when to upgrade your ocarina (plastic to ceramic and beyond)

[@blakehelwig6731]

Your thumbnail was my EXACT first upgrade 😅 a month in, extremely excited for my bass triple, but also a bit intimidated.

[@yvancoissieu7390]

❤ Merci pour tout ces conseils😊 👍. Mon choix ce précise.

[@robh.2400]

Good advice for reasonable people. I had already bought about 20 ocarinas of various types and materials after playing for one month.

[@joshua-we9xr]

I got to say the script came out really well! Oh the conversations we have. 😂 Actually some really really good advice in this and it was fantastic!

[@kaznrg]

Hey Andy, you’ve single-handedly made me take the ocarina seriously. After seeing most of your videos, including your collection, I wonder to myself if you’ve considered buying and reviewing a wooden ocarina to compare how they feel and sound compared to plastic or ceramics. They seem to be a big harder to find and a bit more expensive, but they fascinate me because related instruments like the recorder seem to have followings that crow the superiority of wooden instruments. Just a thought, and ai’d love to see such a video if it every came out.

[@laurawhigham8492]

What good advice! I’ll get practicing.

[@ArtemisDalmasca]

I need to keep practicing my NBN lol... Though, I just had a baby a week ago sooo not the best time lol. But I really wanna get better with it and I enjoy playing it. I do have a ceramic one in the key of F Major that I got from STL (it was dragon scales, I had to lol) but when I get better at my Noble, I wanna get a nice ceramic AC. Shopping for the future, the black Rose one would probably be the one I upgrade to.

[@heyspookyboogie644]

Maybe I haven’t seen enough of your channel to know you’ve already talked about it. But I’m curious about your thoughts on 3d printed and wood ocarinas. Edit: he literally has a video dedicated to reviewing some 3D printed ones, and talks about wood ones a bit in his video on navigating ocarina vendors.

[@marymoocow1276]

I think I disagree with you at one point in the video. I do not think you have to wait until you're rather skilled at the a single chamber before getting a double chamber. For me, I got an ocarina wind as my first transverse (my first was South American [oops]). I couldn't get high notes to come out of it, so while I was still at level 2 skill wise, I decided after I got a summer job to get a ceramic double chamber by TNG. Doing so actually helped me develop a lot as a musician because I soon discovered I had a major issue with overblowing- my double chamber would shriek frequently because of it- and it also forced me to practice songs more precisely because I had to know when the chamber switches were. I can definitely agree that a multi chamber should NOT be someone's first and only ocarina- I've seen other people and how that goes- but it's really good for a beginner to try. And now I can go back to my ocarina wind and I've found that I can actually get those high notes and overall good tone

[@cormacscorner]

He probably just made that point because multi chambers are a little harder to play than single chambers, and most beginners aren’t going to be playing songs that need a 2 octave+ range, although I agree with you that it’s probably fine to get a multi chamber whenever you feel you’re ready for one.

[@CurstSaden]

I am new to music and I was very confused on whether to get an alto or a soprano and in which key. Thank you for the advice! (For the record, I'm actually here thanks to Pokemon: The Movie 2000! 😆 One day I plan to get STL's Melody ocarina inspired from the movie, but first I need a simpler one to practice with)

[@AndyCormierYT]

I'd definitely recommend starting with an Alto C (STL calls this range "Tenor C," but any STL "Tenor C" is the same as most other makers' "Alto C"), since it has the most beginner-friendly size and breath requirements

[@LOCKEYJ]

Hi Andy. I want to thank you for your videos. When I was a kid I picked up a pendant ocarina from an art fair (this was before ocarina of time came out so it was a pretty obscure instrument). But- because I was a kid I didn’t realise what it was and treated it like a toy and didn’t learn. I am now nostalgically looking back and planning to get a new one and take it seriously. Would you recommend a different key to start out with if learning English pendant ocarina or would you still say to start with C? There’s just not so much out there about this style

[@Bi_scotti_5]

I'm considering getting either a bass or multichamber bass ocarina next because the alto c I have is too loud; it actually hurts my ears to play it

[@AndyCormierYT]

I am a huge bass ocarina enjoyer. Just keep in mind you'll literally have to develop the strength to hole the bass for extended playing sessions!

[@Bi_scotti_5]

@@AndyCormierYT how did you manage it? are there any exercises you'd recommend?

[@Dragondust97]

I skipped plastic and went straight to ceramic because STL’s stuff activated my “must have shiny” goblin brain lol

[@smileyfroggyz]

same lol, the ceramic ones are just too shiny :,)

[@handleofvecna2443]

Okay, so I did not know the black rose was made by focalink! It doesn't have a maker's signature, just the key marking (AC) and songbird doesn't appear to mention focalink in the listing. Is there an easy way to tell when buying from songbird what ocarinas are produced by them and which are imports made by focalink / stein?

[@TheBinchoutan]

I'm pretty sure most of songbird stuff is focalink. Songbird makes the dragon tooth, and the luminous, as well as the Zelda ocarina. Also I think anything in the limited edition section is theirs.

[@handleofvecna2443]

@TheBinchoutan Thank you for clarifying, I wasn't aware of this! I thought they were an ocarina maker that just happened to import focalinks occasionally the way STL imports TNG's, but that most of what they sell they made themselves. Interesting to learn they're primarily a focalink distributor that happens to also make a few of their own designs.

[@marymoocow1276]

​@@handleofvecna2443I think that Songbird usually puts the maker in their item descriptions also. As a general rule though, their sculptural ocarinas are generally produced by them (like their OOT replicas or the Muse) while their more classic, professional looking ocarinas are from Stein.

[@dreamlockk7527]

I have a question. I am a classically trained flute player, playing it since 2012, and i also play guitar (not as proficiently as the flute but getting close) and i am searching "different sounds" to combine with the ones i already "have" for music composition/exibition and one of the instruments I'm interested in is the ocarina. Given my background would you suggest me to buy a single chamber ocarina as my first one or directly buy a multi chamber one and actually go for it. I know muti chamber ones are generally more expensive but compared to other instruments (like flutes for example) they are still quite cheap and i dont mind spending a little bit of money on music once in a while (even if I'm broke af 😂). I was interested in a triple bass ocarina (I've seen that the one with the bull logo is not that expensive (srry dont remember the brand)) but I fear the chance of getting overwhelmed. Any thoughts on this?

[@cormacscorner]

Since you’re already used to flute I’d say go with a multi chamber Imperial City Ocarina (it’s the one you mentioned but forgot the name to.) A multi chamber from there won’t run you more than about 200 dollars and their triple chambers have a similar range to the flute. Since you already have a background in music I doubt you’ll be too overwhelmed starting with a multi chamber. The fingering is pretty straightforward and the hardest part is just chamber switching.

[@electraballthedragon5464]

A bit odd and slightly off topic, however I got an ocarina recently and found out that I kina have a .... drooling problem when I play. Are there wasys I can prevent myself from drooling? Lol I don't really know much about playing instruments in general 😅

[@marymoocow1276]

Is it drool, or is your airway just filling up with condensation? Because that's normal. If it is a problem with spit going down your airway, I'm guessing you either have your neck at a weird angle when you should be facing straight forward or you're overblowing

[@ZebulonZero]

Anybody got any wooden or low breath pressure ceramic ocarina recommendations

[@marymoocow1276]

I don't know if I can recommend it since I have no experience with this ocarina, but STL just released a wooden ocarina a while ago. I'm super curious about it and in their demos it sounds pretty nice.

[@mandyschneider7412]

I LIKE YR KITTY 😄🐱