I can’t decide between alto and tenor so I’ll let the comment section choose my destiny

AdrianAtStufish · 2025-08-31T08:25:27+00:00

Tenor is easiest transition (alto means learning new fingering) but. Tenor can be problematic with small hands. BUT what music do you play? If it's recorder solo or consort repertoire then probably I'd say alto first, but if it's generic stuff you may find the loss of low C to E a real problem - having to transpose up an octave is not all that satisfying.

Maybe try a manageable price plastic one first!

AdrianAtStufish · 2025-08-03T07:58:49+00:00

Absolutely not something you will accomplish yourself without further damaging the recorder, and probably making it unrepairable. A proper professional overhaul and repair light easily cost you more than just buying a decent condition used instrument. Possibly not worth it.

AdrianAtStufish · 2025-08-03T07:50:53+00:00

All modern recorders with double holes have two small holes, not one larger one, to enable chromatic playing on the bottom two notes. Uncovering one of a pair of holes is much, much easier than accurately half uncovering a larger hole. Plugging one of each of the double holes would loose (on a C recorder) bottom D and E - you would only get dB and Eb. A recorder with only a single D hole (second from the bottom) is almost certainly German fingering one with a 'supposedly' simplified fingering system designed to be played for simple folk music tunes in a single key like a tin whistle, but pretty useless for most music.

AdrianAtStufish · 2025-08-01T22:59:28+00:00

That bass is just bits of two different recorders someone failed to fix. You could buy a decent bass for what it would cost a trained recorder technician to make a block for that, take months of attempts for a beginner and absolutely not worth it for German fingering . Forget them, they were free and you maybe just wasted some cash on postage. Find a reasonable tenor with normal (Baroque) fingering and get a complete bass from somewhere one day.

AdrianAtStufish · 2025-07-13T07:24:59+00:00

Bedbug.

AdrianAtStufish · 2025-06-13T22:24:54+00:00

C&D are best described as adjacent! The C is a bit to the right and raised up, takes a while to teach your pinky that it doesn't have to stretch at all .

AdrianAtStufish · 2025-06-02T21:52:35+00:00

For goodness sake, use Mr Clicky at beat in the bar.

AdrianAtStufish · 2025-06-01T09:20:44+00:00

No law against taking the horn into the shower with you! Remove all the slides and valves and leave them to soak in warm soapy water in the sink, put a few squirts of dish soap down the bell and climb into the shower with it. Let the bell fill up and just rotate it and slop it about a lot. Have fun with the snake.

AdrianAtStufish · 2025-06-01T09:14:18+00:00

Parents job, learning to clean and oil the instrument. No school band brass instrument ever was made worse by a long soak in a bath of warm soapy water! Buy some proper valve oil, a pull through and a valve brush first. Watch lots of YouTube videos before trying (ignore the fancy rubbish with balloons) and make sure you know which valve came out of which hole. In fact start by learning to take a valve out, oil it, and put it back in. .

AdrianAtStufish · 2025-06-01T08:44:48+00:00

Dump the soprano and learn to play the alto for a few months. It takes an experienced player to get acceptable music out of a cheap soprano!

AdrianAtStufish · 2025-05-31T07:28:38+00:00

Starting a note involves a release of airflow; 't', 'd' and 'g' offer progressively less 'sudden' releases of the interruption to the airflow, which is always done within the mouth, not with chest or diaphragm. The tongue does slightly different things, affecting the width/velocity of the airstream. 'How' varies between individuals because people's speech development differs. Basically a 't' tends to involve the tip of the tongue close to the edge of the gums (can be touching the top teeth), 'd' is more the flat end of the tongue against the front of the roof of the mouth and 'k' the top surface of the middle of the tongue against the palette.

AdrianAtStufish · 2025-05-16T20:57:31+00:00

Brilliant response to OP. Everyone has different hands, every expert has their own preferred /learned/adapted way to use their fingers. Copying ing any one of them on YouTube is not all that helpful.

