User talk:Girl in Orange

Tempest Recorder

John Orth’s Tempest Recorder is the first alto recorder made entirely from metal and with a process entirely new to recorder making. The Tempest Recorder took nearly two years from concept to completion, with one year dedicated to its construction. Its full CNC construction challenged it’s makers at every step hinting at the impossibility of completing the project at all. Design difficulties, those that would be simple to a modern recorder maker working in wood, threatened to halt the idea from ever being attempted. Although the construction design elements of the Tempest Recorder are proprietary the finished piece is of a very familiar construction, well known to all recorder makers.

The Tempest is typical of a late baroque alto recorder with a compound tapered bore, easy and clear baroque voicing, more than a two octave range, and externally styled with design elements found on many earlier recorders. The Tempest Recorder features a curved windway and a low wall above the labium for a clear voice. The tone is flutelike, no reedy overtones, and plays at relatively low breath pressure.

Construction

The Tempest Recorder was originally conceived by John Orth, an instrument maker and recorder player in Golden, Colorado. The CAD design and construction phase of the piece was led by Erick Ackley of Melbourne, Florida along with Ben Dickens, who handled the actual cutting of the piece. Originally conceived as a brass instrument the Tempest Recorder was constructed of Series 6 certified aircraft grade aluminum. The design required hundreds of hours of planning, drafting, tool making, cutting, and finishing.

Name John Orth named the recorder in honor of Erick Ackley who helped make the project a reality. In a conversation during one of the critical design phases Erick suggested that the finished piece should be named after the creator of the project, choosing to call the project “The Orth Recorder.” “An appropriate name honors all those who create something unique. So in order to tell the entire story, the name Tempest chosen not only to include the friends who made it possible, but also hinting at the complexity and challenges faced along the way.” (John Orth, 2013)