.MusiciansThe recorder is a in the group known as internal duct flutes—flutes with a mouthpiece, also known as flutes. A recorder can be distinguished from other duct flutes by the presence of a thumb-hole for the upper hand and seven finger-holes: three for the upper hand and four for the lower. It is the most prominent duct flute in the.Recorders are made in different sizes with names and compasses roughly corresponding to different vocal ranges. The sizes most commonly in use today are the soprano (aka 'descant', lowest note C 5), alto (aka 'treble', lowest note F 4), tenor (lowest note C 4) and bass (lowest note F 3). Recorders are traditionally constructed from wood and ivory, while most recorders made in recent years are constructed from molded plastic. The recorders' internal and external proportions vary, but the bore is generally reverse conical (i.e.
Tapering towards the foot) to cylindrical, and all recorder fingering systems make extensive use of.The recorder is first documented in Europe in the, and continued to enjoy wide popularity in the and periods, but was little used in the and periods. It was revived in the 20th century as part of the movement, and became a popular amateur and educational instrument. Composers who have written for the recorder include,. Today, there are many professional who demonstrate the instrument's full solo range and a large community of amateurs.The sound of the recorder is often described as clear and sweet, and has historically been associated with birds and shepherds.
The Recorder: The World's Most Prolific Woodwind Musical Instrument. The recorder is a woodwind flute instrument with European origins from the Middle Ages, and variations of this straight flute have been used in music around the world.
It is notable for its quick response and its corresponding ability to produce a wide variety of articulations. This ability, coupled with its open finger holes, allow it to produce a wide variety of tone colors and special effects. Acoustically, its tone is relatively pure and odd harmonics predominate in its sound. Contents.Name The instrument has been known by its modern English name at least since the 14th century. David Lasocki reports the earliest use of 'recorder' in the household accounts of the (later ) in 1388, which register i. Fistula nomine Recordour (one pipe called 'Recordour').By the 15th century, the name had appeared in English literature. The earliest references are in Temple of Glas ( c.1430): These lytylle herdegromys Floutyn al the longe day.In here smale recorderys, In floutys.
(These little shepherds fluting all day long. On these small recorders, on flutes.) and in Lydgate's Fall of Princes ( c. 1431–1438): Pan, god off Kynde, with his pipes seuene, / Off recorderis fond first the melodies. (Pan, god of Nature, with his pipes seven, / of recorders found first the melodies.) Etymology The instrument name 'recorder' derives from the Latin recordārī (to call to mind, remember, recollect), by way of recorder (before 1349; to remember, to learn by heart, repeat, relate, recite, play music) and its derivative recordeur ( c.1395; one who retells, a minstrel). Recorder with German fingering.
Note that the 4th finger-hole is larger than the 5th. German fingering In the early 20th century, developed a recorder with apparently simpler fingering, called German fingering.
A recorder designed for German fingering has a hole five that is smaller than hole four, whereas baroque and neo-baroque recorders have a hole four that is smaller than hole five. The immediate difference in fingering is for F (soprano) or B ♭ (alto), which on a neo-baroque instrument must be fingered 0 123 4–67. With German fingering, this becomes a simpler 0 123 4 – – –. Unfortunately, however, this makes many other chromatic notes too out of tune to be usable. German fingering became popular in Europe, especially Germany, in the 1930s, but rapidly became obsolete in the 1950s as people began to treat the recorder more seriously, and the limitations of German fingering became more widely appreciated. Recorders with German fingering are today manufactured exclusively for educational purposes.Pitch Modern recorders are most commonly at A=442 Hz; however, among serious amateurs and professionals, other pitch standards are often found. For the performance of baroque music, A=415 Hz is the de facto standard, while pre-Baroque music is often performed at A=440 Hz or A=466 Hz.
These pitch standards are intended to reflect the broad variation in pitch standards throughout the history of the recorder. In various regions, contexts, and time periods, pitch standards have varied from A=392 Hz to A=520 Hz. The pitches A=415 Hz and A=466 Hz, a semitone lower and a semitone higher than A=440 Hz respectively, were chosen because they may be used with harpsichords or chamber organs that transpose up or down a semitone from A=440. These pitch standards allow recorder players to collaborate with other instrumentalists at a pitch other than A=440 Hz.Some recorder makers produce instruments at pitches other than the three standard pitches above, and recorders with interchangeable bodies at different pitches.
