Recorder Thread!, All Sizes Welcome... Options

[RoseRodent]

I bought a new recorder. My first wooden descant. It's not a virtuoso model or anything, it was one I bought as something of a punt from China. I thought there was a reasonable chance it might be dodgy because that combination of Chinese and cheap is usually a disaster, but it's actually very nice. Very carrying tone, secure and sturdy case, best dynamic range I've ever known on a recorder without going sharp and flat. There are some alternative fingerings, notably on the F in both octaves, but anyway just thought I'd share.

[Halka]

Interesting. What make is it? Where did you get it? ebay?

[Maizie]

First the sheet music addition thread made me feel inadequate - I have nowhere near enough music to count as an addict (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Now, it's instruments. There is a Facebook group called Recorder Players'n'Enthusiasts (here). Two picutres have just been posted, which I shall reproduce below for those who don't FB (these are from different posters/households). The upper picutre has 112 instruments in it...

(IMG:http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s720x720/431045_2557052377738_1596865996_1856094_1404153974_n.jpg)

(IMG:http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/s720x720/429414_249612961786742_1635217278_n.jpg)

[CJB]

First the sheet music addition thread made me feel inadequate - I have nowhere near enough music to count as an addict (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Now, it's instruments.

I think I'll bookmark those pictures for next time MrCJB suggests I have too many instruments. I can't imagine how anyone would have time to keep that many instruments played in, or the memory needed to know all the individual quirks of each one.

[Tenor Viol]

Maizie - you have plenty of time to develop your addiction (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

Musicians in general and early musicians especially seem to be prone to acquiring instruments. Even I have three recorders... includng a nice Moeck pear wood alto. If anyone knows the lutenist Martin Eastwell (based in the north east) he has an unbelievable number of instruments. I think he turned up to one course I was on with something like 22 different instruments of the plucked variety (lutes, archlutes, theorbo, cittern, bandora, vihuela, Renaissance guitar etc.....

The bank balance has given out so I can't buy any more at the moment. I'd like to commission a tenor viol, something like this would be nice (he demo'd a couple of years ago at Greenwich). Or this he's the nearest viol maker to me that I know of - I visited his workshop last summer and he rehaired one of my bows. He also makes violins, violas, and cellos....

[notmusimum]

....and I thought we had a lot of instruments (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

As a wit said to my offspring earlier in the week when she took her sax to be tweaked. "Four mouthpieces! Why do you need four mouthpieces? Have you got four mouths?"

Wonders if the person knows 120 other recorderists so all their recorders can be played at the same time (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Roseau]

As a wit said to my offspring earlier in the week when she took her sax to be tweaked. "Four mouthpieces! Why do you need four mouthpieces? Have you got four mouths?"

I have heard a recording of someone playing two oboes at the same time - so you don't necessarily need four mouths (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) (Although admittedly the sax mouthpiece is bigger than an oboe reed (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) )

[Tenor Viol]

....and I thought we had a lot of instruments (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

As a wit said to my offspring earlier in the week when she took her sax to be tweaked. "Four mouthpieces! Why do you need four mouthpieces? Have you got four mouths?"

Wonders if the person knows 120 other recorderists so all their recorders can be played at the same time (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Judging what I know of sax players, 4 mouthpieces is quite restrained.... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif)

[serendipity]

....and I thought we had a lot of instruments (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

As a wit said to my offspring earlier in the week when she took her sax to be tweaked. "Four mouthpieces! Why do you need four mouthpieces? Have you got four mouths?"

Wonders if the person knows 120 other recorderists so all their recorders can be played at the same time (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Although my son's party piece (one of many, sadly!) is to play two saxes at once. Gives quite an interesting sound, though not one I want to listen to often.

[anacrusis]

I've seen three recorders being played by one player, and four saxes by one as well - the latter was sidesplittingly funny, though musically a bit...erm....limited.

The top shot of amassed recorders is the one I envy more - it was taken at a course in Lyme Regis, and I've been there for a couple myself too - what a lot of lovely quality in one place (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wub.gif). (I know some of the people attending and just how good their playing is, as well....). Oh botherations and double drat, why do roofs have to do annoying things like leaking? I just soooo need another 415Hz treble, and a transitional tenor or descant......

