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- For over fifty years, we have dedicated ourselves to improving the standard of recorder playing, one instrument at a time. The above link will tell you everything you need to know (and quite possibly more than you ever wanted to know) about who we are and what we offer, as well as detailed information about our history, our publications, and our sales policies. If you can't find the answer here, there is always E-mail, telephone, fax, or [shudder] snail mail for the hopelessly retro.
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- Our extensive on-line ASW catalogue offers hundreds of different models of recorders and a large number of other historical woodwind, brass, string, keyboard, and percussion instruments. Our sheet music catalogue contains more than 15,000 titles the last time we counted, but our annotated list of the most frequently ordered items is a good place to start. Feel free to download and print out any specific catalogue pages in which you are interested. However, if you're looking for something very specific or want professional guidance and advice, you are welcome to call us during our regular business hours Monday-Friday from 10AM-6PM.
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- Our ASW Information Bulletins will provide you with concise, detailed, and authoritative information on various aspects of the recorder and its playing technique. If you need a crash course in some specific subject, this is a good place to start. Beginners will want to read the first five bulletins in the order listed. If you have questions not answered here, feel free to call us, but do bear in mind H. L. Mencken's dictum: "For every complex question, there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong." To which we would add the corollary: "For every simple question, the only correct answer is long, complex, and detailed."
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- We ask that all orders for plastic recorders, accessories, and/or sheet music be placed using our ASW Order Form. This will enable us to process and fill your order much more quickly, efficiently, and accurately. Credit card information may be safely left on our office answering machine outside of our regular business hours if desired; please include your name and your credit card's number and expiration date. Because of the great volume of orders for our custom-tuned plastic recorders, we are not able to accept telephone orders for or answer calls about these items if we are also to continue to provide time-consuming custom service for such inexpensive items; they are what they are. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.
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- We confirm all orders personally and answer all inquiries promptly. A few customers have reported that they did not receive our order confirmations or shipping notifications, due to overly-aggressive spam filtration by their Internet Service Provider or E-mail client. Please make certain that www.aswltd.com and www.ups.com are trusted domains in your server and personal E-mail security settings if you wish to insure that you will receive our communications. If all else fails, look in your spam/junk mail folder. Please understand that we are not able to provide personal IT support to our customers.
The Antique Sound Workshop Blog
Current News and Notices for Our Customers
Küng Blockflötenbau in Switzerland has posted new, higher prices for 2024. We will continue to offer all Küng recorders currently in stock at their February 2022 prices through the end of January, but our new 2024 prices, which reflect both the maker's price increases and the current lower value of the US dollar vs. the Swiss franc, will take effect on February 1, 2024.
The United States Postal Service is increasing its rates for all services on January 21, 2024. We recommend that our customers request shipping of high value items via United Parcel Service, which is more reliable and provides automatic tracking information to shippers and recipients. However, USPS Media Mail is very cost-effective for sheet music and recordings, and Priority Mail has become faster and much more reliable lately, albeit somewhat more expensive as well, takes 1-3 business days, and is a good choice for plastic and less expensive wooden recorder orders. Since October 2023, USPS is offering a new Ground Advantage Service, which is similar to Priority Mail but less expensive and somewhat slower, taking 3-5 business days.
United Parcel Service increased its Ground and Air shipping rates an average of 6.5% for 2024, effective December 26th 2023. Please note, however, that the basic rates in those charts do not include mandatory UPS surcharges for residential delivery, non-urban delivery, dimensional weight, insurance, and other various add-ons. We pack all orders very carefully in order to minimize the cost to our customers and charge exactly the amount that UPS charges us for their services -- we do not pad shipping charges, charge flat fees, or make guesstimates as is frequently done by other mail order merchants. We will continue to provide free UPS Ground Shipping for all domestic orders that total over $500 to the 48 continguous states, but domestic orders totaling less than $500 will be billed for shipping at the new 2024 rates. We ship packages to international destinations, Alaska, Hawaii, and some other US destinations via USPS Priority Mail when there is a significant cost saving or service advantage for our customers. We discontinued using Fedex several years ago because of declines in reliability and quality of service.
