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 Moeck ‘Ehlert’ alto (here in Grenadilla) earlymusicshop.com/collection...
- The Mollenhauer ‘Modern’ alto (here in Grenadilla with E-foot) earlymusicshop.com/collection...
- The Adriana Breukink ‘Eagle’ alto www.adrianabreukink.com/eagle...
- The Küng ‘E3’ alto
- The Mollenhauer Helder Evo alto earlymusicshop.com/products/m...
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.
Their website: earlymusicshop.com
/// 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
05:08 Küng E3 alto earlymusicshop.com/products/k...
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
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[@hvadhvem6138]

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.

[@SuperHyperExtra]

Is there a fingering chart available somewhere on the web?

[@RecordersRocketsBEC]

@@SuperHyperExtra www.mollenhauer.com/images/stories/PDF/Grifftabellen/06-Helder-Alt-Evo.pdf#content

[@TheVoitel]

@@SuperHyperExtra Mollenhauer gives charts on their webpage.

[@AnnBurgess00]

I have the Helder treble as well. It does take an investment of time to get used to it. But I just love the sound, especially in the lower register. I love the E key and A flat being roughly where I would expect them, as an oboist, though a fourth higher. I am about to play a fast duet with a much better oboist than me, and I feel I can match her dynamics, loud and soft. I find it hard to make the higher notes speak, from F upwards. With the oboe you would just give the reed a scrape, but I am not keen to do that to my Helder! I also find low F and F sharp a little tricky to navigate, and need a rest to prepare my hand placement for those. And I just can't get the piano key down while still playing, despite having no problem with the similarly placed second octave key on the oboe. I would love to know what I missed out on by buying a pre-Evo model. I feel as though I will have it all with my instrument, when my technique has developed sufficiently to master it!

[@AnnBurgess00]

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.

[@justjack6007]

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

[@stephielulu9096]

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

[@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.

[@RichardJBarbalace]

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

[@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#!

[@nigelhaywood9753]

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.

[@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.

[@GustavodeFrancisco]

I could say: Moeck is just louder in the low notes, Eagle is the loudest on entire range, Kueng E4 is almost an Eagle with a different voicing, Mollenhauer is an updated version of the baroque with extended range (almost 3 full octaves), and the Helder is the top model with more than 3 octaves range, extended dynamics and an unique sound unit.

[@giawelch1181]

That Eagle is my dream for a modern! ❤❤

[@BabyXiuhcoatl]

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.

[@yangseveny8373]

THANK YOU so much for making this video!

[@sanaebon8610]

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

[@NomeDeArte]

Great video Sarah, and useful! :) Best regards from Argentina

[@mastercylinder1939]

I wish they’d played us some baroque recorder music in school, so we’d know what it was supposed to sound like and inspire us.

[@madeleinejane7186]

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

[@crunchieRL]

Fascinating!

[@timothytikker1147]

I have the Eagle, which has a really satisfyingly rich, beautiful and strong tone. But, it would take me some time to learn its own particular, sometimes idiosyncratic fingerings -- though, obviously, given the musical results, is well worth the effort.

[@filharmonix]

I don't know how but one day, I will own one of these modern recorders.

[@ljgay]

I’m currently playing in my Kung E3. Can’t wait to play it with other modern instruments!

[@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!

[@beaglemusiclabs]

Interestingly, I think somewhere Suzanne Froelich said she considered a bell key for the Helder Evo (at least the tenor, not sure how involved she was with the alto or if Mollenhauer just revamped the alto to feature some of the changes to the tenor). However, she liked having finer control over the bell stopping than a typical key would provide. I wonder if something like the new piano/register key, which seems to offer finer control than simply being "open or closed," would work for a bell key where maybe you want to half-shut it for extended techniques . . . Also, somewhere on the 'net, I think I've run across mention of Helder owners with an extension to low B-flat, and another key for the "regular" B-flat as an alternative to the forked fingering. All of these things sound good to me, though they add cost and I'm not sure if they also affect the tone in other ways . . . I'm hoping to get a Helder Evo tenor later this year, fingers crossed! I can't decide which modern alto I would want yet; I love the tone of the Moeck Ehlert so much, but like so many others here I enjoyed listening to ALL of these!! Adri seemed like such a kind, warm, and brilliant person and I feel like her personality shines through in her Eagle recorders . . .

