Chiff and Fipple Forums

I think fanned frets are a gimmick because the actual scale extension for the basses is so small. Besides, many stretches are not made easier by the fanning, so you might as well just get a long scale guitar instead. Notice that all the four-fifths instruments (violins, violas, cellos, mandolins) ha...

I have recently asked a similar question on a luthier forum. The answer is simple. There's actually no varnish or any other kind of finish that's entirely moisture-proof. Some finishes work reasonably well against liquid water but none are fully effective against moisture vapor. They may offer some ...

Another great document from the Recorder Homepage:
http://www.recorderhomepage.net/good-oil.pdf

Carbon is very strong material, but it will break and not crush like metal which is moldable and flexible. so the tuning slide needs more thickness if done with carbon fibers- I will make the tuning slide from aluminum in the future. Then it sounds like carbon fiber is actually a worse material for...

Thanks. I have found the Yahoo group and also a Facebook group - Recorder Players n Enthusiasts. The Facebook group seems liveliest of all.

Also - are you sure you want a soprano? Alto is much easier on the ears and is probably the most versatile recorder to start with. Since I am from a Jazz/Pop background i am most likely going to be teaching my self tunes such as 'Sweet Georgia Brown' however I would one day like to learn the Badine...

A wooden recorder is a delicate, temperamental instrument that has to be babied (not played more than a certain time per day; always left out to dry; oiled regularly...) and is fairly difficult to manufacture since each piece of wood is unique. A good wooden recorder is hand-finished by a profession...

It is definitely a xiao, it is end-blown like the shakuhachi, and it has nothing in common with a piccolo.

The shakuhachi itself descends from the xiao - specifically, an older version of the xiao which is also still in use in China.

The problem with people who play both whistle and recorder well is that they are a very skewed sample of recorder players in general - just as, I'm sure, they are a skewed sample of whistle players. And those forums google brings up are all dead :( It looks like there isn't much hope... On a related...

Does anyone know of other online forums dealing with the recorder? Preferably with a more classical / early music bent.

What's the consensus on stabilizing the recorder with right pinky on its hole or next to it? It seems in recorder context this is referred to as "buttress technique" but there's very little information on it, and apparently a bunch of people are against it. It does help a lot with difficul...

Just buy whatever, let's face it, it's a cheapo plastic instrument and you will not be happy with its looks until you get a real wooden recorder. :) That being said, one thing you can do is buy a glossy recorder and blunt the finish with steel wool. This does make it look a bit more serious. And yes...

Remember that the flute is based on low D, so hole placement is already compromised in a whole bunch of different ways than on the F based Alto recorder. Well, recorders have existed in all sizes from several inches to several feet since the Renaissance. There are even low D recorders (aka voice fl...

So here's something I don't get about the classical flute history. First they had renaissance flutes, with six holes. At the same time they already had fully chromatic recorders with eight holes including the thumb hole. So when they needed to make the flute more chromatic, why didn't they simply ad...

From http://www.chiffandfipple.com/sindtinterview.html : A couple of people have noted that the C-natural fingering on the Sindt is problematic. I've noted that the tuning sounds best on my D whistle with a 234 or 2345 fingering. What do you think? I prefer the half-hole method. Maureen, Joanie and ...