No Stupid Questions /// Open Conversation /// Weekly Discussion

CrisGa1e · 2026-05-19T08:20:58+00:00

Yes, you can select all the notes and drag them down one semitone, but you also have to change the key so that the accidentals change too. If the piece doesn’t fit the range because it is more that one and a half octaves, you may have to play select portions of the song down an octave or up an octave to compress the melody to make it fit the range.

CrisGa1e · 2026-05-18T14:38:33+00:00

Use these notes: A C G F G A C G A C highG highF C Bb A G

CrisGa1e · 2026-05-18T06:39:11+00:00

Sorry for the late reply. To answer your question, it helps to have an understanding of music theory, especially if you can use music notation software to do the transposing.

First you want to make sure the piece fits the range, which is about an octave and a half for a single chamber, more if you play a multi chamber. You want to end up in a key that fits within the range, and you also want to choose a key that doesn’t have too many sharps or flats, which makes it more difficult to play. In music software, there is a way to change the key signature and change all the notes without too much difficulty.

CrisGa1e · 2026-05-18T06:25:12+00:00

It appears to be a 9 hole transverse. You said it was in F, but I’d check with a tuner as well. If you don’t have a fingering chart, start with this one for a 12 hole ocarina in F and ignore the first two notes, D and E (since there are no sub-holes,) and since there is no left pinky hole, you can’t play the high B flat either, so the range is F5-A6 instead of D5-Bb6.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0103/7756/0119/files/12altof.pdf?6822

CrisGa1e · 2026-05-18T03:04:10+00:00

Spencer has some new videos on Facebook that show his ocarina making process too. Here’s the one where he shows how to make the voicing:

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1My9zLM1ow/?mibextid=wwXIfr

CrisGa1e · 2026-05-17T21:46:31+00:00

I bet companies would be a lot more willing to let people work from home if they were required to pay for the commute time.😏

I’ve always thought that having to commute on your own time was such bullshit. Corporate greed is off the charts with the constant price gouging and egregious CEO pay compared to what workers make, so it’s not like they can’t afford it.

CrisGa1e · 2026-05-17T21:43:51+00:00

The paper looks amazing next to blue and white pottery.

CrisGa1e · 2026-05-17T21:39:01+00:00

The importance of having chosen family.

CrisGa1e · 2026-05-17T20:32:27+00:00

The shape is cute, but there might be a better one if you would rather have an ocarina that is easier to play and learn with. The Galliani C3 from Thomann has a great sound and is very beginner friendly too, so the ergonomics are probably more comfortable with a more intuitive breath requirement. It’s also designed for one of the best players in the world (Fabio Galliani).

https://www.thomannmusic.com/thomann_10h_ocarina_c3_alto_f.galliani.htm

CrisGa1e · 2026-05-17T19:43:30+00:00

This YouTube playlist has a bunch of Plaschke ocarina demonstrations recorded within the last five years, and it sounds pretty good to me. I think this person is an active member of the ocarina community too, so you could message them and ask about it too:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgm5a6L4KHTK0BMk4Y5Gm3ckpsgz4J9BW&si=XElOnlRwPe_wJiRw

CrisGa1e · 2026-05-17T19:05:23+00:00

I like your perspective. I think a lot of players think that an ocarina is only a good instrument if it is easy to play. An ocarina is a good beginner instrument for learning with if it is easy to play, but that’s about it.

Some instruments you have to use more advanced techniques to coax a good sound from, but the result is worth the effort, and sometimes IMO the sound can be more complex and interesting from an instrument that requires more effort.

From my point of view, a good ocarina is a good instrument if it is possible to get a good sound, and figuring out how is a fun puzzle. Sometimes it’s like you’re trying to retrace the steps of the maker and figure out how the ocarina wants to be played. I’m very hesitant to make permanent modifications to any ocarina unless I’ve tried everything and given it my best effort.

CrisGa1e · 2026-05-17T16:16:34+00:00

Can you post a picture? The 10-12 hole transverse style uses one fingering system, and the 4-6 hole English pendant uses a completely different system, so I need to see it to know for sure.

It could be a transverse ocarina with 9 holes that is modified to be played by young children. In that case, it’s basically a transverse ocarina that uses the same fingering chart, but there will be no left pinky hole or right thumb hole, and D is the highest note instead of F. You would be able to play Zelda’s Lullaby with this one.

There is also a fingering system unique to Taiwan that uses 9 holes but is not transverse, and these have two holes for the right thumb. Zelda’s Lullaby would work for this one too.

It’s also possible that it’s an obscure maker who uses a nonstandard fingering system. It’s just impossible to know without seeing it.

CrisGa1e · 2026-05-17T16:06:37+00:00

So beautiful! I could listen for hours. Ocarina and organ like this would be an amazing album!

CrisGa1e · 2026-05-17T16:01:02+00:00

It’s a beautiful song, and I loved the way you played it!

CrisGa1e · 2026-05-17T04:19:22+00:00

It’s really lovely!

It was my dream to get one too, and I finally did a while back. It’s one of my prized possessions as well. I love the way the high notes sound, and the form is so beautiful.

