The name "ocarina" applies both to the entire family of whistle flutes and to a specific variety invented in Italy Giuseppe Donati in 1860 and used in classical music; it is also called the "classic ocarina". Folk ocarinas are used throughout the world - in Latin America, China, Africa, eastern Europe and other places. In many cultures, the whistle is considered a children's toy; it spread to Europe in this capacity in the mid-19th century.
| Ocarina | |
|---|---|
| whistle | |
| Old Russian bird whistle. Ryazan Principality, XIII-XIV centuries. |
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| Sound example | Recording an Ocarina Play |
| Classification | whistle flute |
| Media files on Wikimedia Commons | |
Form and technique of play
Most ocarinas are spherical in shape, the classic ocarina is egg-shaped, but ocarinas are known in a variety of shapes and with different numbers of finger holes. Ocarinas often have a mouthpiece-like protrusion ending with a hole for blowing air. When playing an ocarina, a stream of air is directed toward a relatively sharp edge of the hole, causing the air to vibrate and produce sound.
A special feature of the ocarina is that the pitch of the sound depends solely on the area of the holes: due to the design of the instrument, the order in which they are opened is not important when playing, as long as they are of the same diameter. Two holes of equal size can produce three notes (both closed, one open, both open), if they are of different sizes, then the number of notes increases to four. Multi-chamber ocarinas may have more openings and produce multiple sounds at once. Typically, an ocarina cannot play the same sound across multiple octaves on the same finger combination like other musical instruments. Ocarinas without holes or with one hole, used only for utilitarian purposes (hunting, signaling) are usually called whistles. Due to their small size, whistles are often hung on strings like medallions.
Story
Recording of shuna playing
The simplest whistle flutes were made from large seeds, nuts, shellfish shells, bones and vegetables, such as pumpkins. The oldest type of ocarina is a Chinese ceramic instrument. Xun, the earliest known Xuni dates back to the 4th millennium BC (however, it is very likely that earlier specimens simply did not survive), by the 18th century AD the number of holes in it reached six. In Africa, wooden, pumpkin and other plant diamond-shaped ocarinas with 2-3 holes are common; in particular, they are played by shepherds; in New Guinea they are usually made of clay; in pre-Columbian Central America, the number of holes in ocarinas varied more, from 1 to 4 or more. In the dense tropical jungle, with the help of an ocarina, which is tied to a rope and untwisted next to them, travelers make themselves known to others.
The modern ocarina was invented by Italian musical instrument maker Giuseppe Donati. His 10-hole ceramic ocarina was tuned to the European music scale. Donati called the instrument “gosling” due to its similarity in shape to a goose’s beak. Donati toured Italy with an ensemble from his native Budrio, playing ocarinas. Some performers subsequently returned to Budrio and established the tradition of making ocarinas there, which continues into the 21st century.
Later, porcelain whistle flutes appeared in Germany, and metal was also used to produce ocarinas in Europe. With the advent of plastic, it also began to be used in the manufacture of this instrument. Ocarina Donati had two rows of 4 holes the same size and two large side holes for thumbs.
In addition to this (“Italian”) variety, there is also an “English” (“John Taylor’s Ocarina”), which has only 4 holes, but they have different size . Taylor invented his four-finger hole system in the 1960s; the holes themselves in a Taylor ocarina produce pentatonic notes, but their combinations allow a full diatonic scale to be played.
In the 1980s, a training plastic ocarina “polyok” was created (eng. Poly-oc)
Ocarina
Ocarina- an ancient wind musical instrument, a clay whistle flute. It is a small egg-shaped chamber with holes for fingers ranging from four to thirteen. Usually made of ceramic, but sometimes also made of plastic, wood, glass or metal.
Some estimates place ocarina-like instruments as appearing approximately 12,000 years ago. They played an important role in the culture of China and pre-Columbian America. The ocarina entered European culture in the 19th century, when the Italian Giuseppe Donati invented the modern form of this instrument. The name is taken from the Italian language, where it means gosling.
In the USA and Europe, ocarinas made of plastic - ABS or polycarbonate - are now popular. The use of polymers and modern processing technologies makes it possible to make ocarinas that are inexpensive and at the same time very high quality, keeping musical tuning very well.
