picture of recorder
The recorder is a 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.[1] 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 tapered slightly, being widest at the mouthpiece end of it (Baroque recorders) and narrowest at the top, flared almost like a trumpet at the bottom (Renaissance instruments).
The recorder was popular from medieval times but declined in the 18th century in favour of orchestral woodwind instruments, such as the flute, oboe, and clarinet. 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.[2]
The recorder was revived in the 20th 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.[3] 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.
The recorder was popular from medieval times but declined in the 18th century in favour of orchestral woodwind instruments, such as the flute, oboe, and clarinet. 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.[2]
The recorder was revived in the 20th 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.[3] 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.
Copied from:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recorder
picture of blockflute
The Block flute, produced in the Netherlands in 1413, was the first kind of flute to have an open key. That key helped close a finger hole that was too far for the fingers to reach. A longitudinal brass lever with a padded cup at the lower end was within reach of the little finger. The Transverse Flute had become associated with the drum. In the sixteenth century, the new Transverse Flute had a wider bore than the previous ones which made the lower octave easier to blow and was not limited in its high register. The Transverse Flute came in three sizes, the larger ones gradually being admitted to art music. The first size is considered a treble which was 20 inches long and sounded the A above middle C. The second size was an alto-tenor which was 30 inches long and sounded the D above middle C. The third size was a bass extending 45 inches in length and sounding the G below middle C. This flute contained six finger holes and the airstream came from the player's lips and hit the sharp edge of the mouth-hole pierced in the wall of the cylindrical tube near the stopped end. The tone produced from the Transverse Flute was not mechanical like a recorder, so the sound was more variable, stronger, more clear, and penetrating. The Baroque era marked the return of the popular Transverse Flute. Previously used as a swweet solo instrument, it was now used as a shrill military instrument. The new construction was made up of a cylindrical bore by the French, which decreased 19 millimeters of the mouth-hole to 14 millimeters at the lower end
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