Of seven, all playing different pitches in C and G, like this Italian On top to help balance it, since ocarinas are small, fragile and easy toĪn early idea by the Italian makers of these instruments in the 19thĬentury was to emulate other families of instruments (like brass) andįorm consorts of different pitches. Pattern are to help you hold it: you want a thumb underneath and a finger Pitch goes upward in a conventional scale. Off in sequence from little finger to thumb, right hand then left, the These are modern instruments in the same tradition:Īs on a conventional tubular woodwind instrument, as you take fingers Take long before he set up his own ocarina production line. Used his employer's bread oven to fire his experiments. Much simpler toy ocarinas shaped like birds were, and still are,Ĭommon in Italy, the custom is believed to derive from ancient Greece:Ībout giving toy ocarinas as courting gifts in Matera,ĭonati was a teenage baker's apprentice when he had this idea, and Like those played on the "friscalettu" cane whistle. Limited range, but would suit some southern Italian folkdance tunes, Than a Donati and in a small range of sizes, so it must have had a very Robusto from Oliveto, near Naples, around 1900. Possibly the sort of thing Donati improved on it was made by Niccola Thousands of years, but Donati was the first to make one that played inĪ similar way to a Western woodwind instrument. There had been "globe flutes" of various types all over the world for This type of ocarina was invented by Giuseppe Donati of Budrio in
#12 HOLE OCARINA TAB MAKER HOW TO#
Who knows how to use it, the Italian ocarina has unique advantages.īack to Contents History of the Italian-type ocarina What that all means is that for the right music, and for a player Removing fingers is usually very fast - quicker than a whistle, The pitchīends easily if you blow more or less strongly this can be seen asĮither a bug or a feature, but it does mean that almost any ocarinaĬan be played in tune with almost any instrument, and bluesy slidesĪnd for the Italian 10-hole ocarina, the response to adding or Smaller holes you can get precise microtonal fingerings. More alternative fingerings for the same note, and by using the
On the total area of holes left open this means that there are many Unlike tubular flutes, the order in which you put your fingersĭown to play a scale isn't fixed. The original idea of the instrument was asĪn outdoor one, playing Italian tunes for dancing and other publicįestivities - the same kind of role as the accordion and bagpipe, whichĪre much less portable, more expensive and have much more to go wrong. Isn't quite as loud as that, but usually more powerful than a tubularįlute of similar pitch. Instruments in the sameįamily are the samba whistle and the referee's whistle an ocarina No way to get higher harmonics as there is with a whistle an ocarina hasīut it's very powerful over that range.
Of sound production, they are given index number 421.221.422). Used in ethnomusicology, which classifies instruments by their physics Mass of air inside the cavity pulsates in and out. Transverse flute) instead of a standing wave along the tube, the whole Their acoustics is unlike a tubular flute (whistle, recorder, or With holes for the fingers and thumbs - two thumbholes underneath Whistle or recorder, which connects to an internal cavity punctured There is a windwayįeeding air to a soundhole, formed like the corresponding parts of a Italian ocarinas are shaped like an airship.
Zoomorphic and anthropomorphic ocarinas.Multiple chamber extended-range ocarinas.The Italian Ocarina The Italian-type Ocarina Jack Campinīy Elisa Mazzariol (June 2015 2.7Mb PDF)