Katia, we have just proven that it truly is “in the eye of the beholder.” It happened that my Ecodear Yamaha Alto is at my side as I read your last post. It is absolutely ‘yellow’ and would never pass for an imitation of any wood species. The whites are absolutely bright white – not ivory. I think it’s a beautiful instrument and yet it’s totally plastic looking – even glossy. I didn’t buy it for its looks so much as the darker voice that reviewers noted. That turned out to be true with a pleasant dash of ‘reediness.’ I bought a matched Descant/Treble pair for more blended voicing in the duets my wife and I are playing during our self-quarantine. The two sound quite nice when played together.
Interesting! I think the Ecodear is sort of cute, really… but, “cute” is usually not what I’m going for if I want people to take me seriously, lol. (If, of course, I were in love with the sound of it, obviously I would have one anyway… {it might be interesting to have a discussion on the plastic instruments and see what everyone thinks. I tend to waffle on how I feel about the sound of various models/brands…})
It seems I had read something once that suggested the yellow was simply because that’s the color this particular plastic is by necessity (rather than Yamaha saying “let’s make a yellow one!”). But I’m not sure how true that was (and I can’t remember where I read it, as it was a long time ago, probably way back when I was deciding which recorder to buy). I mean, some boxwood can have a yellowish cast, and it’s hard to tell on a computer screen exactly what colors are, so it’s good to hear from someone looking at it in person.
The kalimba was made by Power of Nature, has a deer motif below the hole.
Thanks! (I’d also thought of making my own, though the process of making the keys {getting edges rounded off and tuning} and the key-mounting system sounds a bit fiddly– but buying the keys ready-made also would kind of defeat the purpose.)