[@austinhackney3906]

It was wonderful to hear you testing these; the styles and techniques you used were really delightful and instructive. But listening to these extraordinary instruments, I feel like a penniless pauper with her snotty nose pressed up against the glass of the candy store window! 😊🏳‍🌈🏳‍⚧🧡

[@christopherpederson1021]

love that ehlert

[@FlippyRecords]

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

[@Team_Recorder]

Same!!

[@victorhugo1819]

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...

[@mccypr]

God bless us Nerds!!!!!😁 I like the Kung for my (future) purposes. A great video!!! You are the Goddess of the Recorder! Thanks! 😎

[@nanookalexkaye77]

the acoustics in this room are the best so far, and it IS all about the sound- I can really hear your talent and nuances in full form

[@Team_Recorder]

Hahaa really?? I filmed this video on tour, so I’m sitting in a hotel room with minimal acoustic damping, and two teeny travel mics going into my phone. I do prefer my studio setup!

[@nanookalexkaye77]

@@Team_Recorder My ears and all that lies between are not tuned properly- so grains of salt can accompany my remarks- But I do greatly enjoy your program, it is a delightful blend of information and musical performance. Cheers from Alaska.

[@shoshannafachima1306]

I have a full set of recorders built by yoav ran and they are absolutely beautiful with wonderful sound,and projection.their versatility is extraordinary.they blend perfectly in chamber orchestral settings .i love them and i highly recommend yoav rans instruments❤,also as solo instruments

[@user-bc1xu1un1p]

This was excellent Sarah! Thanks for all the insights. I'm curious: Is there any important difference between the Eagle and the Küng E3? Apart from the keys and labium, they look and sound so similar. Do you notice any difference between the two when playing? Also, for a future video, have you thought about doing a comparison between the different historical models of baroque recorders? I'm talking about the Denners, Rottenburghs, Bressans, Stanesbys (Stanesbies?), etc. Not in terms of specific brand products (e.g. Mollenhauer Denner vs Moeck Rottenburgh) but rather comparing the historical designs themselves. I think it would be brilliant to give an overview of the features, strengths and weaknesses of each, and to compare them; for example, which one has the richest bottom range, which one speaks best in the top register, etc. Just an idea, but I think it would make for an awesome video, and certainly one of your nerdiest yet! :) Thanks again for the video!

[@jhhl]

I'd really like an actual wooden alto, so thanks! The idea of a harmonic overblow appeals to me, as a suling player!

[@BOBJohnson-wn5cy]

This video is SO useful! Have you tried the kung k4 recorder? I know it has special capabilities with projection and sound but I don’t know many people to have played it.

[@LEgregius]

Since the Kung is based on an older model of the Eagle, I was hoping to hear if the newer one made a noticeable difference.

[@ChuffingNorah]

Did you catch the latest Grauniad article on the Recorder (15/8/2023). It featured a certain lippy (geddit!) Mz S. Jeffery who had some trenchant views on the modern state of the Recorder. Some of the Readers comments were priceless, grinding out the tired old tropes, yet again. When will it ever end? The answer my friend is a-blowin' in the wind (geddit!)!

[@estherhelmich406]

Thank you so much, Sarah, this is really helpful! I have just one question, how would you say the dragon flute fits in the spectrum?

[@ofiterpunte]

It was a Mollenhauer Modern recording (this one: kzbin.info/www/bejne/i5Cti2Ogpb12pbcsi=yZLVZQYZUpyrBZb2 ) that got me into recorders in the first place. I still want one. But honestly, after switching to the flute, the Helder Evo alto looks and sounds like a much better option for me. Fortunately I've just blown my music bugdet on a Muramatsu flute, so now I have plenty of time to decide.

[@meredith18352]

I have a mollenhauer modern with F foot in pearwood which I love and don't. It seems to take so much air that I find it hard to go more than 4 bars without gasping for breath. Also the high notes which have half holes covered, I'm struggling with the fingering. I usually end up playing my rosewood mollenhauer denner although I do like the more powerful sound of the modern recorder sometimes. I like the Moeck and Mollenhauer I think. Not a fan of the Eagle, it is a bit of a monster. Your standard (if you could call that beautiful hand-made instrument standard) recorder really does have the prettiest sound. Thank you so much for this video, very fascinating.

