Recording recorders

I got a last minute request form Margaret Wright to record the end-of-session concert of the National Eight Foot Pitch Recorder Orchestra.  I'd done an earlier gathering a few years before.  I guess Eight Foot Pitch refers to the deepest recorders.  These are essentially pitched whistles given the nature of the flute fingering with the whistle mouthpiece, aka internal duct or fipple flutes.  It's an old instrument appearing in Europe in the Middle Ages and played through the classical and romantic eras but little thereafter, although they have been pretty well known as school instruments, at least in my era.  For many, the descant or perhaps the tenor is the image of the instrument and the bigger, deeper bass and contrabass are surprising, especially in modern square form.  BTW, not cheap either.  The performers came from across the East Coast, Queensland to Victoria and more local towns.  The music was all manner from mediaeval and church to Schubert and Schmeltzer and a War march.  The tone was soft and enveloping.  The day was pretty long, at least for the performers, but nice to see and hear such an array of different instruments and a gathering of their players.

The National Eight Foot Pitch Recorder Orchestra came together for an annual gathering in Canberra under Margaret Wright (musical director).