Recorders
Music practice yesterday showed me just how out of practice with my mandolin I am. I haven't picked it up much since our last practice season before Wiosna in April, and playing for an hour absolutely murdered my fingers. All was well, though, since I got to switch over to Sol's tenor recorder. I kind of surprised myself by being able to pick it up and pretty much play straight off, even with the practice I had with soprano recorder Saturday at the event. I'm not stellar, of course, but I do seem to be able to pick up instruments and play them with a basic degree of skill pretty readily.
So now I'm in love with tenor recorder. I practiced with my sopranino today during breaks at work, and it'll help a bit, even with it being an F recorder instead of C. They're pretty easy to switch between (anything that went too low for the sopranino's range I just played like it was a soprano and it ended up a fifth too high, oh well) as long as you remember to shift gears mentally. Tenors (low-end plastic ones, at least) aren't terribly expensive (under $100), so I think I'll pick one up with my next paycheck, maybe have it before next practice. I've been thinking about getting a low whistle for a while, but this will work better, I think. It's about the same range and tone, but a recorder is chromatic and better suited to SCAdian music. And cheaper.
So now I'm in love with tenor recorder. I practiced with my sopranino today during breaks at work, and it'll help a bit, even with it being an F recorder instead of C. They're pretty easy to switch between (anything that went too low for the sopranino's range I just played like it was a soprano and it ended up a fifth too high, oh well) as long as you remember to shift gears mentally. Tenors (low-end plastic ones, at least) aren't terribly expensive (under $100), so I think I'll pick one up with my next paycheck, maybe have it before next practice. I've been thinking about getting a low whistle for a while, but this will work better, I think. It's about the same range and tone, but a recorder is chromatic and better suited to SCAdian music. And cheaper.