Why is a recorder... called a recorder? | Team Recorder

The age old question.. why is a recorder called a recorder? I give you the answer... in 66 different languages!
Thanks so all the Team Recorder viewers who provided this info :) A while back I asked YOU what language you speak and how to say recorder in that language, then analysed the results... so here you go!
/// LINKS
Thanks to Nicholas Lander at the Recorder Homepage for compiling a lot of information about where the recorder got its name (in English), much of which I reference in the video. Check it out here: www.recorderhomepage.net/hist...
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[@mmu20046f03]

in Hong Kong recorder is mostly referred as 牧童笛, literally shepherd boy flute

[@MsBettyRubble]

That's so sweet!

[@MarsLos10]

wow that's interesting

[@dirtywashedupsparkle]

Oh so glad you posed this, I was just wondering about that! Thanks!

[@rubyyu3633]

that's really interesting ☺️that we have different ways to describe recorder in Mandarin! in Taiwan, we only say「木笛」or「直笛」(as Sarah mentioned in the video), but the "shepherd boy flute" is more lovely

[@novdelta381]

I'm glad that the first comment is the one I was about to say. Also, it was referred to as "the shepherd's flute" in some bible translations, and thus the missionaries to Hong Kong just translated it to 牧童笛. 牧 means shepherd, 童 means child/youth, 笛 means pipe based instrument. So, shepherd's flute.

[@melofedre8420]

As a Sicilian myself, I really appreciate that you included the Italian translation as well the Sicilian one ☺️

[@kuuv7267]

In Finnish nokka means actually a bird's beak and nenä means a nose but a person's nose can also be called a "beak" in casual conversations.

[@Jayteaseepiirturi]

Of course, airplane nose is also "nokka". :)

[@jcortese3300]

My god, the medieval ipod was a parrot. o_O

[@HAngeli]

ahahahaha indeed

[@byelekeshov]

hahaha, nice one ))

[@raebuck6911]

r/blursedcomments?

[@peterbrough2461]

Polly was the first Siri 😉

[@fornello123]

Ten songs on your shoulder

[@sudonim7552]

Now: Spotify playlist Then: B I R D playlist

[@sdmei8462]

You mention Chinese 直笛 (zhi di) 'straight flute'; I believe this term is used primarily in Taiwan. In the mainland I've always heard 竖笛 (shu di) 'vertical flute.'

[@bindong6179]

True.

[@SunflowerCrpm]

Wow this is so neat! I never understood why in English it would be called a recorder, now it makes sense. In European Portuguese, we usually call it 'flauta de bisel', which translates to bevel flute or chamfer flute. I suppose that falls into the beak flute category. Funnily enough, I'd never considered the name in Portuguese until this video either, and had no idea what bisel meant, so lots of learning!

[@Bermudasyl]

I love this. It's so interesting. And I'm very impressed with your pronunciation in all the languages!

[@emilia7858]

I love how she pronounced "Blockflöte"

[@picante28]

Ye and "flûte à bec" in french 5:47 😍👏👌

[@antonelladeflorio2140]

but I don't really know why she said "Vricordare" in Italian ^_^'

[@nigelhaywood9753]

According to my teacher, a certain Layton Ring, who knew and worked with Arnold and Carl Dolmetsch back in the day, 'recorder' was re-introduced as a name, on a whim of Arnold Dolmetsch, who was the man behind the whole recorder revival, so to speak. During the renaissance and definitely the baroque era it was referred to as a flute. And if you wanted to be more specific you could call it a block flute or a fipple. Normally, however it was the 'other' flute, the transverse flute that was specified (Italian: 'flauto traverso', German 'Querflöte'). So you had flutes and transverse flutes but they were all just generally referred to as flutes. I haven't dedicated much time to researching this myself, I'm going by what I was taught back then, but it was always very clear when I looked at scores, the Händel Sonatas for example, that the umbrella term 'flute' was used 99% of the time. Bear in mind that printed music didn't normally specify instruments until round about 1600, the different pitch ranges were given, more or less, as soprano, alto, tenor and bass (or equivalent terms) and you would play the music on whatever you had at hand. I'd be interested to know what your experience has been. The term 'recorder' has certainly become very established now but do you recall seeing it in original manuscripts? Vivaldi and Castello for example would have said 'flauto', Van Eyck would have said 'fluyt' or 'blokfluyt', Bach tended to use the Italian term, Handel said 'flute'. I wonder who was actually saying 'recorder'. I mean, fair play to Arnold Dolmetsch, considering what he did for the recorder, he sort of has the right to give a name of his choice to an instrument which had been forgotten about for nearly a century.

