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Reiner Torheit
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« Reply #15 on: 14:28:11, 05-08-2007 » |
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The Mollenhauer I got was what they now call "Adri's Dream", and far from being "no longer in production" they are socking them out by the bucketload! (there is a pic further down the page listed by Kitty). There's even a black one if you want one? Although it's plastic. I tested about 25 different instruments before buying one. I am happy with what I got, but the quality of many in the batch is a bit variable. Mollenhauer claim a "two-octave baroque range" for this instrument, but not one of the instruments I tested (I was after a descant) could actually do so. Most of them fizzled-out at Bb, and more worryingly many of them couldn't even reach a'' a semitone below it... the note wouldn't "speak" if tongued, although you could slur to it. Of course the most critical hunk of a recorder is the head, and no machine will ever accurately mass-produce fipple sections to the tolerances needed - or at least, no machine can do it so far, as these recorders I tested proved. The irony is that plastic-moulding is a lot more accurate, and the instruments with a plastic head-joint had far fewer problems than the all-wooden instruments. I finally found one that "spoke" evenly throughout the range, and since I don't need a two-octave instrument anyhow (I have two baroque descants if I need the upper stratosphere) I settled for one which had nice even reliable tone up as far as Bb. (A common problem with "baroque" models is that the l/h notes are outrageously brighter and louder than the r/h ones - the wide-bore "renaissance" style instruments are more even across the range, and play better in ensembles). To what extent the "Adri's Dream" is really a "Ganassi" type recorder is really questionable - but it's a reliable ensemble wide-bore instrument, anyhow  I have had a "medieval" recorder on order from a maker for ages now, but with a concert looming and no sign of delivery-date, I needed something to "hold the fort", and the Mollenhauer is fine for that. |
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"I was, for several months, mutely in love with a coloratura soprano, who seemed to me to have wafted straight from Paradise to the stage of the Odessa Opera-House"
- Leon Trotsky, "My Life"
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oliver sudden
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« Reply #16 on: 14:42:58, 05-08-2007 » |
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Mollenhauer claim a "two-octave baroque range" for this instrument, but not one of the instruments I tested (I was after a descant) could actually do so. THANK CHRIST YOU SAID THAT I THOUGHT IT WAS JUST ME!  I have a black plastic one, a'' needs a damn hard attack and the thumbnail rammed up right against the north edge of the hole, bb'' is sort of OK but still not an easy business; shame, because what I really wanted was something to noodle through De Fluyten Lust-Hof with in idle moments and van Eyck constantly takes you up there (with c''' and d''' in that Bataglia), not always in a context where you feel like giving it lots of stick. I wonder if their workshop could be persuaded to fix up a wooden headjoint though, he mused quietly to himself... |
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« Last Edit: 14:46:11, 05-08-2007 by oliver sudden »
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Martin
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« Reply #17 on: 14:51:30, 05-08-2007 » |
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You can't go wrong with the discreet plain black attire. I think the DJ and tails are slowly going to die a death, even though they are steeped in a relatively shortish history of performance. The neutrality of the plain black would be a bonus to attracting new audiences to return to the genre, imho.
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Reiner Torheit
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« Reply #18 on: 14:55:30, 05-08-2007 » |
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I wonder if their workshop could be persuaded to fix up a wooden headjoint though Quite possibly, but unless you got the chance to "audition" several, I'd be unwilling to accept one "sight unseen" by mail order  I finally bought a plastic-headjoint/pearwood-body one, because it played the best of the bunch. The all-wooden ones were by far the most unreliable in the upper half of the second octave, and each one had a different flaw (which made testing them slow work). As a result I've got a recorder with metallic "sparkles" moulded into the head-joint! Probably this is just what little Jeremy or Jemima might want at school, but... I'll have to get-busy with some matt-finish varnish to retain any credibility  And now I'm off on a cheese mission |
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"I was, for several months, mutely in love with a coloratura soprano, who seemed to me to have wafted straight from Paradise to the stage of the Odessa Opera-House"
- Leon Trotsky, "My Life"
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Kittybriton
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« Reply #19 on: 15:52:49, 05-08-2007 » |
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Good luck in R.T. vs "The Sparkles" (not sure matt varnish will do it)
As a complete googly ball (does anybody still call them that?), does anybody have any hard and fast information on whether painting affects the sound of an instrument (i.e. harpsichord lid)
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Click me -> About meor me -> my handmade storeNo, I'm not a complete idiot. I'm only a halfwit. In fact I'm actually a catfish. |
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Reiner Torheit
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« Reply #20 on: 16:00:53, 05-08-2007 » |
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I think in the specific case of a harpsichord lid the painting isn't likely to have much impact on the sound... simply on the basis that more often than not the whole lid is whipped-off anyhow during concerts... the instrument is too quiet with the lid down, and with the lid on a stick the back-desk fiddles can't see the conductor because of the lid. Of course, perhaps there shouldn't be a conductor anyhow if there is a harpsichordist, but still... ... however, slapping a coat of Dulux onto any resonating surface on an instrument (ie not the lid) is unlikely to improve the tone-quality much |
