Recorder Forum Home Page › Forum › Recorder Makes, Models and Maintenance › Wood or Resin for an inexpansive treble recorder? › Reply To: Wood or Resin for an inexpansive treble recorder?
Any recorder that doesn’t have a block made out of wood or similar porous material (Synpor block used by Mollenhauer on the Modern Soprano and Alto) will clog rather easily. The way to keep this from happening so much is to warm up the head of the recorder before playing. Some people stick it in their pants pocket. Some others hold it in their armpit. I have very warm hands, so sometimes I just hold the head. Usually I just slip the recorder down the front of my shirt headfirst making sure that the top of the head (closest to the windway) touches my skin. I keep it there to warm up for at least 10 minutes before starting to play. That keeps it from clogging so fast because the warm, moist air from my lungs doesn’t hit the cold windway causing the moisture to condense. If the windway does clog, I just suck the condensation out and wipe off any that remains at the tip of the beak. Just remember to never, ever place a recorder on a radiator or any other heating device because that could cause serious damage that would not be possible to repair.