More daft questions from me - I should stop thinking and start playing (my husband is out tonight; heap of playing coming up and I'm really excited about it, sitting here at work waiting for 4 o'clock and home time )

1) When you practice, do you play standing up or sitting down? I always played standing up all the time I was at school, but then I went to an SRP meeting and it was all sitting down. That's OK, although after 2 hours my back does long to slouch! But I was just wondering what other people do. Of course, having a stronger back would be general useful, as well as a help if (no, when!) I decide to take up the cello again. Plus sitting properly doubtless encourages use of the entire lungs and not just the top little bit.

2) Recorder storage. I have the following:
* Plastic tenor in three parts - case fits the parts in separate slots. I have subsequently acquired a cleaning rod which can just about squeak in to the body slot (it didn't come with one).
* Plastic treble in three parts - body in one slot, head and foot together in a second slot. It came with a rod that can fit in next to the body.
* Wooden descant in two parts - case has a block of foam in it. Recorder fits the cut out in the foam in one piece, the rod and grease that came with it squeak in between the foam and the case. My concern with this case is that it zips along its entire length, and when unzipping it I am paranoid about the inside part of the metal zip hitting the 'bulge' at the bottom of the head-piece of the recorder and damaging the wood.

I also own three mops - descant, treble and tenor - and a feather for windway cleaning There isn't space in my existing cases to fit these.
Also I think (with no real rationale) it would be preferable to store the two part descant in two parts, i.e. not leave it as a 'complete' recorder when not in use.
a) Is it better to store the descant as two parts or joined together? Or does it not make any difference if it's properly maintained?

The Early Music Shop - among others - make a roll-bag for storing recorders. It has 9 slots, which are tall enough for a tenor body or a complete descant. If I got myself one of these (or, talked very very nicely to my mum and gave her some fabric), then it could fit all 3 tenor parts, all 3 treble parts, and the descant as 1 or 2 parts. Even if I did store the descant as two parts, there would still be one slot left...where the mops, rods, grease and feather could live (I hope).
b ) Anyone got a roll bag, is it any good? Is it better just for transport or is it suitable as permanent storage? Is this just an idea from someone who is thinking things through Far Too Much and should just get one with enjoying herself?

3) Cleaning rod. What the heck are you supposed to do with these? I'm guessing put a nice cloth through the hole and use it to clean inside I'm a genius me! But, how is this different/better/worse than a mop?

Why would you want to do that when you got all these lovely recorders to play with... find your cello a good home instead where it will be loved and drooled over ...


(Sorry, can't offer advice on recorders!)

We've not got a roll for our recorders so can't really say what they are like. Confess to having looked at them but they seem quite expensive for what they are. My youngest crams as much as possible in to the zip case that her Bass came in She has been known to carry them all in their seperate bags and drop them all over the place!

The plastic rods are for putting a cloth in to clean the inside of the recorders, some people prefer this as some mops shed hairs. We were advised the cloth and rod method was the best way to clean Recorders and Flute.

skylark - I won't be posting those pictures when I get home if I think you are planning a cello-napping! My husband's very strangely talking me in to keeping it (even if I don't play it...!)

notmusicmum - the cost seems to be the thing I can't get over on the recorder rolls. I suppose that if you equate it with, say, a violin case, then it is something important that needs build quality and thus potentially expense. The one I was looking at probably compares favourably to the price of a handbag (I don't know - I only own one handbag, it goes with everything). Actually, it compares favourably to the price of a set of tenor/treble/descant 'nice' wooden recorders
We go on holiday in the UK and do self-catering; my husband always decries the state of the knives in the cottages, so now we take his Sabatier knives with us. Knife rolls were ludicrously expensive, so I showed a picture to my mum and she made one. I think a recorder roll probably isn't too different - just more padded (and I have a big bag of soft toy stuffing at home). Hence the thought that she and I together could probably make something...

When I was still at school many years ago, my Mother bought me as a Christmas present an aulos hard case which has room for a sopranino, descant, treble and tenor (the sopranino and descant fit in in one piece, the treble and tenor in three pieces), a cleaning rod fits in beside one of the recorders and there is a small space to put the grease. You can also put a piece of music (if it is not too thick) in the lid. It is quite compact, about 30cm x 45cm and I found it very practical (far more so than carrying all four recorders separately, although I still had the bass in its own bag) - I used to catch the bus to school and had my school bag, my sports bag, my violin and my recorders on the same day.

I don't know if they still exist or how much they cost.

... only trying to be helpful Maizie


Please post ... I promise to be good, honest

Well if you can make one big enough to hold all the recorders from Bass to Garkleine We'll be your first customer

I know what you mean about the cost though! My daughter bought a D Flute, which she now wants a bag for, we've seen one that will also hold Whistles but it's £34. It doesn't look that good compared to her gigbag for her concert Flute. I wonder if it's really worth it but if she drops the flute cos of carrying too much I'll regret not buying it then!

