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Recorder

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Musical Instruments

   Various recorders
   Enlarge
   Various recorders

   The recorder is a woodwind musical instrument of the family known as
   fipple flutes or internal duct flutes—whistle-like instruments which
   include the tin whistle and ocarina. The recorder is end-blown and the
   mouth of the instrument is constricted by a wooden plug, known as a
   block or fipple. It is distinguished from other members of the family
   by having holes for seven fingers (the lower one or two often doubled
   to facilitate the production of semitones) and one for the thumb of the
   uppermost hand. The bore of the recorder is occasionally cylindrical
   but is usually tapered slightly, being widest at the mouthpiece end.

   The recorder was popular from mediaeval times but declined in the
   eighteenth century in favour of orchestral woodwind instruments, such
   as the flute and possibly the clarinet, which have greater chromatic
   range and louder volume. During its heyday, the recorder was
   traditionally associated with birds, shepherds, miraculous events,
   funerals, marriages and amorous scenes. Images of recorders can be
   found in literature and artwork associated with all these. Purcell,
   Bach, Telemann and Vivaldi used the recorder to suggest shepherds and
   birds, and the pattern continued into the 20th Century.

   The recorder was revived in the twentieth century, partly in the
   pursuit of historically informed performance of early music, but also
   because of its suitability as a simple instrument for teaching music
   and its appeal to amateur players. Today, it is often thought of as a
   child's instrument, but there are many excellent virtuosic players who
   can demonstrate the instrument's full potential as a solo instrument.
   The sound of the recorder is remarkably clear and sweet, partly because
   of the lack of upper harmonics and predominance of odd harmonics in the
   sound.

   In German the recorder is called the Blockflöte (Block Flute), in
   French the flûte à bec (Beaked Flute), in Italian the flauto dolce
   (Sweet Flute), in Spanish the flauta de pico (beak Flute), and in
   contemporary music blockflute. The English name may come from a Middle
   English use of the word record, meaning, "to practice a piece of
   music".

How the instrument is played

   Cross-section of the head of a recorder
   Cross-section of the head of a recorder

   Click here to hear a soprano (descant) recorder being played.

   The recorder is held outwards from the player's lips (rather than to
   the side, like the "transverse" flute). The player's breath is
   constrained by a wooden "block" (A), in the mouthpiece of the
   instrument, so as to travel along a duct (B) called the "windway".
   Exiting from the windway, the breath is directed against a hard edge
   (C), 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. The roughly rectangular
   opening in the top of the recorder, adjacent to the labium is called
   the "window". Because of the fixed position of the windway with respect
   to the labium, the embouchure does not depend on the lips; instead, the
   shape and size of the recorder player's mouth cavity has a discernable
   effect on the timbre, tone and response of the recorder—indeed, much of
   the skill of recorder playing is concerned with using the parts of the
   mouth (as well as the diaphragm) to shape and control the stream of air
   entering the recorder.

   The range of a recorder is about two octaves. A skilled player can
   extend this and can typically play chromatically over two octaves and a
   fifth. The note two octaves and one semitone above the lowest note (C#
   for soprano, tenor and great bass instruments: F# for sopranino, alto
   and bass instruments) can normally only be played by covering the end
   of the instrument, typically by using one's upper leg or a special bell
   key. The note is only occasionally found in pre-20th-century music, but
   it has become standard in modern music. Use of other notes in the 3rd
   octave is becoming more common, several requiring closure of the bell
   or shading of the window area (ie holding a finger above the window,
   partially restricting the air emerging from it). In the hands of a
   competent player, these upper notes are not especially loud or shrill.

   The lowest chromatic scale degrees— the minor second and minor third
   above the lowest note — are played by covering only a part of a hole, a
   technique known as "half-holing." Most modern instruments are
   constructed with double holes or keys to facilitate the playing of
   these notes. Other 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 a somewhat uneven sound. Many
   "budget" tenor recorders have a single key for low C but not low C#,
   making this note virtually impossible. Other tenor recorder producers,
   more aware of this dilemma, produce an instrument with a double low
   key, allowing both C and C#.

   Most of the notes in the second octave and above are produced by
   partially closing the thumbhole on the back of the recorder, a
   technique known as 'pinching'. The placement of the thumb is crucial to
   the intonation and stability of these notes, and varies as the notes
   increase in pitch, making the boring of a double hole for the thumb
   unviable.
   A picture of the top of a treble recorder with the main parts of the
   recorder illustrated.
   Enlarge
   A picture of the top of a treble recorder with the main parts of the
   recorder illustrated.
   The bottom of the same recorder with annotations.
   Enlarge
   The bottom of the same recorder with annotations.

History

Early Recorders

   Internal duct-flutes have a long history: an example of an Iron Age
   specimen, made from a sheep bone, exists in Leeds City Museum.

   The true recorders are distinguished from other internal duct flutes by
   having eight finger holes; seven on the front of the instrument and
   one, for the left hand thumb, on the back, and having a slightly
   tapered bore, with its widest end at the mouthpiece. It is thought that
   these instruments evolved in the 14th century, but an earlier origin is
   a matter of some debate, based on the depiction of various whistles in
   medieval paintings. To this day whistles -as used in Irish folk music-
   have six holes. The original design of the transverse flute (and its
   fingering) was based on the same six holes, but it was later much
   altered by Theobald Böhm.

   One of the earliest surviving instruments was discovered in a castle
   moat in Dordrecht, the Netherlands in 1940, and has been dated to the
   14th century. It is, however, in very poor condition. A second damaged
   14th century recorder was found in a latrine in northern Germany (in
   Göttingen): other 14th-century examples survive from Esslingen
   (Germany) and Tartu (Estonia), and there is a fragment of a possible
   14th-15th-century bone recorder at Rhodes (Greece).

The Renaissance

   The recorder achieved great popularity in the 16th and 17th centuries.
   This development was linked to the fact that art music (as opposed to
   folk music) was no longer the exclusive domain of nobility and clergy.
   The advent of the printing press made it available to the more affluent
   commoners as well. The popularity of the instrument also reached the
   courts however. For example, at Henry VIII's death in 1547, an
   inventory of his possessions included 76 recorders. There are also
   numerous references to the instrument in contemporary literature (eg
   Shakespeare, Pepys and Milton). Many instruments survive from this
   period, including an incomplete set of recorders in Nuremberg which
   date from the 16th century and are still in a playable condition.

   Renaissance recorders sound somewhat different to the modern recorders,
   largely owing to their wider, less tapered bore. The sound is louder,
   especially in the lower notes, and can be described as "fuller" or
   "woodier". The wide bore means that greater air pressure is required to
   play the instrument, but this makes them more responsive. They can
   usually only be played reliably over a range of an octave and a sixth.

Baroque Recorders

   Several changes in the construction of recorders took place in the
   seventeenth century, resulting in the type of instrument generally
   referred to as baroque recorders, as opposed to the earlier renaissance
   recorders. These innovations allowed baroque recorders to play two full
   chromatic octaves of notes, and to possess a tone which was regarded as
   "sweeter" than that of the earlier instruments.

   In the 18th century, rather confusingly, the instrument was often
   referred to simply as Flute (Flauto) — the transverse form was
   separately referred to as Traverso. In the 4th Brandenburg Concerto in
   G major, J.S. Bach calls for two "flauti d'echo". The musicologist
   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. An argument can be made that the instruments Bach identified
   as "flauti d'echo" were 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" and
   required the same instrument in his opera orchestra. In modern
   performance, the "flautino" was initially thought to be the piccolo. It
   is now generally accepted, however, that the instrument intended was a
   recorder with lowest note d5.

The decline of the 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.

   By the Romantic era, the recorder had been almost entirely superseded
   by the flute and clarinet. 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".

Modern revival

   The recorder was revived around the turn of the 20th Century by early
   music enthusiasts, but used almost exclusively for this purpose. It was
   considered a mainly historical instrument. 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.

   The eventual success of the recorder in the modern era is often
   attributed to Arnold Dolmetsch in the UK and various German
   scholar/performers. Whilst he was responsible for broadening interest
   beyond that of the early music specialist in the UK, Dolmetsch was far
   from being solely responsible for the recorder's revival. On the
   Continent his efforts were preceded by those of musicians at the
   Brussels Conservatoire (where Dolmetsch received his training), and by
   the performances of the Bogenhausen Künstlerkapelle (Bogenhausen
   Artists' Band) based in Germany. Over the period from 1890-1939 the
   Bogenhausers played music of all ages, including arrangements of
   classical and romantic music. Also in Germany, the work of Willibald
   Gurlitt, Werner Danckerts and Gustav Scheck proceded quite
   independently of the Dolmetsches.

   In the mid 20th Century, manufacturers were able to make recorders out
   of bakelite and (more successfully) plastics which made them cheap and
   quick to produce. Because of this, recorders became very 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 as they are
   pre-tuned, and are not too strident in even the most musically-inept
   hands. It is, however, incorrect to assume that mastery is similarly
   easy — like other instruments, the recorder requires talent and study
   to play at an advanced level.

