Attended a school affair last night where one little group was accompanied by a recorder. The recorder was played beautifully and I wondered… Is the recorder not as responsive to ornamentation as a whistle, and is that the main difference between the two instruments? What is the difference in sound…why would one choose a recorder over a whistle or vice versa?
I have noticed a little playful banter going on between the whistlers and the recorder players on this board, so this perhaps may be a lively thread…
Oh, there is nothing wrong with recorders except that they sound like Susatos, which makes them pretty much useless for any sort of musical endeavor.
The whistle has a rougher sound, you can play it in
a pub, it has simpler fingering. It’s a folk
instrument. The recorder
can’t be played in a pub, it is more of a classical
instrument, it gets you the sharps and flats
more easily, and it’s better for classical music
than is the whistle. Also playing recorder gives
you hairy fingerpads, which tangle together so
that yu mkeak mssteaks tiiyping.
Try to get a recording of Giovanni Antonini (Il Giardino Armonico). That will give you an idea about the recorder’s ability for ornaments.
Nevertheless, I don’t really care about recorders. In my area we call them “Blödflocken”.
Michala Petri is another amazing recorder player. I always get a kick of seing a good recorder player going 100 miles per hour on something with 4 sharps or 5 flats in the key signature. These guys are crazy.
But the whistle is better for the kind of music it’s meant for, highly ornamented stuff in one or two sharps.
g
The main difference between a Recorder and a Whistle is “range and accuracy”
A Whistle has a greater register range(6+ octaves) but suffers from inaccurate note matching between registers. This is compensated for by the players breath control and allows her/him greater ornamentation possibilities. The Whistle’s cylindrical bore suffers more from unbalanced loudness across its range though.
A Recorder has very stable tone with fluctuations in breath pressure but suffers from a limited register range(2+ octaves). The tapering conical bore improves the tone of the low end notes and reduces the needed breath pressure on the high end notes for more balanced volume overall.
Different tools, different uses
Wow! I’m glad i’m not your roomate!
How do you blow this whistle? Industrial air compressor?
Wow, that would be truly impressive. 
As it is, the best I’ve been able to do is two and a half octaves. :roll:
6th octave D = just about 18,800 Hz.
That’s practically a weapon of mass destruction.
Thomas Hastay lives in the Matrix, as you may have noticed. In that location, anything is possible. 6 octaves on a whistle is probably just peanuts for Agent Hastay.
(Sigh) Just when I thought we were finally going to be friends Bloomfield…However now that I work for a recorder maker…of course this means WAR!!! 
For me ('cause I don’t play much Irish trad and DO play some classical), the recorder isn’t as good as the whistle because of the sound. Recorders have a sort of solid, piercing sound (as do SOME whistles), but whistles can be more mellow & flutey and just sound more folk. Their notes have more character, if you will.
Also, the range is important. Recorders (I think) come in C & F (and lower)–and the F recorders I’ve tried are too big for me to manage. So, I’d be stuck with the C and although you can play in any key, you are still going to be on a C recorder, which means you aren’t going to get any LOWER notes. For me & woodwinds, the lower the better, so having a choice of C, Bb, F, G, etc is really great.
EEEEK!!!
I thought you were going to work for a flute maker! Oh, and to think that ever I extended my hand in reconciliation! Death and Damnation. It’s WAR indeed! 
Recorders!?!
The horror, the horror!
Bloomfield says;
Oh, there is nothing wrong with recorders except that they sound like Susatos, which makes them pretty much useless for any sort of musical endeavor.
Whether you’re being serious or just trying to be cute it just sounds like the “Village Idoit” running his mouth!
Get a life!
Kelhorn Mike[/quote]
I am learning to play a recorder that a co-worker gave me after his daughter quit playing it. Unlike some whistle players, I don’t have strong feelings on this subject, perhaps because my first instrument was a clarinet.
I find a lot of similarities. Some notes are fingered the same as on the whistle (if you don’t count the recorder’s thumb hole), but others are not, and my main problem is keeping the different fingerings straight.
My husband finds my D whistle too shrill, and he prefers the sound of my C recorder. Which I prefer depends on my mood and what I’m playing.
If I get good on the recorder, I may play it at the Renaissance fair, since it is a Renaissance instrument.
Recorders come in 5 sizes: sopranino, soprano, alto (or treble), tenor, and bass. If you like your woodwinds in the lower ranges, the tenor or bass ought to be low enough for you. 
HAHAHAHA
(to the fact that somebody who posts HERE told somebody else to get a life!!!) (and 'cause somebody got mad a Bloomfield’s joke, which is also funny) (the joke) (and the mad thing)
(oh yeah… recorders don’t really sound like susatos (at least not good ones))
(recorders that is.. I am told there is no such thing as a good susato)
Ah, too weird. First, Jim posts that “playing recorder gives
you hairy fingerpads, which tangle together so
that yu mkeak mssteaks tiiyping.”
And, then, comes this gem of irony:
Mike, each whistle in town has its detractors and worshippers. I wouldn’t get too worked up about one guy’s subjective comments. Of course it’s easy for me to say when it’s not my livelihood!
Jef