The recorder is a fantastic musical instrument. For the following reasons:

Cheap

Very cheap, you can get a decent plastic soprano recorder for $5.

Indestructible

If you have a plastic recorder they’re immune to water damage and it’ll last you a very long time. (If it doesn’t get run over by a lawn mower because you left it in the yard).

Portable

It’s a tiny flute, you can put it in your pocket.

Easy

Since it’s a fipple flute you don’t need to have a special embouchure like the clarinet and the western concert flute. Also, once you get some breath control and some notes down, your friends will be impressed that the recorder can actually sound good and they’ll call you an expert because the standards for recorder playing is much lower than other instruments.

Versatile

There’s actually different sizes of recorder. Do you want more respect? Get a bigger recorder like an alto which is deeper and in a different key, so a c note fingering on a soprano is an f on an alto. There’s also the tenor recorder which is an octave deeper and twice as big as the soprano, it plays the same notes and fingerings as the soprano.

Fun

There’s nothing more fun than seeing the look on a “real” musician’s face when you pull out a recorder. Playing music should be fun.