Listen to the recorder
Tip: press play to see the sound's live frequency spectrum in blue over the waveform.
How the recorder makes its sound
In the Hornbostel–Sachs system, which classifies instruments by how they produce sound, the recorder belongs to the flutes (edge-blown): an air jet is split on a sharp edge, setting the air column vibrating – flutes, recorders, whistles and panpipes.
More broadly it is one of the aerophones (wind instruments), where sound comes from vibrating air.
Its timbre – the colour that lets you tell it apart from other instruments playing the same note – comes from the mix of overtones its body and resonator emphasise.
From Wikipedia
The recorder is a family of woodwind musical instruments and a member of the family of duct flutes that includes tin whistles and flageolets. It is the most prominent duct flute in the western classical tradition. A recorder can be distinguished from other duct flutes by the presence of a thumb-hole for the upper hand and holes for seven fingers: three for the upper hand and four for the lower.
Other flutes
Questions people ask
Real questions from the Stack Exchange community – follow a link to read the discussion.
- What set the speed in a cassette tape recorder? · Electronics SE
- Why is the recorder a good instrument to start with? · Music SE
- Why does the fundamental mode of a recorder disappear when you blow harder? · Physics SE
- Is there a recorder-analog for the flute? · Music SE
- So I dropped my recorder in a wheelbarrow full of water… · Sound Design SE
Frequently asked questions
What does a recorder sound like?
Listen to 4 recordings on this page. As one of the flutes, its sound comes from the way an air jet is split on a sharp edge, setting the air column vibrating.
What type of instrument is the recorder?
It is classified as flutes (edge-blown) (Hornbostel–Sachs 421.221.12).
Sources & credits
- SopranoRecorder by User:Thparkth – Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
- Piermic - Improvisation with Sopranino Recorder (2015) by piermic – CC0 1.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Recorder Warning – Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
- Recorder Warning – Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
- Wikidata Q187851 – CC0
- Wikipedia: Recorder (musical instrument) – CC BY-SA 4.0
- Image by Vparrilla – CC0 1.0