Thanks to ye old irreplaceable, unbreakable C&F main site for its “link of the month” to Hind’s Ocarinas: http://hindocarina.com/index.html
These look really cool. They appear inexpensive. Also I read they can play a full tenth interval (for the “tenor” model in F, that is from E below to 2nd octave G) which seems a good improvement over the usual one octave range. There are quite a few whistle tunes which should work, but pity the “Alto” Bb does not go down to Ab (instead of =A) for a whole piper’s scale…
I have a small, similar looking ocarina made by someone else. It hangs on a neck cord, and is really pretty nice sounding. Unlike other 4 or 5 hole ocarinas which have strange fingering, this one fingers a lot like a whistle.
My wife has most of the line. She doesn’t play much other than on the soprano. Due to its small size and having a string to wear it like a necklace, it’s quite portable. It has a very sweet sound.
Most of these have a range of a ninth, eight notes on the top and one on the bottom. The larger ones are also chromatic, except the double tenor, which plays two diatonic scales a fourth or fifth apart. As with most fipple woodwinds, the larger ones are not very loud, or at least don’t carry well. They also have kind of a dark sound.
There’s a guy who tours some of the renfairs around Michigan who makes really nice clay ocarinas. I picked up a soprano a few years ago but haven’t done much with it. I’ll try to find out who he is and if he has a web site.
If anyone is interested, I have a bass Hind ocarina that I’ll part with for $50.00. This includes all documentation, gig bag, and shipping (to US location)
