Nice olive is a very beautiful wood no?
I have a hand made olive descant thats very nice.

Very good

Glad it's back. Hope you enjoy it

Finally, managed to decide on a new tenor the other day. Bought a Kung Studio in pearwood. It's lovely, very pleased with it.

Moeck Rottenburg soprano in boxwood
Takeyama alto in Japanese maple
Adler wooden tenor (bought secondhand so don't know what kind of wood)
Aulos plastic sopranino

That's it. Don't know if it's worthwhile splashing out on more wooden recorders when my playing opportunities are so limited - as in casual tootling with the local SRP plus an Exeter Recorder Orchestra concert once or twice a year.

Fellow SRP members - what did you make of the article in the latest Recorder Magazine about building a library? Has anyone worked out how much it would cost to buy all the books?

For those who don't receive the Recorder Magazine, here's the list of what Peter Bowman (teacher of recorder at Canterbury Christ Church University) describes as "those reference books that I believe should be in every recorder players's library":

On Playing the Flute by J J Quantz (Berlin, 1752), trans. Edward R Reilly (Faber, 1966)
Principles of the Flute, Recorder and Oboe by Jacques Martin Hotteterre "Le Romain" (Paris, 1707), trans. David Lasocki (Barrie & Jenkins, 1978)
Fontegara by Silvestro Ganassi (Venice, 1535), trans. Dorothy Swainson (Lienau, Berlin, 1959)
The Interpretation of Early Music by Robert Donnington (revised ed. Faber & Faber 1974)
The Rules of Musical Interpretation in the Baroque Era by Jean-Claude Veilhan (Alphonse Leduc, 1979)
Playing Recorder Sonatas - Interpretation and Technique by Anthony Rowland-Jones (Oxford University Press, 1992)
The Recorder Player's Handbook by Hans-Martin Linde (Schott ED 12322, second edition 1991)
The Recorder Today by Eve O'Kelly (Cambridge University Press, 1990)
The Recorder and its Music by Edgar Hunt (Herbert Jenkins 1994; reprinted by Peacock Press, 2002)
Carl Dolmetsch and the Recorder Repertoire of the 20th Century by Andrew Mayes (Ashgate, 2003)
The Cambridge Companion to the Recorder by J M Thompson & A Rowland-Jones (Cambridge University Press, 1995)
The Modern Recorder Player, Vols 1, 2 & 3 by Walter van Hauwe (Schott ED 12150, 1984, ED 12270, 1987; ED 12361, 1992)
Advanced Recorder Technique, Vols 1 & 2 by Gudrun Heyes (Schott ED 9761, ED 9762, 2005)
The Finishing Touch of Ensemble Playing by Bart Spanhove (Alamire, 2000)

Oh, and do check out that letter to the editor about the environmental impact of using tropical hardwoods to make musical instruments...

I have three and a third of those books, I think (although I may have one or two more I have forgotten about). I've got the Quantz, the Rowland-Jones Recorder Sonatas book, the Cambridge Companion and the first of the Walter van Hauwe volumes.

I need to get the Hotteterre next; I nearly bought it in a secondhand bookshop last week. I would also really like the Dolmetsch one. It wasn't around when I played the Berkeley Sonatina for my flute DipABRSM, but would have been useful then.

I only have Quantz, Hotteterre and the three volumes of van Hauwe - and have read the Quantz right through, a couple of times, the Hotteterre somewhat piecemeal and the Hauwe I use to refer to when trying to do weird and avant-garde stuff, or when I need an alternative fingering for something. I did try some of Hauwe's other technique exercises, but I'm so many things apart from just a recorder player that it'd be impossible to follow slavishly all he suggests doing. I wish sometimes I were better at producing just any interval on demand, it'd enable me to learn the voice flute and bass recorder more easily, but life's too short to do all the exercises he mentions.
We also have, somewhere on my husband's side of the bed, a book by CPE Bach on performance practice, and a volume of Frescobaldi's toccatas, which also give some detail on performance. Although it's a bit late for the recorder, I'd love to read Leopold Mozart's thoughts on performance too.