Notes
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Synonyms:See what "Ocarina" is in other dictionaries:
ocarina- y, w. ocarina m, it. ocarina. Wind clay or porcelain Italian musical instrument with a sound reminiscent of a flute. MAS I. My Monsieur Victor had a habit of playing the whistle, there is such a pot-bellied whistle, it’s called an ocarina, and... ... Historical Dictionary of Gallicisms of the Russian Language
An Italian clay wind instrument of the simplest design, one of the most ancient muses. tools. A complete dictionary of foreign words that have come into use in the Russian language. Popov M., 1907. OCARINA musical wind instrument made of clay, in... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language
Ocarina- Ocarina. OCARINA (from the Italian ocarina gosling), whistle flute. The name of the musical instrument designed in 1860 by G. Donati (Italy) began to be used as a designation for an ancient type of flute without a blow hole... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary
- (from Italian ocarina lit. gosling), a type of whistle vessel-shaped flute, mainly ceramic whistles. Instruments such as ocarinas have been common since ancient times among different, including European, peoples. In modern professional music... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
Flute Dictionary of Russian synonyms. ocarina noun, number of synonyms: 2 instrument (541) flute ... Dictionary of synonyms
OCARINA, ocarinas, female (Italian ocarina). An Italian folk musical instrument is a clay or metal pipe with a sound reminiscent of a flute. Ushakov's explanatory dictionary. D.N. Ushakov. 1935 1940 ... Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary
Y; and. [ital. ocarina] Italian wind folk musical instrument (clay or porcelain pipe), reminiscent of a flute in sound. * * * ocarina (from Italian ocarina, literally gosling), a type of whistle-shaped vessel-shaped flute, ceramic... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary
ocarina- y, w. A small ceramic wind musical instrument, a type of whistle flute. The sound of an ocarina. Ocarinas somewhere in the quietly evening distance evoked the haze of the past, and sirens, water ballerinas, started round dances on the river (Northerner). Etymology: From... Popular dictionary of the Russian language
- (Italian ocarina, literally gosling) a wind musical instrument with a whistle device. A type of flute (See Flute). The O.'s body (clay or porcelain), egg-shaped or cigar-shaped, goes into a pipe with a muzzle and a whistle... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia
A small clay hand instrument, in the shape of a conical vessel, with a small sleeve for blowing air and nine holes for producing scales. O. comes in various sizes. Recently, valves have begun to be used for O. The sound of O. is similar to... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron
Books
- Knights of Sidonia. Volume 4, Tsutomu Nihei. From the very moment they met Gauna, people were only able to run away and defend themselves. Now the situation looks more difficult than ever: the Sidonia is threatened by the small cluster ship Ocarina, three...
Like the trill of a nightingale, the sound of grass, the cry of a cuckoo,
new and still as old,
kind of like a whistle, but in the form of a toy -
triple sounds on the meadow ocarina.
She was born from Love and from the Spirit:
father of fire and mother of clay.
Breathing lighter than the lightest feathers
the sounds of a triple ocarina intertwine.
And the sighs of nature are heard everywhere:
the heights sigh, the depths sigh.
The whistle sighs like a miracle,
sighs the triple soul of the ocarina.
We bought two of them. First the alto in the C tuning, then the soprano in the G tuning.
A little later, our Annushka joined the ocarinas of the Budrio family.
3. In pursuit of range, I began to look for a two-chamber ocarina. Italian instruments are good, but... there is one drawback - any single-chamber ocarinas, i.e. This is not a reproach to the Italians - range. Octave plus quart. Having several times encountered the fact that your favorite melodies do not fit into the range of the instrument; and that transferring pieces of melody to an octave gives an unsatisfactory result - I realized that I now need a two-chamber ocarina.
I searched on different sites, in different countries. I chose wooden ocarinas by master Charlie Hind. http://hindocarina.com/.
They are made from different noble wood species. Beautiful)) They could be exhibits in a music museum (for me, as an employee of a music museum, this especially warms my soul)))
The site has not only photographs, but also audio recordings and reviews from happy ocarina owners, and they also convinced me to choose the Hind Ocarina.
