Recorder
- This article is about the musical instrument, not about devices for recording sound, visual, and other information; for the latter, see tape recorder, video cassette recorder, flight data recorder ("black box"), camcorder.
The recorder is a flute-like woodwind musical instrument. Contrariwise, the flute is a recorder-like woodwind musical instrument. In German it is called the Blockflöte, in French the flûte ā bec, and in Italian the flauto dolce. It is held vertically from the lips (rather than horizontally like the 'transverse' flute). The player's breath is directed by a wooden 'fipple' or 'block' in the mouthpiece of the instrument along a duct called the 'windway'. Exiting from the windway, the breath is directed against a hard edge called the labium, which agitates a column of air, the length of which (and the pitch of the note produced) is modified by finger holes in the front and back of the instrument. Because of the fixed position of the windway with respect to the labium, there is no need to form an embouchure with the lips. On the other hand the shape and size of the recorder player's mouth cavity has a discernable effect on the timbre, tone and response of the recorder -- but we could hardly call this an "embouchure". This is similar to the functioning of the ancestors of the recorder, early folk whistles.
The recorder was known in the 18th century simply as Flute (Flauto) -- the transverse form was separately referred to as Traverso. It was for the recorder that J.S. Bach wrote the 4th Brandenburg concerto in G major (though Thurston Dart mistakenly suggested that it was intended for flageolets at a higher pitch, and in a recording under Neville Marriner using Dart's editions it was played an octave higher than usual on sopranino recorders). In fact Bach scored this work for two "flauti d'echo", or echo flutes, an example of which survives in Leipzig to this day. It consisted of two recorders in f' connected together by leather flanges: one instrument was voiced to play softly, the other loudly. Vivaldi wrote three concertos for the "flautino", an instrument first thought to be the piccolo. It is now generally accepted, however, that the instrument intended was the sopranino recorder.
The instrument went into decline after the 18th century, being used for about the last time as an other-worldly sound by Gluck in his opera Orfeo ed Euridice. Nonetheless there were probably more works (ca 800) written for the recorder during the 19th century than in all the preceding centuries: the instrument simply sprouted keys and changed its name, being known as the csakan or "flute douce". Although it was revived at the beginning of the 20th century by German scholar/performers and in Britain by Arnold Dolmetsch and others, even in the early 20th century it was uncommon enough that Stravinsky thought it to be a kind of clarinet, which is not surprising since the early clarinet was, in a sense, derived from the recorder, at least in its outward appearance. Subsequent to its rediscovery (notwithstanding the fact that recorders continued to be made and played throughout the 19th and early 20th century) it became very popular in schools, since it is inexpensive, easy to play at some level, is pre-tuned, and is not too strident in even the most musically-inept hands. It is however incorrect to assume that mastery is similarly easy -- like other instruments, it requires talent and study to play it at an advanced level.
Modern composers of great stature have written for it, including Luciano Berio, John Tavener, Malcolm Tippet, Benjamin Britten, Leonard Bernstein, Gordon Jacob, and Edmund Rubbra. It is also occasionally used in popular music, including that of groups such as the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix. Prominent jazz musician Keith Jarrett has even recorded an entire album of recorder music in which he himself plays recorders.
Recorders are most often tuned in C and F, though instruments in D, G, Eb were not uncommon historically and are still found today especially the Tenor in D known as a voice flute. The normal, school instrument, recorder is the soprano in C (in Britain known as the descant) which has a lowest note of c'. Above this are the sopranino in F and the gar klein Flötlein ("really small flute") in C, with a lowest note of c". An experimental 'piccolino' has also been produced in f". Below the soprano are the alto in F (in Britain known as the treble), tenor in C and basset in F (in Britain known as the bass) . Lower instruments in C and F exist (bass in C - in Britain also known as the Great Bass, contrabass in F, subcontrabass in C, and sub-subcontrabass or octo-contrabass in F) but are more rare. They are also difficult to handle: the contrabass in F is about 2 meters tall. The soprano and the alto are the most common solo instruments in the recorder family.
The range of a recorder is about 2 octaves, chromatically. The instrument can be played chromatically over two octaves and a fifth by a skilled player, except for the augmented prime, two octaves and one semitone above the base note. This note is either absent or can only be played by covering the end of the instrument, typically by using one's upper leg or a special bell key. Basically, a recorder is a diatonic instrument, with one hole for each note of the scale of its lowest note, although the upper half of the second octave requires irregular fingerings. Two versions exist, one using the major scale and an older one using the lydian scale.
The chromatic scale degrees are played by so-called "fork" fingerings, uncovering one hole and covering one or more of the ones below it. Fork fingerings have a different tonal character from the diatonic notes, giving the recorder its characteristic woody and somewhat uneven sound.
Today, high-quality recorders are made from a range of different hardwoods, such oiled pear wood, rosewood or boxwood with a fipple of cedar wood. However, many recorders are often made of plastic, which is cheaper, more resistant to condensation, and doesn't require re-oiling. While higher-end professional instruments are almost always wooden, many plastic recorders currently being produced are equal to or better than lower-end wooden instruments. Beginner's instruments, the sort usually found in children's ensembles, are also made of plastic and can be purchased quite cheaply.
See also
External link
- "Instrument of Torture or Instrument of Music?" (http://www.iinet.net.au/~nickl/torture1.html) - an extensive overview of the instrument.
- "Recorder Home Page" (http://www.iinet.net.au/~nickl/recorder.html) - a comprehensive website devoted to the recorder.
de:Blockflöte nl:Blokfluit ja:リコーダー pl:Flet prosty sv:Blockflöjt fr:Flûte ā bec