[@Team_Recorder]

There is a lot of information on this subject at the Recorder Homepage here: www.recorderhomepage.net/history/how-the-recorder-got-its-name/ Too much to fit into one video!

[@nigelhaywood9753]

Ok. Thanks.

[@gillchatfield3231]

There's an article by Anthony Rowland Jones on the subject. National Early Music Association website, Early Music Performer, March 2001. Thanks to Mark Windisch on Facebook for pointing this out. Fascinating, Sarah, as I've played in France and Denmark, and with Germans and an Italian. At least the dots on the page translate easily!

[@nigelhaywood9753]

@@gillchatfield3231 Thanks. That was really informative. It makes me more convinced that the term 'recorder' was not a definitive term at all, until Arnold Dolmetsch started using it, as I said before. It may have had some turnover in popular parlance but what's of more importance is that Handel was not writing 'Sonatas for Recorder' in the same way that Beethoven didn't write sonatas for 'die Geige'. Recorders were called 'flutes'.

[@emilynightingale7758]

Thank you so much for including my klingon translation, what an honour to be indirectly mentioned in a video, absolutely made my day. Also thanks for the video, It's so interesting to know it in all these different languages.

[@opabinnier]

Emily, where did they teach you Klingon? OMG are you and abduction victim?? At least they didn't harm you, bib they?... please tell me you were treated humanely! Uhg, blessed hayleons...

[@emilynightingale7758]

@@opabinnier it's ok, my crew and I were rescued by a Klingon freighter and they taught us some of their language. I actually kind of enjoyed my stay, although I still can't get the taste of gagh out of my mouth...

[@ScholaCantorumSalta]

You answered a question of a lifetime! Thanks a lot for sharing your research! I had related the word with latín "recordare" but was not certain about the connection nor the reason for it. Your enthusiasm about this beautiful instrument is contagious! I play the recorder too. IT's too sad to see how undervalued this instrument is... I've heard some musicians, even teachers, call it (in a mocking tone) "tubo de plástico escolar" or "pito sinfónico" among other scornful and disrispectful names. By the way, in Spanish we call it flauta "de" pico (not "di") or flauta dulce (as you already pointed out). Thank you again!

[@DaviSilva-oc7iv]

un amigo mío dijo que la flauta dulce ni siquiera es un instrumento

[@omarnug]

@@DaviSilva-oc7iv Ese ni siquiera es tu amigo xD

[@gnolex86]

One thing that annoys me about the Polish "flet prosty" is that it also literally means "simple flute". A lot of people don't take it seriously because of that.

[@AndyJugglesLanguages]

I'm learning Polish, and I'm making a you tube video of me speaking Polish. I want to say this in Polish, but agree it sounds simple when actually, it's harder to play well. :-)

[@rafa-cq6mc]

Not simple, but straight!

[@Mia199603]

@@rafa-cq6mc exactly, it's not "flet prosty" as in simple but straight: straight flute. It's because actual flute is called "flet poprzeczny": transverse/crosswise flute.

[@lcoleman1961]

Captain Picard played something like a garklein or a sopranino in one episode.

[@argonwheatbelly637]

The Ressikan Flute. Yes, he started with Frère Jacques, and it turned into a sad wee melody over the "years"; however, it's set up more like a tin/penny whistle than a standard recorder....so it's essentially a diatonically-tuned recorder with one fewer hole than the standard recorder. Not a sopranino, but good ear on that!

[@dirtywashedupsparkle]

@@argonwheatbelly637 Yeah, the Garklein is probably predated by it by some years. It was a great episode of Star Trek as well.

[@vertik7]

The sound was by Oak tin whistle in the key of D by musician Brice Martin. The actual prop used did not produce any sound.

[@lcoleman1961]

@@vertik7 Patrick Stewart is probably not a member of the musicians union.