But, of course, this thing is... expensive... And it doesn’t come so easily.
I had to learn a couple of difficult things for our ensemble, to prove that “the investment will be profitable.” And I succeeded!
At the end of September, we discussed the details with the master and he accepted the order. In November he wrote to me that he had started whittling my ocarina. On Catholic Christmas, he signaled that the instrument was ready, I paid for it, and he sent the package.
Around January 10, I received it and am now mastering it.))
The sound is wonderful. I'm especially pleased with the second chamber, the upper register - the sound is so clear and light. Range - main from Do1 two octaves, plus additional. holes for the lower si- blya.
Playing a multi-chamber ocarina requires some dexterity. The whistle is not an additional support point; you hold the instrument only in your fingers, and play with them))) When the melody jumps from chamber to chamber, the ocarina tries to slip out of your hands))
And I think this ocarina will become my main instrument. Well, after the sniffle, of course))).
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4. Annushka plays the ocarina of master Gennady Kozyrev.
Each of his works costs from 13 to 18 thousand. We don't have many ocarinas of his work. There are only two: “nightingale” (C major) and “pike” (G major), and in nature there are also “rooster” and “whale” (I don’t remember their keys).
Ocarina in ancient history.
According to scientists, as mentioned above, the first ocarinas appeared approximately 7 thousand years ago. Ancient artifacts were found in China and Japan. How musical instrument, ocarina developed independently in different parts of the world. Its geography is vast - South America, China, Korea. It is believed that the ocarina appeared in Europe after the Spaniards adopted this instrument from the Aztecs. In Russia, ocarina was widespread in Altai.
In ancient times, in different civilizations, the ocarina was an instrument of priests and shamans; it was used in ritual ceremonies to communicate with the gods, cause rain and drive away evil spirits. For example, in the territory of the ancient cities of the Mayan Indians, clay ocarinas are found, the front part which are made in the form of terrifying masks. Contemporaries call these ocarinas death whistles because they make such terrible sounds that it is impossible to describe them - as if thousands of sinners were crying in hell. Of course, the whistle hole in such ocarinas is very different from classic ocarinas - but it’s better not to know how to make such an instrument. Priests used death whistles during the ritual of sacrifices to the gods.
In Rus', until the 19th century, the festival of Swishing Dance was celebrated in the spring. People always walked at fairs noisily and cheerfully - with treats, dancing, the music of clay whistles and ocarinas - this is how they invited spring to their native lands. With the loss of traditions, in Russia ocarina turned from a magical musical instrument into children's fun.
Ocarina in Europe.
After the Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes conquered Mexico in 1521, the royal court was presented with the wealth of the Aztecs and Mayans, as well as things strange to Europeans, among which were musical instruments- flute and ocarina from baked clay.
The ocarina attracted Europeans first of all as an exotic thing with an unusual shape and painting; for a long time it served more as a decoration than a musical instrument.
In the mid-nineteenth century, Italian inventor and musician Giuseppe Donati from the city of Budrio created a fundamentally new musical instrument based on the Aztec whistle flute, which was named ocarina. The word "ocarina" comes from the Italian "ucarina", which means "little goose" in the Bolognese dialect.
In 1853, Donati developed the design and established the production technology for a musical instrument with excellent tuning and a range of just over an octave. After some time, the young musician created an orchestra of five, and later of seven ocarinas, whose sound range was not inferior to opera music! This event becomes a turning point in the fate of the ocarina - from a child's play forgotten by everyone, it becomes a full-fledged musical instrument. Donati's orchestra, under the name "I Celebri Montanari degli Appennini" (famous mountaineers of the Apennines), successfully toured throughout Europe, gathering huge halls of fans. Inspired by the beautiful instruments, Donati's followers open workshops in Paris, London and Milan and other major cities.
Donati's orchestra still exists today under the name "Gruppo Ocarinistico Budriese" (Group of Ocarinists from Budrio). Despite the fact that the group has been replaced by more than one generation of musicians, the popularity of the group of ocarina players is always high, and their melodies find their way into the European charts.
Donati's classical ocarina became the ancestor of modern concert ocarinas.
