A board member was nice enough to give me an alto rcorder a courple days ago, and I’ve been playing around with it a lot, and it’s like…really nice. Up to this point I’d only played soprano rcorders and they SUCK! Seriously, though, I don’t know what makes this alto different, but I really like this one. It’s making me flirt with an F whistle again. The tone is ‘recordery’ and fierce and loud, and that’s a good thing I think. It’s Aulos.
A lot of people misjudge the recorder by experiencing cheap plastic soprano “recorders,” usually in school.
As you have discovered, a real recorder is a wholly different thing.
Good soprano recorders can be quite nice, by the way.
There are a wide range of sizes of recorders available.
Recorders range in size in this fashion: piccolo garklein, garklein, sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, bass, contrabass, and even lower.
That said, there are folks who dislike the sound of all recorders, including the good ones. Just as there are folks on the other side of the line who dislike the sound of a whistle.
Myself, I like both, although I wind up playing whistle much more often these days, and Irish flute more often than that.
–james
I find that I like the sound of Irish flute slightly more than whistle.
But whistle is easier to play!!
And when I win the lottery I’m going to get a bass recorder. I seriously thought all recorders were whiny nasty sounding things, but they’re not!
These square bass recorders
http://www.bill-lazar.com/
http://www.earlymusic.gil.com.au/paetzold.htm
are unbeliavably cool and easy to play. Incredible sound.
Wow–haven’t had the chance to play the bass ones, but neat photo!
I like the alto recorder sound as well. And even some of the cheap plastic soprano models play surprisingly well, and the Yamahas come in cool neon colors. The last jam session (rock/country/blues) I played at, I forgot my flute (yes, the Boehm one . . .), but there was a plastic Yamaha lying around, so I played a bit on it that’s usually done on the flute. After the song was done, a woman said, “Wow, I didn’t know those things could make pretty music like that!” She went on to explain that the only times she’d heard them played were when her children were forced to learn them at school. So, I guess, like a whistle, even if it’s a cheapie, someone can make it sound nice.
I like both whistle and recorder. I tend to play whistle more because I love the way it’s used rhythmically and the subtleties of it, plus I’d rather play Irish and old-time music than classical and Renaissance. (Of course, there’s probably more available out there for recorder, but I haven’t checked into it or gotten creative with the recorder yet.) But there’s place in my collection for both, and for flutes of all kinds as well.
I love my Alto Recorder too (and hate the soprano ones).
That photo was hysterical!! What fun it would be to try to play those
“box” things, ha ha ha.
The only thig is I think Alto Recorders are fairly clumbsy and next-to-
impossible to play Reels on…but then they aren’t supposed to be playing them, are they!
Lolly
A good plastic alto like an Aulos or Yamaha is a truly terrific musical instrument. They are capable of handling anything in the recorder repertoire right up to stuff like the 4th Brandenburgh Concerto. Two plus octaves, and fully chromatic. My wife and I just got two 'way cool translucent plastic Yamahae from a lady in Japan( for some reason they are not normally imported to the US, although the translucent soprani are).
Hey Glauber…send me one for Christmas pleeeeease..
Have you seen the price of these things 
Trisha
It would be way cool if someone could find and post some sound clips from one of these monsters.
I picked up a pre war german alto with a gold star on it cheap on e-bay. It was a bit chewed on the wood but the sound is so rich. I also have a Treble that I use in the brass band as all the tunes are in Eflat Aflat and Bflat and some are so complicated it’s easier to use the recorder than the Eflat susato.
I play alto recorder quite a bit. I have three of them. I enjoy them. I like all three of them. Which one is a “real” recorder? I don’t care. And I often play a non-classical repertoire on them, and I play by ear.
The first one I got nearly a decade ago, and it is an ivory colored Yamaha. I don’t like that it doesn’t have a curved windway. The second one is made by Zamir of maple, and the third is made by Angel and is black with brass bands. It is the easiest playing of the three.
From one of my favorite groups, Ensemble Dreiklang Berlin, Take Five, from their CD Chips ‘n’ Chocolate:
http://www.dreiklang-berlin.de/sounds/cc-19.mp3
They don’t play Paetzolds, but the middle voice is (I think) a standard bass. The low voice is a contrabass (??). Pictures, and more samples from their albums, are available at
http://www.dreiklang-berlin.de/index/en_index.html
Enjoy,
Tom
OT:
Aulos’ replica flute of Stanesby Jr.(Af-3) is for now the only plastic instrument I dare to buy if I want to play the flute. I tried to play them several times and they sound too good as a plastic one!
Only if they are tuned to A=440hz…they are tuned to A=415hz
And recently I tried yamaha tenor recorder(YRT-304B),not bad as a plastic one. Very cheap.
Are you sure that’s not a Paetzold in there? That clicky key work sure sounds like one. I heard the Amsterdam Loeki Stardust Quartet ( another superb recorder ensemble) about 2 years ago, and they had all of the Paetzold square recorders. One piece they played actually had one or several of the players merely fingering those clacky plywood keys down without blowing-- they’re that loud sometimes.. Wonderful sounding instruments though.
These are really first rate. I regularly play one in our consort, The Melrose Five. For $70ish, they are worth considering as a possible alternative to a low D whistle.( go ahead, I’m wearing my flameproof BVDs…)
On a good instrument, that depends entirely on the speed of your fingers. Baroque virtuoso literature is as challenging as session-speed irtrad tunes.
Sonja
I suppose it could be; all of the pictures on their web site show them using instruments of traditional design. I’ve never had the pleasure of seeing them live.
Thanks for the pointer to Amsterdam Loeki Stardust Quartet.
Tom
Altos seems to be a nice tone for recorders, and the usual choice for grown-ups. If you liked the Alulos plastic, get a chance to try a traditional one in boxwood or fruitwood…
For some reason, most alto F whistles sound great too.
So do ocarinas.
Same for NA flutes, where E, F# and G middle pitches seem to rule…
Tabor pipes in G
Could F be the navel tone/size of duct-flutes, worldwide?
Is it pitch, is it comfort?
I got one too, thinking the same thing. I really should find the time to play it more, it has a very nice tone. The main difference between a tenor recorder and low D whistle is the fingering of the F nat and F#. Pretty annoying at first, at least. I haven’t got to the point where it feels comfortable yet.
g
About 1.2K dollars, if i remember right, for the bass model. Too expensive for a toy, but not horrible for a professional instrument. And they do sound nice. If you’re used to playing a modern metal flute with keys, you can manage the keys fairly easily without clacking.