After playing long with my whistles, I decided to try a wooden recorder in Irish music,and whuaoo, the sound is so nice!,but when trying to achieve notes of 2nd octave such as A and B and even C#,I noticed that overblowing techinque didn’t work, I thought the fingering was the same as for a whistle, is that right?, or does recorder involves another fingering?,if there’s a recorder player around ,I’d like to ask him this…
I don’t know a recorder as a whistle yet…I’ve been looking at some fongering chart recorders and…hmm I think is quite differente from what I thought, but well, whistle can have another fingerings versus overblowing isn’t it? 
Recorder fingering is not the same., and you’ve already put your finger on the difference–you can’t overblow a recorder.
The recorder has evolved to play chromatically over about an octave and a half, using “cross-fingering.”
The whistle trade this chromatic agility for greater range–you can push nearly three octaves out. By why punish yourself with the “fife” register?
Playing recorder gives you hairy finger pads.
Don’t ask me how I know.
You have to “half hole” the thumb hole for the upper octave. The range is about the same as whistle. An extra note or two actually. If you get a recorder with “German” fingerings, the fingering resembles the whistle fairly close. Most come with Baroque fingerings, which sorta reverses hole 4 and 5…sorta. It’s the way they went about setting the instrument up to play in more keys and in better tune. You have to remember, recorders were the flutes of the orchestra at one time.
If you have broadband, I have an mp3 that is just flat out unbelievable for soprano recorder. Réjouissance in A minor by Telleman. It boggles the mind.
WOOF!
Woof!
Ralph!
woof?
“You think I should have said DiMaggio?”
The range of the Baroque recorder is pretty generally accepted to be two octaves and a major second, although some composers did write for an extended upper range. Third octave fingerings do exist, but not every instrument can produce them and they are shrill and strident.
The range of the Rennaissance recorder is, as noted above, usually given as an octave and a fifth.
In point of fact some recorders can be overblown to the second octave but the intonation and balance will suffer. Also I have heard stories of wooden instruments having been damaged by being habitually overblown in this way. I’ve never actually seen a recorder damaged in this way myself, but the stories are out there.
–James
My appy-polly-loggies. I quotes the wrong recorder suite.
Not the Réjouissance.
It was the Recorder suite in A minor.
Still by Telleman. I think. Dang it’s been a long time…
Doesn’t matter. No one caught it. Until I mentioned it.
Did I mention what a rotten student I was?
Crap I’ll stick it on a page somewhere tommorow and post a link. I’m getting too tired tonight…
I never think recorders quite work for trad, firstly the turns, taps, cuts and crans don’t fall under the fingers so neatly, but it’s mainly the tone is too polite! Mind you Telemann on the whistle sounds pretty grim, so I guess its horses for courses. One thing I do find is that the recorder especialy the descant is more agile, I’ve never found a whistle that has the response of my Von Huene Ganassi. I do find though that the hair on my fingertips doesn’t arf arf arf help with bending notes on the flute.
Rob
Next time on Monster Recorder Shop: Loren modifies the FvH Ganassi for IrTrad… Heh, heh.
Anyone else out there love those (cable) shows?
Loren
Ah I can see it now: block off that stupid thumb hole with wax, saw off that annoying ‘c’ bit on the end and that clunky mouthpeice. Finally superglue on a red plastic generation fipple and it’s ready to rock.
Hi everyone,
I feel a bit silly asking, as I have been playing the recorder since I was 10, but I recently noticed that some recorders play F natural differnt from the way I have always played it. F for my old recorders is xxx xoxx but on these “new” ones it is xxx xooo. This is, I think, refered to as “german”. Is this related to the Baroque & Rennaissance design, as mentioned by James, or is it a new, post-boehm adaption?
regards
Michael
I won’t pretend to know about recorders, but I’ve been reading about them in anticipation of giving one a try. Here is a link which explains the fingering systems:
http://www.aswltd.com/finger.htm
Roger
Thanks Roger,
very illuminating. I now know I was using “modern fingering” for 35 years, thinking it was baroque! It is funny, the article says that german fingering is on the decline, but here in Singapore, all the kids seem to have german, not modern.
regards
Michael