The ocarina is a small clay flute with a recorder mouthpiece.
Clay flutes have been known for several thousand years. Usually they were just simple pipes with 1 to 3 tones. They had a protective character and were used as talismans. Newborns and unbaptized children were given a clay pipe to protect them from evil spirits. Ultimately, bird figures on the chimney or the bird-like handle on the lid of a soup tureen can also be traced back to a pipe that was supposed to protect the house or the food from evil influences. Often these pipes were shaped like animals, mostly as birds or roosters, but also as horses, bulls, owls and much more.
The pipes were used as children's toys for a long time and were popular at festivals and fairs. Mostly bird calls were imitated. The clay flute did not develop as a real flute until the last century. An Italian potter formed a flute out of clay, the shape of which was held transversely and had a beak as a mouthpiece. This shape made the flute look a bit like a little duck, which in Italian means ocarina. This is how the clay flutes got their name, which then became internationally accepted.
Today there are many forms and variants of the ocarina. The number of finger holes, the fingerings and the range can vary widely. There are single-part flutes, but also two- and three-part flutes. There are small ones with a high tone and large ones with a very deep tone. The ocarina became known and popular again in the 1990s through the computer game Zelda.
As a flute, the ocarina belongs to the vessel flutes. Vessel flutes do not have a tube open at the bottom like most other flutes, but a ball-like closed vessel. Even if the mouthpiece is the same as that of a recorder, the shape of the vessel creates a different vibration and the sound is softer, not as shrill and deeper than one would assume based on the size of the flute.
We manufacture our clay flutes entirely by hand from fine white ceramic mass. So with every flute you have a unique piece in your hands.
After shaping and designing with glass and glaze raw materials, the flute is tuned chromatically with six finger holes and covers the range of an octave. The different sizes create flutes in all imaginable basic moods.
The firing temperature of over 1100 degrees Celsius gives it enough strength to withstand the occasional blows caused by wearing it without losing quality. The dimensions of the flutes are around 25 mm for the smallest ones up to a flute of 100 mm diameter that is barely tangible.
The flute always comes with a leather cord to hang around your neck, as well as instructions with fingering chart for the clay flute and further information about the manufacture of the clay flute and the history of the clay flute.
Die Brenntemperatur von über 1100 Grad Celsius gibt ihr genügend Festigkeit, durch das Tragen verursachte gelegentliche Schläge wegzustecken, ohne an Qualität zu verlieren. Die Maße der Flöten liegen bei cirka 25 mm für die Kleinste bis hinauf zu einer gerade noch greifbaren Flöte von 100 mm Durchmesser.
Zur Flöte gehört stets die Lederschnur zum Umhängen sowie eine Spielanleitung mit Grifftabelle und weiteren Informationen über Herstellung und Geschichte der Tonflöte.
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