I fell in love with this flute the first moment I saw and tried it: the G basset from Bob Marvin’s 8′ consort. Since it’s one note higher than the more common F basset, it is a bit smaller and far more agile. Its sound is beautiful: rich imposing low notes and high notes that can be soft or strong.
With Bob, March 2013
Bob only sells it within his big 8′ consort (10 flutes) which I can’t afford. However, I decided to write and convince him to sell me this basset as a solo flute, although I knew that was quite impossible. Just a few days later, an incredible coincidence happened: the Flanders Recorder Quartet put an announcement on the internet: they were selling their Marvin G basset separately, and I was the happy one to get it! That was last summer. As soon as I got the flute I sent it to Canada and asked Bob to make a new cap and fontanella, as well as to clean and revoice it. Two months ago, in his annual travel to Europe, he brought it back to me. It was made in 1985, 3 years before I was born, and it sounds just as fine as a new one! So, after almost a year of waiting:
This is what it sounds like (min 2:12):
Arcadelt & Ortiz & Cord-to-Krax — O felici occhi miei
Milena Cord-to-Krax, recorder | Alejandro Casal, harpsichord
And this is what it looks like:
