One of the most popular features on a flute is the C# trill Key. It takes multiple complex trills in the left hand and simplifies them by moving them to the right hand.
It's like power windows for your car!
Attempts to do a C# trill key on conical piccolos in the past, like Opperman in the 1990's, resulted in an instrument that offered many of the same benefits of a flute C# trill key, but lacked a crucial offering: a true 3rd octave G-A trill.
Mid-century piccolo makers had previously attempted to solve this by offering a mechanism called the G-A trill key. Ultimately this proved to be lackluster and the feature didn't gain significant popularity.
In the early 2000's, makers began investigating this feature once again. The conical body of the wooden piccolo proved to offer several acoustic challenges. Mechanically, additional toneholes and keywork always introduce multiple hurdles to jump.
When Adam began designing his piccolos, a functional solution to the C# trill key was amongst his goals. Other successful makers were offering designs that never.... 'felt right.' They felt over-engineered, too complex, and didn't respond the way he expected.
Since he was already at the drawing board redesigning piccolo acoustics, he decided to add this subject to the 'musts' of his design, and made sure to have it ready to offer when he introduced his instruments to the public in September 2019.
This was the beginning of the
Pettry Omni Trill Key.
First of all, the design needed to be approachable. It needed to feel welcoming to the eye, but also familiar in the hands. I once saw a mid century piccolo with a very clever G-A trill key and used it as a rough model. The resulting design surpassed even my highest expectations.
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It was simple and elegant. It was also very comfortable and practical to use. When combined with other acoustic features in the body, it not only offered the accessibility and familiarity of a flute C# trill key, but it also produced a vast number of additional trills, tremolos, and 'trick' fingerings that are not available on by gadgets offered at other companies.
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The final mechanism was so successful that it dominated 75% of my first piccolo orders. I then decided it deserved a special name.
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The
Omni Trill Key
