Master Ocarina Maker Interviewed     More ocarina pictures     Listen To Our Ocarinas

Celtic Ornamentation -For those interested in Celtic ornamentation, cuts and rolls are often easier on the ocarina than on the flute, pennywhistle, or bagpipes because ocarinas work on different physical principles than do most wind instruments. For example, a cut can be made by uncovering any tone hole, including a thumb hole, that is covered when the primary note is sounded. This means that crans, double rolls, and other grace notes have a wider number of cutting fingers to choose from. Similarly, a tap (or strike)–a tap being defined as the second half of a roll, i.e., "a roll consists of a cut and a tap"–can usually be performed with more than just the one finger directly below the primary note. For example, on B, Bb, A, or Ab rolls, you can tap with the right index finger or any other finger on the right hand instead of executing the entire roll with the left hand. Thus, a B roll may be performed–in addition to cutting with the left index and tapping with the left middle finger–by cutting with the left index finger and tapping with the right index or right middle finger. By the same token, the high C and D are easily rolled by cutting with the left thumb and striking with right index finger. With the exception of the low B and C (which can be nicely cranned) and the highest note, all notes, including sharps and flats, can be easily rolled. (In the future, I hope to produce a step-by-step video/CD package to teach Celtic ornamentation on the ocarina, and there will be some demonstration of this style of ocarina playing on my upcoming CD, "Mountain Myst." In the meantime, if this paragraph makes no sense to you but you are intensely interested in learning more about Celtic ornamentation, please email me at Karl@MountainOcarinas.com. Your feedback helps me to set priorities as to which of my backlogged projects I will attempt to complete first; also, perhaps I can point you to some program that teaches these skills on other woodwind instruments. But wait until you are fairly proficient on the ocarina–running will make more sense after you have learned to walk.)