Playing Recorder Sonatas - Interpretation and Technique by Anthony Rowland-Jones (Oxford University Press, 1992)
The Recorder and its Music by Edgar Hunt (Herbert Jenkins 1994; reprinted by Peacock Press, 2002)
The Cambridge Companion to the Recorder by J M Thompson & A Rowland-Jones (Cambridge University Press, 1995)

Those are the ones I own - the first two being picked up secondhand for the princely sum of £4 for the both, if I remember rightly. That's my problem, if I find a book on the recorder I have to buy it, even if I'm years from needing to know about the nuances of sonata playing

I'm looking forward to the following articles in the series, i.e. those on the other aspects of your library - essential music, etc...

A question on instrument maintenance, folks: my tenor recorder's bottom joint cork (sounds dodgy, can't think why ) has worked loose so it slides when I'm adjusting the foot - it is still glued round in a ring, so hasn't come off yet, and the sound isn't affected.

Does anyone have experience of replacing the cork with thread winding instead, or will the groove available for the cork be too deep to manage the winding without spending a very long time wrapping thread? I'm a sailor as well as a recorder player, so am used to tidying up rope ends with thread binding, and can do this very tidily, but don't want to spend forever on a job which shouldn't have been attempted in the first place. It would be easy enough to borrow some Seccotine* or other glue from my husband's workshop to re-affix the cork, but I do find thread-bound joints make an instrument rather easier to assemble.

*not Seccotine, he tells me. Animal glues get sticky with moisture...whoops.

Cork has a grain and if it isn't well greased it can misbehave when turned against its grain. I used waxed thread on my Rotty alto a few years ago when the match trick didn't work any longer. It was fine and worked well. It did not take much work winding the joint and it was only last year when I had it re-corked at Bradford when I had cause to take another recorder there for repair. I could not work out how to finish the end without a buldge and so just added a little extra wax and it stayed in position perfectly well.

My tenor is relatively new and still has rather plump corks - I've had to take some sandpaper to them, cautiously. It's certainly not been a problem of too little grease. Do you use ordinary sewing thread, or something like linen packing thread?

If the cork is in good order I would be inclined to glue it back. I used waxed thread tht came from a woodwind repairer. I had it for many years. It was almost certainly linen thread. I have been known to use blotting paper in emergency situations with the school rcorders!
PS If you have a saddler nearby they would have the ideal thread for the job.

The cork got damaged once it fell off - so I managed to find some linen packing thread at a haberdashers', got a beeswax candle stub left over from our Christmas tree last year, pulled the thread through the wax a few times - a loooong length of it - and then wrapped the joint. It worked - and beeswax is sticky enough to hold onto the loose end, which I also pulled very tight so that it trapped itself in the other wrappings. photo here.

And whilst I was in photography mode, some of my other whistles in their case.

How would one go about playing the F an octave above the one 3 ledger lines above the stave?

This is on a treble.

Get a sopranino!

W

I thought it might have meant to switch instruments, but there isn't any direction to suggest you should, and it's the last note of the piece, so that doesn't really make sense

Whatever combination of fingers I try and however hard I blow, I can't seem to get anywhere near high enough.

Stand on a chair?

How is it notated? Which piece is it in?

W




W

Its written as a normal top f, with the instruction to play an octave higher (it has 'ossia loco' in brackets, but that would be boring )

The piece is 'Pupazzetto' by Emma Hancock, from 'Recital Pieces' - has several different composers in the book.

EDIT: I have found something that works now- like middle F, but blow reeeeaaally hard. I got it a couple of times, but now don't seem to be able to do it again

Does anyone use the "Schott Recorder Consort Anthology"? They seem to be a series of six books with pieces for 3 - 6 recorders.

I ask because while warming up for my monday evening music group I mentioned recorders. The reaction was predictably "urgh" from most of the group (who then told us about how they had hated playing at school) but one of the other flautists got quite enthusiastic. I know the oboist also plays recorder, so I'm getting quite excited about the idea of having a small recorder group. A quick search on the Schott website turned up these books as well as another series along similar lines called "The Recorder Consort" and I was wondering if anyone here had played them.