Acoustics. Cross-section of the head of a recorder. A) block B) windway C) labium Basic sound production The recorder produces sound in the manner of a or an organ. In normal play, the player blows into the windway (B), a narrow channel in the head joint, which directs a stream of air across a gap called the window, at a sharp edge called the labium (C). The air stream alternately travels above and below the labium, exciting standing waves in the bore of the recorder, and producing that emanate away from the window. Feedback from the of the tube regulates the pitch of the sound.In recorders, like in all woodwind instruments, the air column inside the instrument behaves like a vibrating string, to use a musical analogy, and has multiple.
These waves produced inside the instrument are not longitudinal waves, like those the ear perceives as sound, but rather stationary consisting of areas of high pressure and low pressure inside the tube, called nodes. The perceived pitch is the lowest, and typically loudest, mode of vibration in the air column. The other pitches are harmonics, or overtones.
Players typically describe recorder pitches by the number of nodes in the air column. Notes with a single node are in the first register, notes with two nodes in the second register, etc. As the number of nodes in the tube increases, the number of notes a player can produce in a given register decreases because of the physical constraint of the spacing of the nodes in the bore. On a Baroque recorder, the first, second, and third registers span about a major ninth, a major sixth, and a minor third respectively.Harmonic profile The recorder sound, for the most part, lacks high harmonics and odd harmonics predominate in its sound with the even harmonics being almost entirely absent, although the harmonic profile of the recorder sound varies from recorder to recorder, and from fingering to fingering. As a result of the lack of high harmonics, writers since Praetorius have remarked that it is difficult for the human ear to correctly perceive the sounding octave of the recorder: if the same pitch were played on a violin and on a recorder, the violin sound would have louder high harmonics.Air As in organ, the sounding pitch of duct type whistles is affected by the velocity of the air stream as it impinges upon the labium. The pitch generally increases with velocity of the airstream, up to a point.Air speed can also be used to influence the number of pressure nodes in a process called over blowing. At higher airstream velocities, lower modes of vibration of the air column become unstable, resulting in a change of register.The air stream is affected by the shaping of the surfaces in the head of the recorder (the 'voicing'), and the way the player blows air into the windway.
Recorder voicing is determined by physical parameters such as the proportions and curvature of the windway along both the longitudinal and latitudinal axes, the beveled edges ( chamfers) of the windway facing towards the labium, the length of the window, the sharpness of the labium (i.e. The steepness of the ramp) among other parameters. The player is able to control the speed and turbulence of the airstream using the diaphragm and vocal tract.Fingers The finger holes, used in combination or partially covered, affect the sounding pitch of the instrument.At the most basic level, the sequential uncovering of finger holes increases the sounding pitch of the instrument by decreasing the effective sounding length of the instrument, vice versa for the sequential covering of holes. In the fingering 01234567, only the bell of the instrument is open, resulting in a low pressure node at the bell end of the instrument.
The fingering 0123456 sounds at a higher pitch because the seventh hole and the bell both release air, creating a low pressure node at the seventh hole.Besides sequential uncovering, recorders can use forked fingering to produce tones other than those produced by simple sequential lifting of fingers. In the fingering 0123, air leaks from the open holes 4,5,6, and 7.
The pressure inside the bore is higher at the fourth hole than at the fifth, and decreases further at the 6th and 7th holes. Consequently, the most air leaks from the fourth hole and the least air leaks from the seventh hole. As a result, covering the fourth hole affects the pitch more than covering any of the holes below it. Thus, at the same air pressure, the fingering 01235 produces a pitch between 0123 and 01234. Forked fingerings allow recorder players to obtain fine gradations in pitch and timbre.A recorder's pitch is also affected by the partial covering of holes. This technique is an important tool for intonation, and is related to the fixed process of tuning a recorder, which involves the adjustment of the size and shape of the finger holes through carving and the application of wax.One essential use of partial covering is in 'leaking,' or partially covering, the thumb hole to destabilize low harmonics. This allowing higher harmonics to sound at lower air pressures than by over-blowing alone, as on simple whistles.
