Recorder31 Day 14 | NEW LAUNCH: Kunath Avantgarde Contra Bass

We're nearly halfway through this year's Recorder31, and it's time to add a BRAND NEW product to our recorder catalogue. Fans of Contra Bass recorders: take note of this new addition...

Kunath Avantgarde

A new Contra Bass recorder created from 3D-printed 'Resona' plastic, the Kunath Avantgarde offers a lightweight instrument (around 40% lighter than wooden equivalents) with several player-orientated features. The overblowing key (first seen on Paetzold basses), the newly-designed cap, and the integrated instrument stand all contribute towards this instrument's calling cards. We at The Early Music Shop are delighted to have one in stock for the first time.

Click here to discover 'Avantgarde' in more detail.

Scroll down to find out more about this instrument from its creator, Jo Kunath.

In yesterday's Featured Maker interview we spoke to Jo Kunath about his instruments, and while we were in touch, we took the chance to sneak in a few extra questions, all about the new Avantgarde.

The Early Music Shop: We are thrilled to be adding your ‘AVANTGARDE’ Contra Bass to our catalogue. This uses 3D printing to create a resin instrument which sounds like wood but is made from renewable materials. What first led you to work with this material, known as Resona?

Jo Kunath: As we build the largest recorders in the world with the Paetzold basses, and weight reduction is an important issue, we developed RESONA a few years ago with the support of the German government. Paetzold basses are popular, but there are also people who are bothered by the angular design.

So we decided to build a round sub-bass, and to make it light - 40% lighter than a comparable wooden sub-bass, by the way - we printed the coprus out of wood. The keys are made of matt brass.

EMS: The recorder also uses an overblowing key for accessing the higher registers. Can you talk about the advantages of this and how it works?

JK: Here, too, I first refer to Herbert Paetzold. As you can see, I am still very impressed by his ingenious way of working. When he built his first bass recorders, he looked at other modern woodwind instruments. Clarinet, oboe, bassoon, saxophone - they all have a separate overblowing key. These keys were invented when the recorder was - let's say - out of the focus of history - when the recorder was rediscovered, nobody thought of adding this development to the instrument. It was Herbert Paetzold who did it. The fact that AVANTGARDE also has this key is thanks to Monika Stommel, our recorder master, who studied with Herbert. She introduced the idea into the AVANTGARDE concept and - in my opinion - implemented it very well. The players rejoice at the relaxed hand position of the left hand. And the key is much easier to grip than an uncomfortably large hole. And since we own the rights to this mechanism, we only had to ask ourselves whether we were allowed to do it. This makes instrument making really fun.

The flap consists of two parts. The main part is pressed to play the lower octave, and if you also press the second part, the overblowing key opens and the upper octave is played. This mechanism eliminates the need for laborious and imprecise partial opening of the thumb hole

EMS: Alongside the use of Resona, are there any other features of the ‘AVANTGARDE’ which differentiate it from other Contra Bass recorders on the market?

JK: We have just discussed the thumb flap. The integrated stand is another good example of the user-oriented nature of the AVANTGARDE concept. We keep hearing terrible stories of instruments falling off normal stands on which they have to be placed for playing.

We wanted to avoid this with AVANTGARDE. Therefore, the instrument can remain on the stand while playing, as the inner bore is not closed by it, as it leads out of the instrument to the front. Like a small bell, which we know from other wind instruments.

The cap, whose blowpipe opening always sits perfectly over the windway due to the integrated 180° rotation, is another point.

The fact that the double flaps are fitted with castors rounds off the ergonomics even further.

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The Sound of Recorder Music!

The Avantgarde is so newly arrived that we've not managed to record it yet – but here's another instrument from the Kunath workshop at the other end of the size spectrum. The little Fehr Model IV Sopranino in plumwood is a sweet sounding recorder with a remarkably soft tone for a sopranino. Listen to the clips below or follow this link to find out more about this instrument.

Handel Hush Ye Pretty Warbling Quire:

Playford Maiden Lane:

Scale: