I recently rediscovered my old plastic recorder from fourth grade and have been playing around with it. Surprisingly, I find it pretty intuitive to play, moreso than a piano which is kind of strange when you think about it since all the keys on a piano are laid out in order while the recorder demands you follow arcane fingerings. But whatever, I’m a pretty awful musician and I don’t have perfect pitch so being able to simply play a note I have in my head is new and exciting to me.
Anyway, I have a few questions, not least of which is: should I buy a new recorder? Apparently the soprano recorder has a range of about three octaves, but I can only manage about half that. I know a large part of playing is finger position/breath control, but it seems there are a lot of notes I simply can’t play no matter how perfect my fingers are or how hard/soft I blow. On the other hand, your average cheap recorder is probably several times better quality than your average cheap violin, say, so would a better instrument make things easier or should I suck it up and practise more?
Question 2 - Any tricks for quickly clearing out condensation?
Question 3 - I find that sometimes I can’t consistently/simply cannot play a high note, but if I play a lower grace note - even if it’s too quick to hear - I can play the high note just fine. Is there any explanation for this?
I have a recorder. I play it periodically–it’s fun to go through a hymnal and pick out the songs which are in keys I can manage and play through them. (I don’t play often enough to remember all the fingerings . . . )
My recorder is a wooden soprano one. I don’t know how much it cost, but it was a Christmas gift when I was in 6th grade, and we are not a family inclined to extravagance.
I’m not sure that a better quality instrument would solve all your playing problems, but it might be incentive to play more. It seems at least it would be worth your while to find out how much an instrument which is better than yours would cost . . .
I have even less clue about questions 2 & 3, so will not speculate.
Actually, the normal range of the recorder is only slightly over two octaves, from middle C to D over high C.
#2: Place one finger over the aperture (the “whistle” opening on top of the mouthpiece) to mute the recorder and blow sharply.
#3: Sounds like a breath control issue. You don’t have a feel for the exact amount of air pressure needed to attack the high note cleanly, but by starting on the easier, lower note, you can approach it. This will clear up with practice, especially playing long notes and concentrating on getting a pure, non-screechy tone.
The nominal range for all recorders is 2 octaves, C to C as played, but since half of them are transposing, it won’t be C as heard. As Biffy says, a few pitches can be forced above the top nominal range.
I bought a wood one many years ago for $10 retail and it still works. I think (but a woodwind expert will know more about this) the wood will have a slightly better tone than plastic.
You might be expecting too much from a primitive instrument. The intonation is not exact for many pitches due to the design. This is why the Boehm flute was created.
Much like a flugelhorn, the recorder is used partly for its distinctive sound (and cheapness of construction), and no one expects it to have the intonation of a Boehm flute.
I picked up my old, cheap, plastic, 5th grade recorder as an adult and taught myself to play it well enough to have fun with it. I think I could get the full range out of it. I’ve bought slightly less cheap plastic ones which had better tones but were not really easier to play. Never tried a wooded one.
The upper notes mainly require more practice to get the right half-hole coverage with the thumb, and the highest notes also require more air.
I have a wooden Alto recorder that I received as a gift about ten years ago. It’s important that you clean/wipe out the condensation after use. I have a rod about the length of the instrument and a soft cloth for this purpose. If you don’t clean it out everytime, it can get pretty disgusting in there. If it’s plastic, you can use warm water and a gentle detergent, then dry with a soft cloth. This isn’t an option with the wooden one, so I have to be diligent. It also needs oiling every once in a while. The higher maintenance is worth the improved sound over my old plastic one.