I’ve always liked ocarinas and have had one or two but never one that sounded very good. Can anyone suggest a good source for nice-sounding and in-tune ocarinas? I guess I need a “Thom’s Whistle Shop” of Ocarinas
Preferably not very expensive. I’d be willing to drop $25-$45 ish on a really good one.
You people who play, is there any real difference between the differently-designed and differently-holed models?
I wish it was easy to choose an ocarina but having helped my son buy one I can only offer the following.
There are several hole systems, several different shapes, and several different materials that they are made of. Check online as I remember an ocarina site that had some of the information summarized. Just use the search feature.
Some have only one thumb hole at the bottom, I think others have two. That gets confusing.
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If you get one, remember to insist that it be at least in tune with something. My son got a wooden one at LITM and its a quarter tone sharp of Anat, so you can’t play along with it at all. Its a nice sounding thing but no good for jammin. I have a clay one in E major that is nice with a leather string so you can keep it round your neck.
I pondered learning it but it has a short range compared to a whistle and I am spoiled on a full two octaves from the whistle.
Avanutria,
I have one of these circle ocarinas from starseed. I’ve had it a few years. I used to mess with it a lot before I discovered whistle. The fingering confounds me–lots of cross fingering just to produce a scale–but it is chromatic!!! I’ll keep mine just for the novelty of it. It is quiet, fairly well in tune, nice tone, and I’d say worth the 27.00 especially because it is chromatic. I’ve heard the ceramic potato style ocarinas. They sound the loudest and clearest to me. I’ve also heard the plastic versions that seem to be better in tune? I believe Tyghress is an ocarina aficionado, so I would wait for her to post! I would deal with Thom at the Whistle Shop for an ocarina because he is sincere about providing customer satisfaction.
Lisa
The nicest sounding ocarinas I’ve heard are by JC Hind. They’re wooden rather than ceramic or gourd, so they’re not very traditional looking, but they’re very sweet sounding. They’re available from HMT ( http://www.hmtrad.com ), there are a few in your price range.
I’ve never heard of an ocarina with that range. I’m definitely a collector of these critters, but not a pro. For me, if it makes a sound, can play a scale of sorts (different notes for each fingering), and has something cool about it, I’ll buy it, ask for it as a gift, acquire it in some (legal) way.
I don’t play them with anyone, and don’t play standard music except to show people that they can play 'tunes’as opposed to my soulful twiddling. I’m not fussy on ‘in tune’ because to me they play a different kind of music…for me the lure of the ocarina is that they’re so often hand crafted, so each has this very unique personality and sound. I’ve never bought a plastic one, so I can’t comment on that.
Sorry that I’m not much of a help! If you wanted two octaves, you might find a two chambered ocarina.
I have Langley ceramic ocarinas (UK made). They look beautiful (he does lots of nice glazes)and play very well. As for the range, a 6 hole ocarina (4 on the top and 2 thumb holes) has a theoretic range of 1 octave and a tone, but by tilting the ocarina up and down you can bend the notes quite drastically (by a tone or more). The only explanation I’ve heard for this is that because the ocarina is so small, the ‘lip’ is very close to your lips, as it were, and your face is actually interfering with the air coming out more or less as you tilt it. I’ve heard it called ‘nose shadowing’! Maybe if you have a big nose you could get a bigger bend! The comments on ‘in-tune-ness’ of ocarinas puzzles me a little, as all of the ones I have can easily be made to play in tune by tilting - they are essentially tunable.
