When was recorder invented

The recorder fell out of favor during the Classical and Romantic periods. Renaissance author, Baldassare Castilgione wrote that men should only play the recorder in private and, preferably in the presence of a woman. In the s, Carl Orff, the German composer who wrote Carmina Burana , decided to try using a soprano recorder as a music education tool. Orff encouraged teaching methods that focused on rhythm, movement, and creative thinking to make learning more enjoyable for small children.

Orff thought that if children could sing the notes they were playing, they would better understand the basic principles of music theory. The soprano recorder is ideal because it is simple, easy to play, and is similar to the vocal range of small children.

Parents groan when young children triumphantly pull little plastic recorders from their backpacks and begin to produce noises with them that can only be compared to the squawks of a dying seagull.

There are many benefits of learning the recorder that make those obnoxious squawks worthwhile. The recorder teaches fine motor skills, hand dexterity, and finger placement: Most instruments, including the piano, require fine motor skills and hand dexterity.

The recorder requires the finger holes to be covered in different configurations to make different notes. The details of the construction of a recorder have changed drastically throughout history. However, the basic structure of the principle characteristics —whistle mouthpiece, seven finger-holes, thumb hole — have always remained the same.

It is mm in length, and made from a single piece of plumwood. The design is conducive to players who are left- or right-handed due to the presence of widely-spaced double holes for the bottom finger. During the 16 th century, recorders became a staple instrument of professional wind players and were possessions of many upper class households and palaces in Europe.

Some members of the upper class even tried their own hand at the recorder. It then became a popular amateur instrument among the middle class as well. Other woodwind instruments like the flute were louder and had greater control over pitch and tone.

In the late 19th century, however, the recorder began its revival as a popular instrument. In the 20th and 21st centuries, the recorder has been played primarily on three levels: as a school instrument; as an instrument for playing medieval, Renaissance and Baroque music; and as an instrument suitable for jazz and other forms of modern music.

Most recorders today are based on those built during the 18th century. But from the late 18th century, under growing pressure from the flute, an instrument that differed in terms of volume and timbre, the recorder was increasingly overlooked. However, around years after the winter of its popularity, the recorder saw a 20th century revival at the hands of one particular individual.

Through conducting research into old musical instruments, musicians once again brought the recorder into the spotlight. The Quena, a Latin American recorder. It is said that it took form in the age of the ancient Incan Empire.