Hello all,
Trawling back through posts trying to find info about flageolets, I also found a large number of posts regarding adding holes to whistles to get chromatics and whether this was just re-inventing the recorder, etc. etc.
Does anyone here have any experience of renaissance recorders (as opposed to the more common baroque version)? As far as I can tell they have a smaller range due to their wider bore, but have a fuller tone. It seems to me they are one step closer to the whistle than the recorders we are used to. Anyone play one? Anyone know where I can get one without taking out a second mortgage?
it has some lovely information on different recorders and even a Low and Hi D whistle. They seem to be quite similar You may have to take out the extra mortgage for some of his wares tho.
I used to have soprano and tenor renaissance recorders. Yes, they are indeed somewhat closer to D and Low D whistles and are very nice to play. Yes also, they tend to be expensive. You might want to ask the people here about some used ones:
You can try Phil Bleazey at bleazey.co.uk . His renaissance and medieval soprano recorders are in the $150-200 range, a lot less than you’d pay from the other makers I know of.
I always wondered about this…by “fuller” tone, does that mean that they are louder or just less focused and reedy and more open? I think recorders are usually plenty loud.
I think that a Renaissance recorder comes as close as one can to the kind of tone many people like for penny whistles. In other words, because of the staighter bore, the instrument has more chiff and boldness in the sound, like a whistle. One of the cheapest and best ways to try this out is with a Mollenhauer Adri’s Dream Flute, getting a plastic soprano. Do an Internet search on that name and you will come up with dealers. Less than $50 USD. Adri’s instrument is a bit of a compromise between a Renaissance computer, since the bore is somewhat tapered. But that gives it a full two octave range. Many Renaissance recorders are only happy with about an octave plus a sixth. It is definitly a “session” instrument, with a very bold sound.
That’s generally true of alto and soprano recorders, but anything tenor or below (IE same key as a D flute, basically) will be challenged volume-wise. I briefly played a Great Bass recorder in college - it was an octave below a flute. Great, fun instrument. But they cost multiple limbs to own.
The soprano Dream Flute comes in a pearwood-bodied version, with plastic mouthpiece, for just a few dollars more than the all-plastic version ($45 vs. $35, from Kelischek). The Dream line now has soprano, alto, tenor, and bass.
I think Bleazey’s session rec***er has already been mentioned, or perhaps only his regular Renaissance model.
Also, as I’ve said in another thread, Susato Wide Bore “Renaissance Style” Recorders are another option. They’re made of ABS, and can be ordered either in solid colors, that look like Susato whistles, or with contrasting bands, to look more like Baroque rec***ers. They also come in ivory-colored versions, with laser engravings, to look like scrimshaw. These are made with English/Baroque fingering, and are available in three sizes: sopranino, soprano, and alto. The alto has a 1 1/6 range, while the other two have a full 2-octave range. They also come in pentatonic models, which I figure are less useful.
Go ahead and visit him anyway – he sounds like a good bloke from all my correspondence with him, and you might find you want a custom instrument or one in a different wood than he has handy, in which case you’ll have a few months to save up. And be sure to report back on the bass renn recorder. It’s so cool looking with its fontanel, but I wonder about the finger stretch and/or evenness of the notes.
You may have to take out the extra mortgage for some of his wares tho.