Aulos 211A Series 3-Piece Tenor Recorder - Ideal for Perfomance Level Player - Classic Dark Brown/Ivory ABS construction - Barqoue/Englsih Fingering.

This is the brown and cream version of the Aulos 511B E Symphony Recorder, and I think it does look nicer than the black and white version that I borrowed to try before buying. I bought this at a sale price which was a lucky bargain, as I'd already decided on this model. This is as good as plastic/resin tenor recorders ever get. It even out performs many wooden tenor recorders, and you would have to pay many times the price to get a wooden one that matched its performance. It has a very balanced, solid and quality feel to it and produces a beautiful tone right through the range. The recorder is a 3 piece model and comes in a nice leatherette case with a cleaning rod, joint grease, clip on thumb rest and fingering chart/care instruction sheet. The centre section also has end caps for storage. The foot section has easy reachable levers for the low C and C#, which still produce a strong sound unlike many tenor recorders, and the tone is pleasant and easy to play right through into the high range. The precision build quality is apparent as soon as you start to assemble the recorder, with the joints fitting together perfectly. Only need very lightly greasing. If only all recorders were built to such exact tolerances! The finger spacing is typical of most modern tenors and as this is not my first tenor recorder, I found the spacing very comfortable. The tuning is spot on right through the range too, unlike my old tenor which was a cheaper brand and had serious uncorrectable tuning flaws. That has now gone to the charity shop! Aulos are not the cheapest of the plastic/resin recorders but this model is the best I've played. I'm usually a Yamaha fan, but after borrowing a Yamaha tenor and one of this model, I think the Aulos just has the edge on performance and sound. This makes it worth the extra few pounds to get the best. I can't find a single negative to say against it. 5***** for Aulos!

Really good quality recorder. Comes with a case and cleaning item which is very useful. Lovely sound too.

I bought this to try to start relearning after a 36-year gap. At the time I bought it, it was just £4.65. My childhood recorders (descant and treble) were also from Aulos, and they were pretty much indestructible, so this seemed a fantastic bargain that would be good enough, in case I didn’t enjoy it and gave it up after a week! It’s generally in tune, plays all of the notes (chromatically) from middle C to D’’ (that’s the highest note, just over two octaves above middle C) with only a bit of a squeak on D’’ (I won’t blame that squeak on the Aulos; pretty sure that’s 100% my lack of recent experience). It doesn’t, of course, have the rich, mellow tone of a £2000 handmade, hardwood recorder, but it can make a pleasant, clear, consistent sound, across the registers. The only caveat is that it is extremely easy to overblow the lowest notes and have them “crack”. If you try to correct this by blowing more gently, you can end up with the lowest notes sounding a little flat. Aulos has a reputation for excellent build quality and this model is no exception. Over the years, Aulos recorders will have regularly been sat on, used as a drumstick, chucked into school backpacks and had heavy books piled on top, then possibly used to whack irritating siblings, and mostly they have survived intact. I’m not seven any more, so I haven’t tried any of that, but it seems tough enough to survive it. It comes with a dark blue cloth drawstring bag, a thumb rest, a cleaning rod and a fingering chart. Like the recorder, its bag seems extremely well-made. It's made of a heavy-duty twill - even long-term, it should be hard wearing (and, importantly, washable). My main criticism is that it clogs fairly quickly - after about 10 minutes of playing it starts to sound a bit “cotton-woolly” and I have to stop and dry it out. However, it’ll last an extra few minutes if you properly warm the head joint to body temperature before you start. TL;DR: Pros: Intonation - excellent - completely in tune. 👍👍👍 Response - excellent - easy to play the full range of notes. 👍👍👍 Tone - good - mostly pleasant, clear, consistent sound. Minor issues around the lowest notes. 👍 Quality - excellent - very robust. 👍👍👍 Appearance - Classic looks and I really like the ivory colour. 👍👍👍 Accessories - excellent - high quality and very useful. 👍👍👍 Cons: Clogging - happens fairly quickly; just keep it warm and swab out regularly. 👎 This recorder is obviously aimed at the primary school market, and it seems like a great choice for children of about 6-10. However, from experience, I can say that it is also suitable for adult beginners. I like the ivory colour - though, of course, that’s a matter of taste (it also comes in dark brown). I’d suggest that for a complete beginner of any age, you’ll want your first recorder to be a plastic one. For a child, Yamaha, like Aulos, are a very reputable, long-established brand, and they do some brightly coloured, see-through descants. (I personally wouldn’t recommend them; who wants to see the spit clogging the thing up, as you play?!) Aulos themselves do some well-regarded, more expensive descants, very suitable for the adult learner. The Symphony and 'Haka' models have great reputations. However, if you are looking for an inexpensive recorder (it’s still only £6.49, as I type) that will get you or your child through the first year or so of learning, then there are far worse options than this.

Excellent quality control from Aulos means even their cheap, basic, plastic, instruments are excellent.

This is a very good quality plastic sopranino recorder from a respected manufacturer. It is well made and has a good tone. It comes with a cleaning stick and a fingeting chart, all in a sturdy soft plastic case. English fingering.

I'd never tried a tenor recorder before, though I've played descant (soprano) and treble (alto) recorders for very many years, and and I bought this for fun, to see what it was like. It's good. A nice warm tone and is fairly easy to play, though the fingers do have to be well splayed apart to cover the holes, and those with small hands would find great difficulty. This model is actually slightly smaller than others, and I picked it after doing a good bit of googling and research on Amazon itself. My problems stem from having somewhat arthritic fingers and wrists which tire much more quickly than on a smaller recorder, but I reckon the exercise is probably doing some good, so I'm persevering. It's excellent quality, comes in a nice case, and overall I am very happy to recommend this instrument.

