Recorder31 Day 7 | Our Staff Picks

At The Early Music Shop, we work with recorders every day! Our team are highly experienced in helping customers find their perfect instrument. For today's Recorder31 blog, we asked some of the specialists at both of our UK showrooms to pick out a few instruments from our current range.

Please note: these selections do not mean any personal endorsement, and nor are we saying these are the best instruments in the range! They are simply a few things which have caught our eye recently.

Everyone has different preferences when it comes to choosing instruments, and we encourage you to explore the whole catalogue to find the best options for you. If you need some assistance, just get in touch and one of us will get back to you!

Click on the photos below to view each instrument!

Snape Maltings Showroom

At The Early Music Shop at Snape, we meet all kinds of recorder players, from absolute novices to the long-established. All are welcome. For those wanting to move on from a plastic recorder and buy their first wooden recorder, the number of choices available – maker, style, type of wood – can be quite bewildering to the uninitiated and not a little daunting. So, it’s always good to have in-store expertise as well as a second pair of ears available to act as a guide before making your purchase.

Visit us at Snape!

Of course what suits one recorder player may not suit another, but living with the instruments in store on a day-to-day basis inevitably means we’re going to have personal favourites. I’m only the most amateur of recorder players, but I love Küng recorders, especially the Superio Alto in Plumwood. It looks extremely handsome and has a pleasing, open sound right across its entire range.

For those on a more modest budget, the J. Wood Alto in Maple, made in Germany and launched last year, remains one of the most inexpensive wooden recorders on the market. It’s an ideal entry-level recorder or if you’re wanting to progress to your first wooden instrument.

Philip Reed
Retail Manager, The Early Music Shop, Snape

I always enjoy exploring the Previously Owned instruments in our range (in fact, I even gave in and bought one a few months ago!) – this boxwood Transitional Soprano by Guido Klemisch has a lovely sound and is very easy to play. It would make a great instrument for someone with a particular interest in the music of the early Baroque.

The Moeck Rottenburgh range is one of our bestsellers and for good reason: these are reliable, dependable instruments which make a great sound for the price. The different woods all have subtly different tonal qualities, but I personally enjoy the roundness of the top-of-the-range rosewood model. Plus, the wood grain always looks so beautiful!

Finn Collinson
Freelance Recorder Specialist, The Early Music Shop, Snape

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Saltaire Showroom

Established in our Salts Mill showroom since 2007, and with our connection to the Bradford area lasting since The Early Music Shop's inception in 1968, there is always a large collection of recorders available for customers to browse and try in-store, with our experienced specialists on hand to assist seven days a week. Similarly to our Snape shop, we meet players from beginners to professionals and the range of instruments on offer is wide-spanning to cater for this.

Visit us in Saltaire!

It's a rare treat to have a Mollenhauer Kynseker Great Bass in stock. This stained maple instrument is modelled on a Renaissance recorder and the deep sound would sit very nicely at the bottom of a consort. It's an impressive instrument to look at, with a striking fontanelle and crook.

Another low instrument is the Paetzold by Kunath MASTER Contrabass. Even lower in pitch than the great bass, the bold design of Paetzold instruments makes them a talking point both in our shops, and when we take our pop-up shop to events. The contrabass is a big beast, but the Paetzold keywork makes it surprisingly easy to play.

We're pleased to have a good relationship with the Von Huene workshop in Boston, Massachusetts – and this instrument is a fine example of their work. This soprano is after Terton, made of beautiful boxwood, and pitched at a415, making it a great high-quality option for those working in Baroque ensembles.

At the more affordable end of the scale, we have the Zen-On G1A Bressan alto in resin – the only resin a415 pitch instrument available in our catalogue. This is a popular choice for students playing at Baroque pitch for the first time, or those who wish to have an additional instrument for practice or rehearsals.

Peter Booth & Alfie Buckley
Retail Manager & General Manager, The Early Music Shop, Saltaire

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The Sound of Recorder Music!

One of today's staff picks is the Zen-On Bressan Alto at a415. This inexpensive resin Baroque-pitch instrument plays very easily and is a great way to make first steps into performing at a415. The Bressan alto is also available at a440 modern pitch. Listen to the clips below or follow this link to find out more about this instrument.