Klarinet Archive - Posting 000215.txt from 2004/10

From: "Ken Wolman" <kwolman@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Flutophones
Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2004 08:49:46 -0400

Haschengeliebter@-----.com wrote:

> that sounds like such a fun time...what is the difference between a
> flutophone and a recorder??? the ones I have bought for my son were only a dollar (his
> harmonicas were a lil more but he is better on them and only one 1/2) I had
> one my mom bought me but I started on the trumpet and then moved to
> clarinet...never played either :) unless it was just for fun made up by me...thank you :)
>
> ~Krista~

Whoever raised the flutophone topic left out the Tonette, which was another of those
kid-oriented instruments intended to give the player a sense of how and why the notes
followed each other, of how to breathe, etc. I don't think Tonettes are made anymore. I
remember seeing a used one for sale in Rod Baltimore's on 48th Street in 1998 or '99. They
were asking $25.00 for it. Instant musical collectible. I'll bet if you go on eBay you'll
find them being traded there along with Kit-Kat clocks and plastic vampire fangs.

Difference between flutophones, Tonettes, and recorders? Hmm. A recorder is much harder to
play so it doesn't sound like you've been condemned to Hell, and while I don't remember
Tonette or flutophone fingerings at all by now, recorder fingerings are far highly complex.
There's no ONE fingering for most notes, and you need to cross-finger. There's also the
price difference. You can get a nice Yamaha for under $20. You can get a much nicer Yamaha
for about a thou. Handmade instruments, depending on size and "voice" range, can set you
back around $1500 or (often way) more. Look at Thomas Prescott's or Von Huene's website if
you want to see what can happen to an end-blown instrument.

Ken <who still has his Yamahas and they sound lovely>

--
Kenneth Wolman
Proposal Development Department
Room SW334
Sarnoff Corporation
609-734-2538

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