[@OO0sofie0OO]

In mainland China, it's called "竖笛"(shù dí), also meaning straight or vertical flute. It's interesting to learn that the same instrument is called "直笛" (straight flute), “木笛”(wooden flute) or "牧童笛" (shepherd boy flute) in Taiwan and Hong Kong 😂

[@VieShaphiel]

The explanation and categorization is so clear. I also love how your Mandarin intonation (including contour) is perfect; it's really reassuring to see a musician put emphasis on this aspect :D

[@arthurvalentine3524]

In Russia we also have folk recorder like instruments Sopelka, Svirelle, Doudka

[@sr71at]

Sorry, they are different instruments. Recorder has an additional hole for left-hand thumb, but Sopilka, Dudka -- don't have, so instruments you've mentioned are similar to an Irish Whistle, not to a recorder. 😊 К сожалению, это ДРУГИЕ инструменты. У блок-флейты есть дополнительное отверстие под большим пальцем левой руки, но у сопилки и дудки их нет, то есть инструменты, о которых вы упомянули - это аналоги ирландского вистла, но не блок-флейты 😊

[@sorokonizhka3207]

sopilka is not russian, it's ukrainian

[@musico1414]

En Argentina: "flauta dulce" (Sweet flute) ❤

[@robertdominguez1426]

Qué bueno verte por aquí y enseñarnos tusa.

[@vamoTilin]

Por que se llama dulce si no tiene gusto a nada... 😑

[@DaviSilva-oc7iv]

@@vamoTilin porque los dulces se les dan a los niños, como la flauta dulce

[@DaviSilva-oc7iv]

Flauta doce en portugués y significa lo mismo

[@Mai2727]

@@vamoTilin dulce no sólo se refiere a gusto, también quiere decir grato, como cuando decís que una persona es dulce

[@kmartyCZ]

Czech/slovak: zobcová [zɔpt͡sɔvaː](there's no 'k' in it) flétna [flɛːtna]/flauta [flaʊ̯̯ta]. Anyway, good job. Especially non-anglo-germanic languages can be tricky (for english speaker).

[@herbertkunc4822]

Teď jsem to psal :)

[@talaniel]

Yeah I was about to write that too. I think it is great she attempted to say it, I feel honored, although a bit amused too :-)

[@jyryhalonen4990]

a finn here! "Nokka" is also literally "beak". It's just also used as a more silly word for "nose"

[@platinumoldfield]

Hello, I'm from 🗿Chile 🇨🇱, and this recorder is called in spanish, "flauta dulce", but exist others kinds of recorders. This other recorders are called "Quenas (the 'soprano' ) , and " "quenacho", (the more bass quena). This recorders haven't blocks, and this function is realizes by bottom lip of the mouth. The Quena are present in Bolivia, Perú, north of Argentina, north of Chile and parts of Ecuador. His origin is from Inka empire, and the Aymara culture, preserves this instruments. Now the sound of quenas are present in the folk music of all of this countries. In Rapa Nui, (Eastern Island, 🗿Chile), exist other recorder called "Hio" that is made from plant like a bamboo. This recorder are present in Tahiti too. Thanks for give us your talent in the recorder and sympathy in your videos. Greetings from 🗿Chile 🇨🇱

[@lstray3699]

Some note for hungarian name: Rekorder is furulya, flute is fuvola in hungarian. Both words started fu = fúj what means blows. With the endings (lya, la) means something what you have to blow. The middle parts of these words somehow imitates the way how you have to blow these instruments and the sound of these. If you pronaunce well, you will feel it with your mouth/lips 🙂

[@Babetttt]

I agree with the first part of your comment, that recorder is "furulya" and flute is "fuvola". But I am not exactly sure about splitting this word into two parts. As best as I know "fu" means nothing, "fú" has a similar meaning to fúj. And about the second part "lya" what is in English sounds something like "ya" also doesn't have any meaning, except it sounds like the "-ja,-je" possessive affix. We also call it in some areas of the country furugla and blockflöte after the German word. By wikiszótár.hu it seems it originates from a dravida word "purigei" (which means long whistle - hosszú síp or drilled ~ drill kifúrt, fúr) and from this transformed to middle Hungarian "furullya, furuglya". To be honest, I am not convinced this is correct, but I just couldn't find any other source. :) Could you please tell what is your reference to your explanation?

