That's not a recorder that's a tree

1:09 when a teacher tells his students to bring in a recorder and some smart ass brings this in ...

Sarah: I feel like a *steamboat* Hester: _awkward sideways glance_

Actually there was a unique specimen of this size in the Renaissance although it was in C rather than in B-flat. It is documented in the 3rd edition of Edgar Hunt's book on the recorder on p. 31. There was a subcontrabass recorder 2.85 m. long and probably pitched in C in the Biblioteca Capitolare, Verona which was once owned by the Accademia Filarmonica of Verona and was probably one of three contrabass recorders listed in an inventory of 1569 two of which are still to be found in the Accademia Filarmonica. Its existence has been confirmed by Simone Zaniol who saw it in the 1980s. This instrument no longer appears to be at the Biblioteca Capitolare who have written saying that it was returned many years ago to the Accademia Filarmonica but the latter write that they do not have the instrument so it is probably lost.

I was expecting a higher price coming from bassoon land.

I saw / heard this wonderful recorder played at a Royal Wind Music concert at the Amstelkerk in Amsterdam in June 2018. When it was first carried out on stage there was an audible gasp from the audience. It has a beautiful mellow, sonorous sound and is surprisingly soft considering it's size - it was a real treat to hear it in recital.

I am a trombone currently studying at Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, NC, and I always love hearing and seeing new instruments! I was recently introduced to this whole family of early instrument when I joined an early music ensemble (renaissance music) playing the sackbut (also a cool brass instrument). So thank you so much for this! I find all you have to offer really fascinating

Delighted to meet that wonder. beautiful both explaining this jewel of humanity.

I remember seeing this in a WW2 documentary, they called it “Schwerer Gustav”

All the organists are sitting here, laughing, and going "pathetic..."

there should be a way to make it so those keys don't sound so clacky.

I think I know what the stick is for. It is to keep the tube in order when closing the case so that they don't rotate and damage either themselves or the rest of the recorder when closing the case. Does that seem right?

That thing can eat both my bassoon *and* my baritone sax for breakfast, lunch and dinner :O !!!!

That's basically playing an entire organ pipe. Shit. That's impressive.

I would so love to try a recorder like that, but that is not likely to happen... I have known about these Breukink recorders for a long time, there is this iconic photograph of Adriana with it. Thanks for sharing!

OMG that little stool. Too cute.

Amazing. I love the recorder, and I love low bass tones. Now both together!

Love this! Shared the link on FB.Sarah could you consider a YT on how the recorders graded in fifths would sound in concert (together) perhaps with a fairly well-known piece-... does that sound doable?

Big Babe has the same bottom pitch (Bb) as a bassoon. 😄 And the contrabassoon comes in at an octave below that! 😁

really interesting. Thanks for sharing.

"I'm not so tall I'm 5'3 " me: *laughs in 5 flat*

If anyone wishes to get something like this, Paetzold makes both a sub-great bass in C (C2) and a subcontrabass in FF (F1) for a more affordable price; I think in this channel you can find some more informations on Paetzold's "square-section" instruments. This one, anyway, still is an amazing sight.

Dude Gurl, I’m mesmerized!

Those square-section bass recorders are pretty amazing including the expression on overblown tones. I see now that being a professional recorder player can be much more expensive than I'd suspected prior to realizing they cover such a range! I wonder if the contrabass recorders would have a more impressive fundamental in an open or very large space like a cathedral. A pipe organ's lowest pipes wouldn't sound very impressive in a room too small to accept extremely long wavelengths either.

Hey Sarah, What a Fantastic Video!!! Really Really Cool! You are the best Recorder KZfaqr ever! Brasil Loves Team Recorder too... 😁😁😁

Really interesting! I play clarinet, but I actually have a fascination for all woodwind instruments... or treewood instruments. It kind of sounds like a didgeridoo. Thanks for this!

Another recorder I wanna have ... Thanks for this video!

You're telling me this baby is actually cheaper than a professional bassoon? Man!, time for a career change!

Loved this. Very interesting and enthusiastically presented. You have a new subscriber.

Thank you, it was fun! I have a great bass and it is interesting to see other members of the family!

B flat Zero. I can sing along! I love sub contra instruments!!!

Such a fun video, that’s so cool! Thanks for sharing!

