Hi,
Is this also the right forum for Recorders? I have some questions on recorders, so please point me to the right place.
Thanks,
Val
You’re in the right place. Ask away.
You can always ask a question where
you think it fits best, and if a moderator
decides it would fit better elsewhere, he
can move the topic.
I already did. This topic was originally posted to the Flute Forum; the World/Folk Winds Forum is sort of the default catch-all for things other than pennywhistles or flutes. Not that the mods are 100% on catching that sort of thing, but we try. 
Oops. Quod est demonstratum, I guess.
Hi,
I have a slightly unusual question. I learned to play indian 6 hole flute since I was 6 year old. Now I am 68. I like to use my playing experience on recorders. I tried recorder and the thing I love about it is its bottom hole which allow me to go much higher note than on my flute.
The issue is I am used to play flute with my right hand on top. I can’t change this after playing flute for 60 years. I would like to buy an excellent wooden recorder (up tp $100) which will suite my way of playing. I would appreciate your suggestions and comments.
Regards,
Val
I know nothing about “left-handed” recorders.
But would a whistle not suit you better sinc eyou are used to a six hole flute? You could get a nice whistle in an alto or tenor key (A, G, low F, low D or so).
Val:
I my (not extremely vast) experience, all recorders are pretty much the same as far as finger placement. I play soprano (I have 3 of them), alto (only one of these), and bass (only one), and have played various brands over the years. You don’t really mention which range you are playing, so I assume it’s soprano. If that’s the case, there are a lot of decent instruments for less than $100. If you’re talking about anything in the “bigger” keys, however, your $100 becomes a bit more problematical. I can say you shouldn’t discount the plastic instruments, though… My current bass is an LMI (cost me around $180 as I recall) and it plays better than an expensive wooden one I used to have.
As far as hand placement, I’d really recommend you train yourself to switch to left-on-top. Otherwise the low end double holes (or keys on the bigger instruments) will be tough.
Last thought - have you thought about the Irish whistle? There is a lot of variety, both in keys available (D, C, Bb, etc) and in tonal color. You can get a very nice whistle for less than $100 (although you can spend a LOT more if you want - trust me!). Whistles don’t care if you play “goofy footed”…
Good luck in your quest!
Pat
P.S. Where are you? I can tell from your English that you aren’t a “local”…
No expert on recorders, here, but I’m willing to bet that for a good one, 1) a switched-hander would have to be a custom job, and 2) thus it would be well over $100.
Hi Val, and welcome to the Chiffboard.
Which size of recorder are you interested in? Soprano or alto (treble) are most popular, with F alto being the “standard” Baroque instrument. But the larger alto is also more expensive.
Yes, most modern recorders are designed for right handed playing (left hand on top). Renaissance and early Baroque recorders generally had single (non-split) holes for the lower two, and often 2 lowest holes on a fixed foot offset to either side. The player could plug the hole not in use for left or right-hand playing. See this page for a description:
http://www.flute-a-bec.com/position-mainsgb.html
In your position, starting late … I’d say any 3-piece recorder with a movable foot joint would be fine; just rotate the foot to the left hand position. The split holes can be adequately managed by half-holing a bit more, and only 2 notes are really involved - the low C# and low D# (in soprano terms). None of the other basic notes depends on those splits.
Lazar’s Music is a good site to browse for recorders, with a clear layout and many photos (and reasonable prices, too): http://www.lazarsearlymusic.com
You may be disappointed at what’s available in wood altos in your price range. They generally start around $200 and up. Student grade wood sopranos can be had in the $100 range. But most recorder players and teachers would recommend a good plastic instrument over an inexpensive wood instrument any day. I particularly like the Yamaha Rottenburgh woodgrain recorders, and the soprano/alto set for only $50 from Courtly Music is an incredibly good bargain (at bottom of the page):
http://www.courtlymusic.com/Yamaha.html
BTW, I second plunk’s and Hans’ suggestion to consider the whistle as well. The simple system fingering is similar to bansuri, and the standard range is 2 octaves and a third. A top-notch standard D whistle can be had for $10-30 or so, and a decent lower/larger whistle for < $100. For example, a low A whistle would be more or less equivalent to a bansuri with tonic Sa = D.
Hope some of that helps …
Thank you all for so much good information. I do not think I can learn playing with left hand on top after playing 60 years with right hand on top. Also, I have a small palm and fingers, so 12 inch recorder is better suited to me than 18 inch recorder. Looks like going with Yamaha 3 piece simulated rosewood YRS-312B recorder might be a good choice for me. I hope that can come close to my style of playing.
I would like similar but a bit more expensive one in real wood (maple, rosewood or pearwood) in $100 range but I do not see anything.
What do you think of YRS-312B for my style of playing and do you have any other suggestions?
Regards,
Val
Sure, that’s a nice recorder. But I doubt that you (or any adult) would have much trouble with the larger alto either. The holes are small compared to the Indian flute, and the spacing is shorter because of the conical bore. Good luck!
The Moeck Company offers left-handed student recorders (http://www.moeck.com/cms/index.php?id=34).
For a little surcharge the can provide any keyless recorder lefthanded.
I am quite sure other manufacturers do the same.
If Moeck can provide left handed recorder with some surcharge I am interested. Do they have English speaking branch with whom I can communicate? Or can you provide me a contact person I can deal with.
Thanks and regards,
Val
click on the british flag on their home page. everything is in english then.
The Best on the net!!! (HUGE site)
First of all, I am going to state the obvious, but it is a point worth stressing:
The recorder is NOT the flute. It is a different instrument. If you are going to learn the recorder, you need to be clear about this from the beginning. There are similarities in the fingering and in the timbre of the instrument and the similarities in the fingering can cause confusion at times. I play wooden flute and recorder and I adapted to the wooden flute by treating it as a different instrument so that the differences in the fingerings did not cause confusion. In fact I have far more problems with the whistle than the flute as the recorder was my first instrument.
If you are serious about learning to play the recorder properly, you really need to learn to play it left hand over right, or you will have problems with the double holes for the lowest notes as they are aligned to be played with the right hand. Contrary to what you say, at 68 it is NOT too late to learn to play this way up, it is about wanting to and the tone of your posts suggest that you really do not want to. If that is the case, then you would be best to go with those who suggest going for the whistle. At the end of the day it is a matter of what repertoire you want to play. The whistle is well suited to folk music which tends to be played in a limited range of keys, whereas the recorder is fully chromatic and has an extensive classical repertoire of its own which is well worth exploring if that’s where your interests lie. You can play folk music with a recorder and I do regularly so going for the recorder can give you more options.
As to some of your other queries. I have small hands and play recorders from sopranino to bass with no major problems. That said, I would recommend starting on the either the soprano or alto, the alto being better for the recorder repertoire and the soprano is good for folk music.
Plastic recorders are a good starting point and you will not go far wrong with either Yamaha or Aulos plastic recorders and these are generally reckoned better instruments than some of the cheaper wooden ones. Alternatively, Moeck and Mollenhauer both make decent basic instruments with a plastic head and wooden body which is quite a good compromise. Good wooden recorders cost serious money and I would not recommend buying one in the early stages. I see that some earlier posters have put links to US vendors, follow these up and see what they have on offer. I can’t really add to that as I am in the UK but from what I have heard on another board, Courtly music seem to be pretty good.
Geoff
[ Thread revival - Mod ]
Thanks for the http://www.recorderhomepage.net/instruments.html link.
Looks like a great resource.