[@nigelhaywood9753]

Do you think that the fact that it is made of a softer wood might influence the response in the high notes. I love the sound of pearwood but I find that rosewood is the most reliable and hard-wearing, especially in the higher register.

[@danielefranzi4052]

I love the eagle❤

[@Nanananaheyhey1]

If I could afford it I would definitely get the helder 😮‍💨

[@robforage167]

Great review thanks, Sarah! Q. Do all these modern recorders have harmonic overtones?

[@nanookalexkaye77]

Perhaps if you check the tonal range on the condenser mic there is one that will pic up even the highest frequencies and lowest tones. They are certainly an instrument in and of itself.

[@sogehtdasnicht]

küng E 3 is my favorite

[@LunamLegionam]

this would be useful for clarinet players!!!!!

[@robertnoblitt518]

The description and link are for the Mollenhauer Modern in Grenadilla, but the one you played appears to be rosewood. Also, aren't the Mollenhauer Modern altos available with either Baroque or Modern voicing? Thanks anyway for this wonderful comparison.

[@estergaleotenadal5870]

I think they don't make them with baroque voicing anymore

[@silviab9810]

You should have mentioned the other sizes of the modern recorders. And that the Helder Tenor is much more extraordinary (and louder) than the Helder Alto.

[@thomasr.jackson2940]

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

[@corneliaippers603]

Doris Kulossa has taken over Adriana‘s Eagle business.

[@user-wd9fq1mk4o]

@corneliaippers603 Interesting, but Doris Kulossa's website does not show anything about Eagle. Where do you get this information from ?

[@Mr.Gilley]

I would really like to get a modern / harmonic recorder. Are there any lower price or plastic instruments made to overblow at the octave like this?

[@hyj7240]

Do you have a tip for making the highest F sound on the soprano recorder? Sometimes it comes out as the right note but most of the time it comes out something like a C. Do you have any tips?

[@alanjackson219]

You mean the F natural in the middle of the third octave? There seem to be two fingerings - or rather, groups of fingerings - in the books: first, ones with almost all the holes closed, just pinching the thumb and leaking one hole (usu. LH middle), and the second LH and RH index and middle and close the bell, again with the exact fingering chosen for the instrument. I have had problems with the first group which either crack down to around the C,D area but the second group always seem to work well.

[@rfw9889]

Interesting and entertaining review, as always. Thank you! At the risk of sounding like a dissenting voice though but isn't there a point at which the instrument is no longer an actual recorder? Several keys, different materials, bore sizes and so on. Interesting to experiment of course, as in any area, but too many keys and the baroque flute becomes a Boehm flute, something possibly a bit far from where one started. Or a chromatically fretted Appalachian dulcimer, almost a contradition in terms. Just a thought but where does it stop being a recorder?

[@AnnBurgess00]

All the modern orchestral woodwind instruments have undergone development without losing their essential characteristics, and I don’t think the recorder will stop being a recorder either. It just won’t be a baroque recorder any more. Incidentally, I would be quite happy if it changed its English name to maybe a ‘blockflute’ or ‘beakflute’, because I get fed up with doing searches for stuff about recorders and getting fed a load of search results about gadgets that record sound!

[@silviab9810]

What is the difference between the Eagle and the Küng instrument? Aren't they the same? Didn't Adriana work with Küng for a while?

[@greengonzonz]

Your mic struggled with the Eagle?

[@baroquer]

There is a reason why I prefer Baroque/Renaissance recorders They are not (too) loud

[@AnnBurgess00]

You’d be surprised at how quiet the Helder alto can be!

[@VV-ks6cw]

I am curious to know if there was ever a Boehm system recorder created? A fully keyed recorder with flute fingerings.

[@AnnBurgess00]

I’d be up for one of those! But I don’t think there would be enough sold, because recorder players who play contemporary music tend to like the tonal flexibility that comes from having holes, rather than keys.

