Definitive MODERN recorder comparison & review! | Team Recorder

I’m overjoyed to finally get my hands on a bunch the modern recorder builds, for a definitive review and comparison of the altos! This is part of #Recorder31 with the Early Music Shop. #ad

We are looking at:
- The Küng ‘E3’ alto

DISCLAIMER: these are by no means all of the modern recorders on the market, and just because a recorder is not featured here, does not mean I don’t rate it! I have chosen to concentrate on alto models for consistency. Any of these brands carry soprano and or tenor sizes too. If you have requests for reviews of other recorders, let me know!

Thanks to the Early Music Shop team for loaning me the Moeck, Mollenhauer, Küng and Helder recorders for this video. The Eagle is my own.

/// TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Intro
——
THE RECORDERS
00:56 Bassline: the baroque recorder!
01:23 Moeck Ehlert alto
02:44 Mollenhauer Modern alto
03:55 Adriana Breukink Eagle alto
05:37 Helder Evo alto
——
COMPARISONS
07:11 the low register
09:10 the high register
12:16 Dynamics
14:55 Keys
17:47 Special features
18:37 Blending and where to use them
20:51 Conclusions and byeee

/// RELATED VIDEOS

//////
Tiktok / instagram / twitter: @team_recorder

//// ONLINE COURSE!

//// MAILING LIST

//// MY DEBUT ALBUM

/////
THE TEAM RECORDER WEBSHOP!
Buy all your TR-related goodies here!

//////
SUPPORT TEAM RECORDER ON PATREON
A small monthly donation to Team Recorder will help this channel to grow, and you get great rewards too!

/////
Don't forget to check out my other videos, and SUBSCRIBE! Turn notifications on by clicking the 'bell' icon, then you never miss a thing. A new video will be posted every week!
------

Wanna send me stuff? My PO box:
Sarah Jeffery, Keurenplein 41, Box C350, 1069CD Amsterdam, The Netherlands
This is for letter post only; for packages contact me by email for the appropriate address.

Go #teamrecorder

[hvadhvem]

As a Helder recorder player, it took me a solid year to get used to the bottom keys, as well as the piano key, which is used literally all the time! At first it's about making dynamics, but as you progress it's used everywhere to shape the beginnings and endings of notes, like other woodwinds would do. I've been practicing the Helder (tenor) for 1.5 years now. It's a lot of work but it's very rewarding in my experience, it turns the recorder world upside down.

[nigelhaywood]

I remember when The Early Music Shop was in my local music shop, Wood's of Bradford. When I went away to university I was very disappointed to find that other music shops didn't have a wealth of lutes, harpsichords and crumhorns to choose from...in fact they didn't have any! I'm so glad that it's still going strong and has a beautiful new home. (Well not so new now, I guess). Thanks Sarah for this wonderfully cheerful and informative video. I have been waiting for a good comprehensive comparison between the different modern recorders as, I'm sure, have many others.

[justjack]

I have learned so much from your videos! GO TEAM RECORDER!

[stephielulu]

I love all the recorders, but I hate that I love all the recorders 😵‍💫😉

[TootlinGeoff]

I have a Mollenhauer modern alto which I bought to play with a local U3A wind band. It fits in very well. The extra volume and dynamic range is useful. It is slightly quieter than the flutes I play with but not by much and I can definitely be heard when need be. It was very easy to get used to as standard alto fingerings work fine most of the time. I loved that speaks so easily in the second octave as wind band flute parts are in that octave so that they can carry over the brass & reed instruments. Having a high F# without needing to stop the bell is good. I've not really gone beyond high G as it is very rarely needed though there is an occasional high A but I've not yet mastered the fingering for that, especially in fast passages. Overall a lovely instrument with great tone which is a joy to play. I recently saw a video on You Tube of Michala Petri playing Brandenbeg 4 with one. No stopping the bell on your knee for that high F#!

[AnnFBug]

Well, having had my Helder alto for some time, I finally got to performing on it at the weekend, playing with an oboe and a backing track. I had a terrible accident with it three days before I had to play. I had practised on it for an hour or two and was swabbing it out when I pressed on the moveable block with my fingers, just as Sarah does several times in the video. Suddenly it didn’t give any more, and when I looked, I found that it had snapped.
A quick ’phone call to Mollenhauer in Germany told me that my only hope was to use a few drops of superglue and be very careful about aligning the two halves precisely. It was only a temporary repair, and I will have to send it to be revoiced with a new one in mid January when the workshop reopens, if they have a spare block. An expensive accident, and I winced every time Sarah poked it with her fingers!
In the final rehearsal, people were suddenly saying that it was difficult to hear the recorder with the oboe, which was a comment nobody had made before when we had played it to a bunch of people organising and taking part in the evening. I guess the block somehow contributes to the loudness. There were microphones around because it was being livestreamed, and they positioned the microphone closer to the recorder to try and restore the balance.

[RichardJBarbalace]

I was surprised that the Helder Evo Alto sounds quite a bit tonally like a clarinet. Nice sound color.

[Lggrxff]

Hello Professor Jeffery. Very glad to see you posting again. And as always, thank you for your undying love and enthusiasm for the recorder. Cheers.

[TenorCantusFirmus]

Beautiful instruments!

I'd say having to choose I'd just prefer those with the bottom E-key for the left pinky (a similar setup to what happens on modern oboes and clarinets), but still yes, all are very good instruments and would make a case for the return of the recorder in modern orchestras.

[TREVONBACH]

OMG A NEW ONE i am ssoo new to this i am lucky to have found you. i am playing some amazing CHEAP PLASTIC IVORY yamahas just to get started and they are surprisingly good quality to my tone deaf ears. Its exciting to make sounds and know where this may end up. Zero issues, just admiration. thank you.

be well.

[VanessaDMusic]

I have the mollenhauer modern recorder! Such a pretty instrument

[giawelch]

That Eagle is my dream for a modern! ❤❤

[michaelcerkez]

Well done. I have my father's Baroque Alto. I need to spend some time practicing, I haven't picked on up since the 1970's. Thanks for the video.

[qsxzmxf]

Thanks for this review, I appreciate this very much.

[FlippyRecords]

I have an Eagle for inhaler. The first time I tried it, I fell in love.

[sanaebon]

Wow, Kung E3 + Eagle are so powerful! Thank you for a quality video!

[victorhugo]

Isn't the E3 just an older version of the Eagle Recorder that Adriana built in partnership with Küng? I thought it was that but you didn't mention it so now I'm in doubt...

[thomasr.jackson]

Has someone taken over making the Eagle recorders or is it existing stock EMS has in inventory?

[stephenmatcham]

My vintage Moeck Tuju alto has some playing characteristics in common with 'modern' recorders. It overblows in octaves and has a top f sharp obtained without stopping the bell. Meanwhile I'm waiting for someone to reinvent Carl Dolmetsch's bell key!

[madeleinejane]

Thanks Sarah
I’m hoping to go to the UK next year…. This video has been incredibly helpful. Wow.