I'd like to get my friend a good quality wooden recorder as a gift, but have no idea where to start. What is the most commonly used size? Which are the best brands?
The most commonly used size is a Soprano or a Descant (Same thing, different names) and I've found my Gill recorder to be great! I don't know if they make it in Wood though....
Soprano and alto are the most common recorder sizes. I'm not sure about brands, though. I know that Yamaha makes recorders, but I'm not sure about wooden ones.
a friend of mine (she is a musician, specialized on recorders, and owns more than 20 different ones) claims that if you are not going to spend a lot of money, she would always recommend the plastic recorder, especially by Yamaha. It is made more precisely, and the plastic keeps its size and shape better than less-than-perfect wood.
I can only say that I lived to see some baaad wooden recorders, left over from the German Democratic Republic. But plastic recorders are unpleasant to the touch, I find.
i play recorder (soprano, alto, tenor and bass) and would recomend going to the London Recorder Company if you want a good wooden recorder to suit your needs. personally i prefer mollenhauer, kung and moeck in a hard wood like palisander or rosewood
i play recorder (soprano, alto, tenor and bass) and would recomend going to the London Recorder Company if you want a good wooden recorder to suit your needs. personally i prefer mollenhauer, kung and moeck in a hard wood like palisander or rosewood