SAUNDERS RECORDERS
Here are links to pages
with
audio tracks in mp3 format.
These have dual purpose, besides demonstrating the sound of the model, some are provided to give guidance on interpretation.
Scroll down for all the information.
Performances with no attribution are by John Everingham.
Descant (soprano) Recorders.
Soprano. Aulos, Model 205A, plastic. (218KB)
Soprano. Aulos, Haka model 703W, plastic. (207KB)
The next two examples are organised so that you can make a direct comparison easily.
Soprano. Aura, BKS 3B, plastic. (650KB)
Soprano. Dolmetsch, Nova N 601, plastic. (650KB)
Soprano. Dolmetsch, 'School' pearwood.(475KB)
Soprano. Dolmetsch, Stanesby, satinwood. (244KB)
Soprano. Kung, Superio, plum wood. (577KB)
Soprano. Moeck, Rottenberg, rosewood. (310KB)
Soprano. Moeck 'Rondo' 2201, pearwood. "Menuett". (635KB)
Soprano. Moeck 'School' 1212, pearwood. "Red House".(741KB)
Soprano. Mollenhauer Swing. Telemann, "Minuet".(324KB)
Soprano. Mollenhauer Swing. "Ungarische Gavotte" (205KB)
Soprano. Mollenhauer Dream, plastic. "La Volta" (569KB)
Treble (alto) Recorders.
Alto. Aulos 703W, Haka model, plastic. (1043KB)
Alto. Dolmetsch Stanesby, handmade. (422KB)
Alto. Moeck, Rottenberg, palisander. (254KB)
Alto. Mollenhauer, Denner, boxwood. (820KB)
Alto. Mollenhauer, Denner, pearwood. (890KB)
Alto. Mollenhauer, Denner, palisander. (181KB)
Alto. Moeck, Rottenburgh, boxwood. (650KB)
Alto. Zamra, maple. (650KB)
Treble Comparison. Three recorders at the moment. An experimental new page that may change frequently as I refine and expand it! The recordings are the same as above, and linked from the recorder list.
Tenor Recorders.
Tenor (baroque). Kung, Studio 1503, cherry wood. (771KB)
Tenor (baroque). Zamra, VT500B, maple. (272KB)
Various other recordings that may be of interest.
Garklein. Hopf, "Renaissance" model, pearwood, discontinued. (201KB)
Renaissance Alto. Moeck 830, discontinued early model, maple. (201KB)
Renaissance Alto. Played by Hans-Martin Linde. (1.2MB)
Renaissance Tenor . Hopf maple. (230KB)
Soprano. "Amarilli Mia Bella" (A. Dolmetsch, boxwood c1958) (Notes & Performance) (3.5MB total)
Soprano. "Greensleeves to a Ground". (Old A. Dolmetsch, satinwood.)
(3.4MB)
Alto. Moeck, Rottenburgh, ebony, old, about 1960.) (1MB)
Alto. A.Dolmetsch, palisander (rosewood) an old instrument. (2MB)
Fife in C. Yamaha YRF21 (Two files, 400KB total.)
6 Key Flute. (c.1920) Duet movement by F. Devienne. (2.8MB)
Modern Flute. (c. 1985 Yamaha YFL681h, solid silver) Gluck, 'The Dance of the Blessed Spirits'. (3.3MB)
Piccolo and Flute. Part of an arrangement of the Bird Catcher's Tune from Mozart's 'The Magic Flute'. (500KB)
Click on your choice. You will be taken to an information page and the recorder examples will probably play in Internet Explorer automatically. (For FireFox and other browsers, see below.) The files only play once through but you can 'escape' by pressing the 'Esc' key or 'back' button to stop the sound at any time. (Click 'Refresh' to play it again.) If they don't play, you must make a choice as follows.
Click DOWNLOAD to open the file in Media Player or your chosen default application. This may not work either! If it doesn't, read on.
Right click DOWNLOAD to save the file and then open it. (The best option for a dial up connection to the internet.) If you have it, 'Open in a new tab' is probably the best option for browsers other than Internet explorer. (This choice enables you to hear the music while continuing the view the page of text.)
The options may vary according to the way your computer is set up and your choice of internet browser and player. If you (like me) find the Microsoft Media Player too much of a good thing, try Winamp. It will even administer an iPod.
Please be patient. You may monitor progress in your application's window. The files may be saved from the dropdown File Menu, or right clicking.
You can navigate with your tool bar arrows or return to the home page by clicking the link buttons.
How the sound files were produced.
Some of these recordings were produced in my spare bedroom / computer room / recording studio. You may be aware of the whine of a hard drive in the background of the older recordings. Others were made in the shop with a very high quality Sony quartz locked and 'Dolby' featured cassette recorder and played back on the same machine. You may hear a 'real' clock and traffic noises in the background. The pitch of my original recordings is not altered either accidentally or intentionally.
The analogue audio is then played via the 'line input' into an audio utility. (I have a microphone pre-amp for direct recording to the computer. The 'mic' input gives mono only.) I prefer the simple functionality of 'LP Recorder'. Later recordings have been 'doctored' with some reverberation, part of the effects available in the 'Wave Editor' that is packaged with 'Nero'. (When editing the recording one must leave a second or two at the end for the decay, and allow sufficient 'headroom' for the additional amplitude resulting from the reverberation.) I have just bought a Zoom H2 digital recorder, and I am very pleased with it. The quality of the recordings I produce should improve!
I am now experimenting with direct comparison recordings. I have made the first by changing the instrument in the middle of a 'take'. All the subsequent processing has been done to the complete track. The examples were then edited out and converted to mp3 format. In this way the microphone position and dynamic levels are unchanged.
Conversion to mp3 format is done with 'Simple Mp3'. In order to keep the file size down I used heavy compression. With the simple sounds of a recorder I could get away with 48kBs, 'high fi' really needs 128kBs. It took some time to work all this out and there are various rates used in my examples. Because of the now near universal use of broadband internet connections I am now using the 'near hi-fi quality' 128kBs bit rate.
|