The player may also leak other holes to destabilize lower harmonics in place of the thumb hole (hole 0). This technique is demonstrated in the fingering tables of Ganassi's Fontegara (1535), which illustrate the simultaneous leaking of holes 0, 2, and 5 to produce some high notes.
For example, Ganassi's table produces the 15th (third octave tonic) as the fourth harmonic of the tonic, leaking holes 0, 2 and 5 and produces the 16th as the third harmonic of the fifth, leaking holes 0 and 2. On some Baroque recorders, the 17th can be produced as the third harmonic of the sixth, leaking hole 0 as well as hole 1, 2 or both.Technique Although the design of the recorder has changed over its 700-year history, notably in fingering and bore profile (see History), the technique of playing recorders of different sizes and periods is much the same. Indeed, much of what is known about the technique of playing the recorder is derived from historical treatises and manuals dating to the 16th–18th century. The following describes the commonalities of recorder technique across all time periods. A woman and girl playing recorders at in 2015 Playing position In normal playing position, the recorder is held with both hands, covering the fingerholes or depressing the keys with the pads of the fingers: four fingers on the lower hand, and the index, middle and ring fingers and thumb on the upper hand. In standard modern practice, the right hand is the lower hand, while the left hand is the upper hand, although this was not standardized before the modern revival of the recorder.The recorder is supported by the lips, which loosely seal around the beak of the instrument, the thumb of the lower hand, and, depending on the note fingered, by other the other fingers and the upper thumb.
A practice documented in many historical fingering charts is the use of finger seven or eight to support the recorder when playing notes for which the coverage of this hole negligibly affects the sounding pitch (e.g. Notes with many holes uncovered).
Larger recorders may have a thumbrest, or a neckstrap for extra support, and may use a bocal to direct air from the player's mouth to the windway.Recorders are typically held at an angle between vertical and horizontal, the attitude depending on the size and weight of the recorder, and personal preference.Fingers How the fingers and holes are numberedFingersHoles. Pitches are produced on the recorder by covering the holes while blowing into the instrument. Modern terminology refers to the holes on the front of the instrument using the numbers 1 through 7, starting with the hole closest to the beak, with the thumbhole numbered hole 0.
At the most basic level, the fingering technique of the recorder involves the sequential uncovering of the holes from lowest to highest (i.e. Uncovering 7, then uncovering 7 and 6, then uncovering 7, 6 and 5, etc.) producing ever higher pitches. In practice, however, the uncovering of the holes is not strictly sequential, and the half covering or uncovering of holes is an essential part of recorder technique. Illustration of a man playing a recorder from Jacques Hotteterre's 'Principes de la flute traversiere, de la Flute a Bec, et du Haut-bois' (1728) Forked fingerings A forked fingering is a fingering in which an open hole has covered holes below it: fingerings for which the uncovering of the holes is not sequential.
For example, the fingering 0123 is not a forked fingering, while 0123 56 is a forked fingering because the open hole 4 has holes covered below it – holes 5 and 6. Forked fingerings allow for smaller adjustments in pitch than the sequential uncovering of holes alone would allow. For example, at the same air speed the fingering 0123 5 sounds higher than 01234 but lower than 0123. Many standard recorder fingerings are forked fingerings. Forked fingerings may also be used to produced microtonal variations in pitch.Forked fingerings have a different harmonic profile from non-forked fingerings, and are generally regarded as having a weaker sound.
Forked fingerings that have a different tone color or are slightly sharp or flat can provide so-called 'alternate fingerings'. For example, the fingering 0123 and its slightly sharper forked variant 012 4567.Partial covering of holes Partial covering of the holes is an essential part of the playing technique of all recorders. This is variously known as 'leaking,' 'shading,' 'half-holing,' and in the context of the thumb hole, 'pinching'.The primary function of the thumbhole is to serve as an octaving vent. When it is leaked, the first mode of vibration of the air column becomes unstable: i.e., the register changes.
