Is that a piccolo? Or....what is that?
May 7, 2022 6:19 AM   Subscribe

Bit of a silly question really but for some reason I can't quite figure it out and my brain needs the itch scratched. Hoping somebody with better ears than mine can help. In this piece, from one of the Harry Potter movie soundtracks, before the energy ramps up and the brass comes in, there's a sort of quivering string line. On top of that is a sort of tentative, "squeaky" melody. Anybody know what instrument is playing it?

The sound actually reminds me of a...glass, water, xylophone...thing? You know, when you have glasses with different amounts of water and rub them with a wet finger? That thing? The sound reminds me of that. But I'm guessing it's not that. So what is it?

It does sound like there's some flute in there as well so a piccolo seems like it would make sense? That doesn't seem right to me but it's entirely possible—likely even—that I'm just dumb and have no idea what a piccolo actually sounds like.

I don't know why it's going to bug me but it's going to bug me. Many thanks in advance.
posted by Mister_Sleight_of_Hand to Media & Arts (13 answers total)
 
I am not overly skilled at reading music, but I found the score here - https://content.alfred.com/catpages/00-33697.pdf . Ron’s Victory begins on page 16.

At that, I will pass this on to someone more skillful than I.
posted by Silvery Fish at 6:41 AM on May 7, 2022 [1 favorite]


My first thought was that it was a harmonic from one of the strings, because there is a complete lack of vibrato. But listening more closely, I can hear a bit of pitch bend and breath (e.g., https://youtu.be/to-Z0k0AwuI?t=11), so based on the instrumentation listed here https://www.jwpepper.com/sheet-music/score-preview.jsp?pepnum=10073444E, I will go with piccolo.
posted by SNACKeR at 6:49 AM on May 7, 2022


Best answer: Most likely a tuned percussion instrument being played with a bow, like crotales or
vibraphone.
posted by Coaticass at 7:05 AM on May 7, 2022 [3 favorites]


More bowed crotales.
posted by Coaticass at 7:11 AM on May 7, 2022 [1 favorite]


I'm with Coaticass, it sounds like something being bowed. The scores linked above aren't relevant as they don't include the section in question.
posted by ssg at 7:14 AM on May 7, 2022


Sounds to me like a saw or (mayyyyyybe) a waterphone. Both bowed instruments!
posted by moonmilk at 7:22 AM on May 7, 2022


You know, when you have glasses with different amounts of water and rub them with a wet finger? That thing?

After listening to it, thinking maybe a glass armonica/harmonica?

See also: Hedwig's Theme on a Glass Harmonica
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 7:24 AM on May 7, 2022


Agree, mandolin conspiracy - it sounds like a glass harmonica to me. Here's one in action (at lower pitch).
posted by altolinguistic at 7:37 AM on May 7, 2022


Best answer: >have no idea what a piccolo actually sounds like.

I barely know what the piccolo sounds like either so I went searching and found this. So my vote is for piccolo with the undertones sounding based on this link. Watch it with the closed captions on because they describe what she's playing. I don't think it's a glass harmonica because the glass harmonica has a "full" sound to me and the instrument in Ron's Victory sounds more breathy and a bit hollow.

You could also try asking the composer, Nicholas Hooper on social media - he's on Twitter, FB and Insta from what I can tell, but he hasn't updated in a few weeks. Still worth a shot though :)
posted by foxjacket at 8:15 AM on May 7, 2022 [1 favorite]


Best answer: The score linked above is a suite (so, basically a medley of themes from he movie) scored for a school concert band, so aside from being simplified, it doesn't contain the part right before the action kicks in in the YouTube link (well, it might be in there, but it's not in the same spot).

A piccolo is just a higher pitched flute. Yes, that sound does sound similar to a piccolo, but it's not. It doesn't have the breathiness of a woodwind instrument. Also, listen to the attack and decay of each note. Notes on a piccolo pretty much just start and top. Like others here, I vote for bowed crotales or glass harmonica. Those instruments have a slower attack and don't have an abrupt stop to the end of the notes.
posted by jonathanhughes at 8:42 AM on May 7, 2022 [2 favorites]


Best answer: I have played the piccolo and agree with jonathanhughes. It would be difficult to get that kind of sound out of a flute and darn near impossible with a piccolo.
posted by Comet Bug at 12:22 PM on May 7, 2022 [4 favorites]


Best answer: My money is on bowed crotales but that's mostly because it's a little more typical than glass armonica and the logistics are less of a pain on the butt. However, at a session like this one it could literally be anything, up to and including bizarre homemade instruments. Long ago I did the copy-editing and engraving for a Warner Brothers soundtrack recording and we kept getting scores with this insane low marimba note that we kept correcting so that it was playable on a marimba. Finally we got an exasperated note from the orchestrator: "There are three contrabass marimbas in the world. One of them is in a closet at this studio. Yes, you need to climb a ladder to play it. Stop crossing out that $@!#% low C."

So my guess is bowed crotales but you can never rule out somebody going full Pet Sounds at the session.
posted by range at 12:32 PM on May 7, 2022 [10 favorites]


Response by poster: Even if it's not bowed crotales (or similar) I'm sufficiently convinced that I'll be able to sleep tonight! Also strangely comforted that "glass, water, xylophone...thing" was not as far off as I thought. I mean, still pretty far off but closer than I would have guessed.

Thanks everybody, greatly appreciated!
posted by Mister_Sleight_of_Hand at 1:43 PM on May 7, 2022


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