[@lstray3699]

I didn't want to over explain the word-root fu or fur meaning and the vovel transformations. You're right, it could be come from fúj (blow) and fúr (drill), the sources refer both. Moreover the arcanum.hu originiting it from romanian fluier. The real origin of the word not clearly known, as I read. I didn't wrote, that the lya affix means something in own. I only wanted to sign, that the word furulya not a meaningless as-is word. It has structure, meaning and history :)

[@Zokygirl]

My recorder was bought as a "tussefløyte", which has been translated as "pixie flute" on my music book that I got with it (Norwegian folk music book for the recorder/pixie flute). It is, however, likely that it originally was "tyskerfløye", or "german flute", as it probably came to Norway from Germany. Same with "sjøfløyte" ("sea flute", came with ships). They're both names for Norwegian recorders. Not quite sure if there's an actual different between these two and "regular" recorders sold by that name ("blokkfløyte")

[@Mnnvint]

Yes, that's an interesting story! Apparently as the transverse flute mostly replaced the recorder in Germany, people would sell their now unfashionable instruments and many ended up with Norwegian farmers, who copied the design. They were also called "sea flutes" because they came via sailors (as did pretty much everything from the outer world around here). It's crazy how many farmers along the coast made instruments in their spare time. I bought a book about fiddle makers around here, and they listed dozens, and that did not include "those who only made single fiddle or two".

[@RolandHutchinson]

In English, "German flute" was an 18th-century name for the (transverse) flute. The recorder was also called "English flute" or "common flute".

[@PanduPoluan]

In Indonesia, there are many kinds of "suling" so we call the recorder, the "suling rekorder"... which back-translates as "recorder flute" 😅

[@MsBettyRubble]

I have the book The Bird Fancyer's Delight. I have yet to learn any of them. One day I will. Love the languages section. So fascinating!

[@lauriemcgrath1441]

Greetings from the USA... Thank you for ALL your videos, Sarah!! I am a beginner and have been enjoying your videos and appreciate your enthusiasm and passion for all things "Recorder"... I am grateful you also include so many videos for beginners like me!!!

[@peterlustig8021]

My fav is estonian :D PLOKKFLÖÖT! It's something a ship would say

[@sarawillemse2091]

Wait. What? Ships can talk??? 😄

[@felipeamorim7658]

Fascinating!!! I've been learning how to play the recorder after a really long time without playing it, and learning some of its history too is amazing!

[@Babetttt]

Thank you, Sarah! It can't be too easy to collect all this information. I always find it weird why is it called recorder, and now I finally understand it. :)

[@lilactreehouse]

I knew there was a reason I liked recorders! What a delightful video and information..thank you!

[@charlotteshepherd4908]

This is amazing. Well done. Thankyou so much Sarah. I so love your channel.

[@hendrikvanoordt]

Amusing, witty, lively and (most important) informative. Thank you.

[@dougthemoleman]

My god, such care put into the phonetics, the enunciation and the tones. You are brilliant! I'm so happy I found this channel!

[@Team_Recorder]

I practiced hard with the pronunciation!!!!

[@demetrioskosmas9695]

Hi, a Greek here. The average Greek laypersons do call the recorder "φλογέρα" (floghera) but that's absolutely wrong. You see a floghera is an end-blown flute without a fipple, hence not a recorder. The correct Greek name for the recorder is "φλάουτο με ράμφος" (flaouto me ramfos), literally "flute with a beak".

[@fryderykfranciszekchopin5716]

Στην Κύπρο όλοι το ονομάζουν "αυλός"

[@qwertzuiopasdfish]

Wow! Now I understand wh recorder is furulya (foo-roo-ya) in Hungarian or where the word comes from. Also recorder manufacturer company name Aulos makes sense 😍

[@davidcampelo]

@@fryderykfranciszekchopin5716 translation?

[@fryderykfranciszekchopin5716]

@@davidcampelo From Greek to English (In Cyprus we all are naming it "aulos")

[@user-bs4qu7tb2g]

@@davidcampelo my on-screen KZbin translation told me it's "In Cyprus everyone calls it 'flute' "

[@mariobto1]

I needed that. I wondered why and how the recorder is named and you gave me an excellent research. Thank you dolce Sarah.