Any other ideas? We also have a harpsichord and Mr. Flutecake to play it.

Clearly one of the group will have to acquire a bass recorder but I thought that I could start with something like the Woodnote from Elidatrading.

Oh, by the way, thanks to Petrat for the advice on treble books. I got the Alan Davies and I have to say it looks rather thorough and is exactly the sort of thing I wanted.

I thought the highest note possible on the treble was the C three octaves above middle C, sitting on five leger lines above the stave. That's according to Walter Bergmann's notes on Telemann's Sonata in F major TWV 41:F2 from Der getreue Music-Meister, in whose third movement (Allegro 6/8) it features. First finger of each hand, pinch the thumbhole and give it a kick from the diaphragm, was how I was taught to play it.

On the subject of high Cs, does anyone have any tips for getting a tuneful top C on a tenor?

Still on the tenor (it is my part in the Exeter Recorder Orchestra after all), is there an alternative fingering for moving between upper F# [pinched thumbhole, all LH fingers and second RH finger] and D# [all fingers apart from thumb and LH forefinger]?

There isn't one on my fingering chart. What's wrong with doing it normally?

I find it rather fiddly at semiquaver speed.

:insert curls up in a ball and cries smily:

It's cracked AGAIN!!! and I really don't get it!

I've been even more careful with playing it in again this time (even though i followed mollenhauer's instructions to the word last time), so can't see how it can possibly have been me. Also, given that they bushed the thumb-hole, it can't be what they thought it was last time. I'm so confused, does anyone have any idea what can have happened? (I haven't dropped it, bashed it etc)

I can see that the shop that caused so much trouble last time will take the 'it's happened twice, so you must have done something wrong' stance against me when i take it in.

*sobs*

:hug:

some pieces of wood just crack - it probably is nothing you've done wrong just a piece of wood which had lots of internal stresses.

Take a deep breathe, go back to the shop, explain yet again what has happened, remind them of the shoddy service you received before and demand either a new instrument or a complete refund.

Thanks

The thing is that its happened to two separate pieces of wood now, so will look like it's me

awwww that is a miserable thing to have happen to you.

First, I'm still puzzled why a thumb-bushing should make any difference whatsoever - though if the thumbhole had received a lot of wear in a new instrument, then it is a good idea to question why. If it is down to a long thumbnail, better to get it pared back - it just isn't comfortable to do half-holing with the thumb if it's digging into the hole. On my instrument the thumbhole got worn because top F wouldn't speak on my recorder, and I made a right mess of it trying to get it to; eventually the problem was shown to be inherent to the instrument, Moeck put a plastic collar inside the the head to change the profile of the bore, and it was fixed....but that won't solve the cracking problem for you.

The only "you" problems I can think of would be:
a) not playing in carefully enough, and you've said that you did
b)not wiping it out carefully afterwards, as cracking happens more readily if the instrument isn't evenly damp inside - I take it you'd have done that
c)dropping it or exposing it to trauma, and you haven't
d)storing it somewhere dodgy - the case doesn't live near a radiator or anything, does it?

Other than that, I guess you'd be down to the quality of the wood chosen, I think. Remind us which wood it's made in? And is the crack in exactly the same place and plane as before?

Anyone else got any ideas?

a) Definitely fine.
b) I'm pretty I've been wiping it out fine.
c) Nope.
d) it lives on a shelf that isn't above a radiator, under a window etc, and never sees direct sunlight.

The crack is in almost exactly the same place as before, but this time is slightly more along the grain and is significantly longer. I tried taking a picture of the crack, but it wasn't very clear, so i drew it instead:



It's made of olivewood.

Really strange - I wonder if the block could be contributing?
Do you know if they used the same block in the new head?
I've not seen cracked head joints before - does anyone else know where they're most likely to go?
Sorry, I'm all questions and no answers tonight... is the grain the same way in the other head?

To me, it looks more as if it might be to do with the particular lumps of wood used to make it, but I'm not an expert. I'd have thought the most likely place for cracks to arise would be somewhere around the labium, given the sharp angles there, or along the line of the windway at the beak....

