I live west of Boston Massachusetts and have played music all of my life, mostly jazz, blues and rock, on piano, flute, guitar, ukulele, drums, and voice. I have MO G and C polycarbonates, a MO G hardwood for playing out (it looks more serious than the poly), and a beautiful custom G WarmStone with a dark blue stripes and no neck strap hole, for my musical explorations at home. My main musical interest is free improvisation which I do on the MO and on any grand piano I can find.

Yesterday I participated in an all day free improvisation festival. A full day of master classes, followed by a student performance, and then an evening concert given by the instructors and others. Being part of the free improvisation student performance was exhilarating. And the warmstone G MO held its own among the sax, clarinets, flute, violin, piano and hand drums, and sparked interest in and appreciation for about its sound, appearance, and the music that came out of it.

For the last year I have been playing my ocarinas at open mikes, and have been asked to do some features. That means that I play a set of 15 to 30 minutes sometime in the middle of the open mike evening. Karl suggested that I start a thread about open mikes, but I decided to expand it to a thread where we can share about any performances we're involved with. To start out, I am announcing the Crazy Ocarina Tour.

If anyone is within driving distance of Eastern Massachusetts, I'd love to see you at one or more of these performances. You can get details for each open mike by going to openmikes.org and typing in the city and state.

I usually play unaccompanied, because it gives me great freedom. Some rhythm backing is good and I've played with piano, guitar, drum kit, and hand drums, but I'm not into doing a lot of planning; if there's someone there that I like to play with, I ask. Some of the tunes I've played are The Lonesome Boatman, a great tune by the Furey brothers, Amazing Grace, Serenade To A Cuckoo, In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (I get the audience to provide rhythmic support), Karl's unnamed song which is the last track on the Self-Learning Curriculum, Londonderry Air, and Moanin'. I also do some solo piano, sometimes with vocals. People love the music that comes out of my little ocarina. The only ocarinas I perform on are Warmstone and Hardwood MO's.

Open mikes are a great way to get into performing. You can just go and listen and when you take the plunge, people are very supportive.

Ben

I'm Rob and I'm a mountainocarinaholictm. I've been playing MOs for about two years now. I was researching a replacement for a 6 hole pendant ocarina, that my infant son decided to break, and stumbled upon Karl's instruments. I've been hooked ever since.
I'm glad to see the new forum for discussion.

Rob W.

Well, I've had my ocarina for less than a day, and I can already play it better than I can play alto recorder (which is to say, not fantastically, but still...). It's a wonderful little instrument -- nice to look at, pleasant in the hand, and good clear tones. My high notes are still a bit airy and uncertain. The fingering's so intuitive that I found the sharps and flats I needed without looking at the fingering chart. At this point my only question is: Why has Karl not yet won the Nobel Prize for these things?

My cats are perplexed, and tend to lay their ears back and go away when it's time for the high notes. Everyone's a critic...

Thank you, thank you, Mountain Ocarinas!

happy Yaara

Hello. My name is Tony, I live in Quebec, Canada, and I just got my Polys G & C yesterday and so far I'm loving them!! I used to listen exclusively to metal (not like metallica or slayer...no...the really heavy stuff!!) but now I'm opening to some other styles like Folk, Classical, Electronic, Middle-Eastern and African music, etc... I still listen to metal though, and probably always will!! The ocarinas are allowing me to easily explore some of these styles a lot more deeply and I am eternally grateful for that. I even started to jam along to my iPod on even the most abrasive guitar riffs!! I already play some instruments which are: Guitar (I own a Jackson RXD10 and a 7 string Ibanez RG1527), Bass (I don't own one but I got my eye on a sexy 6 stringer), Mandolin, and I just started violin (which is REALLY hard but I know I'm gonna get there eventually).

Just wanted to take a moment to introduce myself... I am a clarinet/woodwind player with several years of experience, and have been exploring the realm of various "world" music instruments for the better part of the past ten years. My passion is Australian Didgeridoo and African Djembe/percussion, although I have also dabbled with the Native American Flute , Armenian Duduk, Tibetan Singing Bowl, and other instruments from around the world.