[@PaulDeCamp]

The Gaelic term feadóg describes the penny whistle or Irish whistle. It's what I learned on when I was six. I found one in a puddle in the gutter, and I taught myself to play by ear the few songs I knew BY HEART. My dad, a onetime professional musician, saw me playing it which annoyed him so much he asked me to throw it away and gave me a wooden recorder instead.

[@steveparker9361]

Thank you Sarah. What an illuminating piece of research!

[@ralph17p]

If you told me a month ago that I'd be following a recorder channel on KZbin, I'd have said you were crazy. Turns out it's a far more interesting instrument than my primary school experience would have suggested.

[@ShirinRose]

I've always wondered why it's called a recorder. This whole video is fascinating!

[@moonspaceblue]

Thank you Sarah. You inspired me to find some greek recorder books by typing in the word ΦΛΟΓΕΡΑ. I love Greek folk music.

[@cayr7745]

Amazing research. Determination personified. Well done. Keep up the good work!

[@wolfgangh.7027]

Thank you, that was really interesting. When I was a boy I did some studies on a blockflöte, never knowing why it is being called like this. It took me years to discover the block inside. Now I know a lot more. Thank you.

[@maryej59]

I’ve read that, in English, we also call recorders fipple flutes. Thanks for this video: it was fun!

[@stellajacobson231]

I love watching your videos even though I don't play the recorder, but I do play the viola. I get inspired of your videos thanks to your passion for the recorder. And it's also thanks to you why I now know why the recorder is named "block flute" in swedish. Thank you!

[@xSean0607]

I'm Portuguese. When I was younger we also use to call it "flauta de bisel" which translates to "bevel flute".

[@sportsfails4998]

LifelessAngel aqui no brasil é flauta doce

[@xuzhangning]

we call it 竖笛 in China mainland, it is a quite straight forward name which literally means vertical flute.

[@ThisCanBePronounced]

This is the word my friends had taught me too. I gave her this word in the past video. Explanation is demanded! Haha.

[@user-oo4se9pq2t]

Thanks from Japan Sara! mmm... Well, tate-fue should be pronounced as tate-bue. Cause in Japanese Language, euphonic change of unvoiced to voiced sound can frequently happen. Add to that "tate" means vertical, by the way lateral is "yoko" in Japanese. So lateral flute is called as yoko-bue.

[@worldsokayestmedic4568]

Wow! What a great video you've managed to do on something so "simple" as the origin of a name for an instrument!

[@annettej.gilmore8154]

Fascinating! Thanks for all that research. So interesting that music and musical instruments are almost like an international language 🎵🎶❤️

[@Mr.Goldbar]

Halilit is indeed right, but it means "small flute", because Halil means flute. The word for flute does come from our word for hollow

[@2DtoSee]

That's so lovely! Your research is very nice! Congratulations :) very awesome :) very inspiring to see your enthusiasm and passion

[@17derwanderer]

Loved the compilation of names! In Portugal recorders are mainly known as "flauta de bisel" (bevelled flute), due to the sloping angle of the beak. "Flauta doce" is mostly used in Brazil.

[@idraote]

One of your chatty videos! I love them and I love this :)

[@bo.zhe.na.]

In Ukraine we have a „sister” for recorder , called „sopilka”💛 it’s ethno-wind flute, which is fastly developing from folk music to other styles (baroque, classical music, jazz etc) … Thanks for this video💛

[@michaelechteld]

Wonderful information, thanks! Excellent research.

[@mightyV444]

I had moved from Germany to New Zealand about 17 years ago and had often been wondering, "How do you get from 'Blockflöte' to 'recorder'??" - Now I know! Thank you Sarah! And I once had liked an actress named Katie Reynolds who originally also was from Derby :-)

[@pedrorenatogoncalvesquerin9483]

Congratulations on the excellent quality content. I'm really liking you, Sarah! In Brasil: Flauta Doce! We have the Baroque recorder and the Germanic with differences in the positions of some notes.

[@benjaminsilva-santisteban9958]

Hi Sarah! I love your videos, thank you so much!! In Peru we have some sort of flute called "Quena" (pronounced kenah, from Quechua word 'Qina'). Traditionally made of cane but nowadays also made of wood. It existed way before Europeans came here. Some modern quenas have a block just like recorders, but traditional ones don't. You just blow to a mouthpiece, like a flute, but play vertically like a recorder. They have a 3 octave range and can do chromatics. Nice instruments :)

[@kevinb2821]

We learn things every day. I consider myself bilingual and I would never have guessed the word recorder in English, not a word commonly used in conversation or in texts I read. I really appreciated the video and will show it to a colleague who does research on linguistics.