In most recorders, this is required for the playing of every note higher than a ninth above the lowest note. The player must adjust the position of the thumb for these notes to sound stably and in tune.The partial opening of the thumbhole may be achieved by sliding or rolling the thumb off of the hole, or by bending the thumb at the first knuckle.
To partially uncover a covered hole, the player may slide the finger off of the hole, bend or roll the finger away from the hole, gently lift the finger from the hole, or a combination of these. To partially cover an open hole, the reverse is possible.Generally speaking, the partial opening of covered fingerholes raises the pitch of the sounding note while the partial closure of open fingerholes lowers the pitch.Holes 6 and 7 On most 'baroque' modeled modern recorders, the lower two fingers of the lower hand actually cover two holes each (called 'double holes'). Whereas on the vast majority of baroque recorders and all earlier recorders these two fingers covered a single hole ('single holes'), double holes have become standard for baroque modeled modern recorders. By covering one or both of these two, smaller holes, a recorder player can play the notes a semitone above the lowest note and a minor third above the lowest note, notes that are only possible on single holed recorders through the partial covering of those holes, or the covering of the bell.Covering the bell The open end of the bore facing away from the player (the 'bell') may be covered to produce extra notes or effects. Because both hands are typically engaged in holding the recorder or covering the finger holes, the covering of the bell is normally achieved by bringing the end of the recorder in contact with the leg or knee, typically achieved through a combination of bending of the torso and/or raising of the knee. Alternatively, in rare cases instruments may be equipped with a key designed to cover the bell ('bell key'), operated by one of the fingers, typically the pinky finger of the upper hand, which is not normally used to cover a hole.
Fingerings with a covered bell extend the recorder's chromatic playable range above and below the nominal fingered range.Air The pitch and volume of the recorder sound are influenced by the speed of the air travelling through the windway, which may be controlled by varying the breath pressure and the shape of the vocal tract. The sound is also affected by the turbulence of the air entering the recorder. Generally speaking, faster air in the windway produces a higher pitch. Thus overblowing a note causes it to go sharp whereas underblowing the note causes it to go flat.
Knowing this fact and the knowledge of a recorder's individual tonal differences over its full range will help recorders play in tune with other instruments by knowing which notes will need slightly more or less air to stay in tune. Breath The technique of inhalation and exhalation for the recorder differs from that of many other wind instruments in that the recorder requires very little air pressure to produce a sound, unlike reed or brasswind instruments. Thus, it is often necessary for a recorder player to produce long, controlled streams of air at a very low pressure. Recorder breathing technique focuses on the controlled release of air rather than on maintaining diaphragmatic pressure.Tongue, mouth, and throat The use of the tongue to stop and start the air is called 'articulation'. In this capacity, the tongue has two basic functions: to control the start of the note (the attack) and the end, or the length of the note (legato, staccato). Articulations are roughly analogous to. Practically any consonant that may produced with the tongue, mouth, and throat may be used to articulate on the recorder.
Transliterations of common articulation patterns include 'du du du du' (using the tip of the tongue, 'single tonguing') 'du gu du gu,' (alternating between the tip and the back of the tongue, 'double tonguing') and 'du g'll du g'll' (articulation with the tip and the sides of the tongue, 'double tonguing'). The attack of the note is governed by such factors as the pressure buildup behind the tongue and shape of the articulant, while the length of the note governed by the stoppage of the air by the tongue. Each articulation pattern has a different natural pattern of attack and length, and recorder technique seeks to produce a wide variety of lengths and attacks using these articulation patterns.
Patterns like these have been used since at least the time of Ganassi (1535).Mouth and throat shapes are roughly analogous to. The shape of the vocal track affects the velocity and turbulence of the air entering the recorder. The shape of the mouth and vocal tract affect are closely related to the consonant used to articulate.Coordination The player must coordinate fingers and tongue to align articulations with finger movements.
