Wyllow: are you blowing into the Hohner recorder as if it were a pea shooter? That's what you want to do. You want a concentrated jet of air going through.

I have a Hohner that someone picked up at a garage sale. It is husky, but plays in tune. I think of it as my harmonica-recorder.

Has your recorder been oiled? Maybe it needs oil. You can get bore oil and a swab at a music store.

Re: Is a St.Patrick's Day pub any place for a genteel recorder?" I'm sure that recorders were played in Ireland at the same time that they were being played in Europe to the east and America to the west. They are an affordable, accessible instrument.

For three years now I have played soprano recorder at a St Patrick's Day fish fry. It and the bodhran are the only instruments that can be heard over the clatter of trays and loud conversations.