I recently decided to look into purchasing an ocarina, and after a few days of internet research determined that ordering both a C&G polycarbonate from Mountain Ocarinas was the way for me to go. I was drawn to MO's due to the fact that they are extremely durable "inline" instruments that I could transfer my woodwind skills to.

Since their arrival two weeks ago, I have been playing both the C&G MO quite a bit, wearing them around my neck and getting familiar with the compact finger/thumb positioning...
It's a tad bit more cramped than I'm accustomed to.



Last week I discovered that there was an "Ocarina Guru" contest this past winter organized by David (DocJazz4) and Karl Ahrens. Although I am aware the contest has been over for quite some time, I decided to download the sheet music and give it a whirl. The result can be found on YouTube:

Clarinet Guru, Ocarina Newb
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGl_5lrXQaQ

(Keep speakers at a moderate volume, there might be a tad bit of distortion on the higher pitches)

On a side note, many of the students and teachers in my school (I'm a HS band director) have been asking about the MO's, so I have been handing out cards to them. Karl, if you notice an influx of orders from Northeast Pennsylvania, I'll gratefully accept a small commission. At the very least, I'd be glad to hand out cards if you mail me an envelope full, as I think I've handed out almost all the ones sent with my order in my USPS box with the C&G.

Thanks to Mountain Ocarina for a wonderful product and exceptional customer service, the email order confirmation, prompt shipping, and online ocarina forum are greatly appreciated!

Hello from Iraq.

My poly G has already been stress tested. It goes everywhere in my assualt pack, it shares space with various military gear. The assault pack gets; tosed, dropped, kicked, stepped on and sat on. So far I've had a couple of pieces of army gear break, the poly G doesn't have a scratch on it. Was actually wondering if I should get a suit of armor made from poly G's.

Yesterday I had pretty much the whole day to myself, and I got some quality practice time in. My poly C is still not sounding like it should, but I am making some improvements. When I get fustrated with it I pick up my poly G and work on learning tunes with it. For me the G is just a lot easier to play. Today, success!! I have finally learned a tune, besides a childrens ditty, that I can play well, the "Caissons Song". While I know its not a complicated piece, I finally feel like I'm making some head way in my musical journey.

I'm sitting in the back of the Stryker(big armored wheeled thing for those of you not into military hardware) tonight while the grunts(affectionate name for infantrymen) searched vehicles looking for potential bad guys. As a medic I don't do anything unless someone gets hurt, so of course, we all hope I stay bored. I'm getting side tracked.......

Anyways, I pull out my Oc to pass the time, and the Gods know I need the practice, and I started working on trying to figure out the "Do, a deer, a female deer" song from the sound of music. I amazed myself by actually figuring out the first couple of bars(is that the right word?). Since I'm very new to this, I was wondering if anyone else has this song figured out yet?

Only 2 days of being serious about this little instrument and I'm starting to improve already. Now I'm irritated with myself for taking so long to get started, but, as they say, better late than never.

Hello all. I've been in love with my ocarina since it got here 3 weeks ago. A life-long flautist, I find myself playing naturally the moment I laid hands on a mountain ocarina; I was sight-reading songs immediately. I thought I was brilliant; then it struck me that it's the fingering that is so similar. Karl is the brilliant one here.

My first impression after that was how limited the instrument was - afterall, I was used to the freedom of having three chromatic octaves to play with. Then it struck me that it doesn't really matter... most of the time I don't want to play a Flute Concerto. For a long period of my life, music is synonymous with "refining tone color" and "practicing difficult passages", that I forgot how good it feels to play because it is intrinsically enjoyable. I had so much fun playing music again. Thank you.

PS, I do wish there's a bass version, or an additional octave, or that playing the E isn't a precarious balance act - but those would have totally consumed my waking hours

And 2 years later...

After almost 2 years with the polycarbonates, I became confident that MOs are instruments that I'll likely play for the next 5-10 years and made the splurge for a hardwood-G. The one that caught my eye was a walnut with an oak inlay.