I suspect they may have put the same block in the new headjoint, as they returned the old headjoint blockless, although this may have just been to make sure i didn't have two (the old one was still technically playable.

The grain is at a slightly different angle this time (last time it ran straight down the recorder, this time, its at the angle of the crack).

My teacher has given me the number of someone to ring to ask for advice before i take it to the shop, so hopefully they'll have some ideas.

If it's the same block I'm wondering if it is unusually porous and swelling when moist thus stressing the wood around it.

As an absolute minimum demand a new head joint with a new block.

I've never seen a recorder crack there before, very odd.

Now you've shown the picture I really can't see how damage to or bushing the thumb hole could possibly cause a crack up there......or anywhere else on the headjoint for that matter. I am also very surprised that a new recorder, especially one of a relatively hard wood should show wear on the thumb hole so soon. My pearwood treble (the oldest of my wooden instruments) is 8 years old and has only slight marking around the thumbhole, and then it looks like a slight wearing of the light varnish not the wood.

Thumbhole wear can be a matter of technique though - I have rather over-mobile joints generally, and tend to half-hole by angling my thumb, which digs the nail in - that does produce wear rather swiftly, and I have to pare it very carefully to avoid this. Players who half-hole by pulling the thumb back won't get this problem, and I've also seen instruments which have seen heavy use and have almost no thumbhole wear at all..

It does sound as if this cracking problem may well be down to the block, though....

Thanks for all the comments

Having just had yet another look at the two cracks, although they are of different lengths and directions, they both start at exactly the same place.

I've had a look at the instructions mollenhauer sent back with it, and there's a phone number on there, so I think I'll ring up to check if it is the same block.

I just rang up mollenhauer and talked to someone with not-great english (well, a lot better than my completely non-existant german!). It took a while to get the problem across, but it sounds like I can send it directly to mollenhauer without going through the shop Given that, when asked, he didn't say the block wasn't the same one, I'm going to take it that it is the same, so is most likely the cause of the problem.

To cut a long story short, it looks like I'm going to get (yet another) replacement headjoint, hopefully, this time with a new block, given that they appear to have been rumbled.

Still have to talk to the friend of my teacher about it though, and see what she thinks.

Also, he said something about putting a 'strip' (something to do with glue i think) over the crack so he knows where it is. He didn't seem sure of the translation, so if anyone has any idea what he meant... If not i'll just explain in the letter exactly where to find the offending crack.

If anyone's around at the moment, do you have any ideas of what I should write in the letter to go with my recorder to Mollenhauer?

So far I've explained
*its life-story
*What they did to it last time (including charging me £30 for bushing the thumbhole which was supposed to somehow stop it happening again )
*Pointed out that exactly the same thing has happened twice
*That I've looked after it perfectly
*Said that I've talked to several people who know a lot about recorders and that they have never seen a crack like this before.
*Suggested in not-too-accusing a way that they may possibly have put the old block back in and this could have caused the problem.

I think thats it so far, it just seems that I'm missing some key point, but I can't think what.

It's quite tempting to add at the end 'I have an exam in 33 days, can you please be as quick as possible?'

I'm going to send it off this evening, so if anyone has any ideas before about 5:30pm, please help, otherwise you're too late

Thanks,

Sarah

Sounds like you've just about covered it. I don't think it would hurt to mention that you have an exam soon and would appreciate getting the instrument back with sufficient time to prepare for it.

Fingers firmly crossed this time.

It's gone! But I can't relax yet, because, having paid extra to send it with insurance, I just realised it's only insured for £30. I can be stupid sometimes!

Anyway, it should be at Mollenhauer by the weekend.

I hope this gets sorted out for you quickly.

good luck, Sarah123, I hope the instrument comes back pristine, and more importantly, working properly, with no further cracks.

Does anyone know a website with a list of recorder pieces and their grades?

Please don't say anything along the lines of 'the grade of a piece doesn't matter'. I have to play 5-6 mins of grade 6+ music for a performance assessment (and have to know whether its grade 6 or grade 7+) and want an indication of what pieces would be suitable.

