Recorder
a side hole. Prætorius (1620) says that a complete set consisted of eight instruments and that a full flute band numbered twenty-one players, and Burney (1773) mentions one of from thirty to forty. Two "chests" still exist—the Nuremburg set of eight, dating from the sixteenth century, and the Chester set of four—discant, alto, tenor and bass—dating two centuries later.
There were also double and triple recorders. The double recorder consisted of two pipes, generally of unequal length and pitch, running into a common headjoint. The melody was played on one pipe, whilst the other furnished an accompaniment. The triple recorder had the third pipe standing out quite separately, but running into the side of the head-joint near the mouthpiece.
The recorder's tone was very soft and pleasing, but it was practically impossible to increase its volume or vary its quality. Little variety of expression was possible, and the second octave was difficult to produce; moreover, it was defective in tune. Mersenne mentions the curious detail that some players could hum the bass to an air while they played it!
These instruments long enjoyed great popularity all over Europe. The English excelled as performers, as Giovanni B. Doni tells us in his De Præstantia Musicæ Veteris,ItsPopularity 1647; it is frequently mentioned in our early literature, and numerous tutors and much music was published for it. King Henry VIII, played it daily. Recorder-players were
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