Robin Descant Recorder

The patented Cavity Wall design makes the sound of the Robin unusually pleasant right across the range. Whether the player is a beginner, a folk musician or somebody playing high Baroque solos, this is a really attractive instrument.

This article below, written by Peter Biffin, first appeared in Orpheus Music's Gecko newsletter

The Aulos Robin Series

Most recorder players will be familiar with this series through the Robin tenor – AU211A. Apart from being one of the most affordable tenors available, it also features close hole spacings without the use of keys. The Robin tenor has therefore become an indispensable stock item for Orpheus Music. However, it is the Robin descants and trebles that have recently caught our attention. Their sound places them in quite a unique position among plastic recorders.

The hardness of the material a recorder is made from has a very significant bearing on the general sound characteristics of the instrument. At one end of the spectrum, the harder woods like Grenadilla and Olivewood produce a sound that is clear, precise and capable of playing at great speed. At the other end of the spectrum are the fruit-woods, with less than half the hardness of Grenadilla – pear, cherry, plum and maple. These softer woods produce a sound that is much warmer, less sharply defined and slower in response. The ABS resin used to make plastic recorders is very hard – about the same as Grenadilla. Consequently, in terms of speed of response, clarity and projection, plastic recorders have much more in common with Grenadilla recorders than any other type of wooden recorder. That is the place plastic recorders have been automatically locked into, until…… Aulos created the Robin descant and treble and achieved a small miracle. While still using a moldable hard plastic, they have successfully approximated the sound of a recorder made from the softer woods such as maple or pearwood.

This achievement has significant implications in several areas of recorder playing. Very often beginners (of any age) play in an ensemble. The principal characteristics of a recorder that will work well in this situation are the ability of the instruments to blend well and for every little fluffed note not to be highlighted. In order to achieve these goals, ensemble recorders are ideally made from softer wood. Yet those are not the sort of instruments normally used. Instead, a beginner’s ensemble typically use plastic recorders that are bright, fast and really touchy – and unfortunately the cacophony that can result is familiar to everybody.

Apart from the obvious benefits for ensemble players, the Robins are also extremely useful for playing in a variety of styles that don’t rely on speed and clarity. In playing a lilting Celtic melody, for example, how one gets from one note to another becomes really important – in this setting, the Robin sings in a way that other plastic recorders cannot emulate. It was a folk player that first alerted us to the special characteristics of the Robin.

Robin descants and trebles use a patented system that Aulos call the “Cavity Wall Design”. While it may not be clear to the eye what this system is when examining a Robin descant/treble, it is abundantly clear to the ear when playing – the high frequencies that cause so much trouble in beginner recorder-playing are simply not there.

All instruments dispatched by Orpheus Music are automatically insured for their full value at no extra cost to the customer.