Ocarina is a modern instrument with new capabilities...
It would not be an exaggeration to say that the authority of the ocarina in the modern musical world is enormous. This is especially noticeable in Europe, America, Japan, China and Korea.
The ocarina not only has a colorful past - it is a modern instrument with new capabilities and sound. Musicians and composers of different styles show great interest in the instrument.
In 1998, Nintendo released the video game The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The game became so popular that Japanese animator Himekawa Akira created a cartoon anime based on it in 2000.
Unfortunately, in Russia there is still a stereotype that the ocarina is nothing more than children's play or an instrument for a folk orchestra.
Modeling an ocarina from clay.
What ceramist with a spirit of exploration would not try to make an ocarina on his own at least once? So we at the Leonardo workshop did not miss this opportunity to experiment!
It is not difficult to sculpt an ocarina body if you have artistic modeling skills. Coming up with a future shape, drawing a sketch of a musical instrument is a limitless flight of imagination! Fortunately, the sound does not depend on the shape of the resonator. Make whatever you want - a cat, a matryoshka doll, a potato! Naturally, the figurine must be hollow.
You can also make a model from plasticine for the future form, cast a plaster matrix on it and make an ocarina plaster impression method of two halves. Our students learn this technique and much more at artistic ceramics courses V pottery workshop "Leonardo".
Difficulties appear when you start making a flip-mouthpiece (whistle device). The labium - the tongue that separates the air flow - must be smooth, sharp and located strictly in the center of the inlet channel (the cross-sectional drawing of the ocarina is shown above). If the whistle device is made correctly, the ocarina will still sound raw. The first sounds of an ocarina you made with your own hands are always a great joy!
Next, after the ocarina has dried, you need to select a scale by making the correct holes in the body of the musical instrument. To do this, you will need a tuning fork, a tuned musical instrument, a computer program, or a friend with good hearing. And also sharp stacks.
Look out for it in the near future master class on making an ocarina!
Slavic-themed ocarinas have long been presented to your attention in the catalog of the “Slavic Shop”. But many still don’t know what this “beast” is and what it sounds like.
Therefore, for such people we will explain. The ocarina itself is a very ancient wind musical instrument (estimated to be about 12,000 years old) known in many cultures. In fact, it is the closest relative of the whistle flute. But the structure of the ocarina is a little more complicated than the latter. But the sound is more varied. Anyone can play the ocarina, but learn play well it is already more difficult, although it is also not an impossible task. You need to blow into it in a certain way, closing special holes. That is, the ocarina player blows into one of the holes and closes the remaining ones with his fingers. So, depending on how the hands are positioned, the sound is different. Specifically pagan ocarinas They have a very dull sound, in this they are similar to the Altai ones.
Ocarinas are typically made from ceramic (clay). Now many may think that these are very simple products and anyone can make them, albeit with some skill. In fact, this is far from the case. Each ritual instrument must be performed according to a special canon, or, in modern terms, technology. Deviations in manufacturing can give the instrument a completely different sound, which, in turn, can lead to disruption of the corresponding ritual. Therefore, a properly made ethnic musical instrument is not just a thing that makes certain sounds that seem strange to many, it is a magical object that, according to legend, connects with the world of the dead.
Yes, as is the case with other ancient musical instruments, ocarina sound It serves not only and not so much for entertainment, it carries a certain meaning. The ritual significance of this ethnic musical instrument is as follows. According to legend, playing the ocarina helps to ward off evil spirits from any room or area of the area. And in the house, even an ocarina just lying on a shelf has a protective function. Evil spirits seem to come across this musical instrument and leave on their own. The same can be said about slander, evil eyes and other negativity. But for “prevention”, from time to time, it is still worth using the ocarina for its intended purpose, while walking around the house, so that it sounds in every corner of your home.
Ocarinas can also be of different shapes and differ in the number of special holes for pinching fingers. Most often the last four or six.
Buy this rare, special musical instrument and plunge into the world of Slavic pagan music with it. All ocarinas from the Radogast artel are made in the traditional Slavic style and decorated with Rodnoverie motifs. And, of course, they are made by hand - no plastic stamping.