I've had a look at both the current AB and Trinity syllabuses.

I am I going mad or is no.13 Linde excercise on AB grade 6 and Trinity grade 8? I would understand if it was one grade different, but 2 grades is quite big. If I decided to play this one which grade do I put?

Edexcel count the highest grade a piece has been listed at in a recent syllabus. So the Linde study would be taken to be Grade 8 in standard. And yes, it is the same piece.

I like the sound of that! I got 29 for it in my grade 6 exam, so that would translate to a pretty good mark anyway, then scale it up a bit for being grade 8. Shame it's only short though, as I have to choose something else to fill up the time. hmm...

I don't know of a website, but at work I have a spreadsheet containing all the pieces from the current AB, TG and LCM syllabuses, plus the recently expired AB syllabus. As it's Excel you can filter, order by grade, board, etc, and generally have lots of fun. If you're sad enough to take the time to build the spreadsheet and spend hours exploring it
Anyway, if you still need the info, I would be happy to email you a copy if you PM me your email address! But not until Monday as the spreadsheet is at work...

Oh, I take that back, it appears I have a copy here at home too, OK, can send it any time then

Sorry about all the questions recently!

How long is a subcontrabass recorder? I did a quick search, but couldn't find it anywhere and google turned up nothing either

I don't need anything exact, just something like 'over 3 metres' or whatever.

Thanks,

Sarah

EDIT: Also, is it possible to do any damage to yourself with a recorder? This is in relation to playing it for a very short amount of time, so things like RSI aren't relavant.

I can't think of any thing, so am really tempted to write 'Nothing can possibly happen to you as long as you don't be stupid and stick the garklein up your nose!' as my risk assessment Somehow I don't think my physics teacher would see the funny side though

Er...recorder-related injuries...hernia from carrying a subcontrabass monster? Earache from hearing a sopranino at too close a distance? Bruises from being clobbered on the head by your little sister's descant? (yes, it happened to me....about thirty years ago....) Damage to any third party who dares suggest recorders are toys?

More recorder injuries Sarah. (Not from personal experience.)

Bruised mouth and throat from falling over whilst playing one, bruised toes from dropping a big one on them, sore right thumb from holding a thumb rest on a biggie, cold sores after playing a wet and infected one belonging to some other buggy player, broken teeth from being bashed by the person infront of you during a recorder marching band session, bent fingernail tips from trying to play a large holed bass or larger when you have slim fingers and nervous strain from people yelling "HOW MUCH?" when you tell them the price of a decent solo instrument.

The sub contrabass recorder should show on Google images. The sub contrabass is about eight feet and a couple of inches long. Big aren't they!

Thanks Katyjay and Petrat!

I think the loud sopranino and bruised mouth/knocked out teeth could be relevant, so at least I have something to put now. I haven't been using any bigger than a tenor, so I can't put about bad back etc.




In my opinion these are th ebiggest risks of the lot! I probably shouldn't write them though

Today's been a good recorder day!

I had most of the day free, so I spent it all practicing all the pieces I'm going to have to perform in the next couple of weeks for various things, and actually began to feel on top of them all.

Then I had my piano lesson, only I didn't actually play the piano, because my piano teacher's accompanying me for my exam on Saturday. We had a run-through in the big concert room at her school with amazing acoustics and a Steinway grand. My pieces actually sounded pretty good with the accompaniment, and there weren't too many spectacular mistakes, so that's got to be good!

Then, having got absolutely drenched on the way home, i got in to find a familiar shoebox-sized parcel on the kitchen table with a large sticker on it saying it was from Germany Recorder plus three headjoints are all home safely, with a very apologetic message from the maker. AND, they've definitely replaced the block this time, as the old headjoint has its still in it (which means I can actually still play it - will come in useful given I have to play it in for the THIRD time!)

So, *touch wood*, that is the end of the recorder saga, although I have a feeling I may have said that before!

Anyway, in the mean time, the recorder family is happily reunited

Yeah, that's good to hear. Hope it works out well this time.