It often gets a bad rap, but fans of the recorder say the instrument's reputation is undeserved
It often gets a bad rap, but fans of the recorder say the instrument's reputation is undeserved
This group of 50-somethings are taking the recorder and using it to make not only beautiful music but lifelong friends.
The recorder is often seen as the daggy instrument you first played at primary school.
But a small group of 50-somethings are doing all they can to change the reputation of the well-known instrument.
Each Friday in the middle of Brisbane's CBD, the women come together to play recorders of all shapes and sizes.
As someone who has lived next door to primary school aged children who were very conscientious about practising their recorder, I feel this quote deep in my soul:
"I thought recorders were simple enough especially since they play them in primary schools.
"Little did I know, it's easy to make a note, it's not easy to play well."
It gets a bad rap because it's generally the first instrument children play and it's annoying as fuck when it's played poorly.
Listen to 30 children poorly play hot cross buns on the recorder and tell me you like the recorder.
20Listen to some of Telemann's recorder concertos if you think you hate it. The recorder is a beautiful instrument when a) played by someone who knows what they're doing and b) playing music that was written specifically for it.
15Sorry dude, still kinda hate it.
7Hey, at least you hate it for more valid reasons now.
9Perhaps something more contemporary?
Recorder can sound great. But not so much in the hands of an 8-year-old.
2
Sounds a little medieval fair cosplay for me, but I can appreciate it a lot more than the squawking of primary school recorder lessons.
Taking front stage and swinging the whistle around like the lead guitarist in a rock band is certainly something new though.
2
That video won't quite load for me, but I did find this instead: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDB0OIydlRY (NSFW)
Edit: is this an alternative link for your video? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2jNmELD_kg
2Yeah that second one is it. I wouldn't have posted a link to that first one without a warning.
3is this an alternative link for your video? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2jNmELD_kg
That’s a shorter clip from the same video as their link. It’s enough to give you the sense of it.
3
@ChatGPT@lemmings.world Come up with a list of 10 band names to suit a band consisting of 50 year old women playing internal duct flutes
6Certainly, here are 10 band names that might suit a group of 50-year-old women playing internal duct flutes:
- FluteMatriarchs
- Duct Divas
- Resonant Rhythms
- FluteFusion50
- MellowTones
- Silver Serenades
- Ducts of Wisdom
- Harmonic Maturity
- Eternal Echoes
- WisdomWind Ensemble
3I like 4.
1
Just dropping this here...
5And in the same vein... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQzkTZtL1EM
2Brilliant! Gonna have to do a mix with this one
2
Stupid little thing, but in highschool I played in a woodwind ensemble playing bassoon. My friend composed an arrangement of aud lang sine or whatever it's called for the ensemble for a Christmas concert, and he threw in an 8 bar section where we swapped over to recorders. It was both funny and pretty cool. Sounded great in the hand of good woodwind players.
4I haven't touched a recorder in decades. But I play the clarinet and saxophone, and a little while ago on a lark I picked up a tin whistle.
Do cheap recorders in the hands of non-recorder woodwind players sound considerably better than cheap tin whistles in the hands of non-tin whistle woodwind players? Because that tin whistle sounded awful in my hands.
2
It's so strange to me that so many people get forced to play the recorder for a while in school, yet basic education of the musical world is completely absent. Perhaps taking the kids to a few different kinds of concerts would do away with such weird takes like "but fans of the recorder say the instrument's reputation is undeserved". Music schools for example like to do outreach concerts for kids where they show off and explain instruments etc.
On the topic of recorder performances, people like to criticize the recorder player in the youtube comments, but I like how the group Red Priest interprets and performs music.
4This is the best summary I could come up with:
Each Friday in the middle of Brisbane's CBD, the women come together to play recorders of all shapes and sizes.
Former primary school teacher Lindy Morrison only began playing the recorder when she retired.
She loves the way the instrument feels in her hands and the fact that it's made from natural wood.
"It's made of grenadilla [hardwood]; therefore, it has a more resonant sound, and the wood is one of the favoured ones for making good-quality recorders.
"One performance that's stayed with us was playing in a stairwell at City Hall because of the acoustic and it was so, so wonderful.
The group hopes people will stop giving the recorder a bad rap — and start to look at it differently.
The original article contains 549 words, the summary contains 119 words. Saved 78%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
3start to look at it differently.
The way it looks isn't the problem...
1Maybe if it had flames painted on it, and maybe something cool written in lighting font? Like ⚡DEATH ☠️ CORDER⚡
1
I played violin in elementary school specifically to avoid being in the same room with people trying to play recorders. I'm aware that it can be played well, but it still feels like nails on a chalkboard to me, even decades later
2