After placing the order, Ms Ahrens quickly wrote to confirm the ocarina (since each hardwood ocarina is different). It arrived equally quickly across the border. The ocarina comes with the regular stuffing (fingering chart, some starter songs et cetera), and a little black carry bag.

The ocarina itself (which I'll call "Walnut") is a thing of beauty. I was pleasantly surprised at its look - the picture didn't do it justice. It's very similar to a poly MO in size (marginally smaller) and shape (more on this later). Walnut is marginally heavier than a poly, in a way that it feels solid (I find polys flimsy).

Unlike a polycarbonate, where there is a (relatively) hard bevel at the mouthpiece, Walnut is smooth and rounded. It took a day or two to get used to this - as a former flute player, I tend to play with tightly pressed lips - and with Walnut my lower lips sometimes closes the windway without me feeling it happen. The thumb-holes are flat instead of dimpled, and it's a good thing. The walnut is flat on the bottom instead of the shallow bevel, but this is just a cosmetic difference.

The difference in sound between a poly-G and Walnut is not obvious to me. The difference, if any, is subtle and overwhelmed by the acoustic differences in the environment. I play mostly outdoors, and playing on a moist day instead of a dry day have much more effect on the sound than the actual ocarina itself.

Since I love introducing ppl to MO, I carry polycarbonates around and sometimes lend or gift them out. Walnut is special and I'm happy to have an instrument to cherish and "build stories with". ("And for the last twenty years I have been over the world with a yoga mat, a sketchbook, and this wooden ocarina...") Thanks for making these wonderful little guys Karl.

First I want to say a big thank you to all the people at Mountain Ocarinas for getting me all excited about learning how to play an instrument. Your passion and commitment for what you're doing is clear to see through all the information and support you are giving to your customers - I'm impressed.

I dabbled with the guitar and keyboards about fifteen years ago, but it never really got me anywhere. Still, I've always had a music making itch and so I've been looking for a way to get back into it. For some reason I hit on the idea of having a go on the Ocarina and after researching the different options, I'd just decided on going for a Japanese made sweet potato when I stumbled on this site via ocarina-information.com. I was immediately taken with the design and after watching a couple of Karl's videos and getting infected with his enthusiasm, I was sold.

One thing that attracted me to the ocarina was my interest in Japanese traditional songs and the folk music of Okinawa. I'm thinking it should be relatively easy to adapt many of them to this great instrument. But it wasn't until I came here that I realised how well suited the Ocarina is to Celtic music; as I'm originally from Scotland, the idea of bringing some of my heritage to the people I know in Japan has really got me motivated.

Of course, I have a long long way to go before I have the confidence to play in front of anyone, as I'm basically going to be starting my musical education from scratch. But when I look back ten years ago and think how I couldn't speak a word of Japanese and yet have managed to get myself up to a pretty high level of proficiency, I feel encouraged. I would have said I had no language ability - backed up with my complete failure to pass any exam in French and German at school. Now I know that learning anything is all about hard work, perseverance, determination, and most of all - fun. If an Ocarina is anything - it's gotta be fun.

My biggest problem at the moment is that I don't actually have a Mountain Ocarina in my hands. Instead, it's on the top of my Christmas list. So in the meantime I've made flashcards with all the fingerings to give me a head-start and begin building muscle memory. At the moment I'm walking around the mountains of Japan with a bunch of cards along with a block of wood in my hands pretending to play - that's ridiculous, isn't it? Well, I'm enjoying myself. I've also started collecting music I'd like to have a go at and I'm working on my reading ability as well as figuring out how to transpose and squeeze material into the Ocarina's range. Let's hope Christmas hurries up and gets here so I can put my learning into practice...

I suppose it's self evident, but my name is Ric and I am from Oakley, a small town in California on the far eastern edge of what could be considered the San Francisco Bay Area.

I am a complete musical neophyte. The only musical instrument I've ever done more than enjoy from afar was a little russian harp imported as a "Music Maker"....you could play tunes by just following a line on a page and plucking whichever string had a note under it. It was lots of fun when I was a kid, until it got out of tune and no one in the house had a clue what to do for it. (Maybe I'll have to dig it out of the attic and play around again.)

