Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Mechanism will work better if lightly oiled occasionally with sewing machine or gun
oil. Do not use "3 in One". Case catches should also have their pivots oiled from time to
time, especially if they begin to grate. Recorders with keys are quite vulnerable. Watch
what you do and take care not to catch long keys on clothing or bend them by twisting
right round. If you do damage or break a key let me have it for repair. Do not give it to
an amateur plumber to fix. A good repairer can avoid the pitfalls and in most cases
mend as new.
Dear ASW:
What is a good all-around recorder for an adult beginner? I am not certain whether I
will ever become an advanced player and don't want to spend a whole lot of money, at
least not at first.
You should first decide whether you want to play soprano or alto
recorder. Most advanced players eventually learn to play both c-fingered
recorders (piccolo, soprano, tenor, and greatbass) and f-fingered
recorders (sopranino, alto, bass, contrabass), but the beginning player
needs to concentrate on one or the other. Trying to do both often leads to
confusion and discouragement.
A soprano recorder is cheaper and usually plays the top or lead voice in
recorder ensembles, but it is small for adult hands, has a higher and
shriller tone quality, and has relatively little solo literature available –
and the bulk of that consists of arrangements and transcriptions, not
original music. The soprano is usually the beginning instrument of
choice for children or adults with small hands.
I notice that you have both plastic and wooden recorders. Is wood preferable to
plastic?
All other things being equal, yes – but then all things are not always
equal. There are good and bad plastic recorders, as well as good and bad
wooden recorders. A good plastic recorder is far better than a cheap poor
wooden one. However, a good wooden recorder is always preferable to a
good plastic instrument – AOTBE.
Okay, I think I want a good but inexpensive wooden recorder. Is there anything in the
below $100 range that would be a good choice?
You can get any one of several very good wooden soprano recorders for
$60-$80. Unfortunately, there are no decent wooden alto or tenor
recorders available in that price range; you have to spend $160 to $210
for an alto recorder and $250 to $350 for a tenor recorder of equivalent
quality. See the section on inexpensive modern recorders in our ASW
Guide to Recorders for a list of recommended instruments.
Unless you really can't stand the sound of a plastic instrument and don't
want to deal with the chronic clogging problem, you are probably better
advised to start off with a good quality plastic alto recorder rather than a
wooden soprano instrument. If you find that, after a period of time, you
are seriously interested in learning to play the instrument well, you can
upgrade to a wooden instrument and retain your plastic recorder for
backup. If you find that you are not all that interested, a good plastic
instrument may be all the recorder you will ever need to buy. And if you
find that recorder playing is really not for you and you would rather
spend your spare time doing something else, then you haven't blown a
big chunk of your disposable income. See the section on plastic recorders
in our ASW Guide to Recorders for a list of recommended makers and
models.
Bottom line: unless you have other priorities, buy yourself a top quality,
custom-tuned plastic alto recorder (we recommend the Yamaha 300
series woodgrain alto in either palisander or ebony), both volumes of the
Hugh Orr method "Basic Recorder Technique" for alto recorder, and
Hans-Martin Linde's "The Recorder Player's Handbook" to educate
yourself as to what it is all about. Total cost: $108.35. We pay the
shipping and insurance. Come back when you have worked your way
through both volumes of Orr and read the Linde book from cover to
cover, and we can talk about where to go from there.
All of the methods and materials mentioned on this page are listed in our detailed
discussion of Adult Recorder Methods and Materials. as well as in our complete
catalogue. If you have any further questions, contact me via E-mail at
dgreen@aswltd.com. or give me a call M-F 10-6 EST at +1 (508) 833-3979.