Chiff and Fipple Forums

I have poor impulse control.I put my recorder beak first next to my skin below my shirt/sweatshirt. Even in summer it feels cold. But after two minutes I want to play and take it out. It's really not warm enough--although near enough; in warmer months I don't have condensation issues, usually.

But I worry that somehow I'm risking the beak by doing this.

Thoughts?

The short answer: Not at all.

The long answer: My recorders sound best when very wet inside, so I figure, the faster and the more condensation, the better for the sound. As warming up supposedly reduces condensation (though I never managed to stop my Yamaha alto from clogging, even when putting it on the radiators at 40 degrees Celsius) I would think it counterproductive. BUT I do not play in freezing churches and I do my best not to have my recorders be too long in a cold car in winter. So the temperature shock is only something like 20 degrees (again Celsius), from 15 degrees room temperature to 35 degrees breath temperature. My recorders have had no problem with that in the two to three years I've had them, but I should probably say that they are from the softer woods, pear and maple. I've heard the exotic hardwoods and olive are more prone to cracking.

So unless you are transporting your recorders and/or playing in extreme conditions, I don't think you risk anything by not warming up. And if you are transporting them in extreme conditions, you might want to get some very well insulated cases. For playing in extreme climates, I'd recommend plastic...

Thanks Kade! I saw Sarah Jeffries stick her wooden recorder in her bra to warm it up on one of her videos, and she said to do that for ten minutes. But now that I think about it, she lives in Amsterdam (I think) and it gets colder there than where I live for sure.

I thought that the issue of condensation had to do with clogging the beak. i warmed my wooden alto up pretty good yesterday and still had a brief problem with that, more than usual. Often I don't warm it up at all and have no issues. So who knows? I do have that anti-clogging liquid but don't use it. I may be entirely misunderstanding the way all this works! feel free to fill me in further; I'm still a newbie at this.

Oh and I'll be taking my recorder on a plane (but with me in cabin unless for some reason they don't allow it). I can't imagine that would present any problems, right?

I sometimes have a bit of clogging when the (wooden) recorders are on their way to getting wet. I.e. no problem when the recorder is completely dry, no problem once the water is dripping (unless a drop is blocking the thumb hole), but in between the sound gets lost. The only solution to that is continuing to play, as far as I know, possibly blowing or sucking.

The usefulness of anti-condensation liquid is disputed - I've read recorder makers (or at least one, but can't remember which) who say not to use it on new recorders because the water needs to find it's way out of the beak naturally. I don't even own any.

As for the plane, I'd absolutely insist on taking the recorder in the cabin with me - you might check beforehand the airline's regulations. First of all, I don't know whether all cargo holds are pressurized and heated (some must be when they transport animals there), secondly there's always a risk of loss with checked baggage and thirdly baggage handlers, well...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zO ... ayqf2wv01K

Do you have to travel with your good wooden recorder or might more easily replaceable plastic do?

I would usually put my plastic Yamaha alto under my arm or sit on it for a bit but I keep forgetting to warm it up before playing.

When I had my (plastic) Yamahas, I never bothered with any warming period, but I only played for myself.