Recorder question, the instrument, not machine

[racuda]

I recently dug up some recorders, soprano, alto, and whatever is lower than alto. I've had these for 30 years and never learned how to play them. I just messsed around, sounding pseudo-Irish. Now, I'm up for the challange.

Do you think these will work well playing along with mando fiddle tunes? Which of the three mentioned do you think would work with songs like soldiers joy, red haired boy, etc.?

Would the recorder be played as a lead instrument, or could it be used as accompaniment? If so, how?

[MandoSquirrel]

I'd go for it, thinking of it like the penny or tin whistles that are used for playing melodys. Pipers play them when their not piping.
I'm not sure which for what, but I think the soprano would equate to the mando's upper range, & the alto to the bottom end.
I'm sure others know far better than I, especially our friends across the Pond.

[mandroid]

SATBB.. goes > soprano , alto ,tenor , baritone, bass, contra-bass, I believe..

[John Craton]

I think the full range is sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, bass, and sub-bass (also called a great bass). The soprano, tenor, and sub-bass are C instruments; sopranino, alto, and bass are F. There's also the garklien, tuned an octave higher than the soprano, but it's very hard to play if you have large hands. Most recorders can come tuned either to A=440 or A=415, so you'll want to be careful which you get. Obviously the C instruments would be easiest to play with a mando unless you want to do some transposition. I once took part in a performance of some Irish folk music, and we used a soprano recorder in that ... none of us could get a decent sound out of a pennywhistle, but that was our fault. The recorder worked well for our purposes. I believe we only used it as a lead. The hardest part about playing recorders for a beginner is learning not to overblow the instrument. Good luck! Keep us posted on how things go.