Our first goal was to develop a school recorder that could do more than any existing school instrument on the market. We no longer wanted to accept plastic recorders with an elaborate shape decorated with ornamental rings. The classic wooden school recorders that you can buy today still have the simple and plain shapes that were possible in the sixties and seventies thanks to the technical possibilities.
We wanted the children to be able to hold an instrument in their hands that was as attractive as their teachers.
The second goal was to achieve outstanding grip. Here, too, we took the plastic recorders as our model.
We wanted our instrument to have three parts. It should have its own foot piece so that the tone holes on the foot piece can be adjusted to the length of the children's fingers.
The third aim was to improve the articulation and modulation of the sound. To achieve this, we equipped the instrument with a conical windway that moulds the air better. This feature is normally used in instruments from €200 upwards.
However, we felt that beginners have a right to get the best possible.
We wanted to be able to realise all these goals at the normal price of a school recorder from established workshops.
When we presented the first instruments to well-known teachers for testing, we noticed from the reactions that we were on the right track.
Some of the reactions were exuberant and encouraged us to continue on our chosen path and set our sights even higher.
- Flautina - with gemstone - the princess
- Flautino - without gemstone - the prince,
but both instruments in a three-part and a two-part version.
The two-part version - without a separate foot piece - was requested by the teachers, who feared that the third part (the foot) could be lost.
To round off the concept, we created a small comic to take over the task of the care instructions. As people (unfortunately) read less and less these days, it seemed appropriate to us to use child-orientated pictures and few words.
In the comic, Tina and Tino discover the recorder in a chest in the treasure chamber during a night-time foray through the castle.
Here, the instrument is automatically assigned a value in a subtle way. What is kept in the treasure chamber must be valuable. The two then take the instrument into the room and play a little.
Along the way, it explains how to assemble, store and handle the instrument correctly.
The reactions to the comic show us that this unusual approach was the right one. We know from feedback that parents look at the comic together with their children and thus make their first contact with the story of the little recorder in front of them.
What experiences have you had with introducing school flutes to your children or students?