Articles on Musical Instruments | Topics: instruments, instrument
by Xenobia Calderon
Whether you are an adult or child wanting to learn how to play a wind instrument beginning with the Recorder is a great place to start. When learning to play a wind instrument there is much to learn (to say nothing about learning to read and understand the music). The simplicity of the recorder makes learning a wind instrument less complicated. This article is going to share the history of the recorder with you.
The recorder is a part of the fipple flute family of instruments. Fipple flutes are wind instruments with a block in the blowing end. The block makes a narrow windway, which directs a sharp stream of air into the bore and helps give the recorder its typical clear, reedy sound.
The first recorders made thousands of years before were whistle-type instruments. Though, these early instruments were not recorders in the way that we think of them today - an instrument with eight finger holes, seven at the front and one at the back. No one can say for certainty when the first true recorders came into existence in Europe. It was most likely in the mediaeval period about 600 years ago. Many recorders seen in paintings cannot be verified with one hundred percent accuracy. The Dordrecht recorder has been dated to the early 15th century; however, in the absence of anything to evaluate it with, it is impossible to ascertain whether it was a true representation of other instruments made during this period.
While attempts have been made to produce copies of the medieval recorders, none of the instruments can be called authentic. There simply is not hard evidence showing what mediaeval recorders sounded like. They were possibly simple instruments with a strong tone with a small range of notes.
Renaissance recorders frequently come as a bit of a shock to people who are used to the softer, more polished sound of the usual Baroque instruments. Renaissance recorders have a louder, more robust sound particularly in the lower register. They also sound "woodier" than Baroque instruments. With the volume and the strength in the lower notes, there is a smaller range: the majority of Renaissance recorders have a range of an octave and a sixth, as opposed to a tad over two octaves for a Baroque recorder.
Renaissance recorders have a sizeable bore, a great deal larger than that found in Baroque recorders. Regularly referred to as cylindrical, it is in fact slightly tapered. Renaissance instruments highlight a plainer profile than individuals are accustomed to with almost no ornamental carving. The first instruments were made in one piece, but contemporary copies are normally made in two pieces for convenience, often connected by a brass or wooden ring at the base of the head joint. Interestingly, there was no specific rule in Renaissance times as to which hand went on top. Surviving instruments have two bottom holes, one for left and the other for right-handed musicians. Musicians filled the unused hole with wax to seal it off according to the musician's choice.
| Bit of History |
The novel is, or may be, among the mightiest instruments for swaying the heart and guiding the lives of men.
| —P., U.S. women’s magazine contributor. American Ladies Magazine, pp. 357-9 (August 1828) |
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The recorders that the majority of people are accustomed to are the highly tuned, refined flutes of the Baroque period. In the 17th century, the recorder underwent a transition. The bore became sharply conical (tapering out from bottom to top), and manufacturers began striving for a larger range and a more polished, flexible sound, which would be fitting for playing solos.
In the early 18th century, the transverse flute (traverse) began growing in recognition. The disadvantage of the recorder is that it has a very soft sound; transverse flutes were louder and had a vast range, making them more appropriate for the orchestral. The recorder was played infrequently until it nearly disappeared. By the 19th century it was rarely played, and then became a historical curiosity. Recorders virtually disappeared. The instrument did not come back into style until the early music revival of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The recorder is more in style today than at any other time of its life. Millions of instruments are made annually, and there is a large and creative modern repertoire. Recorders are developed after historical models; major advances by manufacturers are opening up new potential for the instrument.
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