Maybe I am in the wrong forum for this, but I always thought the recorder was some kind of fipple flute. Anyhoo, I’ve been playing the recorder for a few years now…first a plastic Yamaha alto that ended up at the bottom of a loch, and now a plastic Yamaha Soprano. I would like to get a nice wooden recorder, and am leaning towards the Paetzold Modern Soprano. They make a pearwood, rosewood, and Grenadilla version, but I don’t really know the difference. Anybody here know what kind of difference one could expect from the different woods? I have heard that Pearwood has a soft, muted tone, which I think I would like. I have also heard that Pearwood is more prone to warping and cracking due to humidity. Since I am going to be spending the next year or more living in a tent in the VERY humid Olympic Peninsula, that concernes me. Any advice?
I’d like to get a recorder
I’m sorry. We didn’t quite catch that. Did you say you wanted to be conked on the head with a recorder?
I’d get a Zen-On Bressan.
I’ve played one of these and was very impressed.
–James
Pearwood does have a soft warm sound. As a lighter wood it is prone to water logging more than the exotic hard woods. For this reason the fruit woods are often impregnated with wax to overcome that problem. Rosewood is rich in overtones and is a great favourite with many players, grenadilla also has a bright rich tone. BUT the design of the recorder is the greatest factor in colouring the sound. It’s best to find the make with the sound you like and then try the different woods.
Interested to see your interest in the modern recorder. We just got a Mollenhauer rosewood one. The sound is very different to the typical baroque recorder sound and it’s great to have a full three octaves with the low E foot.
How about getting one of those “Generation recorders” we saw advertised on eBay?
And hi to you Kodiak! - welcome to C&F!
Where do you hail from?
The best recorder I ever saw was a pearwood descant impregnated with parafin - I have no idea now who made it (it was 25 years ago) but it was absolutely beautiful and looked like porcelain or some such - anything like that would certainly survive the conditions you describe. Beyond that, have you looked at this?: http://users.netcon.net.au/grinter/recorder.htm
Just curious BUT, if you are making the jump from a plastic recorder to a wooden one for the first time AND will be dragging it around the damp and dirty great outdoors where it will never fully dry while you live in a tent WHY are you thinking of spending in excess of $600-$900 USD??? 
http://www.aswltd.com/mollen.htm
If you really want to spend that much send it to me. I’ll send you two sopranos in different woods and buy myself one for the fee.
If you’re going to be in a tent for the next year, DEFINITELY hold off on the new recorder purchase. Get one of the newer Yamaha woodgrain plastic recorders or even a sop/alto pair which will stand up to that climate and will play very well. For around $100, you can get soprano, alto and tenor which is very little money for three really excellent instruments.
http://courtlymusic.com/Yamaha.html
I don’t live in a tent, but I do live in a VERY tropical area on the coast. I have that very same soprano, alto and tenor set AND I purchased them from Courtly Music. Their service was very timely and the Yamaha are, IMHO, the finest of the plastic recorders. The soprano and alto don’t even look like plastic.
I was blessed to be able to travel back home (Missouri) this past Christmas. Taking the instruments from 89F/90%RH to 18F/25%RH posed no problem.
Plastic recorders are easier to find in tune with other recorders unless you’re willing to pay $$$. Running search engine could give you consumer opinions on the various brands available.
Word up, no one plays just one voice in recorder community. Not only do they tend to switch voices for each tune, they sight read all night.
The most versatile instrument to own is an alto. I rarely dig my soprano out. I usually play alto and read up an octave if need be. (In adult recorder community only people who play well get to play a soprano or smaller in consort any way.)
If you’re new to consort playing, the easiest voice is usually the tenor.
[quote="Bridges-PdP The soprano and alto don’t even look like plastic.
.[/quote]
You can dull the plastic sheen of the Tenor with some 0000 steel wool. Hold a pad of it in your hand, lay the section of instrument across it, close your palm gently, then rotate the recorder. Open your palm, move to a new section and repeat. Without the sheen, this black ABS looks a lot like blackwood and also feels a lot less plasticy.
Ooops! Missed the bit about living in a tent in humid conditions. NOT the best place for a wooden instrument!!!
I agree with the plastic Yamaha option. The 300 series are among the best of the plastic recorders IMO. I particularly like the rosewood finish ones.
Alternatives are recorders by Moeck and Mollenhauer in which the headjoint is plastic but the body is wood. As it is the headjoint that cracks in wooden recorders this deals with the humidity problem but you still have the sound of a wooden instrument. My prefered recorders of this type are the Mollenhauer Prima and enjoy both the descant and alto versions. The wood is impregnated with wax, as far as i’m aware, and we have used them on camping trips over the last 5 years without problem.
Thank you for all of your advice. As for the questions, I’ll try to address them in order:
To FJohnSharp: No. I do Not want to be conked on the head by a recorder.
To Walden: I tried to look up the Generation Recorder on eBay, but could not find anything.
To Mitch: Hello, Sir! I am from Tucaloosa, Alabama in the Southeast United States, but I will soon be moving to the opposite side of the country.
To Judy and the Cutterpup: The only real reason that I like that specific recorder so much is that I have heard one being played before, and thought it the most beautiful sound ever. I like my plastic recorder, and at first thought it had the most beautiful sound ever…until I heard the Modern Alto. I am afraid to buy any recorder that I have never heard before, and there is no such thing as “try-before-you-buy” when it comes to wind instruments, at least according to the music shoppe.
To Mr. Scott Bridges: I am considering this soprano/alto/tenor set. I have always wanted to try a tenor! Thanks for the suggestion.
To Hyldemoer: I do not play with others. I failed that part of kindergarten and am still failing it today. But truly, I only ever play alone.
Thanks to everyone, again.
Oh, yes, and to Mrs. Judy (and the Cutterpup), another reason that I am in love with the Modern Recorder is the B KEY! I have often been playing away on my recorder, only to “bottom out” and run out of notes. Yes, one extra note probably isn’t much, but it’s the coolest thing in the world to me.
I tend to like to buy one thing and (try to) keep it forever. I don’t buy much, but when I do, I don’t mind saving (often for years) to ensure that it is precisely what I want. Admittedly, that attitude is both a blessing and a curse at times.
I wouldn’t be too sure about that . I think that some dealers will let you pay for a recorder and give a refund if you return it soon and in mint condition. Ask folks here:
I have a matched pair of vintage Boosey Hawkes* soprano and alto recorders, made out of some handsome close-grained reddish wood.
They date, I assume, from the fiftes, when my mother and father were living in oxford and went through a period in which they played the recorder together, or at least tried.
They’ve been living for the past few years in rainy Vancouver, which has a climate substantially similar to the Olympic Peninsula, and appear to have suffered no harm.
I hae no idea about their quality, but they’re clearly better than starter instruments by some degree.
I’d be willing to sell or trade them to anyone who wats to make the jump to wood.
*They’re branded “supplied by Boosey Hawkes”, but the back is stamped “made in Germany”.
I purchased almost all of my wooden recorders by mail from Witchita Band.
My final order from them was when I bought my bass recorder. Granted, that was way more than a decade back and regular retail prices were a bit lower back then
but I still recall how amazed I was everytime I requested to test drive 3 or 4 recorders at a time with no problem. The ones I requested came in the mail with the understanding I’d be returning the ones I didn’t care for.
Check their website to see if their policy has changed.
I was just kidding. Ebay sellers are notorious for mislabeling things and some have been known to label whistles as recorders. 
You fooled me! 
I have this set as well (purchased from Courtly Music) … wonderful instruments for the price, in my opinion. Mine have a clear, woody sound and great intonation.
Lisa