blowing-in:
A good musician always has a good instrument.
To this there is something true because a musical instrument changes by the playing of his user to the good one or to the bad. This is an undeniable experience fact and applies to a especialy for a recorder.
A new instrument always sounds a little rough and noisy at first. The builder has already played it several times and worked with the sound after his ideas. However, it must be played in by the owner carefully.
At first one should play long notes at the border of the dynamic possibilities but not passing it in direction of dirty sounds.
The energy of the vibrating air column is reflected at the inside wall of the instrument but partly also absorbed of the wood and causes there changes of the microstructure of the wood. This influences the speaking, the resonance and other parameters in turn.
You can excercise every single note on Your instrument. Particularly such tones that are due to unfavorable akkustic conditions difficult to play, can be improved a lot (e.g. C sharp " on an alto recorder).
At a recorder there are several parts very much exposed to the influence of water, particularly in the area of the wind-channel and the labium.
When playing You have to make sure, that the water disapear frequently. This is only possiblly by at first breathing briefly and gently breathes through the wind-channel, then opening the lips to take as much air as You need. A safe and fast eraising of the drops in such a way is wetting the complete wind tunnel eaqualyand avoids the permanent apearance of drops..
If this advice isn't taken to heart, the water collects near the labium and every recorder swelles after short time and becomes unplayable. By presses of air hardly helps then the jerky?
A recorder which is daily in use, the block qillts or shrinks only insignificantly. An instrument which is exposed to the radiator air for weeks changes of course clearly noticeably.
At first a new instrument should be played as long as one notices that sound and speaking become worse (approx. 10 minutes). it then should rest for a day (no closed plastic-boxes) .
long-time changings:
Long-term changes result for from shrinking inevitably, the wood is subjected to this by the ageing process. These changings are particularly spiteful since they go on slowly (creeping) and therefore aren't often noticed by the player. Every new recorder therefore should be returned after approx. half a year to the builder to be revised even if one doesn't think to have noticed any great deterioration. As a rule, the wind tunnel must be opened and the inside drilling vacated.
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