My teacher uses a roll - he carries all manner of weird and wonderful whistles and pipes in there as well as recorders, and it looks big enough to go up to bass and maybe even beyond, but it can be difficult to get bits out if you put more than two sections to a pocket (not advised anyway, really). It is lined with sheepskin and provides a fair bit of support and padding as a result. Any good case is going to be expensive, unfortunately - but the idea of making your own would be a good one, as long as the padding is sufficient. If I were doing that, I'd not use toy stuffing, I'd use the sort of wadding you'd make quilts with, because toy stuffing drifts inside the fabric. If you use wadding, make a test "sandwich" of it with two bits of cotton (actually, corduroy might be good), to see how fat it comes out, because wadding doesn't half squish down once it's got a few rows of stitching through it. Also remember that a pocket will be tighter inside than you would think from the space between rows of stitching...

I use the EMS semi-hard case - the one with six horizontal slots - which fits my tenor, three trebles, two descants, a sopranino, mops, nail file, pencils, erasers and a music stand. The slots for instruments are simply faux fur-covered dividers, not tailored to individual instrument contours. When I got the case I bought some foam and some black felt, and have covered blocks of foam with the felt so that I can separate joints of instruments in the case - the descant sits on a block of foam on top of the lower end of a treble. Yes, the case was expensive, but at about £65 certainly way less than the value of the recorders it holds - in fact, way less than the value of any one of the instruments bar the sop. The attached pocket for music is capacious too, and the whole thing can be slung on my back. There is a smaller model which would hold a smaller number of instruments - the EMS are able to give guidance on what would fit.

I always separate head joints of instruments from the body after playing, mop them out and leave them semi-upright in the open case to dry. If it's been a long session, I'll take the feet off too, but I leave them on for travelling (too lazy to make even more bits of felt-covered foam!)

Well, forget the roll-bag, I'm in love: http://www.thomann.de/gb/kariso_1063t_blockfloetenkoffer.htm

The only hard cases that I'd seen before which included a tenor also included a sopranino - this is the only one I've seen that's just descant, treble and tenor. I think I shall start hoping huge hopes for my annual bonus (paid on March 20th, but I find out how much it will be on March 5th Most people in our office are counting down the hours now! While most of it will go on sensible stuff, I always keep a little bit for a treat for myself...that might be it)

I've also had the joy of playing this evening. My descant is still being played in, so I am only allowed to play for 10 minutes; I got to 9 minutes and then if there were ever any doubts about what clogging sounds like they were gone
I moved on to my tenor and that clogged in about four minutes. I can't recall it ever doing that before; 14 years in the loft obviously didn't do much for it. The lower notes are sounding very weird, low D doesn't take much of a blow to turn in to the next D up Low C still has a bit of a 'burble' to it (it sounds slightly like it's being played underwater!)
As for the treble - that just {a} confused me immensely and {b} also lasted somewhere between 5 and 10 minutes before clogging.

Oh, and I stood up

I had a roll when I was at school and they are a great light way of transporting recorders but now they stay in the seperate cases they came in. They are quite nice leather bound french cases. The treble has an older case with little ventelation holes. That hard case looks a bit Ott I think and probably weighs heaps. Has anyone ever found a case for a clarinet and flute? My old teacher had one and I want one!!

Yep I have.......



Wiseman cases do all sorts of cases and you can have custom cases made too. Might set you back quite a bit considering the case for flute only is £250!!!

Thats quite cool! Would it fit a flute with a B foot?

I think cases like that are made to your spec to fit your instruments exactly. I would if i was paying hundreds of pounds for a case!

I hate sitting down to play .
If you've got clogging problems, warm the head of the instrument somehow - options include jamming it under one arm, often seen before performances (but not if you suffer from, er... sweatiness, or glowiness for ladies); shoving it into a trouser pocket; or stuffing it down your top, for about five or ten minutes before playing, to get it up to body temperature. I find that on humid days some of my recorders will clog if I so much as look at 'em .
My case is heavy when fully loaded, but most of that is the music stand .

Maybe I should just suffer with the two seperate cases. I guess now that I can drive its not as hard as it was when I was taking trains and buses everywhere with two instrument and a whole heap of music. Not to mention my dinner!

Quite true...on the other hand, it does now make paying for a roll-bag seem a cheap and thus more viable alternative.

I can't believe I'd forgotten about shoving recorders in my armpits before playing. My husband is going to laugh his head off when he sees me preparing! One under each arm and one down my top

I do find I look a bit stupid when I'm playing a descant with a tenor stuffed down my top, though....

So you've resisted putting it down your trouser leg??

"Is that a recorder in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me?"

Sorry..............

Sarah!

I resisted the temptation earlier.

So did I!!

Glad it wasn't just me thinking it................

I was thinking of a fully-assembled tenor, actually...

so, really really really REALLY pleased to see someone??

Or seriously in need of medical attention...