Woodwinds
Piccolo
Woodwinds: Flute, piccolo, clarinet, oboe and bassoon (the saxophones are their own family). Most of the sound comes from the tone holes along the body, not the bell, so sources aim at the holes.
Part of the Woodwinds family; that family's advice shows here too.
- Range
- D5–C8
- Overtones to
- about 8.9 kHz
- Peaks up close
- up to 126 dB SPL
- Sources
- 4 (3 independent)
Mics sources recommend
5 setups from 4 sources, 3 of them independent of any mic maker. Each mic shows how many sources name it for that role, and how many of those are independent. Listed alphabetically: there is no ranking.
Studio
Distant
- ribbon (type only)1 independent source
Spot
- microphone1 independent source
- Royer ribbon microphone1 independent source
Contact
- Schoeps MK 41 independent source
The 4 setups behind this: placement and quotes
- Distant ribbon (type only)close-to-room, start 4 ft (1.2 m) or further
A ribbon microphone is recommended to tame the "shrill, piercing sound"; "Start with a distance of 4 feet and don't be afraid of going even further away."
1 - Spot microphonespot, one mic between the two flute players (one of whom sometimes doubled piccolo)
the flutes had a microphone between the two of them (one flautist sometimes played piccolo, paraphrase)
2 - Spot Woodwinds advice Royer ribbon microphonespot, close mics on the woodwinds
Royer ribbon mics on the woodwinds and low brass
3 - Contact Woodwinds advice 2 × Schoeps MK 4pair, stereo pair as overall woodwind pickup
the woodwinds had a stereo pair of Schoeps MK4s as an overall pickup
2
Studio and stage
Close
- condenser (type only)1 source, 0 independent
The 1 setup behind this: placement and quotes
- Close Woodwinds advice condenser (type only)close, about 30 cm from the sound holes
A mic placed about 1 foot from sound holes will produce a natural, well-balanced sound.
4
Range
D5 to about C85587 Hz – 4.19 kHz
Piccolo in C, sounding an octave above written (written D4-C7). B7 and C8 only fortissimo.
| Low | D5–G5 | dull, rather hollow; few overtones |
|---|---|---|
| Middle | G#5–C7 | the most used register; delicate to piercing |
| High | C#7–C8 | piercing; the top notes forced and shrill |
Overtones reach about 8.9 kHz (the highest harmonic within 40 dB of the strongest, at a moderate level; louder playing reaches higher)6.
The sound
An open pipe like the flute, an octave higher: few, fairly weak harmonics, and a clear breath noise on top.
Where the sound goes
No piccolo-specific source. The general woodwind statement applies (sound from the tone holes along the body, bell mostly a timbre filter). The highest notes are the loudest and most piercing, as the existing entry says.10,1
Recording it
- Distance: 1 m or more, level with the instrument or slightly above; the top octave is very loud and piercing
- Mics: a small- or large-diaphragm condenser; a ribbon or a dark condenser tames the top
- Watch: close up, breath noise and shrillness grow11
Estimate: Not found in the sources checked (general practice): Mics.
Playing techniques
- Flutter-tonguing: a rolled R, a rough, buzzing tremolo
- Trills: easy and bright up to about A75
How loud
Sound pressure level measurements as published. Different kinds of figure (a playing level, a peak, a dose at the player's ear) can't be compared with each other, and neither can figures at different distances.
| Playing level | |
|---|---|
| 96–112 dB | at 3 m; UK Sound Advice table of representative noise levels, row 'Piccolo' (single musician) secondary7 |
| 102–118 dB | near the player's right ear; UK Sound Advice table of representative noise levels, row 'Piccolo (near right ear)' secondary7 |
| 90–106 dB | not stated; hearingconservation.org decibel chart, 'Sound Levels of Music' secondary8 |
| Peaks | |
| 120 dB | not stated (peak column of the same table); UK Sound Advice table of representative noise levels, row 'Piccolo' secondary7 |
| 126 dB | near the player's right ear; UK Sound Advice table, row 'Piccolo (near right ear)' secondary7 |
| Sound power | |
| 109.2 dB | maximum sound power level Lw (re 1 pW), no distance; Sengpielaudio table of maximum possible sound power, row 'Piccolo' secondary9 |
96-112 dB at 3 m, peak 120 dB, in the Sound Advice table of representative noise levels; the same table gives a "near the right ear" row of 102-118 dB, peak 126 dB (collated from several sources, weighting not stated). Both read from search-result text, because the PDF would not extract. At 3 m this is 4-7 dB above the flute line in the same table (92-105 dB); the flute row in this file's earlier section is the one to compare.7
Sources
- Recording Magazine: Recording the Flute (David Summer), piccolo section
- Sound On Sound: Jake Jackson: Recording The 2012 Olympic Anthems
- Mix: The Changing Landscape of Orchestral Recording (engineer Steve Smith, Music Works Studios)
- Shure: How to Choose the Best Mics for Brass, Wind, and String Instruments
- Vienna Symphonic Library Academy: Piccolo
- SHARC Timbre Database v2 (Gregory Sandell): harmonic analyses of McGill University Master Samples
- Representative noise levels table with orchestra noise guidance (UK Sound Advice material)
- Decibel (Loudness) Comparison Chart, hearingconservation.org
- Sengpielaudio (UdK Berlin): Stoerquelle - Musikinstrument? (maximum sound power of instruments)
- Recording Magazine: Miking Brass and Winds
- DPA Mic University: How to mic a flute or recorder