Another word (and question) on Pipes vs Recorders,
The two instruments belong to two different woodwind families. The recorder is "basically” in the flute family; as the tone is made by the air column hitting a strike plate. From my very limited experience with the Pipes (which I’m looking to rectifying soon) I know they are reed instruments (a reed vibrates to produce the tone). To guess to what branch of the family I would need to know about the reeds being used. Are they single reeds (i.e. Clarinet or Sax) or double reeds (Oboe or Bassoon)? Off the cuff I’d possibly relate them to the Shawm?