Yamaha posted new recorder prices, effective on July 1, 2023. All orders received before 30 June 2023 for instruments currently in stock were delivered at their previous March 2022 prices. All orders received after 1 July 2023 will be delivered at their higher 2023 prices. All of their hand-made wooden recorders are no longer being stocked by Yamaha in the United States and are now available only on special order, with delivery times ranging from four to six months. We are offering substantial discounts on these custom wooden instruments by way of compensation for the extended delivery times.
Back in 2016 Yamaha released the first additions to their series of plastic recorders in almost twenty years: their new 400 Series Plastic Recorders are identical in acoustical design to their present 300 series, but the new models are being made of a new composite material named Ecodear, which consists of 70% ABS plastic resin and 30% plant-based resin -- all previous models have been made of 100% ABS plastic. These new instruments are yellow in color and similar to boxwood in appearance, with white imitation ivory trim similar to that in the 300 series instruments. In addition to being more ecologically friendly, the new recorders have a more covered, warmer, diffuse tone quality that some customers feel is more like a wooden recorder. The Ecodear soprano and alto recorders are now in stock at ASW and are priced in between the original brown plastic YRS-302B and YRA-302B instruments and the newer woodgrain-finish YRS-312B, YRS-314B, YRA-312B, and YRA-314B models.
Yamaha has announced the discontinuation of their 400 Series Ecodear soprano and alto recorders. They are being replaced by the new 400 Series Terramac soprano and alto recorders, which are identical in color, weight, tone quality, and price. We have sufficient supplies of the Ecodear models in stock at the moment, but they will be eventually replaced by the new Terramac recorders when present inventory is depleted.
Stephan Blezinger posted new, somewhat higher prices, effective on June 1, 2023. All orders received before 31 May 2023 and currently in production were delivered at his 2022 prices. All orders received on or after 1 June 2023 will be delivered at his new, somewhat higher 2023 prices.
Mollenhauer announced several model changes for 2023. Their hybrid plastic/wood PRIMA soprano and alto recorders have been discontinued. We have stocked sufficient numbers of these extremely popular instruments to supply our customers for the immediate future, but they will be unavailable once our current inventory becomes depleted. Both PRIMA models are available at their 2022 prices. The PRIMA soprano has been replaced by a new Fipple hybrid plastic/wood soprano recorder, available in four different headjoint colors and four different fingering system choices. We cannot stock all of the numerous (total of 16!) available model variations, but we do have the new Fipple model with the sea blue headjoint and baroque fingering in stock for immediate delivery. We will be happy to obtain any of the other color and fingering choices on special order for our customers.
The Mollenhauer baroque reproduction Denner-Edition soprano and alto recorders, previously available in both stained and unstained satinwood at both a'=440 and a'=415, will be available only in unstained satinwood going forward. A limited number of the stained satinwood models are still available at their 2022 prices for our customers who prefer those models. The newer grenadilla wood models introduced last year, which have been extremely popular, provide a brighter, more overtone-rich and focused sound with greater projection and more rapid response to articulation.
The previously revised Mollenhauer Maarten Helder Harmonic tenor recorder, renamed Evo and provided with a bentneck design last year, was complemented by a newly-designed Evo alto recorder for 2022. These two models, which have extensive keywork and interchangeable windway roofs, have a three-octave pitch range and unusually wide dynamic range. They are intended particularly for professional performers of nineteenth and twentieth century music and are eminently suited for use with a wide variety of modern instruments.
We have recently added to our catalogue two new innovative Solo Alto Recorders from the Küng workshop in Switzerland. The E3 alto is a modern design with a low E foot and extensive keywork, suitable for contemporary music and modern instrument ensembles. The K4 alto is a more traditional baroque design and tonal profile, but with greater volume and a wider range than baroque reproduction recorders.
