Course talk:PHYS341/2018/project/recorder

Really fascinating write up on the recorder, I didn't know anything about it when I came into this. The writing style is really great, and definitely feels like I'm reading a wikipedia page, so that was a really strong point. I imagine that you have some references on hand, but have yet to add them into the Wiki for the time being, but that was the biggest point of correction for myself. Otherwise the rest of my notes are below, just a few small adjustments here and there, so far I really enjoyed it! Good work.

Intro

1. "whistle mouthpiece"

-Would it be possible to explain or elaborate a little more on this whistle mouthpiece? what makes it different than, or the same as, a flute? Same shape or maybe reed system differences?

History

1. "The recorders in this era had a cylindrical bore, a broader timber and less stimulating (word missing) than the recorders today."

-there seems like a world was missing in this sentence, and it makes it a bit odd to read when going over it.

2. "G.F. Hande’s “Seven Sonatas” and “Two Trio Sonatas.”

-I believe it would be easy to find a source/sheet music for these two pieces to include as a reference.

Etymology

Loved it! and I thought it was really interesting for the project.

Structure

1. "mechanism of tonal change"

-this was a great was to bring in the physical aspects of the instrument

-perhaps you could add in a bit about the measurements between the holes, to give a concrete idea/example of changing the length = changing the pitch (with semitones and what not).

Playing the Recorder

1. "Standard modern practice"

-Feels like a good area for a citation/reference again.

Basic Production of Different Pitches

1. "The pitch of the recorder is manipulated by covering and uncovering of some(,) or all(,) of the 7 finger holes"

-Need to add some commas for proper grammar.

2. I really like your graphs and data plots, maybe you could try to move them to the left side of the wiki so that they fall in place a bit closer to the paragraph that mentions them?

Similar to what Branden has previously mentioned, this is a great wiki page with strong explanations of the introduction, pictures, and the musical properties of the instrument. Some small points I just wanted to add is that the "Intro" section does not need to have a heading and the text of the intro paragraph can just flow right from the title heading. Also, the historical and etymological section is very fascinating, but I wonder if you can rework it into the introduction paragraph as it is not a main focus paragraph but rather provides accessory information, as the main point of exploration for this project is the physical and musical properties of an instrument. There are also multiple instances of parentheses which I suggest should be used sparingly. For example, in the last paragraph, you indicate an approximate dB measurement followed by "(approximately)", however you could find a way to restate this without the use of parentheses.

Finally, there are some minor edits I would suggest. In the etymological section, the sentence "In the 17th century, the french name for the instrument was 'flute douce' or simply "flute."" incorporates single apostrophe quotation marks and double apostrophe quotation marks. I would recommend sticking to one for consistency's sake, perhaps the double apostrophe which is typical of Canadian and American spelling conventions. Also the first sentence of the "playing the recorder paragraph" explains how to play the recorder using the imperative clause: "hold it with both hands." I would suggest restating this as a statement, for example "a recorder is played with both hands held on to it." This is definitely a strong piece of work and I am looking forward to the finished product. Cheers.