I've also butchered many a church hymn in my days. (What do you mean I'm singing off key? The little mark on the page is at the bottom of the lines. That means I sing just as low as I can make my voice go doesn't it?)

I have 3 children. In our schools here they introduce the kids to the recorder in 4th grade and then allow them to join the school band beginning in the 5th grade. My 11 year old son (6th grade) is playing the trombone for the second year, my 10 year old daughter (5th grade) is playing the clarinet, and my 8 year old daughter (3rd grade) already bought herself a recorder so she could play with her older siblings. She's decided she wants to play the flute when she gets to 5th grade.

So step one toward my finding Mountain Ocarinas was a conversation between my older two children where they were discussing which instruments were played on treble clef and which were bass clef. To me it was as if they were speaking a completely foreign language. Now on the one hand I've always believed that there isn't anything I can't learn if I put my mind to it....but on the other hand, music has been a great mystery I was content to leave in the hands of those blessed with musical ability....of which I did not consider myself. So, hearing my children speaking "over my head" hit something, probably my pride.

Step two was a simple Ebay search for a cheap flute to buy for my youngest daughter. (See, I didn't yet know that the recorder is a serious instrument capable of playing more than Hot Cross Buns and Mary Had a Little Lamb.) I found a funny looking clay thing with an even funnier name, which led to a Google search to find out what in the world an Ocarina was. Almost immediately I found Mountain Ocarinas.

From the first I was taken by the beauty of the Hardwood Ocarina and impressed by what I could see of Karl and his company. His commitment to his product and his customers isn't something you find very often these days. A full year 'satisfaction' guarantee, and a lifetime product warranty! I can't think of any company that compares, in any industry. Then I started watching the videos (my original reading was done at work, where youtube is blocked....so I had to wait until I got home to see them.) Almartino's video blew me away.

I was also intrigued by the Self Learning Curriculum (see step one).

I was dreaming of a Hardwood Oc, but they weren't in stock....so I bought a pair of Polycarbonate's. When they arrived I was at first disapointed by the sounds they made. I considered returning them, but because of the year satisfaction guarantee there was no hurry (I think a brilliant move on Karl's part....I can't imagine anyone actually returns them if they give it a decent try). The comments on the web site from other customers, and the knowledge that all of the sample music, the Self Learning Course, and even Almartino's performance were all done on Polycarbonate MO's convinced me to wait and give it a serious try.

Well, within hours I was able to play Hot Cross Buns and Au Clair de Lune right along with my children. We may not sound like professionals, but it's still new ground for me! At this point (about a month later) I've made it through the first three lessons in the curriculum and after being questioned by a coworker about why I didn't know any Christmas tunes I found "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" in a church hymnal, copied out the soprano part, looked up the new notes I hadn't studied yet, and learned it well enough to take my Ocarina caroling. Of course I made the mistake of trying to play while the rest of the family sung, without practicing together. Bad move. I wasn't able to match their tempo and got lost. At the rest of the houses I played an intro and then we sang a cappella. Maybe next year.

I love the portability and shape of the G, but the mellower sound of the C. I don't know what I'm doing well enough to really compare them, but for "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" the C really sounds better. Some have commented about difficulty with high notes, but for me so far it's the low notes. I squeak. (I won't give up...I've got a lot of lessons before I catch up with the notes I'm already using.)

All of my children have picked up the MO's and played with them, but the youngest is by far the most interested. She's done the first two lessons with me. She took back her Christmas list and put an Ocarina at the very top, so for Christmas she received the Polycarbonate G. I haven't reviewed the Christmas morning photos yet, but her joy upon opening that package was something to see! I hope I captured it.

Ric.

I'm Bill, a 54 year old software developer in Portland Oregon. I've dabbled with alot of musical instruments over my life -- starting with accordion as a kid (the parents couldn't afford a piano so they "surprised" me with an accordion and lessons ). Played trombone in high school and college, and picked up guitar and keyboard over the years. Have also tried cello, violin, mandolin, and bass guitar. Got interested in woodwinds a few years ago after picking up a pennywhistle during a trip to Ireland, and an irish flute a little later. And a few months back picked up a shakuhachi -- a japanese end-blown flute.

