The pitch ranges of alto, bass, and soprano C ocarinas are illustrated below. Note that many ocarinas can play a few lower notes, covered under 'subholes' later in this section. Ocarinas change pitch with blowing pressure, and pressure must increase as holes are opened to maintain sound production. Thus, the relative intonation of the chambers will tend to change as different notes are played, and people only have one mouth. The microtonal ocarina is a design of ocarina with one or two large holes, covered by the palm of your hand. They are played by varying your hand position and blowing pressure. The resonator in the ocarina can create overtones, but because of the common "egg" shape, these overtones are many octaves above the keynote scale. [12] In similar Helmholtz resonator instruments with a narrow cone shape, like the Gemshorn or Tonette, some partial overtones are available. The technique of overblowing to get a range of higher-pitched notes is possible with the ocarina but not widely used because the resulting note is not "clean" enough, so the range of pitches available is limited by the total area of the holes.

Fingering Charts – STL Ocarina

Peruvian Pendant – Dating from the time of the Incas, used as instruments for festivals, rituals, and ceremonies. They are often seen with designs of animals. They usually have 8–9 holes. Perono Cacciafoco, Francesco (2019). "A Prehistoric 'Little Goose': a New Etymology for the Word ocarina". Analele Universităţii din Craiova. Seria Ştiinţe Filologice. Lingvistică (1–2): 356–369. The traditional German gemshorn works nearly the same way as an ocarina. The only difference is the material it is made from: the horn of a chamois, goat, or other suitable animal. [18] Sindhi borrindos, a form of vessel flute produced in different sizes to give different tones. The borrindo is made out of soft alluvial clay, plentiful in the central Indus Valley. You will see that you will progressively raise all the fingers of your right hand except the thumb. Then, you continue with the left hand (this time starting with the ring finger, leaving the pinky for the end).The 'key' of an ocarina refers to the major scale sounded when no cross-fingered accidentals are used. For example. a C ocarina would produce a C scale, whereas the same fingerings on a G ocarina would produce a G scale.

The types of ocarina | Pure Ocarinas

This is worked around in a few ways. First, most harmony ocarinas use a rectangular sound hole with the labium close to the exit of the windway, as this can sound at the same pressure over a larger range without becoming airy. Contrabass ocarinas playing an octave lower, and sopranino ocarinas playing an octave higher also exist. Contrabass ocarinas are mostly used in ocarina ensembles. Sopranino ocarinas are rare. Perono Cacciafoco, Francesco (December 2019). "A Prehistoric 'Little Goose': A New Etymology for the Word 'Ocarina' ". Seria Stiinte Filologice. Analele Universitatii din Craiova. 41 (1–2): 456–469.Unlike single chambered ocarinas, multichambers are classified by the number of chambers, and not hole count. This is done as the fingering system is not fully standardised and varies to some extent between makers. Today, 12 hole ocarinas are the most commonly available kind of transverse ocarina due to the popularity of the design in Asia. As everyone's hands are different it is impossible to design a single ocarina that perfectly fits the hands of all players. If you suspect that this could be a problem I'd recommend trying other ocarinas.

Ocarina - Wikipedia Ocarina - Wikipedia

Inline – These ocarinas are usually rectangular or oval-shaped and are constructed so that the instrument points away from the musician when played. Most inline ocarinas have a similar or identical fingering system to transverse ocarinas. Multichamber ocarinas do not suffer from these problems as they have different chambers whose size matches the range of notes produced. They work in harmoney with the instrument's physics instead of against it. The size of each chamber is chosen to produce the best possible sound, and the smaller range means that the chambers generally sound better. Harmony ocarinas, which are explained later, are multichamber ocarinas that are designed to play in harmony. Due to their differing function, their design and ergonomics are quite different. Pendant ocarinas (4, 5, and 6 hole ocarinas)Many multichambers have one or two subholes, although I have omitted them as they may or may not be available. You can just add one or two diatonic notes to the bottom of any of these ranges. Asian A 12 hole ocarina is essentially the same, the only difference being the addition of two 'subholes'. They extend the low range downwards by 3 semitones. Thus a 12 hole C ocarina would have a playing range from A to F.

12-hole Lessons | How to Play Ocarina

The following gives some general advise, but if you would like to explore harmony ocarinas your best bet is to look for manufacturers and read their documentation. Tuning The ocarina is fully chromatic, and thus can play in any key that fits within the available range of notes. In general music terminology the term 'base pitch' is more appropriate, but people often use the word 'key' to mean both things. Due to the physics of the instrument, having a smaller range allows 10 hole ocarinas to have a strong, clean sound through the whole range, and can be made to have a range of different playing characteristics, for instance:

Some harmony ocarinas utilise a variation of the pendant fingering system arranged linearly for 4 fingers of each hand. With this system each chamber can attain a range of about an octave, at the cost of tuning accuracy. Easier to play in tune, especially in faster music. Fewer holes allows for a linier breath curve, with more predictable preassure changes between notes. However, historically they were made to much higher standards. The history of these instruments has been studied by Susan Rawcliffe and Roberto Velázquez Cabrera, worth looking up if you are interested. Transverse ocarinas (Italian and Asian) The 12 hole ocarina is a variation which was developed in Asia in the 20th century. 12 hole ocarinas use the same base fingering system as the 10 hole, but add two additional finger holes that are positioned next to other holes. They are played by covering one or both of the holes by sliding the pad of your finger. Regardless of how good a 12 hole ocarina is, the same design with fewer holes will result in a better instrument. The technical details