Them: "14500€!!" Me, a bassoonist: "amateurs!!" I love that instrument though

I think that stick is there to prevent the possibility of the tubes twisting in place and touching the body. Their swan shape makes them susceptible to inertia and stuff... maybe? I didn't even know these things existed, so .. ? Thanks for showing the coolest instrument I have ever seen. Need to hear in person!!!

breathtaking !!!

Beautiful instrument - very very cool.

Love the Ammato water key in the gooseneck! I played a C bass in school that was the next C below the tenor I reckon. I did have a metal neck which entered from the side of the cap. I usually played the f bass But this must be an octave and whole step below our "great bass" to which I say WOW.

It's amazing seeing you playing such a gigantic recorder.

I am nearly 5'10" and have long spidery fingers; maybe I have found my recordery niche XD I would love to have a go on one of those!

It reminds me of a didgeridoo which is a musical instrument played by Australian Aborigines.

It sounds like a cattle instrument we use in Brazil called "berrante". Just amazing.

Hi, this may be the "highest" recorder. But it is not the longest or biggest one. The Subcontrabass of Paetzold by Kunath has a sounding lenght of 3,6m. Adriana Breukink is writing, that "Big babe" is 3m long. So this should be - in the famous video - corrected.

Hi Sarah! I've been getting a kick out of your recorder tutorials! i returned to the recorder in my mid twenties which is thirty years ago. And, now finally got a yamaha rosewood soprano recorder which i feel is only a notch better than my plastic one! (: but I got a yamaha tenor recorder recently too and appreciate your advice on how to stretch and hold it properly etc. I was born near Amsterdam by the way, so hearing your story was interesting!

I love hearing this.

Awesome ladies.

great Video!we had the privilege of having the biggest recorder on the African continent in Cape Town. It was a sub bass ,not quite as tall but still very impressive. I was dizzy after only a few minutes when my friend let me try it.,Sadly the instrument went to his daughter in the UK after his death.

Extremely awesome!

I would've died of hypoxia from playing this thing... :)

Hallo wie geht's? Wow es was eine toll flute. Ich mag sie! Jetzt ich Kenne mehr uber großst flutes. Gut video. Bis bald!

It really has a beautiful sound.

The Look Of Her zoomed in At 8:30 LOL

WOW HESTER HAS GOT SUCH A DUTCH ACCENT

I don't know why your videos started showing up in my recommended, it happened after I started getting into the ocarina and watching videos from David Erik Ramos and the STL videos. But your videos are very informative and entertaining, I honestly didnt even know the recorder was any more than the $1 toys I remember from when I was a kid. Just like I frankly didn't know the ocarina was a real instrument until I was told, and shown, by someone.

Sounds beautiful

Another question- any advice on getting a nice clean articulation without cracking the pitch on a big instrument like this? Having problems with that on my Kung contra. Is big-bass articulation just softer in general to the smaller sizes? Also running out of air a LOT- I see Hester can sustain a hefty sound on this one and even do some heavy vibrato! (Maybe you have an articulation video I haven't found yet)

That was so fun!! Unfortunately, I have a) tiny hands and b) rheumatoid arthritis. My fingers are pretty flexible because I grew up playing the piano, but sadly, my wrists and one elbow are pretty shot. Thus, I am questioning whether to even try an alto recorder! The Big Sub Contra Bass would only work for me with extensive custom keys. But SO FUN to watch!

Paetzold makes a subcontrabass in F that goes below that thing now.

Lol Hester really being able to play lines of notes without needing to take a breath is really like a FART NOISE?!?! WOW

This is amazing! Originally recorders are not designed to be that low in pitch, but the development is amazing!!! Great! I would like to know when you say the lowest note, it's how much lower than cello? Couldn't hear it clearly.

Are there any (audiophile / high end) recordings of this instrument? Love the sound!

Amazing!.

There is an entry in Guinness records from 1994 for a recorder 5 meters 16'5" made by Stefan Geir Karlsson in Iceland. It is apparently fully functional. Each hole is 8.5cm in diameter.

I believe the stick holds the metal pieces in place during travel.

I expected A Higher Price Coming From Tuba Land! But Still very Cool!

Awesome!

A practical Alp-horn.^^

Is that even a recorder anymore? xD

Amazing!

