If you have the lungs of a lion and an unnatural attraction to the sound of fog horns, Saturday Morning Music Classes (SMMC) have the ideal instrument for you to master.
The contrabass recorder is one of the lowest sounding instruments in the woodwind family, and will be available for students (preferably adults) to learn when classes restart on February 25.
But SMMC senior recorder tutor and recorder consort director Alison Tay warned the $10,000 Swiss-made instrument was not for the faint of heart - nor the short of breath for that matter.
''It's about 6 foot 6 [2 metres] tall.
''You need quite a lot of air - it's like blowing down a drain pipe and it sounds like a fog horn on a ship.
''It's actually quite quiet, but because the depth of sound is so low and resonant, it comes through in ensembles much more than I thought it would.''
SMMC musical director Aart Brusse said contrabass recorders were rare in New Zealand.
There were only three or four in the country because of the difficulty playing them, and the cost of buying them.
He said the contrabass recorder was made by Kung musical instruments in Switzerland.
It was bought late last year with grants from the Lion Foundation, the Otago Community Trust and the Bendigo Trust.
Mr Brusse said he was looking forward to seeing the instrument in action when the 26 members of the Saturday Morning Music Classes recorder consort met to rehearse again later this month.
They would be among about 600 people, aged from 7 to over 70, who would learn to play a wide variety of musical instruments. Classes would be held at George Street Normal School and Bathgate Park School.
Enrolments are this Saturday and classes begin on February 25