In normal play, articulated attacks should align with the proper fingering, even in legato passages or in difficult finger transitions and the fingers move in the brief silence between the notes (silence d'articulation) created by the stoppage of the air by the tongue.Both fingers and the breath can be used to control the pitch of the recorder. Coordinating the two is essential to playing the recorder in tune and with a variety of dynamics and timbres. On an elementary level, breath pressure and fingerings must accord with each other to provide an in-tune pitch. As an example of a more advanced form of coordination, a gradual increase in breath pressure combined with the shading of holes, when properly coordinated, results in an increase in volume and change in tone color without a change in pitch. The reverse is possible, decreasing breath pressure and gradually lifting fingers.Basic fingering.
See also: Recorder fingerings (English): Lowest note through the nominal range of 2 octaves and a toneNoteFirst octaveSecond octaveThird octaveTuned¹in FTunedin CHole0Hole1Hole2Hole3Hole4Hole5Hole6Hole7Hole0Hole1Hole2Hole3Hole4Hole5Hole6Hole7Hole0Hole1Hole2Hole3Hole4Hole5Hole6Hole7FC●●●●●●●●●○●○○○○○◐●○○●●○○F ♯/G ♭C ♯/D ♭●●●●●●●◐○●●○○○○○GD●●●●●●●○○○●○○○○○◐●○●●○●●²G ♯/A ♭D ♯/E ♭●●●●●●◐○○○●●●●●○AE●●●●●●○○◐●●●●●○○A ♯/B ♭F●●●●●○●●◐●●●●○●○BF ♯/G ♭●●●●○●●○◐●●●○●○○CG●●●●○○○○◐●●●○○○○C ♯/D ♭G ♯/A ♭●●●○●●◐○◐●●○●○○○DA●●●○○○○○◐●●○○○○○D ♯/E ♭A ♯/B ♭●●○●●○○○◐●●○●●●○EB●●○○○○○○◐●●○●●○○. This section needs additional citations for. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: – ( May 2019) The first recorders to be played in the modern period were antique instruments from previous periods. Anecdotally, Arnold Dolmetsch was motivated to make his own recorders after losing a bag containing his antique instruments.
Recorders made in the early 20th century were imitative of baroque models in their exterior form, but differed significantly in their structure. Dolmetsch introduced English fingering, the now standard fingering for 'baroque' model instruments, and standardized the doubled 6th and 7th holes found on a handful of antique instruments by the English makers Stanesby and Bressan. Dolmetsch instruments generally had a large rectangular windway, unlike the curved windways of all historical instruments, and played at modern pitch.Repertoire Nearly twice as many pieces have been written for the recorder since its modern revival as were written in all previous epochs.
Many of these were composed by avant-garde composers of the latter half of the 20th century who used the recorder for the variety of extended techniques which are possible using its open holes and its sensitivity to articulation.In the 1950s and 60s, virtuosos like and Michael Vetter shocked the world with bold new techniques which today form an essential part of the modern recorder literature. These include, but are not limited to multiphonics, glissandi, flutter tonguing, at least five ways to produce vibrato, singing while playing (known since the time of Mersenne, 1636), playing multiple recorders at once, finger and key tapping and other percussive sounds, microtones, playing the recorder like a flute using a fingerhole as an embouchure hole, blowing across the window to produce white noise, and various modifications of the recorder such as taping over holes, or playing with only the headjoint or without the foot. From top to bottom: bass, tenor, alto/treble, soprano/descant and sopranino recordersThe trade of recorder making was traditionally transmitted via apprenticeship.
Notable historical makers include the Rafi, Schnitzer and Bassano families in the renaissance; (Jr. And Sr.), and, Haka, Heitz, Rippert, Rottenburgh, Steenbergen and Terton.
Most of these makers also built other wind instruments such as oboes and transverse flutes. Notably, is credited with the development of the clarinet from the chalumeau.Recorder making declined with the instrument's wane in the late 18th century, essentially severing the craft's transmission to the modern age.
