Yamaha YRT304BII Tenor Recorder

I wanted an inexpensive tenor for ensemble practice and one-to-a-part sessions as a backup to my main tenor, an Aura Conservatorium in grenadilla wood. I have been using an Aulos 211 plastic model for many years for this, but as newer music for recorder often means the appearance of a low C#, rarely present in earlier music, the Aulos has been less suited for this as it has no split key. I chose the Yamaha 304 after hearing it played by fellow players. I have not been disappointed. It has proved more effective and musical than I'd expected. It is light enough to be easy to hold for long periods, but with enough heft not to feel flimsy. The sound is somewhat richer and more sonorous than the Aulos, and though it does not quite match my Aura tenor in roundness of sound, it is less than a tenth of the price, and holds its own in ensemble and consort playing. Notes in the low octave speak easily, and intonation is good throughout the range, with an initial tendency to flatness, until a good playing temperature has been reached. Moisture is an occasional problem, but no more so than with a dense wood recorder. In summary, a fine and capable recorder at an affordable price, and a match for good wood recorders several times the price. Recommended.

I love this instrument. It has a great sound. The stretch is a bit different to my very old Aulos tenor but I got used to it after a couple of days. The bore is bigger than my previous recorder which allow it to produces a louder sound, can't wait to play at church once lockdown is over and normal life resumes. It arrived in good time and in good condition. I am curious to see how well the carry case holds up once it starts travelling with me.

This is a BIG instrument! And I have small hands. But the tone is amazing - easily comparable with my wooden recorders. Deep, Ruch and warm. It really is a fantastic quality instrument! Highly recommended.

Can't play, the finger spacings are mega! Even for me a grown man. Good quality but hurts to stretch so no good for me. Maybe for you this will not be an issue.

This is a great recorder - managed to pick this one up for less than half price entitle 'used - like new'. It really was like new, didn't look like it had ever been used. My son was delighted and the tone is lovely, very mellow.

This instrument has excellent tone and cannot be faulted on that. However, those with male average to smaller hands (19cm span from thumb to ring finger) will struggle (initially) to play the lower notes. The picture shows the finger spacing between the Yamaha and the keyless Aulos tenor. The right hand 5th and 6th holes are a bit further apart. The 6th (double) hole is also not offset to the right in any way and is slightly bigger than the Aulos one. So this makes it harder to reach and significantly harder to seal/cover. And if you don't cover this properly, you will not get the low C to sound at all, even though it has a key to help you. Therefore you have to be very, very precise when playing low D (or any note requiring that 6th hole). I also found that the stretch was so tenuous, than even attempting to press the C key after a successful sounding of D, then pulled my finger covering that 6th hole, out of position very slightly, and this was enough leakage to kill the C note. I think that Yamaha have made a questionable design decision about the 6th hole position and not taken account of the limitations of the average 3rd finger. They could so easily have offset slightly making it easier to reach and cover. Having said all that, the the second picture shows the final bore dimensions. The Yamaha has significantly less taper than the Aulos. This results in several differences: 1/ The Yamaha is louder across the scale but much more so in the lower register 2/ It therefore requires noticeably more air 3/ the tone is significantly clearer than the Aulos with has a more husky/breathy overtone. If you are willing to persist with this instrument and are prepared for a full stretch workout on the right hand fingers (you will notice this after a practice session), then I recommend this for its superior tone and volume. EDIT - one way to get around the stretch problem is to rotate the middle section around so that the labium window aligns with the left-most hole as you look down the instrument from the head. This will give an extra few millimeters of reach and make easier to play the lower notes. This doesn't seem to impair the sound either.

Lovely tone all notes speak well when recorder warmed up. Can be a big stretch for some people on lower notes but this can be quite easily overcome with a few strengthin exercises available on team recorder.

My husband loves this but needed time for him to stretch to all the notes. Xx

The usual Yamaha quality. Sounds slightly different than my Aulos Robin 211A tenor, but definitely not worse. As a beginner, I have to say that this is an excellent instrument

Totally wasted my money on this because I want to go to music school and recorder isn’t a musical instrument for that but it is a fantastic recorder and I love it to death. I have a soprano but I LOVE the sound of the tenor more. I will say I play my flute more though now that I’m trying to get into music school

Flauta tenor genial para empezar en este instrumento con la calidad de Yamaha y un sonido dulce. Nada que ver con la típica flauta escolar soprano.

Ich habe diese Blockflöte für eine Schülerin gekauft, damit sie ausprobieren kann, ob sie im Ensemble Tenorflöte spielen möchte. Ich war selbst überrascht von dem schönen, warmen Klang. Hätte ich von einer Kunststoffflöte nicht erwartet. Auch optisch finde ich diese Flöte in Ordnung.

A very good instrument . Well made for a plastic version. In the scale af C major the F is slightly lower than the natural pitch.