Instrument shape

     The recorder is woodwind instrument and is part of internal duct flute family. This instrument is long and narrow towards one end. The mouth piece at the opposite end is brown into and it is blocked by a wooden plug filters wind. Unlike the other instruments, recorder has holes for seven fingers on top and one hole underneath for the thumb.

Types

There are many different kinds of recorders but the most popular are those tuned in C and F. The recorders in C are Garklein, Soprano, Tenor, Great Bass, and Subcontra Bass. The recorders in F are Sopranino, Treble, Bass, Contra Bass, and Octocontrabass. The Treble and Sopranino recorders are the most well known recorders which are used by solo artists and in the classroom setting.

How Recorder Works

     The recorder is held outwards from the player's lips (rather than to the side, like the "transverse" flute). The player's breath is compressed into a linear airstream by a channel cut into the wooden "block", in the mouthpiece of the instrument, so as to travel along this channeled duct (B) called the "windway". Exiting from the windway, the breath is directed against a hard edge (C), called the "labium" or "ramp", which causes the column of air within the resonator tube to oscillate at the desired frequency which determined by the bore length or open tone hole used. The length of the air column is modified by finger holes in the front and thumb hole at the back of the instrument.