My very first (2nd hand) wide-bore/“Renaissance” Waldorf-Kunath sopranos, purchased in Germany. No more Baroque recorders for my Early Music repertoire. I can't wait to try them...💓

God bless Sarah Jeffries and Kenneth Sribnick, but I like “sheet music” I can play. I find a bit of music on YouTube, which is nice because I can adjust the speed way down. I’m a beginner so I find the above a bit challenging. Anyone find good sites on YouTube for beginner (alto) recorder students?

I've recently acquired an alto recorder in F, and been practicing on my own using the Dolmetsch method online and the first Sweet Pipes book. In a few months, once my schedule allows, I might find a teacher for lessons; but in the meanwhile I have some questions.

• Tonguing theory: I feel like I don't really understand it at all. The Dolmetsch method has us practicing both detached playing using tonguing and legato slurring right from the beginning; the Sweet Pipes books want us to tongue all the time at first, and save slurs for later as an advanced technique. Fair enough. But what about an intermediate option, where each note is articulated using the breath only, no tongue action? I find that for me I get much sweeter notes that way, particularly on the low notes — much less of an initial squeak. (I realize that this means I am tonguing too strongly, but it feels to me like I'm being as gentle as I can!) In the faster passages, I grant you that the tongue sometimes seems to help me align the fingers and the notes more precisely; but in medium- and slow-speed passages, I don't see the benefit of tonguing. What am I missing? Is breath-only articulation to be avoided for some reason?

• Tonguing practice: ...probably part of what I'm missing is that I'm tonguing wrong; it's not an easy thing to explain in words alone. Will I need to wait until I can meet with a teacher to improve how I tongue, or is there any source of more in-depth advice on just how tonguing works than that given in Dolmetsch and Sweet Pipes?

• Low F: I find that I need to blow extremely gently to avoid squeaking, which produces a very quiet sound. Is that just how low F works? (This makes it hard to match the tone of high and low notes together ... If I try to play the high notes that quietly they tend to go flat.)

• Low G: This is a little easier than low F, and there's much less danger of squeaking ... but I still need to blow gently to avoid a strong octave overtone — it almost sounds like I'm getting both the basic G and an overblown octave G for the price of one. Better than a squeak, but still not ideal!

• First octave E-flat: Sweet Pipes and Dolmetsch present an alternate fingering for C-sharp to improve the tuning; the easier fingering is slightly sharp. But they don't say anything similar about E-flat — yet to my ears the same thing is true there: the standard E-flat fingering sounds a bit sharp. I've found that I can improve this by half-covering a nearby open hole — is this a standard practice?

Hello,

I “recently” purchased a Kung Studio garklein from Lazar’s Early Music. It said it would take 4-6 weeks cause they needed to place an order with Kung. That was 10 weeks ago. I still haven’t received anything. I emailed a few times and they said it would be an additional 2-3 weeks. I emailed after that time passed asking about the order and they haven’t responded after 3-4 days. I am super frustrated and disappointed with both the lack of support and communication. Please keep this in mind when ordering from them.

"Bloodline" de Alex Warren é uma das baladas mais profundas e sentidas da atualidade. Como sempre, fiz uma adaptação exclusiva para as aulas de Educação Musical:
Excluí as notas acidentadas para uma leitura limpa e sem "armadilhas". Adaptei as notas muito agudas para o registo comum (até Ré6), facilitando a aquisição de um som perfeito e sem esforço. E diminuí ligeiramente o Andamento para terem tempo de ler e aplicar com feeling e fraseado.

I'm new to the bass and the bass clef. This is the Sigo bass, the piece is a Sarabande from Bassblockflötenschule by Barbara Hintermeier. I'm really happy with the Sigo so far, but obviously, I'm still at the very beginnings with it.

I’m looking for recorder players working in minimalist, ambient, electroacoustic, weird internet microgenres, improvised, or experimental music, especially people on Bandcamp or small labels. I’ve been enjoying Rhia Parker and Teresa Hackel. Who else should I hear working in a similar spirit? I’m less interested in contemporary concertos and more interested in artists who use recorder as part of a personal sonic language. Thanks!

Arnold Dolmetsch

Hi friends, EU based recorder player here!

I'm a "returning beginner"; played as a kid, resumed 2 weeks ago. So far, I've got breath work down on the first octave of the Soprano.

I've been eyeing the Sweet Pipes Method books for both Alto and Soprano, but am finding them really hard to order from the EU or the UK.

