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12 Sep 18 - 08:31 AM (#3949870) Subject: Ocarina - Help please From: SussexCarole Hoping there's someone who can help - A friend of mine has been learning to play the ocarina. She worked really hard to learn a tune to play along with us but we soon realised that her ocarina wasn't in 440 Concert pitch - it's tuned to 442. She's now trying to buy a 12 hole ocarina in C tuned to 440 pitch - her present (442) model is a Night by Noble Cheers Carole |
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12 Sep 18 - 09:39 AM (#3949891) Subject: RE: Ocarina - Help please From: Jack Campin Such a small difference is irrelevant. Ocarinas are very breath-sensitive, you can blow it across a range of a minor third. A tiny reduction in breath pressure will get you A=440. I have a Night by Noble myself. I never use it. The 12-hole design means that the lowest notes on the fingering chart (B flat and A) are too feeble to use in real music - they're a marketing gimmick. It's best if you cover the subhole for the right hand with tape - this means you're reducing the hole count to 11, but you'll get a usable low B natural and C by blowing a bit harder. Practicing with a tuner (like ClearTune on a phone) will get you used to how hard to blow. 10-hole or 11-hole ocarinas are better, and they're what I use. I have lots of them in different pitches, and some multichamber ocarinas which are a different ballgame. I have a webpage on the ocarina, focusing on the traditional Italian 10-hole: http://www.campin.me.uk/Music/Ocarina/ |
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12 Sep 18 - 10:42 AM (#3949918) Subject: RE: Ocarina - Help please From: Jack Campin One other thing she might need to know: on most ocarinas, there is a steady rise in breath pressure required as you go up the scale. On the Night by Noble, there is a spot around G in the middle of the range where the linear relationship breaks - she may find it takes more pressure to play the F# in tune than the G. I find this rather disconcerting, but if you know it's happening you can work round it. Playing against a tuner is essential. |
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12 Sep 18 - 06:20 PM (#3950038) Subject: RE: Ocarina - Help please From: GUEST,.gargoyle I own (and attempt to play about 10 orcarins) from about 1950 to 1990. They are excellent for creating strange sound tracks from 1950's movie...or a bizarre track in a Paul Simon underscore. I have wrapped by lips around the plastic, clay, and composite...but still I am clueless regarding any western tonal and much less any song/ in any language. |
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12 Sep 18 - 06:53 PM (#3950040) Subject: RE: Ocarina - Help please From: Jack Campin Unless you got very lucky, ocarinas sold in the US in that period were only marginally usable - generally the high notes didn't sound at all. The older Fiehn and EWA ceramic ones were better, but state-of-the-art ones have only been widely available in the last 15 years or so. Two good makers in the US are Ross Dubois (Oberon) and Kevin Wright. Many more to choose from in Europe. |
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13 Sep 18 - 10:57 AM (#3950183) Subject: RE: Ocarina - Help please From: SussexCarole Thanks for your help Jack |
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13 Sep 18 - 01:06 PM (#3950196) Subject: RE: Ocarina - Help please From: Jack Campin If your friend gets serious about it, Robert Hickman in Chepstow makes some of the best in the world. So does Jade Everett in Dover, but Hickman has a better understanding of its use in folk music and designs accordingly. |
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13 Sep 18 - 02:01 PM (#3950206) Subject: RE: Ocarina - Help please From: SussexCarole Excellent - she lives very near Chepstow...... |
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17 Sep 18 - 02:23 AM (#3951068) Subject: RE: Ocarina - Help please From: SussexCarole Have passed all your advice on to my friend. Thank you for your help |
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18 Sep 18 - 12:19 PM (#3951378) Subject: RE: Ocarina - Help please From: GUEST,Hugo An Austrian expert http://www.ocarina.at/index.htm |
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18 Sep 18 - 12:31 PM (#3951381) Subject: RE: Ocarina - Help please From: Jack Campin That's Kurt Posch. I have a link to his page from my ocarina page. I have one of his alto G ocarinas and it's probably the one I use most since it fits a lot of Scottish music brilliantly. Clickable: http://www.ocarina.at/index.htm |