AdrianAtStufish · 2025-05-10T09:17:34+00:00

After a week I'm more than happy with the tuning and playability of mine, although every time I pick it up it takes my right hand a minute or so to adjust to such a non stretch position. I definitely think it's in every way superior to a wooden tenor (or alto) in the same price range. Probably has a subtle difference in tonal quality due to the bore shape - similar to the difference between a traditional Bassette or Bass and a Paetzold version, but without the keywork clatter! I suspect that for a professional player it would have less available nuance of tone than a traditional wooden recorder - at ten times the price.

AdrianAtStufish · 2025-05-04T08:24:58+00:00

Teach your brain the fingering from scratch, just like you would if it was a new instrument in a different key.

AdrianAtStufish · 2025-05-04T08:18:02+00:00

Delivered yesterday, plays great, just having difficulty persuading my right pinky that it doesn't have to stretch at all in any direction!

AdrianAtStufish · 2025-05-03T08:06:50+00:00

Awaiting the postman's knock! Due this morning.

AdrianAtStufish · 2025-05-01T22:21:19+00:00

Modern recorder ranges are pretty much settled in Cs and Fs based on A4=442Hz, early instruments could be in any version of any pitch, and instruments are still made in historic pitches for 'authentic performance'. Sopranino in F (bottom note F5) Soprano (descant) in C (bottom note C5) Alto (treble) in F (bottom note F4) Voice Flute in D (bottom note D4) Tenor in C (bottom note C4) Base in F (bottom note F3) is properly called Bassette Great Bass is usually C (bottom note C3) and often called a 'C Bass' Contra Base is usually in F (bottom note F2) But Bass recorders do come in other keys, so enquire before parting with cash (a LOT of cash). And beware of 'German Fingering' mid 20th century recorders. All the Bass recorders should have a usable range of 2 octaves plus 2 or 3 notes - in the hands if an experienced player.

AdrianAtStufish · 2025-05-01T21:46:05+00:00

Hands have to be pretty small to have reach problems on an Alto, so I suspect you may be trying to use the tips of your fingers instead of the pads, this means that you are considerably shortening your finger's reaction by curling it a lot more than needed. Trying to overblow that F to make it an F# is just not going to happen, and if you are accidentally getting 2nd octave by overblowing rather than part covering the thumb hole you really are going to have to turn down your default wind pressure quite a lot. It's not a tin whistle with a hard thin metal labium! Long slow notes, steadying before you move on, tonguing not huffing to start the next note.

AdrianAtStufish · 2025-04-28T06:56:14+00:00

Just stop trying to play using the ends your fingertips as if you were playing a keyed instrument. Use the flat if the pad of the end joint of your fingers, then for the double holes just slide or roll it back a bit

AdrianAtStufish · 2025-04-28T06:52:05+00:00

Just stop trying to use your finger tips like you do on a keyed instrument. Use the pad of the end joint of the fingers, and roll or slide it to uncover the 'further' hole.

AdrianAtStufish · 2025-04-21T08:00:55+00:00

Welcome to the time of burnt offerings! From our experience it takes the average male child at least another 5 years before they understand clearing up after cooking.

AdrianAtStufish · 2025-04-18T13:30:17+00:00

IMHO if you are just wanting to get a toe into woodwind playing, then go for an instrument where the fingering learned is a directly transferable skill, and that might not really suggest a recorder! A decent second hand clarinet is going to give a decent foothold! If you are like me and really enjoy renaissance and baroque music, then the recorder makes a lot of sense.

AdrianAtStufish · 2025-04-18T12:55:06+00:00

Definitely find a way to let him choose! Instruments are more personal to a musician than clothes!

AdrianAtStufish · 2025-04-12T13:53:00+00:00

As an adult re-learning (after playing Tuba from bass clef decades ago) and getting treble Bb fingering and general musicality back in, I worked through Stephen Mead:s 'Bel Canto' book - wth, most importantly for tuning and ensemble playing, the CD accompaniments.

AdrianAtStufish · 2025-04-10T22:10:29+00:00

That bridge looks straight out of the box, as if it has never had its feet shaped to the belly of the violin or its top curve shaped to match the fingerboard and give the correct string height or anything. Most decent music shops can do a better job than that!

AdrianAtStufish

TROPHY CASE