QA

Quick Answer: What Does An Ocarina Sound Like

What sound does the ocarina make?

The ceramic Alto, plastic Oc® and cardboard Card-oc® all play at a singing pitch with D as their lowest note, although skilled players can ‘nose-shade’ down to a C sharp. The Mini ocarina sounds an octave higher and the Bass (rhymes with ‘face’!) sounds an octave lower.

Why does my ocarina sound like a whistle?

A very common reason that an ocarina will have airy high notes is because you are not blowing hard enough. As holes are opened, air can escape the chamber. To compensate for this, you must blow harder or the tone will become more and more airy. This is covered in more detail on the page ‘Playing the ocarina in tune’.

How do you sound good in a ocarina?

To get the best sound, angle the ocarina so you are blowing directly down the windway. Tilting it sharply up or down kinks the air passage and results in a noisy tone. The lip aperture isn’t critical for playing single chambers; you can get away with having more of the mouthpiece in your mouth.

What does a 12 hole ocarina sound like?

It actually sounds very much like a simple flute. Most other ocarina’s voices I have played are sharp, crisp, reminiscent of a recorder than a flute. The trade off for this clarity is range, and volume. Every note is able to be heard, and heard well.

Are ocarinas good instruments?

The ocarina is an excellent beginner instrument. It is easy to learn, difficult to master, and relatively inexpensive to purchase. Because of its simple structure and form, the ocarina is a good starting point for anyone who wants to learn to play and read music.

Do ocarinas sound like recorders?

The ocarina plays at the same pitch as the descant recorder and sounds well alongside recorders in groups. Ocarinas are much easier instruments to play, with fewer holes and a more immediate range of notes.

Why does my ocarina sound so bad?

The most common reason an ocarina will sound out of tune is limited player skill. An ocarina’s pitch changes greatly with blowing pressure. Consequently, blowing too hard or soft will push the pitch sharp or flat. Each note will only sound in tune at one pressure; the lowest notes need the least and highest the most.

Can you tune an ocarina?

Tuning an ocarina takes patience and precision: patience on your part, to not damage the finger holes as you widen them to match the note you are looking for, and precision from an accurate chromatic tuner, which will help you gauge the correct tone readings from your instrument.

What instrument is Sweet Potato?

The Ocarina Instrument is sometimes called a “Sweet Potato”. This ancient wind instrument is a vessel flute with duct and fingerholes. This instrument was used in many old world countries, from China to Mesoamerica.

What musical instrument looks like a Sweet Potato?

Ocarina, (Italian: “little goose”, ) also called Sweet Potato, globular flute, a late 19th-century musical development of traditional Italian carnival whistles of earthenware, often bird-shaped and sounding only one or two notes.

Where does the word ocarina come from?

The name ocarina, meaning ‘little goose’, was first given to a musical instrument by Italian teenager, Guiseppe Donati, when he invented a submarine-shaped clay flute in 1853. He showed it to his friends and, together, they perfected an instrument that has been carried to all corners of the world.

Are ocarinas fun to play?

The biggest challenge of playing ocarinas is often their unstable pitch, so if you already play wind instruments and have a good sense of relative pitch, then you should find the ocarina quite easy to play. The same goes for any instrument: play it not because it looks easy or difficult but because you enjoy it.

Is the ocarina worth playing?

As someone who first played OoT last summer, it is definitely worth the money to get it. The graphics and music are wonderful, and the story is amazing. Overall a fun game, and when you’re done, you can play the Master Quest version: mirrored and with entirely new dungeons!.

What is the easiest instrument to learn?

Top 10 Easiest Instruments To Learn Ukulele – Overall Easiest Instrument To Learn For Everyone. Harmonica. Cajon – Easiest Instrument to Learn on Your Own. Keyboard/Piano – Easiest Instrument to Learn for a Child. Acoustic Guitar – Easiest Instrument To Learn For Adults.

Is an ocarina just a recorder?

The ocarina plays at the same pitch as the descant recorder and sounds well alongside recorders in groups. Ocarinas are much easier instruments to play, with fewer holes and a more immediate range of notes.

Why do my recordings sound airy?

If you have a very breathy sound when recording it could be that your a micing too close, so try putting the gain up and moving the mic further away. Experiment with angle as well, try pointing the mic slightly down, or slightly up.

How do you know if your ocarina is good?

If an ocarina sounds fine on its low notes, but its high notes are exceptionally airy, this can also signify a bad instrument. But do note that ocarinas are very sensitive to playing technique, particularly on the high notes, so this can also indicate poor player technique.

How do you change your pitch in ocarina?

Pitch. The pitch of an ocarina is very unstable. When you blow with the fingering for ‘So’, you have to expect you will play a tone AROUND ‘So’, not exactly ‘So’. It is easy to change the pitch by a half tone by controlling the blowing speed.

What key is an ocarina in?

This page assumes you understand octave registers, their naming convention, and scales, if not please read ‘Octaves and scale formation’. Ocarinas are made in different pitch ranges—bass, alto, and soprano—and keys, like C, G, and F.

Is ocarina a concert pitch?

So that people can play together, musical instruments are tuned to a standard called concert pitch. Ocarinas are no exception, but there is a catch: their tuning is affected by both pressure and temperature. If you blow using the same pressure, the pitch of a note will change with temperature.