[katemorrisviolin]

Hello lovely recorder thread forumites. I have popped over to this thread because I was invited to join a recorder group last night by a violin player in my string group. She heard I used to be a guitarist and asked if I would be interested playing at our local medieval castle....I've retired my guitar so declined, then we got talking about her recorder group and she invited me to that instead. I haven't played recorder since school and am now in my 40s....I said, if I was to have a go, what one would be most useful, and she said "bass, as we've been told we can sound a bit shrieky...." (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)
Any advice? I'm rather excited at the prospect. I've not got piles of cash to spend though.
My dad's an early music nut, he's got hundreds of instruments and I grew up to the background noise of renaissance lute, bombard, voice and wood recorders, sometimes all at once!

[katyjay]

Hello lovely recorder thread forumites. I have popped over to this thread because I was invited to join a recorder group last night by a violin player in my string group. She heard I used to be a guitarist and asked if I would be interested playing at our local medieval castle....I've retired my guitar so declined, then we got talking about her recorder group and she invited me to that instead. I haven't played recorder since school and am now in my 40s....I said, if I was to have a go, what one would be most useful, and she said "bass, as we've been told we can sound a bit shrieky...." (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)
Any advice? I'm rather excited at the prospect. I've not got piles of cash to spend though.
My dad's an early music nut, he's got hundreds of instruments and I grew up to the background noise of renaissance lute, bombard, voice and wood recorders, sometimes all at once!

Hello katemorrisviolin and welcome to recorder world!

Practicalities for getting started again: I wouldn't go straight in at bass. I'd suggest getting yourself a good plastic alto (treble) recorder as a starter - you can get a Yamaha 302B model for around 30 pounds. Get hold of the Time Pieces books to give yourself some suitably straightforward repertoire, and have a go.

Alto is a good size to enable you to familiarise yourself with recorder music as it's the size the greater part of the repertoire was written for, plus its fingerings will match the fingerings you'd need when you do progress to bass.

When you're more familiar with the fingerings and decide you want to go for the low notes, the Yamaha equivalent of the treble will set you back around 300 quid. There are cheaper alternatives, though. Elidatrading (who is a long-standing member of the forums) sells Woodnote bass recorders which start at about 100 quid. I have a Woodnote as my spare bass recorder - it looks very similar to the Yamaha model, but has less projection.

Hope this helps, do ask if you've got any queries.

[anacrusis]

Any chance your dad might let you rootle about in his collection and borrow something, assuming he might have a recorder or two?

Bass recorder is generally played from bass clef, so yes, I agree with KJ about where it's best to start, with the treble: it is however also true that in a top-heavy recorder group (and it only takes a very few small recorders to make a group top-heavy) the sound will be rather shrieky. To give you an idea, the Scottish Recorder Orchestra rehearsals boast between thirty five and sixty players, at a guess: there'll be one sopranino player, and he's one of the most advanced there, one or two descants, also very secure players, six or at most eight trebles, and the rest tenor or lower. We usually manage to field at least three contrabasses, sometimes as many as five: those are the sorts of proportions needed to balance the sound.

So - yes, treble first would be good, it's in F, same as the bass, so each fingering will be for the same note name, comparing one with the other. It takes me a good few months to learn to get round the music of each member of the family, but it was nice to learn in ensemble playing because there were others to cover for me when I was fumbling for notes: so if you do learn treble and then extend to bass, let us know, and we can give you recommendations for music for it later.

[katemorrisviolin]

thankyou both for your replies, plenty food for thought there and I shall take your advice about starting on the treble. I got a bit carried away with the fantasy of playing one of those huge floor to ceiling things! Dad lives a plane ride away unfortunately.......

[katyjay]

thankyou both for your replies, plenty food for thought there and I shall take your advice about starting on the treble. I got a bit carried away with the fantasy of playing one of those huge floor to ceiling things! Dad lives a plane ride away unfortunately.......

The huge floor to ceiling things are contrabasses (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wub.gif) . You can add together the Yammy and Woodnote prices and stick another nought on and you'll be nearer to the price of one of those.

(It's on my want list......)