Because of EU CITES shipping restrictions in effect for the past several years, Stephan Blezinger was unable to export instruments made of grenadilla. However, we are now happy to announce that, because of recent revisions to the European Union CITES regulations, he is once again able to supply us with his Bressan by Blezinger and Late Baroque instruments in grenadilla as well as Brazilian or European boxwood. He is also now making his Bressan by Blezinger alto recorder in an a'=415 Hz model which compares very favorably with other low pitch baroque reproduction recorders and at a competitive price.
We have recently received four excellent new anthologies of renaissance pieces for soprano and alto recorder and keyboard with an accompanying CD. These publications are welcome additions to the earlier series of four previous publications of baroque music with accompanying CD recording from the same publisher that have been available for several years. The format is identical to the earlier releases: each volume contains over 30 well-chosen pieces complemented by pedagogically and historically sound performance practice suggestions in three languages, and the CD provides recordings of both just the keyboard accompaniment and a complete finished performance by solo instrument and keyboard. These volumes provide a substantial amount of music and excellent professional instruction at the same bargain price as the earlier four releases. They are a must-have for all intermediate level recorder players, but especially for those who do not have access to or cannot afford a professional artist-teacher.
Hal Leonard has published a remarkable and quite inexpensive self-teaching method offering a intensive programmed course of instruction which allows any musician to develop a highly accurate sense of pitch recognition in just seven weeks of study. Adam Perlmutter's Perfect Pitch Method consists of a text book, three CDs, and additional on-line audio resources as well. We highly recommend this well-written, pedagogically-sound, and extremely useful course of self-instruction to all beginning, intermediate, and advanced level players who wish to develop and improve their sense of intonation, pitch recognition, and overall musicianship with a modest amount of effort in just a very short period of time.
We are able to accept a complete selection of credit cards for payment: in addition to VISA and MasterCard, we now also accept payment by Discover, Diners Club, JCB, and American Express. Please also note that we no longer are required to submit the three-digit CCV code for VISA transactions. Our ASW Order Form has been updated to accommodate these additional possibilities for payment. As always, we ask that customers please submit their orders using our on-line order form, so that we may fill their orders as expeditiously and accurately as possible.
Customers placing orders via our on-line ASW Order Form and requesting shipping via UPS Ground, Air, or International services will automatically receive detailed shipping, tracking, and delivery information via E-mail. Any delivery delays caused by adverse weather conditions or other problems will also be rescheduled and reported. If you wish to have us send this information to multiple E-mail addresses, simply provide the additional addresses in the information box at the bottom of the order form. Orders placed by phone, fax, or E-mail must be processed manually, which causes more delay in invoicing and shipping and does not allow for automatic confirmation and shipping notification. Please also note that the USPS package system does not provide automatic tracking information as such, but customers can register on-line for their Informed Delivery service (if they have not already done so) which will accomplish the same purpose, albeit with somewhat more effort on the customer's part.
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- In order to serve you more efficiently, each member of our staff now has his or her own E-mail address. Our ASW staff directory provides you with quick and easy-to-use E-mail reply forms.
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- If you want to "cut to the chase" and place an order now, go to our ASW Order Form. If you want to send us an order by E-mail, please contact our Sales Department at sales(at)aswltd.com. You may also call, fax, or write us.
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- You will find here direct links to the newest items in stock at Antique Sound Workshop. All items are in reverse chronological order, so the most recent items are listed first.
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- This link will take you directly to our current inventory of pre-owned, demonstration, imperfect, discontinued, overstocked, and closeout recorders and other historical instruments.
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- We have listed the contents of all back issues of our customer newsmagazine for the last ten years it was published. Copies of some back issues may still be ordered from us, but many are sold out and no longer available. At the request of many of our customers, we have begun making available on our website a few selected articles and editorials from those back issues that are now out of print. It is a slow and tedious process, but we will add to these republished articles as time permits.