[@stephpar.official]

I'm from Australia, but was born in the UK and have spent time there, and while it is mostly known as a recorder I usually prefer to call it an English Flute, but I also know it as a Fipple Flute (after the mechanism that produces the sound and can also refer to any flute that has a channel to direct the airflow onto the sharp edge).

[@rijodel]

Hi! In Portugal we call the recorder "flauta de bisel" (bevel flute). Flauta Douce is an erudite name used only by professional players, while Flauta de Bisel is the common name for it. The word "Bisel" (bevel) is related to the design of the labium.

[@johnnyd.7998]

Indeed. In fact she has "Flauta de Bisel" written on her T-Shirt with the various languages, along with Flauta Doce.

[@ninarochette1671]

Thank you for all this great research! You're my favorite influencer.

[@mugoletti9730]

Very informative, very entertaining. Young lady, you have a real talent there beside playing the block flute. Subscribed.

[@pearspeedruns]

I'm impressed by how well you can pronounce so many different languages!

[@BrossIsindaHouse]

Native Spanish speaker here: absolutely right with _flauta dulce_ ("sweet flute"), that's the name I've know about it, and that's how appears in the _official_ Spanish dictionary ("flute with a mouthpiece at the top end", I think would be the translation). But I guess you wanted to write "flauta de pico" in the other category (5:49). That's another name I can found in Spanish, and "di pico" sounds so italian to me 😁 _Cosa? Mamma mía, la flauta di picco, bambina!_ 🤣 Cheers!

[@Team_Recorder]

That would be a typo! Thanka for catching it!

[@seorsamaclately4294]

Very enjoyable, your other videos as well. I only stumbled across your channel some days ago. Apart from Ian Anderson or Yousef Lateef, I'm not so fond of the Querflöte (too lazy to look up the English word), but I love the sound of the recorder since I discovered Michala Petri 25 or 30 years ago. Send cuddles to the baby recorder in B flat ;)

[@damianmackowski8819]

In Polish also the word 'fujarka' exists which takes some resemblance to Hungarian 'ferula', but it means a pipe played by shepherds. I admire your enthusiastic spirit for recorder and recorder musicians (you bring joyness to my heart). By the way couple of years ago I discovered a duduk from Armenia and I've fallen in love with its soul tugging sounds... but I decided to play the recorder and it's amazing! Thank you and keep your bright spirit.

[@nonman3634]

In Hungarian it's furulya. (I should know, that's my native language. :)

[@damianmackowski8819]

@@nonman3634 ok, thank you for correction

[@BeliMandolsky]

@@nonman3634 I suspect that the hungarian word "furulya" will be inspired by the slavic/serbo-croatian word "frula". However, Frula's do not have a thumb hole and have a different fingering than "recorders". (For sound samples you can google for the Serbian frula-virtuoso "Bora Dugić". I suspect also that just like tamburizza-players - especially in southern Hungary - there will be frula players as well in this area.)

[@emilia7858]

I love how she says "Blockflöte" 😊 Yes, I'm from Germany

[@bubbletea.5005]

Ich auch, immer wieder lustig Leute Deutsch sprechen zu sehen (":

[@DavidKrautscheid]

she did it pretty good actually

[@Aleksandra-Alexandra]

Omg❣Of all the countries the name for recorder is such a research plus the names also wonderfully spoken. I mean it's so crazy how good you are🌸🤩🌸 Thanks for your sweet spoken blokfluit.....

[@meihwadeclerk3147]

Interesting, in my language, Afrikaans, it is called a Blokfluit, which translates to the same meaning it has in German! Awesome!

[@DavidKrautscheid]

@@meihwadeclerk3147 this is because africaans is a german language spoken in africa

[@CavyWheek]

That’s fascinating. All the different categories and words! 😁

[@carstenschultz5]

Wow, that was comprehensive. Thank you!