With few exceptions, the duct flutes manufactured in the 19th and late 18th centuries were intended for amateur or educational use, and were not constructed to the high standard of earlier epochs., the first to achieve commercial production in the twentieth century, began to build recorders in 1919. While these early recorders played at a low pitch like that of the available originals, he did not strive for exactitude in reproduction, and by the 1930s the Dolmetsch family firm, then under the direction of Arnold's son Carl Dolmetsch, was mass-producing recorders at modern pitch with wide, straight windways, and began to produce recorders shortly after the Second World War. Nonetheless, the Dolmetsch models were innovative for their time and proved influential, particularly in standardizing the English fingering system now standard for modern baroque-style instruments and doubled 6th and 7th holes, which are rare on antique instruments.In Germany, began to manufacture recorders in the 1920s, primarily for education use in the youth movement. Following Harlan's success, numerous makers such as Adler and began commercial production of recorders, fueling an explosion in the instrument's popularity in Germany. These recorders shared little in common with antiques, with large straight windways, anachronistically pitched consorts, modified fingering systems and other innovations.In the latter half of the twentieth century, historically informed performance practice was on the rise and recorder makers increasingly sought to imitate the sound and character of antiques. The German-American maker was among the first to research recorders held in European collections and produce instruments intended to reproduce the qualities of the antiques. Plastic recorder In the mid-20th century, German composer and music educator popularized the recorder for use in schools as part of programs in German schools.
Orff's five-volume opus of educational music Music for Children contains many pieces for recorders, usually scored for other instruments as well.Manufacturers have made recorders out of and other more modern plastics; they are thus easy to produce, hence inexpensive. Because of this, recorders are popular in schools, as they are one of the cheapest instruments to buy in bulk. They are also relatively easy to play at a basic level because sound production needs only breath, and pitch is basically determined by fingering.
It is, however, incorrect to assume that mastery is similarly easy—like any other instrument, the recorder requires study to play well and in tune, and significant study to play at an advanced or professional level.Recorder ensembles The recorder is a very social instrument. Many recorder players participate in large groups or in one-to-a-part chamber groups, and there is a wide variety of music for such groupings including many modern works.
Groups of different sized instruments help to compensate for the limited note range of the individual instruments. Four part arrangements with a soprano, alto, tenor and bass part played on the corresponding recorders are common, although more complex arrangements with multiple parts for each instrument and parts for lower and higher instruments may also be regularly encountered. See also.References.
NamePeople–especially grade-school children–often wonder why this instrument is called a recorder because the word “record” seems to connote something much more modern and technology-based. According to linguist Eric Partridge in his book 'Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English,' an early English definition of the word was 'to practise a piece of music,” hence 'record.' Although it has been known in England as a recorder since the 14th century, other countries in Europe have continued to refer to it by variations of the word “flute,” such as “flauta dulce” (sweet flute) in Spain. The use of varying terms in different languages has sometimes led to confusion, causing pieces written for recorder to be played on the flute, for example. Flute FamilyRecorders are also known as English flutes, to differentiate them from traditional or transverse (to the side) flutes. Recorders belong to a subgroup known as fipple or duct flute –instruments that use a whistlelike mouthpiece.
The Irish tin whistle is another example of a fipple flute. Rather than being held to the side like a traditional flute, fipple flutes are end-blown and held straight away from the mouth. Recorders are identified by seven finger holes on the front of the instrument and one thumb hole on the back (as opposed to a tin whistle, for example, which has six holes). FeaturesRecorders are known for their clear and sweet sound. Until the modern era, this was created by the use of different hardwoods.
Now, however, high-quality plastics can achieve much the same result. Although we normally think of one standard size for a recorder, the size actually varied greatly through history–anywhere from a few inches to more than 6 feet long. Size determines what key a recorder is tuned in, and recorders are labeled by the lowest note they can play. Early HistoryAlthough variations of the flute have existed since man first began to play music, 'The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians' places the earliest mention of an instrument known as a recorder in 1388 in England.
Recorder expert Nicholas Lander states on his website the Recorder Home Page that surviving instruments (and fragments) from that time have been found throughout Europe, including in Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and Greece. Recent HistoryFor a variety of reasons, the popularity of recorders waned after the 18th century, and they were largely replaced by flutes and clarinets in ensemble pieces. In the 20th century, however, the recorder had a bit of a renaissance of its own (in addition to elementary schools), being used occasionally by historically accurate music ensembles and even in music by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and other popular artists.