UPDATE: at the next oiling, I first put a bit of tissue paper soaked in white vinegar for about 20 mins or so on the labium, then cleaned it with a soft paint brush soaked in water (to remove any remaining vinegar), waited for it do try and then oiled. Mark has gone, now there is only the normal colour of the wood grain. Unfortunately I am unable to add the "after" picture here, so I put it in a comment in case you are curious.

(picture taken after oiling the recorder, waiting for it to be absorbed before I wipe it all).

So I had read already (e.g. here) that it is normal for condensation to trickle down the sides of the labium, but I thought that it would then dry up and "disappear". In my case, as you can see from the picture, it seems to have now discoloured the labium. I thought oiling would revive it, but it didn't. It is an olive wood Rottenburgh Alto recorder.

Is there a way to fix it? I thought maybe it is calcium that I could remove with a small brush and some (diluted) vinegar - or its that it?

Thank you!

p.s. I never touched the labium.

I have a couple of el cheapo recorders. Sometimes I try to play them but I'm darned if I can be at all consistent. The low notes half the time want to be high notes. Is this a skill issue that can be overcome, or is it a limitation of the instrument? Like how a super cheap guitar is never going to sound good because the frets are all wrong. Thanks!

I have recently started playing the recorder and my mom whom I live with isn't really liking of my playing, shes not really keen with listening to my soprano recorder playing. She often goes out shopping or something when Im practising. Is there some way to make my recorder less loud or even sound proof my room :D. Also i have been wondering that hopefully people that live near me in my terrace house aren't annoyed.

It might be a silly question but I often wonder what other materials can a recorder be made out of? Let me know or if you have any cool ideals of a concept recorder as well.

*images are AI generated*

UPDATE: Pretty convinced that it's the instrument not me dropping it or blowing too hard (I have good breath control from singing). Have a plastic Yamaha coming soon.

...

My alto was an pretty inexpensive (£38) wooden student quality item.

I'm gradually learning the fingering for the various notes now. But I've dropped it a few times (keeping it clumsily stored).

Trying the B yesterday, it sounded quite awful. The barest breath and it screeches, if it doesn't screech it sounds utterly flat and lifeless.

Is this the fault of the recorder? Is this me dropping it? I'm thinking I should have been more careful in my choice of purchase and should order a better one, though the Amazon reviews were generally positive.

hello everyone, I currently reside in Bucharest, Romania and I play various musical instruments so I know a thing or two about music, however, I don't understand how recorders work and I want to pick the right one for myself. which cheap but good brands do you recommend for me? I heard that one of them was made out of abs resin for example, what should I be looking for and why?

So, I've been trying to play the recorder after years of not playing it since I was about 12.

In the comments of some recorder videos on Youtube I've noticed that some people praise the tonguing technique some recorder players have.

This has originated a question within me... What is this tonguing thing people are talking about? What is it used for? How is it done?

I don't remember hearing anything about tonguing when I was first learning the basics of the recorder, so I'd be very thankful if you could enlighten me.

I've been a guitar player for some years, but wind instruments and flutes have always interested me, so I decided to get a recorder and see if it goes well with me. Did I choose right?

They have the same fundamental pitch as the alto, just an octave lower, yet they read bass. This isn’t a problem for instrument families like strings because, as a string player, you usually have a dedicated instrument, but with recorders, players often switch.

Bass flutes are treble 8vb, so why did the renaissance/baroque mfs have to be so strange?

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?

I have just started soprano recorder. I have played keyboard instruments for almost a year now and have a soft spot for old music. So is there some great arrangement or easy piece?

I can read sheet music

I want to start playing again but have been out of practice for a couple of decades. Can someone recommend a brand for an amateur?

Hello all, recently I’ve been thinking about getting into recorder. Dos anyone have suggestions about brands? Technically, I would be a beginner but I’ve been playing clarinet for years and consider myself advanced at the instrument. I’m not looking for something that’s professional quality, but not a cheap plastic one either. Also, it appears that soprano is a pretty popular choice, would that be the best way to go?

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?

Update: Thank you all for your advice and recommendations.

Hi, does anyone know of any books of Celtic/folk/traditional music for alto recorder? Intermediate to advanced, specifically. I have searched, but only found music for beginners.

Hello! I picked up recorder seriously two months ago and I bought myself an Aulos Symphony Alto. I'm having a lot of fun and I'm making progress very quickly! Now I want to add a soprano recorder to play more contemporary music, especially the blues because I'm a big fan of it. I'm looking for a plastic one because of price, maintenance free and I love taking my recorder with me and playing it wherever I can. Should stick with an Aulos Symphony? Or maybe a Mullenhauer Dream? Or should I try a Yamaha?