[@healthleetprequel2014]

I played this instrument when I was growing up in France in primary school. It was called "flute" or "flute a bec" from what I remember in 1991. Just this year (2020) when I wanted to learn to play the recorder, I searched flute but only the transverse instruments showed up. It was after finding this channel that I learned that it is called "recorder" in the English language. I plan to learn to play this instrument because I wanted to be adventurous and learn something new.

[@maurmi]

Such an enjoyable and lovely, informative video!

[@TonyBittner-Collins]

There exists the archaic meaning of the verb 'to record' (to repeat, to practise, to sing a tune by heart/from memory) connected to remembering the singing of birds. I like the idea that the recorder chirps and tweets like a bird.

[@ElephantBill]

It often seems to be overlooked that, whereas the instrument ‘the recorder’ seems to have acquired its name before or in 1388 (household accounts of the Earl of Derby), the old verb “to record” seems to have been applied to birds for the first time somewhat later. In Barclay’s Mirror of Goodly Manners (c.1518, printed 1570) we read: “Therfore first recorde thou, as birde within a cage, … thy tunes tempring longe, And then … forth with thy pleasaunt songe.” And in John Palsgrave’s L’esclarcissement de la langue francoyse (1530), a grammar of the French language for English readers, we find the following entries: “I recorde as yonnge byrdes do: Je patelle.” “This byrde recordeth all redy, she wyll synge within a whyle: C’est oyeslet patelle desja, elle chantera avant quil soyt longemps.” “Recorder a pype fleute a. ix neufte trous.“ The term “fleute a neufte trous” indirectly furnishes the earliest corroboration of the meaning of ‘recorder’ in English.

[@TonyBittner-Collins]

@@ElephantBill Thanks for all that interesting info. ☺

[@jamesdavidcatuira7982]

Plautang matamis, ngayon ko pa lang narinig yun ah. (It's my first time to hear Sweet Flute).... wow

[@lebazardebecques1223]

As an historian and a flutist, this video was soooooo interesting! Thank you very much! * - *

[@WoodyGamesUK]

I was surprised at first that it wasn't called just 'flute' in English as it's the most common type of flute, used in schools and very accessible. In French, people call it 'flute' and would only say 'flute a bec' in a technical sense, or as opposed to another type of flute (provided they have the knowledge). My daughter (English speaking) plays 'Western concert flute', now that's the type people in England call 'flute'! But I still catch myself calling the recorder 'flute'.

[@BryanRice800]

Same in Spanish I grew up just calling it "Flauta" (Flute) and didn't even think it could have other names, shame on me.

[@alexkachur6358]

I've just learned a new word in my native tonque (Russian) from someone who doesn't speak the language! ))) Thank you!) I used to refer to this instrument as a recorder.

[@JonIceInternational]

Ooooohhhh... that's why I never heard of a Recorder in my country ! It's a Damn Sweet Flute !!!

[@dvnarxx]

As a native Hebrew speaker, I never realized that the word "Halil" (flute) comes from the word "Halul" - Hollow. Get smarter every day! Lovely channel u got here. Love it! Halil - Flute Halilit - Little flute

[@salvadorjuarez547v4]

In Spain: Flauta Dulce or Flauta de Pico.

[@aaronb2181]

Por que "de pico"?

[@ranyagr8906]

Dulce in Romanian means sweet:)

[@user-lh6yb3tq6t]

@@aaronb2181 "pico" is like the peak of a bird. Because of its similarities, I think.

[@iamarkie]

Lo de flauta de pico es la primera vez que lo oigo... Siempre ha sido para mí o flauta (dulce) en contraposición a la flauta travesera 🤔

[@giasharie274]

@@ranyagr8906 in Spanish as well :)

[@pauljmorton]

Reminded by languages referring to the recorder as a "straight flute"; in Finnish, we also have a direction-based name for the concert flute, "poikkihuilu", which would mean "across flute". We usually call it just "flute" though, so the "poikkihuilu" is mostly just for disambiguation. The recorder is always "nokkahuilu".

[@TyrionCypher]

Thank you! That question really bothered me for quite some time😆

[@harczymarczy]

Moreover, although 'furulya' is used in Hungarian for all kinds of recorders, but German 'Blockflöte' is preferred by some musicians to distinguish the Renaissance/Baroque recorder from the Hungarian shepherds' flute (folk music instrument; a wooden recorder with only six holes). See also the much larger Slovak counterpart 'fujara' - it's comparable in size with the bass recorders.

