Ocarnia

| Folk Instruments | Vielle a Roue | Ocarina | Concertina | Panpipes | Gemshorn |

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An Ocarina is a small, simple wind instrument shaped like a potato. It is usually made out of terracotta, a European pottery material, or carved from wood. If it is made from clay, it must be tuned when the clay is still wet. The Ocarina has finger holes and a mouth piece and come in all different sizes, the larger ones having a mellow, hollow tone. The Italians adopted it as a folk instrument because they loved its sweet, haunting tone.

Samual on the Wooden Soprano Ocarina:
For the Mac (AIFF) 150K or (SND) 150K
For the PC (WAV) 150K

For the Unix (AU) 150K
RealAudio (RA) 15K

Top and Middle Left: Clay ocarinas, which is descended from the ritual clay whistles
of Pre-Colombian South America, was called a "peasant whistle" by some because it was cheap to make and was made to hang around the neck so it was always ready for a tune.
Top Right: Ocarinas made from wood in varying sizes.
Bottom: A "potato" ocarina.

(Top photo courtesy of Jonathan M. Askey at website The London Early Music Shop - see credits)
(Other photos and original sound courtesy of Jim Hill at website Lark in the Morning - see credits)


(Photo with consent of Steve Batson, Salem, Wisconsin
Head Games Icon Art
P.O. Box 54
Salem, Wisconsin 53168)

 

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You may want to visit the following outside of Virtual Renaissance:

Index of Ocarina World
http://members.iinet.net.au/~nickl/giorgiop.html
Contains information, history, music and web links to the Ocarina.

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References:

Baines, Anthony. European & American Musical Instruments. Viking Press, New York, 1966.

Buchner, Dr. Alexander (translated by Iris Urwin). Musical Instruments Through the Ages. Batchworth Press Limited, London, England, 1961.

Haas, Karl. Inside Music: How to understand, listen to, and enjoy good music. Doubleday, New York, 1984. ISBN: 0-385-18536-7

Hill, Jim. "Lark in the Morning". http://www.larkinam.com/ (20 June 1996)

Hindley, Geoffrey (ed.). The Larousse Encyclopedia of Music. Excalibur Books, New York, 1982.

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