Great Bass

Great Bass, originally uploaded by susanvg.

The Montreal Recorder Society holds a concert day each year. Each of the groups perform and members who play in small ensembles that get together on their own also play. The group I play in, Flutissimo performed. Our main spring concert will be in late May. Pictured here is my great bass recorder. When it is assembled it is close to my height (a paltry 5 feet when I exaggerate slightly). Because of its length, you need to attach a tube (bocal) to blow into it. You can see the top of my friend's recorder here (his recorder is the same make).

One thing I like about playing the recorder is that I get to play many different recorders. This gives the opportunity to play different voices in a piece and to understand the different roles of the different voices. Sometimes I play the higher voices, often the melody line; sometimes I love the feeling of playing the low voices - the support for the piece. And sometimes I really enjoy playing Renaissance music, where all voices are fairly equal - so the technical challenges are similar.

Jan 14/10: Recorders

Jan 14/10: Recorders, originally uploaded by susanvg.
From left to right: garklein (in C), sopranino (in F), soprano (in C ), alto (in F), tenor (in C) bass (in F), great bass (in C)

Thought I would share some of my recorders. The smallest, a garklein, I only bought for fun - I have yet to play it with others. It is very high-pitched; I think it could be used to call every dog in the neighbourhood. The others I use regularly when I play in Flutissimo, Montreal's recorder orchestra. Some recorders are in C (C is the lowest note) and others in F (F the lowest note). When you play all these recorders, you have to be able to read both treble clef and bass clef with both C and F instruments. This mental gymnastics is probably a good anti-Alzheimer activity.

Most of you are probably familiar with the soprano - that instrument that tortures most students and parents as children shriek on it. Recorders are easy to play as a beginning instrument. Because of their simplicity, they are a challenge to play really well.

This is only part of my recorder collection. I also have renaissance recorders; they have a cylindrical bore ( the hole that goes through the centre) whereas these recorders taper towards the bottom. Only the wood flares out. Then there are my recorders in 415 pitch (sometimes called baroque pitch) and regularly play a voice flute - a 415 recorder in D. I'd be happy to answer questions about the instruments - just leave a comment.