Unfortunately, my skill on most of these instruments is pretty limited -- I really just enjoy "playing around" with them, and haven't really gotten far with most, except with those accordion lessons as a kid and my time playing trombone through college. As an adult I've tended to waffle back and forth between keyboard and guitar.

I was scanning the keyboard forum at Harmony Central a few months back, and one of the members mentioned an interest in ocarinas. I'd never really thought much about the instrument before then, but always enjoyed its pure distinctive sound. I started doing some on-line research, and came across Mountain Ocarinas. While Mountain Ocs didn't have that traditional pure ocarina sound, I was really attracted to their ruggedness and portability, and decided to try out a poly G. I've really enjoyed the little puppy, and even wear it around my neck at work, heading outside for occasional "ocarina breaks". A week later I picked up a copy of the 300 Celtic Folksongs, and am enjoying working out the pieces, even though I spend most of my ocarina time just picking out popular songs or doing free improvising. One of these days I'll break down and pick up a poly C.

It's hard to say why I find the ocarina so appealing. There's a spiritual essence with woodwind instruments, based as they are on the breath of the performer, that somehow puts more "soul" into the music than those that rely only on the performer's hands. And with the portability of the Mountain Oc, it's like a constant friend, always there to help manifest whatever emotions I might want to express -- loneliness, solitude, contentment, joy... Somehow it's simple tone seems an adequate voice for all.

I've really been impressed with Mountain Ocarinas as a company and with Karl and Cliff as its representatives -- their enthusiasm for the instrument is truly infectious, and I hope the company is successful. And it's nice to find a forum to share our interest in what is really a rather silly little instrument . So why can't I put the darn thing down?

Regards,

Bill Erickson

I've had my poly G for over a year now and love it! I've played flute and keyboards for many years and the rest of my family plays drums, elec guitar, bass guitar and a few other instruments. We all get together and have a blast playing together. My daughter has given up her concert flute and stolen my MO. Now I need another one!!

I hope everyone enjoys their MO as much as I do!

My name is Jessica and I received my Mountain Ocarinas a couple weeks ago. It's my first real attempt at learning an instrument, and I didn't know much about sheet music. I've kept one of the ocarinas with me at most times and skimmed the Learning to Play book and I'm already playing full songs, by ear and by sheet. I'm a singer, in a musical family and always felt a little left out never having learned to play anything, so I'm really excited to be able to join in and play my own songs as well.

I'm looking forward to slowing down a bit and really going over the curriculum when things calm down a little (tis' the season hehe) and I'm also looking forward to meeting all of you!

Well I've been into playing music for something around 10 years now, I started out on the trumpet but now spend most of my time playing guitar, but I've missed wind instruments dreadfully. I've been intrigued by flutes/flute type instruments for a long time, and like a lot of people, I first found out about ocarinas from playing Zelda games. I picked up a small clay sweet potato ocarina from a music shop a few years ago, but it only lasted a short time before I managed to transform it from a nice little ocarina into a nice little pile of clay shards... That was basically the extent of my ocarina career. Every year I went to a renaissance festival, and every year I almost bought another, but alas, I never did. Well I just bought a polycarbonate C ocarina, so thats the case no longer! I'm looking forward to the portability of the instrument immensely, I have harmonicas and a ukulele that are all fairly portable, but for one reason or another I just haven't "clicked" with the harmonica.

After having this lovely little instrument for a little over a week, I can gleefully proclaim my undying love for it; this thing is fantastic! I've had experience with wind instruments in the past, but it amazed me how quickly it was to pick this thing up and play! The fingering patterns are really very intuitive, and with practice it becomes easy to smoothly and quickly transition between notes. And because of this instruments small size and portability, its easy to practice anywhere, even if you aren't blowing through it. Admittedly, when I first pulled it out of the box I was disappointed with the sound, but after several hours of practice, I began to use the proper breath pressure and add in vibrato, and then the beautiful tone of the instrument really started to shine through. It definitely takes a lot of practice to get the highest few notes to sound clearly, but with practice, clearly they will sound. Fantastic instrument, I look forward to picking up a G in the near future!