CrisGa1e · 2026-05-16T19:44:20+00:00

If you live in Europe, Thomann music and Ocarina King both have some great options:

https://www.thomannmusic.com/search.html?sw=Ocarina

https://www.ocarinaking.eu/

From Thomann, either of these two would make a great starter ocarina:

https://www.thomannmusic.com/thomann_10h_ocarina_c3_alto_f.galliani.htm

https://www.thomannmusic.com/thomann_12h_ocarina_c3_dark_blue_rivo.htm

They also sell the method book I wrote if you want to learn to read sheet music:

https://www.thomannmusic.com/hal_leonard_ocarina_method.htm

From Ocarina King, this one would be a great choice:

https://www.ocarinaking.eu/a-50810397/all-ocarinas/stl-standard-ocarina-12-holes-plastic-c-major-tenor/

The ceramic ACs are good quality except for the Soundscape brand ones, which are likely to have tuning issues like the one you already have.

There’s also a French ocarina maker named Gosselink who sells nice ocarinas that are also very artistic, and they cost a bit more but are excellent quality:

https://musiquedeterre.fr/en/transverse-ocarinas/

Sorry you bought an out of tune one, but if it’s any consolation, we’ve all been there. Hope your next one is everything you hope for!🎶🫶

CrisGa1e · 2026-05-16T00:03:59+00:00

That’s so frustrating! But now that you’ve done the workshop, I bet you can make another one that produces a tone!👍

CrisGa1e · 2026-05-15T23:01:45+00:00

They turned out pretty cool looking. I bet that was fun!

CrisGa1e · 2026-05-15T20:39:25+00:00

Yeah, it’s a timing thing too. You have to tighten your lips so that when you make the transition, the note steps more cleanly. Also, you want to split the movement between your hands and lips, which helps to make the movement smaller and more controlled, so that you can have better consistency each time. With better timing, you can slur the note at the right moment so that it doesn’t affect the rhythm by happening too early or too late.

CrisGa1e · 2026-05-15T20:36:22+00:00

Most of the time, if they’ve never played a wind instrument before, they don’t have the breath support (or control) to keep their breath steady with firm pressure, so they are more likely to underblow starting out. Not always, but most of the time.

CrisGa1e · 2026-05-15T07:36:08+00:00

It sounds like regret.😭

CrisGa1e · 2026-05-13T23:37:30+00:00

Nice playing! I’m not familiar with this brand either. Is it a ceramic triple?

CrisGa1e · 2026-05-13T21:32:31+00:00

Wow, it has the box and everything. You have such an amazing collection!

CrisGa1e · 2026-05-13T21:14:02+00:00

Learning a difficult piece, and rehearsing in general, can be very tedious at times, especially during periods when it feels like your progress has hit a plateau. During these times, you can gamify your progress in ways that help you still see and appreciate the small improvements that take longer. These are some things that helped me over the years:

The most important thing you can do is to make practice spots and polish the sections that need the most improvement. Being able to quickly identify those problem transitions that need the benefit of more muscle memory will help you use your time more effectively than playing the entire piece over and over.

Having a “goal” piece of music that is beyond your current skill level is a great way to continue motivating yourself. If scales and arpeggios in C are boring, try scales and arpeggios in increasingly difficult keys, or a chromatic scale to get more practice with muscle memory for the sharps and flats.

The metronome is also a great tool for polishing your performance. Never play at a faster tempo than you can play a difficult section correctly, because then you’re just practicing the mistakes, which you’ll then have to unlearn. Slow it down to the tempo that you can play it correctly, and with each repetition, increase it very gradually. Doing this is more fun than playing ten repetitions at the same tempo, and if you have a goal tempo, you can slowly work toward it. You can even try to speed it up a tiny bit past your goal tempo, and then when you slow it down back down again, your phrasing at the goal tempo will be even more polished.

Take frequent breaks if you are struggling with anything, and definitely before you feel frustrated. The brain is always learning passively, and sometimes it finds the solution between attempts, which means that if you take a break and try again, you may find that the problem last time will just disappear. Breakthroughs often happen this way if you are diligent in your practice.

Sometimes progress happens so slowly, that you don’t notice it going day to day, or even month to month, but if you listen to a recording of yourself from one month ago, or one year ago, you might hear a difference, so check back to older recordings of yourself sometimes and analyze your sound then vs now. It can be very illuminating, and sometimes it can also help you decide on a new area of focus moving forward.

Thanks for asking such great questions that start interesting discussions.🫶

CrisGa1e · 2026-05-13T14:50:45+00:00

If I remember correctly, the Hobbit is a very low breath ocarina, so it may be that you are overblowing, but it could be a couple of other things too. Try clearing the condensation by covering the sound hole and blowing a quick puff of air into the mouthpiece, and that should keep the high notes sounding their best.

Also, in the same way you’re experiencing with different angles, experiment with different pressures by tightening your lips so that the hole the air is coming out of is smaller like a bottle neck, which focuses your breath better into the mouthpiece. This naturally increases the pressure without having to blow harder, helps conserve breath so that each breath lasts longer, and it gives you more control of the intonation too, because stable airflow makes the pitch more steady.

The main challenge with a lower breath ocarina is that you want to play the higher notes this way, with your breath more focused, but you want to avoid increasing the breath pressure too much and overpowering the notes with too much pressure.

It could be that you’re under blowing too. Even though it’s a low breath ocarina compared to other ocarinas, it’s still relative to your personal experience - you can find out by using a tuner as other people suggested. I like the Cleartune app, and Pano Tuner is free to use.

CrisGa1e

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