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"I was, for several months, mutely in love with a coloratura soprano, who seemed to me to have wafted straight from Paradise to the stage of the Odessa Opera-House"
- Leon Trotsky, "My Life"
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oliver sudden
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« Reply #21 on: 16:19:52, 05-08-2007 » |
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any resonating surface on an instrument (ie not the lid) is unlikely to improve the tone-quality much Hm. What about its sound-reflective capabilities then? A reasonably important thing in the case of a keyboard instrument's lid... paint make any difference there? Acousticians? Thing about living here is that the Mollenhauer factory isn't far away and they'll fix things up if they don't work. My treble very much needed revoicing not long after I bought it; I had to wait a couple of weeks for it to come back but when it did it was a hand-finished instrument... I've resisted the urge to put sparkles on it though. |
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Reiner Torheit
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« Reply #22 on: 16:47:05, 05-08-2007 » |
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It's handing having Mollenhauer "on tap" to fix things... you could probably expect to get decent attention to the instrument in that case. I suppose that whilst it shouldn't really be a factor, especially in the case of recorders a good percentage are only ever going to be blown-down a few times before being replaced by tennis-racket or a dog So many instruments will just moulder at the back of a cupboard unplayed. Of course, varnish is just clear paint... and violin-varnish is said to play a role in the instrument's unique sound, so I agree, paint might too? What I wrote was merely a caution to anyone reading who fancied painting their mum's Barak Norman bass viol Avocado Green whilst she was away On that subject, what does anyone make of those electric-blue-lacquered violins which are now made to encourage kids to pick-up a somewhat an instrument with little "funky" appeal otherwise? |
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"I was, for several months, mutely in love with a coloratura soprano, who seemed to me to have wafted straight from Paradise to the stage of the Odessa Opera-House"
- Leon Trotsky, "My Life"
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oliver sudden
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« Reply #23 on: 16:54:03, 05-08-2007 » |
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Cripes! Good thing no one would ever consider doing that with a... Oh. Seems they would. And not only consider.  |
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Kittybriton
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« Reply #24 on: 22:01:49, 05-08-2007 » |
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Doesn't the availability of brilliantly colored instruments introduce a whole new dimension to planning the visual aspects of a performance these days? I would think that a rainbow orchestra might be rather fun to watch as well as listen to.
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Click me -> About meor me -> my handmade storeNo, I'm not a complete idiot. I'm only a halfwit. In fact I'm actually a catfish. |
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BobbyZ
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« Reply #25 on: 22:31:51, 05-08-2007 » |
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Doesn't the availability of brilliantly colored instruments introduce a whole new dimension to planning the visual aspects of a performance these days? I would think that a rainbow orchestra might be rather fun to watch as well as listen to.
I saw a clip of the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra where the band uniform looked like Edmundo Ros. |
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Dreams, schemes and themes
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Reiner Torheit
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« Reply #26 on: 22:40:09, 05-08-2007 » |
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I saw a clip of the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra where the band uniform looked like Edmundo Ros Frankly I'd prefer even that to the usual monkey-suit line-up, which I find most off-putting |
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"I was, for several months, mutely in love with a coloratura soprano, who seemed to me to have wafted straight from Paradise to the stage of the Odessa Opera-House"
- Leon Trotsky, "My Life"
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oliver sudden
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« Reply #27 on: 21:20:53, 07-08-2007 » |
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I forgot to mention that Peter van der Poel and Andreas Schöni also make Ganassi recorders. Although his website isn't what you'd call the world's most operational, Schöni also makes what I suspect might be the world's finest chalumeaus... There's also a pretty decent page of Renaissance recorders in the catalogue at the Early Music Shop: you'll have to click through catalogue and recorders and so on. |
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« Last Edit: 21:23:43, 07-08-2007 by oliver sudden »
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Reiner Torheit
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« Reply #28 on: 21:37:51, 07-08-2007 » |
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There's also a pretty decent page of Renaissance recorders in the catalogue at the Early Music Shop: The self-same place that I tested the Mollenhauers, in fact - at their Chiltern Street branch. |
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"I was, for several months, mutely in love with a coloratura soprano, who seemed to me to have wafted straight from Paradise to the stage of the Odessa Opera-House"
- Leon Trotsky, "My Life"
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