   The success of the recorder in schools is partly responsible for its
   poor reputation as a "child's instrument". Although the recorder is
   ready-tuned, it is very easy to warp the pitch by over or under
   blowing, which often results in an unpleasant sound from beginners.

   Among the influential virtuosos who figure in the revival of the
   recorder as a serious concert instrument in the latter part of the
   twentieth century are Frans Brüggen, Hans-Martin Linde, Bernard Kranis,
   and David Munrow. Brüggen recorded most of the landmarks of the
   historical repertoire and commissioned a substantial number of new
   works for the recorder. Munrow's 1975 double album The Art of the
   Recorder remains as an important anthology of recorder music through
   the ages.

   Modern composers of great stature have written for the recorder,
   including Paul Hindemith, Luciano Berio, John Tavener, Michael Tippett,
   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, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and Jimi
   Hendrix.

   Some modern music calls for the recorder to produce unusual noises,
   rhythms and effects, by such techniques as flutter-tongueing and
   overblowing to produce chords. David Murphy's 2002 composition
   Bavardage is an example, as is Hans Martin Linde's Music for a Bird.

   Among modern recorder ensembles, the trio Sour Cream (led by Frans
   Brüggen), the Flanders Recorder Quartet and the Amsterdam Loeki
   Stardust Quartet have programmed remarkable mixtures of historical and
   contemporary repertoire.
   Renaissance recorders
   Enlarge
   Renaissance recorders

Types of recorder

   Recorders are most often tuned in C and F, though instruments in D, G,
   and E-flat were not uncommon historically and are still found today,
   especially the tenor in D, known as a voice flute. The size most
   frequently used in classroom instruction is the soprano in C (in
   Britain also known as the descant) which has a lowest note of c'' (one
   octave above middle C). Above this are the sopranino in F and the gar
   klein Flötlein ("really small flute") or "garklein" in C, with a lowest
   note of c'''. An experimental 'piccolino' has also been produced in
   f''', but the garklein is already too small for adult-sized fingers to
   play easily. Below the soprano are the alto in F (in Britain also known
   as the treble), tenor in C, and bass in F. Lower instruments in C and F
   also 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 these 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.

   Today, high-quality recorders are made from a range of different
   hardwoods, such as oiled pear wood, rosewood or boxwood with a block of
   red cedar wood. However, many recorders are made of plastic, which is
   cheaper, is resistant to damage from condensation, and does not 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. Beginners' instruments, the
   sort usually found in children's ensembles, are also made of plastic
   and can be purchased quite cheaply.

   Most modern recorders are based on instruments from the baroque period,
   although some specialist makers produce replicas of the earlier
   renaissance style of instrument. These latter instruments have a wider,
   less tapered bore and typically possess a loud and strident tone.

   Some newer designs of recorder are now being produced. One area are
   square section larger instruments which are cheaper than the normal
   designs if, perhaps, not so elegant. Another area is the development of
   instruments with a greater dynamic range and more powerful bottom
   notes. These modern designs make it easier to be heard when playing
   concerti.

Makers

   The evolution of the renaissance recorder into the baroque instrument
   is generally attributed to the Hottetere family, in France. They
   developed the ideas of a more tapered bore (allowing greater range) and
   the construction of instruments in several jointed sections. This
   innovation allowed more accurate shaping of each section and also
   offered the player minor tuning adjustments, by slightly pulling out
   one of the sections to lengthen the instrument.

   The French innovations were taken to London by Pierre Bressan, a set of
   whose instruments survive in the Grosvenor Museum, Chester, as well as
   examples in other European museums. Bressan's contemporary, Thomas
   Stanesby, was born in Derbyshire but became an instrument maker in
   London. He and his son (Thomas Stanesby junior) were the other
   important British-based recorder-makers of the early eighteenth
   century.

   In continental Europe, the Denner family of Nürnberg were the most
   celebrated makers of this period.

   Many modern recorders are based on the dimensions and construction of
   surving instruments produced by Bressan, the Stanesbys or the Denner
   family.

Recorder ensembles

   The recorder is a very social instrument. Many amateurs enjoy playing
   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.

   One of the more interesting developments in recorder playing over the
   last 30 years has been the development of recorder orchestras. They can
   have 60 or more players and use up to nine sizes of instrument. In
   addition to arrangements, many new pieces of music, including
   symphonies, have been written for these ensembles. There are recorder
   orchestras in Germany, Holland, Japan, The United States, Canada, and
   the UK.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recorder"
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   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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