The recorder is a musical instrument that falls into the woodwind family of musical instruments, and falls into the family of instruments known as internal duct flutes or fipple flutes. These are whistle-like instruments including the ocarina and the tin whistle for example. The recorder is a type of end blown flute. The mouth of the instrument uses a wood plug to constrict it, and this is known either as a fipple or as a blog.

The recorder is distinguished from other members in the same family because it has holes for seven different fingers. The lower one or two is often doubled in order to facilitate the production of what are known as semitones, and there is also a hole for the thumb on the uppermost of the two hands. The recorder's bore is ever so slightly tapered, and so it is at its widest at the mouthpiece of the instrument and then at its narrowest at the top of the Baroque style recorders or flared similarly to a trumpet at the bottom when it comes to Renaissance style instruments.

The recorder is a woodwind musical instrument that was especially popular during medieval times, however it experienced something of a decline during the 18th century in favor of new woodwind instruments such as those that were being used in orchestras. These included the flute, the clarinet and the oboe, as they were perceived to be capable of offering a much greater range in comparison to the Renaissance recorder. During the heyday of the Recorder, however, it was an instrument that was regularly associated with birds and shepherds, funerals and marriages, miraculous events and even amorous scenes. There are images of recorders that can be traced back to literature as well as artwork associated with each and every one of these themes. The recorder was regularly used in compositions by Bach, Purcell, Telemann and Vivaldi to suggest birds as well as shepherds in their music, and this is a theme that continued well into the music of the 20th century.

The recorder was eventually revived around the 20th century, primarily in the pursuit of the historically informed performance of earlier types of music. The recorder was also revived because of how sustainable it was as a simple instrument not only for teaching music but also for its appeal among amateur woodwind instrument players. Today, the recorder is often thought of as an instrument for children, but there are also a great number of professionals that are capable of playing this instrument and demonstrating its full solo range. The sound that the recorder can create is remarkably sweet and clear. This is partly because it lacks upper harmonics, and also because of the predominance of odd harmonics in the recorder sounds as well.

Photo Credits: C.K.H.

Originally posted 2009-09-09 03:00:22. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Acoustic Musical Instruments, Instrument History, Recorder

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20t, baroque style, fipple flutes, heyday, medieval times, miraculous events, mouthpiece, music of the 20th century, Ocarina, orchestras, renaissance recorder, renaissance style, semitones, telemann, tin whistle, two hands, vivaldi, woodwind family, woodwind instruments, woodwind musical instrument