Which descant recorder would I be best to buy. Any comments would be great!

I'd say a Moeck Rottenburgh in pearwood, but then, I own two of them (treble and descant) and love them to bits!I also have a descant in maple which is nice too and cost less if thats what you are looking for.

I think it depends on a few things

your budget, your level of playing etc. I have just taken up the recorder after a 12 year gap, and have brought a Gewa maple recorder, I have no idea what it sounds like yet, but it looks reasonable and was around the £20 region. If you are a complete beginner it might pay to get a cheap one (like me) at first, until you decide if the recorder is for you. If you are having lessons then perhaps your teacher could advise you?

Perhaps you could post abit more info on your circumstances?

Good Luck

Welcome to the forums Gavin.
I suspect that you are not a recorder player yet and if I am correct then your best bet would be to go for a decent plastic instrument to begin with. Yamaha 300 series are nice and the Aulos all black model is good too. I much prefer them to the black and cream ones. I tried a Hohner soprano a while ago and was very surprised at how good that was. It was in a "toyshop" colour and I was expecting it to be dreadful but I liked it a lot.
Why not have a browse through the Viva Woodwind forum and perhaps do a "recorder" search here. You will find a lot of good advice on all things recorder related.
If I am wrong and you are a player already then you will need to think about what job you want your recorder to do: solo or consort work or both?
The Early Music Shop in Bradford is a great place for buying second hand recorders. If you want more advice ask again. There are lots of recorder players here and we love helping fellow players.

Moeck recorders are amongst the best if you want to play properly, my descant is a Moeck in i think pearwood, but it might be maple...it was a long time ago when i bought it! If its for serious solo playing, and you've got a bit of experiance, i suggest you look at deeper coloured woods cus they can give a bit of "bite" and edge to a performance, if its for playing with others or for a beginner- go for the lighter shades as they are easier to start on and give a more mellow tone. Similary, if you're just learning, i'd start on an Aulos or Yamaha plastic one, to see whether it's something you want to consider playing properly- then you don't end up wasting too much money if you decide against it, wooden recorders start getting quite pricey. Check out the early music shop in either Bradford or London, i think they have a website too. Then you can try out different recorders cus everyone has a type of wood which suits them best. Hope this helps, good luck finding one, then you can learn treble and tenor, they sound lovely!!

There's no single answer to this. It depends on your level of playing. Tell us more.

Liz

Moecks are gorgeous. Especially the grenadilla/ebony and rosewood. Very bright and open sounds. Hugely flexible and versatile instruments. I've played York Bowen, van Eyck and Castello using my Moeck baroque descant. circa. £260-£300