The terminology for the lowest recorders seems quite muddled. I always used to think of recorders around an octave below the greatbass as subcontrabasses, as has been done here...until I learned about the lower instrument that Paetzold calls a subcontrabass, and that they call the instrument of this size a subgreatbass instead. Are the Paetzold naming conventions used exclusively for Paetzold instruments, or has the conflicting nomenclature been around for longer than that? I always use the Paetzold conventions in arrangements because sometimes I want to use that lowest instrument, and since they're the only ones who have ever offered it, it seems necessary to use their name for it. Also, I've always wondered how the holes on a large renaissance recorder can be spaced so differently from the holes on a small one without disturbing the instrument's intonation; the holes on an alto are spread pretty evenly over the lower two thirds or the instrument, while on this instrument, the distance between the middle two holes for the right hand, for example, is vastly smaller than that between the two holes covered by keys on the body joint. Are the holes drilled diagonally like some of the ones on a bassoon, perhaps, so that where they join the bore on the inside doesn't match where they break through the outside?

Amazing! My siblings used to complain about me when I used my normal tenor recorder: "Why are you playing the fartophone again?"

Imagine putting a sax or clarinet mouthpiece on that.

i'm now watching 2016 videos! ...this crush on Sarah is getting out oof hand!!! AND I DON'T EVEN PLAY THE RECORD!! ps: nice video!

As a tuba player, I've always been fond of other contrabass instruments and this is an interesting one for sure. Though, I'm probably physically big enough to play it (assuming the mouthpiece can be adjusted to a 6'6" user), I'm only just now starting to ease into fipple flutes after recently learning of the bass recorder's existence. I'm starting with a tin whistle, however, and have found a company that makes a Bb bass whistle that I'm hoping to cover my trombone and tuba marching band music in the meantime, but a great bass recorder still sounds interesting or possibly expand to bass sax yet those options are well down the road, lol

I like how a recorder player uses sax backgroung music. XD

That was amazing!!!

When she opened the bag it looks like shes preparing to fire a cannon AHHHAHHA

Most subcontrabass instruments sound really bizarre without an orchestra accompanying them, but this sounds really cool on it's own...

I think my bassoon still has it beat, but I understand I'm trying to get a contrabassoon (16'). Someone is working on a subcontra with 32'!

This sounds so cool

is there an explanation of why it needs 3 meters to reach the same note as a basson, which is much smaller? and by the way Sarah you're channel grew soooo much, I'm so proud of you!!!

This magnificent instrument would add so much depth to the ensemble. I always hated band practice when the tuba players couldn't make it.

That smile at 8:29 really reminds me of Janet from The Good Place

After viewing several videos about unusual musical instruments, KZfaq's algorithm now suggests Lou Reed's 'Walk On The Wild Side'. But not to worry. I'm sure AI will do a fine job with your self-driving vehicle.

Great video! Regarding “The Stretch” needed for playing very large bass recorders: is there a reason more of them aren’t made fully keyed for more comfortable fingering? Is it just tradition? Or concerns about minimizing key sounds and some loss of control for the musician?

Is it larger than the Paetzold subcontrabass in F? Our orchestra here in California has one of those- I love what it adds to our sound, but it's difficult to play for a long time for the left arm.

It's from the turn of the century you know ;)

Hester is just so dang cute! Let's see more of her ... as a guest that is.

Sax music while building a recorder.... Nice!

Great video. Two questions: why all the videos use sax between segments & how low does this recorder go? C2?

Big Babe is the Incredible Hulk of Recorders.

in the words of Will Smith in Independence Day, "I gotta get me one of those!" I have a Moeck contrabass. In addition to the physical stretch being a problem, the breath control is an issue, but not in the way that you might think. All of the lowest instruments (bass, great bass, contrabass, and subcontrabass) must be played with a slow wind stream or else they overblow. The contrabass also has a circular stand. That is not only so the player doesn't have to hold up the instrument, but it also allows air movement.

If only they had these when I was presented with and failed to play a cheap plastic job in infants school! LOL. Bb is perfect for Blues

Kind of strange that they didn't arrange the holes in more of an arc for easier playing.

That's a lot of WOOD!

wow that's awesome

I'm wondering how even with the keys, the holes can be clustered on the top for the left hand, on the bottom for the right hand, instead of being equally spaced along the shaft like a regular recorder. In which case of course, keys would be needed for all holes.

That is so cool.

4:51 it would be nice to hear that solo played on recorder instead of sax

Leuk blokfluitje.

Lovely