I'm an expert on it by any stretch, but I played that lick on picc for the same reasons, and no one batted an eye. Use whatever makes it playable!

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Sandy

"Conventional Wisdom" should not be applied to unconventional thinking.