Bought for my 7 yo daughter for school recorder lessons. Great recorder and nice quality but disappointed that it didn’t come in the corduroy bag - which would make it feel even more like the one I once used many moons ago.

All as described

Very well presented. Very nice tone. Sounds very pleasant and in tune. It is indeed easier to play compared to other plastic tenors like the Aulos Symphony or the Yamaha. I have small hands and I can tell the difference quite clearly, it is a dream for me.

Muito bom! Melhor que isso, só uma flauta de madeira profissional.

Ich besitze bereits eine Tenorholzflöte und habe mir diese sozusagen als "Backup fürs Grobe" gekauft. Außerdem sollte man eine Holzflöte ja wegen der Feuchtigkeit nicht stundenlang spielen, da lohnt sich ein Zweitinstrument auf jeden Fall. Von allen Kunststoffflöten, die ich habe, würde ich diese als (im Vergleich zum Holzpendant) beste bezeichnen. Die Flöte klingt warm und voll, nicht schrill in den Höhen und trotzdem definiert. Die Tiefen sind gut, vor allem da die kurzmensurigen Holz-Standard-Tenöre in den tiefen Lagen auch nicht viel besser klingen. Die Flöte ist weich genug, um im Ensemble mitzutragen, aber auch fürs Solospiel ausreichend geeignet. Ich würde den Klang irgendwo bei Palisander verordnen. Es ist ja nicht das Holz das schwingt, sondern die Rauheit des Flöteninneren, die durch Verwirbelnden den Klang beeinflusst (daher werden Kunststoffflöten eher unterschätzt, weil viele Laien analog zu einer Plastikgeige denken, die vom Schwingungsverhalten physikalisch nicht gut klingen kann, was bei Flöten aber gar keine Rolle spielt.) Durch den größeren Windkanal im Vergleich zu Alt und Sopran macht auch das Kondenswasser geringere Probleme, ein bisschen Spülwasser, und das Problem ist gelöst. Wie in einer anderen Rezension beschrieben, finden sich bei genauerem Hinsehen tatsächlich bei jedem Loch feine Nähte in der Kunststoffoberfläche. Es sind aber keine Risse, sondern kommt wohl vom Guss- bzw. Pressvorgang, wo der Kunststoff unterhalb des Loches wieder zusammenläuft. Vermutlich lässt sich das fertigungstechnisch nicht verhindern. Ich habe mich für eine Flöte ohne Klappen entschieden, weil hier überhaupt die meisten Probleme bei Kunststoffflöten auftreten. Einziger Kritikpunkt wäre die Nachhaltigkeit der Flöte. Während eine Birnenholzflöte nach ein paar Jahren verblasen ist und kompostiert werden kann, hält diese wahrscheinlich irgendwo eingegraben für 27000 Jahre ...

Excellente flûte à bec Tenor. Elle m'a réconcilié avec les ténors du fait de sa facilité de jeu, de son et de souffle. L'écart des doigts est à peine (1cm en moyenne même pas) plus grand que celui d'une alto. C'est quand même exceptionelle de la part de Aulos d'avoir réussi ce coup de maître sans changer la tonalité de l'instrument.

I just started fooling around with recorders again after I haven't touched one for 53 years (the 4th grade). Irish whistles too. Wood ones from iVolga are really nice sounding. Anyway, I recently purchased a Yamaha YRN-302B II, a Yamaha 402 B Ecodear, and a Woodnote Garklein, which I think is total garbage, and probably a cheapo counterfeit somebody switched that I unfortunately ended up with. Anyway, the Yamaha recorders are legitimate and are quite nice, and I especially like the Ecodear alto, but this Aulos 211A tenor is really, I think, a bit nicer looking, simply because it has a unique design with subtle differences that make it stand out as far as looks go. It's not overly done with white (ivory colored) accents like most Yamaha recorders are. Very subtle, very classy looking. It also has a nice mellow tone, but I really could not judge against a Yamaha tenor, because I do not own one. Because of it's size, it's going to take a bit of time to get my breath control in order, but I am making progress fairly quickly. Just don't expect to come directly from another size and dive right in. It is a bit of a curve as far as breath control goes. It's much trickier transitioning between octaves and right now, I'm getting a bunch of squealing. That's totally on me. It just takes time, practice, and very, very subtle changes in breath. I'm sorted at how little breath this recorder requires as compared to the others I've been playing with in the last few weeks. I'm sure an intermediate player would have no problem whatsoever. As far as fingering goes, I'm 6'2" and have the necessary finger reach for such an instrument. This one seems no more difficult to transition from than going from a Soprano to an alto did for me. I rather like the fact that there are no moving parts on this one. I really hate moving parts like keys, because, guess what? Moving parts wear, they make a bit of noise, and moving parts can break! I'm not sure, but would imagine the keys on other recorders have some kind of felt sealing pad on them too that will need replacement. Without keys, this recorder will truly last a lifetime with no maintenance other than keeping it clean. I would highly recommend this recorder. As a novice to the tenor, I feel it's something you can easily grow into, provided you have the necessary finger reach. It seems to be very well made and is also very classy looking. It comes with a snap-on thumb rest should you require one, and also a cleaning rod and joint lube. The zipper pouch is quite nice too. One thing I wish it came with is a plug that holds the mouthpiece and the end bell together in the bag as Yamahas do, however it does have end caps for the main body tube. There is a felt divider for mouthpiece and the bell sewn into the pouch.