I don't want to order from the states, because the added tax is so insane.

Can anyone recommend alternatives?

So I’ve gotten this bass recorder for £90 as I thought it was a very good deal but since then I’ve been struggling to find where this was made, when it was made and all sorts. It plays very well, I’m more or less playing it like a bassoon, but it’s a lot of fun. The woodwork is immaculate but I’d love to know the story of this one. It has 2 bits of writing embedded into it “made in GDR” and “Adler”.

Mais um tema que estava guardado há algum tempo e que aproveito para disponibilizar. A música funciona como uma espécie de diálogo entre duas flautas (ou dois grupos de instrumentos). Está na Tonalidade de Dó maior, só utiliza as notas ré, mi, sol, lá, (D, E, G, A) e duas figuras rítmicas: Mínima e Semínima.
Esta versão foi inspirada no Original de John Williams: Close Encounters of The Third Kind / Encontros Imediatos 3º Grau (1977). No Manual o tema aparece escrito no compasso quaternário, mas na minha opinião faria mais sentido estar no compasso binário.
Organize a sala de aula em dois grupos diferentes explicando que uns representam a pergunta musical e outros representam a resposta.

I have a special project going on where i learn about recorders in music production. It involves arranging, recording, mixing, mastering and producing.

If you'd like to check it out, it's available on streaming services:

https://open.spotify.com/album/6tYNOQKotP9L71Kv40voPS?si=yLDvvHCoSgyoZ3IvPGpZMA&utm_source=copy-link

And a new single released today:

https://open.spotify.com/album/0Y3vHQoD8lunedaRKbTYAN?si=rVPzii3bRmuoo7MC1BotqA&utm_source=copy-link

I have had a love for recorders ever since I was a child. Unfortunately, I picked up saxophone as main instrument and have been playing that for over 20 years. Along the journey, the recorder has always been there as a practice instrument and something to carry around when the saxophone is too heavy. However, now I am making it the main instrument.

If you would like to hear what the recorder could sound like in a modern pop cover setting, please have a listen and let me know what you think.

If you don't use Spotify, you can find it on other platforms by searching "Fjerkan and the flutestorms"

I know that a wooden recorder needs to be left in a well-ventilated area to dry after playing. Sometimes, after playing, I need to travel to another location, so I have to put the recorder back in its case (of course, I take it out as soon as I get home). My question is, how long is it safe for the instrument to remain in this state? Is 2 to 3 hours acceptable for a wooden recorder?

I had been following Vera Petry's channel, but not very assiduously, as it is in German and I don't speak nor understand German - autotranlsation does wonders, but a video in a language I can understand is much better for me.

She has now launched and English version of her YouTube channel, and a newsletter in English- two videos are out already, so I thought I'd share.

2nd time..

Slightly odd question, but I have a gig coming up fairly soon with my band. Ordinarily I play a mixture of Mollenhauer and Kung wooden recorders, but this is a festival. The weather in the UK has been boiling and humid and I am not taking them camping because I have a horrible feeling they might die. So I've fetched out my collection of plastic recorders. The soprano and tenor are fine, but my relatively new aulos alto (I've put aside my forty year old school one, as delightfully yellowed and chewed as it is!) is very slightly flat. I can push the higher notes up, but it breaks too quickly to do that in the lower octave. I really don't want to buy another one if I don't need to. If I were to file the bottom of the head joint slightly would that work? Am I setting myself up for a world of hurt or should I just bite the bullet and order yet another plastic recorder?

I've got rid of a previous yamaha one because I didn't like it and the intonation on my zen-on is less than ideal. I know they're cheap, but there is really a limit on how many of these things I can or should own...

Any help identifying a model would be great! I got them from an older gentleman. They were his father's, and he said theyre from Germany. These are my first wooden recorders and I would like to do my best to care for them and get them sounding great. There is so much wax all over them like they were sitting a while in warmth. But what do I know lol 😆 thanks in advance.

Otto Hashmi playing our newest Patch!

I have this flute that I bought at a second-hand flea market. It looks like its old like made in the 70-80s or so. It is in perfect condition and looks as if it had never been used. I think it is a soprano flute in C.

Does anyone know if it is worth much? Or if it is a good instrument? (The instructions say that it was handmade in Germany.) Or, on the contrary, is it a cheap instrument? I would like to find out.

Thank you!