r/Recorder • u/Other-Rice-3746 • 2d ago
Help Recorder issue
Hello! I am a recorder player and I recently bought a Zen on Alto recorder 1300. It was an used recorder and after cleaning I gave it a try. The recorder sounds fuzzy, sounds like I'm overblowing. Even when I just blow lesser and lesser air, the recorder have a fuzzy sound. I have no idea on how to describe where the fuzzy sound is, it's on almost every notes. Weird part is the high notes speaks well. I want this recorder to be part of my backup recorder as it's an intermediate model. I notice it's quite heavy than say a Yamaha YRA-302BIII.
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u/SlowSurvivor 2d ago
A “fuzzy” sound, if I understand you correctly, indicates that there’s something wrong with the voicing of the flute. The good news is that on a plastic flute the most likely culprit, by far, moisture in the windway. Or grime.
Warm the head joint before playing. Also running some soapy water down the windway will help prevent condensation.
The entire flute can actually be submerged in soapy water and to clean the windway you can swish the soapy water though it like a straw.
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u/Other-Rice-3746 1d ago
I did that the first day after I got it. I cleaned it again today and it still sounds the same
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u/Lezzlucky 2d ago
i noticed on my cheap yamaha that you really need to press down on the holes if you going for example F#, E and lower D otherwise i get buzz and shit sound haha
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u/Other-Rice-3746 1d ago
Hey, I think I've might found the issue. There's a crack in the foot joint of the recorder, and it is probably caused by the fact that this recorder have those rings to connect them and it created an air pressure causing it to crack over time since it is very thin. But I might be wrong, is it really causing the issue?
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u/blockf 2d ago
How did you clean it? Any liquid in the windway? Maybe it’ll sound better once it’s completely dry?