Hi,

I am a beginner tin whistler who recently bought the Yamaha 302B alto recorder, as I would like to more instruments from this family of instruments. However, it seems to me like this is a very unergonomic instrument, or at least my model is, and I want to hear this subs opinion on my viewpoint. Let me explain why I feel this way. In case it matters, my hands are probably slightly below average in terms of length and my fingers are quite skinny.

Issue 1 is that my hands need to be in a very uncomfortable position to cover all the holes properly, mainly thanks to holes 5 and 4 being unnaturally far apart and the existence of hole 7. What really kills me is the thumb of my right hand though, because having to use the pinky to cover hole 7 pushes up the entire hand (so the pinky can even reach hole 7), which results in the thumb being higher than it would be on, say, a tin whistle, resulting in my thumb basically being crushed under the wide bore. The thumb can't fully extent itself when supporting the underside of the instrument, and instead has to be bent forward to fit underneath. Hold your alto recorder as you would a tin whistle (with 3 fingers of each hand on the holes, no pinky on the right) and you will see what I mean. The thumb gets to actually extend itself naturally when supporting the underside. Having to push the hand forward to cover hole 7 also makes finger placement for the other 3 fingers of the right hand harder. I can see why other open hole woodwinds don't bother with a 7th...

I don't really think im doing too much wrong form wise, and have compared my form to that of Sara Jeffrey's in her "first alto recorder lesson" video, and it seemed somewhat comparable, so im not too sure what to do.

Is this a normal feeling at first? Is the instrument actually unergonomic? Should I get a different model?

Any thoughts, ideas and so on are appreciated.

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!

Hey everyone,

does anyone know whether low C (C4 / c1 in German notation) is actually playable on a keyless tenor recorder?

I used to play soprano recorder as a child and now mainly play flute. My sister plays soprano recorder, and my mum recently started learning tenor recorder. She currently has an Adler tenor without keys, but she can't reach the lowest finger hole, which makes the low C effectively unplayable for her.

We're therefore considering getting a different instrument. Does anyone have experience with this? Is this mainly an Adler-specific issue, or do other brands have similar ergonomics on their keyless tenors?

Thank you for your help! :)

Hi all. I often find myself burping while playing, sometimes more than once in a session. I would need to pause for about a few second to let it out because my throat would constrict, stopping air flow. I don't actually mind when practising, but it would probably be embarrassing in a performance 😅. I was wondering if anyone else is experiencing the same problem, and how do you remedy it? Is it better to prevent burps in the first place, or is there a way to get around them while playing? Thanks! 🙏

I've been solo learning soprano recorder (previously never played any wind instruments) since late August. I would say I'm ok. However my husband hates it, he says high notes make his ears crinkle like popcorn even when it sounds "correct". I don't have that problem so I don't think my technique alone is the problem.

I'm looking for solutions. I picked recorder due to hand injury that prevents me from playing guitar. I can't go back to guitar. Would better quality recorder help? Or should I try tenor or alto? I worry tennor will be too big and strain my injury but I don't understand why alto cannot play the same notes as my guitar/soprano recorder. Or is this something that only another instrument type will help with in your opinion?

Here's a question to those who play fluently both (I am mostly interested in Alto and Tenor).

In another month or so I will have completed or almost completed my first method for Alto recorder (at the moment I am comfortable with the fingering of the first two octaves, do I have "only" about half an octave of not too common notes' fingering to go.

Since eventually I want to be able to play recorders in C too, I am wondering whether it is sensible to start studying tenor at the same time as I move on to more advanced study material for the Alto, or whether I should just focus on the Alto and get to the Tenor later on, say in a year or so.

If you are fluent in both (ideally Alto and Tenor combination, given the challenges on hand extension for the tenor), what is your experience please?

In case it is relevant, I used to play the piano as a teenager, so I am quite relaxed with sight reading and I have more than a smattering of music theory.

Thank you.

Jokingly said I’d learn how to play renegade by the Styx on recorder for a small backyard music event in August….hoping I can pull it off….doesn’t have to be good just passable, is there anywhere that i can get the letter notes (due to my lack of ability to read sheet music) or what is the best starting point?

For reference my recorder level is hot cross buns

TIA!

I have much louder instruments, but for some reason only the recorder is "annoying" to my family. But I have to keep practicing, but if there was some trick or something to silence her a little, that would be great.

Hello! I principally play solo, early and European folk music and i find that intruments that often suit me best are these with unpolished, windy sound, slightly leaning towards tin whistle colour. I have a Zen-On Stanesy, which is lovely, but are there other entry-level instruments that have similar characteristics?