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  • - [Announcer] It's plastic; it's most likely beige;

  • and it sounds like this:

  • (recorder music)

  • Chances are if you grew up in the United States

  • you've played a recorder.

  • It was a non-negotiable part

  • of your elementary school education,

  • and for that, you can thank this guy, Carl Orff,

  • a passionate German composer.

  • (dramatic classical music)

  • Originally, the recorder was hand-crafted,

  • wooden, and made for the highest of society.

  • Even Vivaldi and Bach wrote pieces for the recorder.

  • It doesn't rely on a reed or strings, just breath.

  • (recorder playing)

  • It's in the flute family.

  • In the 1960s, the recorder started being produced

  • out of plasticcheap plastic.

  • (recorder playing)

  • So, how did it become the clumsy,

  • awkward sound, we all used to play?

  • (recorders playing)

  • That's where Orff comes in.

  • He saw the recorder as an easy way

  • to get kids to start playing music.

  • The logic was simple.

  • The recorder relies on rhythm rather than memorization.

  • If you can sing, you most likely can play it.

  • (recorders playing)

  • Orff had the best of intentions,

  • to inspire the next generation of musicians,

  • and even though they can sometimes be annoying,

  • our hats are off to you, sir,

  • for changing the course of music education

  • for generations to come.

  • (recorders playing)

- [Announcer] It's plastic; it's most likely beige;

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