[@beaglemusiclabs]

Look up the Strathmann flute. I think they were handmade until recently in probably very small numbers.

[@MrJOHNMICHAELVEGA]

I think it matters where you play. In other words, the acoustics of the area is very important. I have played several musical instruments and sang in many different environments and it matters . Thank you 🙏❤️🎶

[@Team_Recorder]

Oh that’s for sure!

[@SSRT_JubyDuby8742]

Like deployed 🔥👍

[@DrDaveElliott]

Would you classify the Paetzold Solo as a “modern” recorder? How would you compare it against these?

[@cw8692]

One reason I like recorders is that they are not so frickin' loud. Why not get a sax if you want loud.

[@luckybarrel7829]

All recorders I can't own if I want to own a house first. On my shopping list tho.

[@suzanozbay4555]

Hello Sarah and friends. I want to start playing but dont have any idea which kind of flute to buy. Please help me❤

[@Team_Recorder]

I have many videos to help you- try my playlist ‘which recorder to buy’, or video ‘what you need to know before you start’ 😌

[@thpeti]

These are awsome. But an original Peter Bressan voice flute (or a replica) without keys and double holes is classes better. Even though it's pitch is around 410.

[@oviosunfriday1411]

Good day ma I need an altor recorder with e-foot

[@Tvianne]

They sound beautiful, but they're way too loud for my poor brain. What can I say?maybe I have a baroque heart! (and yes, the high notes made me flinch. Hard)

[@thanosleontaris8248]

Finally really early. Third!

[@osmarferreira6821]

Eagle

[@hadcrio6845]

Most wanted vidya.

[@sofiabosco7892]

1:47 what's the piece?

[@sofiabosco7892]

I know that it's Bach and I really like it

[@thanosleontaris8248]

a violin partita i think

[@sofiabosco7892]

​@@thanosleontaris8248 that sort of helps. It's not the third one definitely so thanks

[@hvadhvem6138]

it's the allemande from the flute partita BWV 1013

[@sofiabosco7892]

​@@hvadhvem6138 oh thank you 😊

[@Catboypjmasks_636Connor]

where can i buy an eagle alto recoder can you sheep it for me i pay . Kenya

[@owensmith7530]

It seems strange to me having keys on alto recorders.

[@Jesuswinsbirdofmichigan]

✝️

[@glenparker234]

I don’t where else to post this but here go’s. I don’t really like classical music and I’m sorry I really don’t care for a lot of the strange noises a lot of musicians like to make and just memorize riffs to play. I play mostly by ear I can read music but when I read the music I can hear the music when I was younger I use to record the songs then playing them back I could hear the melody and then I could play it back. Anyway to the point most music is modified and detuned so you can’t play any fixes instrument on tune with them like the recorder, tin whistles or harmonicas. But tonight I fount out that the “Celtic Woman” have a lot of songs and a Soprano Recorder is in tune with all of there music and you can play along with them in the same key and most of the songs are using mostly just your left hand very few notes you’ll need to use your right hand you won’t have to transpose anything to play there songs and you can just play along till your hart’s content they have fast and slow songs. My phone plan includes Apple Music and they have lots of there music and you can down load the ones you like and play along with them anytime anyplace you want ❤❤❤❤I started watching you years ago when I started learning the recorder tryin to find songs to play along with but most of the people around like to pick things that seem to be harder and harder to play like classical music with 64th notes and some of the most difficult things to play instead of thing that just sound good and not just making strange noises one of my music teachers was like that he got into playing the didgeridoo every time we preformed because it was the weirdest sounding thing he could find to make strange noises with kind of like Tomimito he’s a😢 Japanese musician you can close your eyes and listen to some of his stuff and you think you took some LSD or something very strange I like some of his stuff but you can’t play it yourself and you probably won’t want to listen to to much of it but as I mentioned earlier the Celtic Women you can actually play along with give it a try😂😂

[@ogcontraband]

Waldorf beats them all :D

[@NetoBz1]

Flutist In The Rain (Dress Rehearsal) SARAH, Have you heard this melody?

[@CanadianDivergent]

how many freakin' recorders do you own?

[@Team_Recorder]

The amount of recorders one needs is n+1 (but these are loaned from the Early Music Shop!)