Kunath Pentatonic 7-Tone Recorder

I bought this flute about four months ago specifically to just play it, without any sheet music, without having something to study. A few youtube video's lead me to choose this specific pentatonic flute. First, I came across a video of someone playing this flute and it sounded so lovey. So I got interested and looked for more info, and found another video that was useful because it mentioned the fingering. I like the system in fingering. The holes for your right middle finger and your right little finger are closed because, ofcourse, this is a pentatonic flute in D. I really like that the lowest note has the same fingering as a D on a soprano recorder and you don't play the low D with your little finger but with the ring finger of your right hand.
The flute arrived soon after I ordered it and was well packaged. One thing I do want to mention is that the flute was very well oiled with very sticky oil. When I took it out of the case the bottom of the flute was sticky and so were some of the holes. Over time the flute absorbed most of the oil I guess. The case it came with is well made and sturdy and it comes with a cleaning rod, a cleaning cloth and a fingering chart. The flute is well made and beautiful and perfectly tuned. It has a narrow windway and labium but the wide bore still makes the sound level about the same as that of a soprano recorder. I also like the wide bore for how it feels in my hands.
I love playing this flute! It's the flute I pick up when I just want to play and see what kind of music comes out. It very quickly became one of my three favourite flutes. By the way, on this flute you can play more notes than just the pentatonic ones! For instance, you can play f# the same way you would on a soprano recorder with Barock fingering. For high c you use the thumb, middle finger and ring finger of your left hand. For high c# you use thumb and middle finger of your left hand. This way you can play even more wonderful music on this flute. Kunath could make a slight improvement to the fingering chart though. The way it's shown now it looks like you need to use your right little finger to play the lowest note. I think a fingering chart that shows picures of the flute, showing the holes that are always closed as well, would be clearer for absolute beginners.

I have lots of different recorders, and this is now my favourite. I will use it for teaching. It is clear in tone, and warms up to play at pitch fairly quickly. I like the way it has been designed so that players may easily make the transition to a standard soprano recorder. (The hole at the bottom is in the C position). This differs from some pentatonic recorders, which have the little finger playing D. It is good to have a choice. Even with the pentatonic notes, students may still opt for a standard tutor book, eg Recorder Magic Book 1, only needs a "C" in page 24 - this means a lot of skills and confidence have been gained in the early stages.
It is a nice feature to have the instrument made in one piece, and it feels secure and nicely balanced when playing. the holes are easy to cover.
Kunath - thank you for this wonderful instrument!

I bought this recorder for my 5 years old son who is a mouth breather, in order to unconsciously force him to learn to breath by the nose & belly instead.

He's always whistling melodies around the house so a gifting him a recorder also made sense outside the medical reason stated above!

I'm not familiar at all with recorders, but this one is a quality item, does not sound out of tune and the holes are small enough for kid's hands...

Now comes the fun part where he discover his instrument in a chaotic mess of random notes!

Seit vielen Jahren verwende ich die pentatonische Kunathflöte im Unterricht der ersten und zweiten Klasse. Die pentatonische Tonleiter ermöglicht es den Kindern sehr schnell (nach wenigen Stunden) wohlklingende Melodien spielen zu können.

Fast alle Tonkombinationen klingen musikalisch schön. In der Ansprache gleicht die Kunathflöte einer normalen Blockflöte und wird auch mit der gleichen Technik geblasen. Zur Tonbildung benötigt sie ausreichend Luft und so kommt zu keinem Atemstau..

Auffällig ist, dass sie sehr dick ist. So fügt sie sich angenehm in die Kinderhand ein und erlaubt ein unverkrampftes Greifen. . Einen Gabelgriff, wie bei der barocken Griffweise, braucht man nicht und deshalb können sich auch Kinder, die etwas ungeschickte Finger haben, sehr bald an ihrem schönen Flötenspiel erfreuen. Die besondere Bauweise der Flöte entstand auch dadurch, dass man erfahrene Flötenlehrer zur Rate zog. Sie wird deshalb auch an Waldorfschulen, an denen das Flötenspielen im Klassenverband obligatorisch ist, gerne verwendet.

Kunath baut seit vielen Jahren Blockflöten in handwerklich ausgezeichneter Qualität.. Die Flöten haben einen warmen weichen Klang, speziell die 7-Tonflöte. Die Tonhöhe ist sehr präzise. Jedem, der den Kindern Spaß am Flötenspiel vermitteln will, ohne dabei durch Missklänge einen Gehörschaden zu erleiden, sei diese Flöte wärmstens empfohlen.

Norbert Lunz-Horlamus