The Fingering Forum
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Author: Chris Ransom
Date: 2000-05-01 08:03
Hi,
Not too long ago I bought a fairly cheap plastic alto recorder. I can play a fair bit on it, and I surprised myself on how fast I improved. I'm thinking about getting a tenor recorder, because that lower, smoother tone really appeals to me. Can you suggest what variety to buy? I've seen a few plastic ones advertised on the internet, are these really worth thinking about?
Thanks a bunch, Chris
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Author: Bill
Date: 2000-05-01 20:59
I think wood is superior to plastic, but you need to go for good quality, else you might as well get plastic. Check out the following web page, and also look at the recorder pages.
http://www.capecod.net/aswltd/recfaqs.htm
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Author: Eoin
Date: 2000-05-02 07:22
A good wood is better than a good plastic, but there are a lot of cheap wood recorders which are not any use. The Yamaha YR 300 series plastic recorders appear to be extremely good, but I have only tried the soprano.
One of the problems with plastic is that condensation builds up in the windway and blocks it, so after a while the sound disappears. This is because the plastic is totally impervious to water. In a wood recorder, the windway is bare unvarnished wood, so it is slightly absorbent. This means that a lot less moisture builds up. The sound of a wood recorder is also slightly nicer, being slightly more "breathy".
There is a recorder maker in the United States who adds a wooden windway to plastic recorders to get over this problem. His name is Lee Collins. He only makes Alto recorders in this way, but they have been highly recommended.
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