Anyone play the ocarina?

Just curious, as it's a great instrument for carrying out into the field. I play mine (usually a 12-hole transverse) about an hour or more a day. Here I am wearing one while mowing buttercups:

I've never even seen one! I've heard the name and thought "what a nice, musical word".
I need to find out more...

Here's the Wikipedia article on them.

Wonderful instrument with a very distinctive sound, and easy to learn but difficult to master--a great quality in an instrument because you can quickly figure out a few tunes but you have tons of room from growth.

An ocarina ensemble at the ocarina festival in Budrio, Italy
Master Ocarina Craftsman Giorgio Pacchioni performing
The talented David Ramos playing Stairway to Heaven using several ocarinas, including a double-chamber harmony model

Thanks for introducing me to a new type of music - I am passionate about music.

Here is a really nice sound and the video is very entertaining http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TOYiq6Dj-w&feature=related

I have one it's fun to play.

A real good one for beginners (and as a travel ocarina for experienced players) is the plastic alto by Focalink. The nice thing about ocarinas is because of the way they function, the material they're made out of matters very little--it's all about the size and shape of the windway and voicing. I'm wearing my Focalink alto right now. The one in the photo I posted is the Focalink soprano.

I've messed around with a couple over the years, they are pretty neat- portable and pretty easy to learn. A friend of mine hung his clay ocarina on the rearview mirror in his car and it ended up hitting and cracking his windshield. I guess they are pretty tough.

Depends on the specific oc and how it's hit, but yeah for clay they tend to be pretty resilient.

Thank you for bringing up this amazing instrument, Brian.

Here are a few links.

http://www.nancyrumbel.com/bio.

tingstadandrumbel.com

Nancy playing at the Ocarina Slamfest:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSp29ft943A

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=nancy+rumbel&oq=nancy+rum&gs_l=youtube.3.0.0l3j0i5j0i5i10j0i5.284.2062.0.4429.6.6.0.0.0.0.137.556.3j3.6.0...0.0.Aw1CKjEiex0

Nancy Rumbel is my ocarina/woodwinds playin' hero, as I have heard her more than anyone. She makes it look so simple...

She played winds with the Paul Winter Consort in the late 70's, early 1980's. Then she and Eric Tingstad (guitarist) partnered up and have been playing together for over 25 years.

Youtube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/OcarinaFestival

Who's Brian? :p

I've actually had the honor of meeting Nancy Rumbel in person. She and Eric Tingstad performed in Bar Harbor and it was a fairly small concert in a little church. I had listened to their music for years prior and the encounter inspired me to buy my trio of Italian ocarinas by Menaglio.

Benjamin Bouchard wrote:Who's Brian? :p

I've actually had the honor of meeting Nancy Rumbel in person. She and Eric Tingstad performed in Bar Harbor and it was a fairly small concert in a little church. I had listened to their music for years prior and the encounter inspired me to buy my trio of Italian ocarinas by Menaglio.

Hi Benjamin, I have some brain issues (most of us do, lol) and sometimes when I'm reading so much I mix numbers and names and such . Apologies and laughter.

Thank you for sharing your story about meeting Nancy. AND for bringing ocarinas to the forums. Your photo in the field is awe inspiring. May your love for playing sustain you always.
Max

THe first of their albums I heard was Homeland in 1993. 'Aria' blows me away, as well as many other of their songs. Give and Take is a GREAT road trip album, as well as just about any other time.

Fisherman's Dream was always a favorite of mine. It's a crowd pleaser when I play that on one of my ocarinas. I also find a lot of music by The Decemberists works very nicely.