[@florentvauxion3664]

It was a time in France, when we could say "Une flûte douce", like "Il flauto dolce" (Italian, of course!), but almost always it is "La flûte à bec", which sounds a bit silly to me… Because my recorder is not a duck! Also the voice is not the same. "The name of the rose" was written by Umberto Eco and himself loved to play the recorder, and to listen "Pavane lachrimae", played by the great Frans Brüggen. Thank you Sarah for your videos !!!

[@austinhelix9739]

Flute doucee/haut bois. Marcel Moyse in de la Sonorite uses haut in the French to mean loud or forte. He uses doux/douce to mean piano or soft. So flute douce can also mean the soft as in low volume flute and the oboe (haut bois) means loud wood (woodwind).

[@florentvauxion3664]

@@austinhelix9739 hello. Thank you for those informations.

[@DusanPavlicek78]

Very interesting analysis, particularly the different naming groups :) I can totally confirm the Czech name for the recorder being "zobcová flétna", just a small correction of the pronunciation, the "c" is pronounced a bit like "ts" (like the "z" in "Mozart"), not "k", but other than that it was really good :)

[@OganySupreme]

Amazing research and knowledge, you really know your stuff!

[@htmx48]

5:50 is ''flauta de pico". I Love your videos!

[@stijnvth]

Honestly impressed with your pronunciation of 'blokfluit', cudos! :-)

[@6o4averney34]

Hi, in Portugal we say too, "flauta de bisel". Thx, very nice.

[@eladhen2]

Thanks! I'll just comment that חלילית or Halilit in Hebrew is more a diminutive of חליל Halil which is a flute. There is a connection to it being hollow (in Hebrew Halul חלול) but the connection is already present in the word for flute. So I'd say it's not a "Hollow Flute" but a "Diminutive Flute".

[@Team_Recorder]

Ahh thanka good to know! Got this translation from my father in law who is a fluent Hebrew speaker but not a recorder player ;)

[@vivienpalasti3862]

A little help with the Hungarian: that l and y is together, ly. It's like the j (y from yard) :)

[@lorenawendriner1052]

In the north of Argentina, we have a QUENA. It has only 6 holes in the front and it's similar to the other local or traditional flutes the you showed in the end of this video. I pitty the poor birds, but loved the post!!!

[@Mjiikk]

I know this seems petty but I subscribed because you were almost able to pronunce "Nokkahuilu" correctly (pronounciation of "l" gave you away XD) and I was so impressed :D. I have heard some awful pronounciation attempts of Finnish words before and compared to those this one was astonishing. I do also greatly love all kinds of instruments and especially those you hear in folk music, but that was my stupid and petty reason to log in and subscribe XD

[@DaniToledoMusic]

I wasn't at all interested in this particular instrument, but I loved the way you talk about it so much that I had to suscribe.

[@bubbleteamath5352]

I am amazed how well you pronounced the words in so many languages. You got a lot of European ones right, as well as Chinese

[@Mailme2ar]

Great research! Thank you!

[@trpcp]

Respect! Ethymology and classical music. I dared not dream to find those two domains brought together

[@vratyadeleon1928]

Etymology !

[@maryh4650]

Thank you, the amount of children who have asked me WHY IS IT CALLED A RECORDER.? , and i have had to tell tbem i dont know. I am embarrassed to say, i have NEVER bothered to find out either! NOW i have ALL the answers at my finger tips. Thank you once again.

[@weepingscorpion8739]

5 months later, I'm here to tell you that Faroese, also a North Germanic language called the recorder a blokkfloyta which means... well yeah, block flute :) As opposed to the flute which is referred to either as just a floyta (flute) or a tvørfloyta (a not-straight flute... an across flute, maybe?). Thanks for this. As an organ player "block flute" is usually one of our registers (as ours are usually in German) and I have thought about picking up the recorder just to challenge myself. Thanks for your videos. :)

[@AnnaKhomichkoPianist]

Was wondering about the name for a very long time, thank you so much for such an interesting video!

[@monruiz8508]

In México we usually say "flauta barroca" when we're talking about a professional instrument like yours, and we say "flauta dulce" when referring to the cheaper verssions we use in (non music) schools.