alto in c

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  • #526
    sir alaric
    Participant

    i know that i can play an alto recorder, with fingering as if i was playing a soprano recorder. that’s ok when i play alone. my question is, Does anyone, anywhere, make an actual alto recorder in the key of c?

    if i played an alto (f) recorder in c with someone else playing an alto recorder in f, wouldn’t i be the one that sounded way off of the actual music?

    #527
    Dick Mattson
    Participant

    To answer your second question first: If you were to play an alto recorder reading the music as if you were playing a soprano recorder, and you were playing with someone else playing an alto recorder using the f fingerings, then, yes, you would be the one who sounded way off.

    As far as an alto recorder in c is concerned: If you have a recorder that goes all the way down to the c below the bottom of an alto recorder, then what you have is a tenor recorder (which is pitched in c).

    I suggest that you immerse yourself in learning the f fingerings for a while. Learn them for what they are. Then, when you have alto as actual alto down, you can pick up your soprano again and you’ll know both the soprano/tenor and alto fingerings.

    #529
    sir alaric
    Participant

    thank for your response. i appreciate the very helpful advise.

    but then i guess that means the answer to my first question is .no.

    the finger spread on an alto is much easier than on a tenor. i have one tenor, 2 altos, one soprano, and an sopranino. i like the sound of an alto. maybe learning the alto would allow me play soprano music on the alto, using everything above the c above f and beyond, pretty much transposing as i play. shouldn’t be all that hard.

    still low alto c as opposed to tenor would be nice.
    i’ll bet there’s a market out there for such an item.

    #530
    Dick Mattson
    Participant

    Mollenhauer makes a modern alto with an e foot. That’s at least a bit closer to c than the bottom f of most altos. I have one in palisander/rosewood and it’s a marvelous instrument.

    If you find the tenor too large in the finger spread, it is possible to have keys installed for the 3rd and 4th fingers (I assume that you have the c and c# keys already?) that makes the spread much more manageable. Also, it is possible to have the neck “knicked”, or bent, which brings the hands up higher and thus makes the spread more comfortable.

    Different tenors have slightly different finger spacings as well. Check out this chart on Bill Lazar’s website. http://www.lazarsearlymusic.com/finger_hole_distances.htm

    As far as a market for an alto with a low c, I suspect that the tenor already fills that niche to overflowing.

    So once you learn the alto, transposing should not be a problem.

    #533
    Aulos303
    Participant

    To make an alto in c it would have to be much longer, and you would be just as well getting a tenor.

    You don't stop playing when you get old. You get old when you stop playing.

    #539
    Aulos303
    Participant

    You could maybe try a voice flute which sits between an alto and a tenor, and is voiced in G

    You don't stop playing when you get old. You get old when you stop playing.

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