I ordered my Ocarina on Saturday and it arrived on Wednesday. I live in New York. (I picked it up from the post office a day later though).

Very quick shipping, I couldn't have been happier.

So, it's the end of day 2 today. I'm hoping to make a vido once a week. But I thought I'd chime in with a little bit to say about my experience so far.

I've been playing with it alot. I'm still on Unit 1 of the cirriculum. It's easy enough to play the 3 beginner songs, but the 4 exta songs in the appendix are a little harder. Especially pitter patter. It's a finger twister to me. I think what happened is I tried the 6 variations of playing BAG over and over so much that I fall into while playing pitter patter. I stare intently at the sheet music, but somehow ignore it. No worries, I did it at first with claire delune, and got over it.

Challenges so far: I work nights, so when I'm home I'm up around 3-8am depending on the day (i work different times every day). I need to use the ultra high tech Ocarina Silencer I made out of a straw (Side Note: I'm Italian and now I can't stop quoting Karl every time I put the Silencer in.. "Ciao... OCARINA! Sniff Sniff"). I've been doing better playing the correct notes, but I havnt had a whole lot of time to practice actually playing the notes. I need to work on that. I can play as loud as I want on a moving train, but the trains motions sometimes makes my fingers slip off the toneholes, so it's not ideal.

But I've still been spending a ton of time with it. Especially at work, I get anywhere from 30 seconds to 5 minutes between stops, and in one work day I'll do an average of 240 stops, plus the hour and a half on the train ride to work, going back home, lunch break. All thats not even including when I'm actually at home. I've probably playing for 10 hours in the two days I've had my Ocarina. That's partly because I'm exited to have it, I've skipped out on other hobbies for two days (reading, etc). Practice at work may not be the best setting, but it is practice.

On a final note for tonight... it's only been a day, but I can see this Ocarina will be a joy. As I said, I've always wanted to be able to play songs I love. For years I've wanted to be able to do it, but couldn't. And even though all I know is a handful of beginner songs, I have so much fun playing them. I hate Mary Had A Little Lamb... and yet I must have played it 100 times over the past two days... and I enjoyed it. Heck, once I'm done typing I'll play it again just for fun. (Note: I actually decided to pause after that sentance and played it, could wait to finish the post).

Enough of a rant for now, I'll get back to my practice. I look forward to filming a new video soon, without aspect ratio glitches next time. once again, thanks for all the support so far!

I just got a polycarbonate G, and with only a few days practice can already play most notes clear, and I am somewhat able to use those ornamentations. Even though I played sax for middle and high school, I didn't expect to progress nearly so fast.

I had been eying ocarinas for a year now, but I finally caved and bought one (a week before college finals...) Now that I received it so quickly I am further procrastinating the immense amounts of Calculus homework and Engineering design projects to learn how to play Mairseail Ri Laoise half as amazingly as Karl does.

Well... I suppose I should say I'm a freshman in college (computer engineering), and as soon as I got out of High School I never touched an instrument until I got the ocarina.

Also, anyone else learning/speaking Esperanto on here? I have just begun learning that this year as well, and it would be nice to talk oc with someone in the International Language.

peace

Watap! Just got my C and G polycarbs and I'm having a great time familiarizing myself with them. I have a bit of background with music- woodwinds early on (saxes, clarinet, flute, oboe) and mandolin more recently. I gotta say- I am a bit stunned by the tonal clarity of the upper range of the G ocarina! It'd be great to get MO fans together (regionally? nationally?) for a "play-in". I wonder what a few hundred ocarinas would sound like all at once.

Good times!

shan

Luckily I work ever other week. In the last 10 months I've either backpacked or paddle camped on every off week except this one.

For years I've wanted an instrument that can come with me. As a bagpiper for almost 20 years I can tell you that they are not quite the instrument to carry in a pack for 10-15 miles. Panpipes/panflute, another incredible instrument but the nice ones are wood or bamboo and again not an instrument for mud/rain/snow and an occasional drop.
Enter the Mountain Ocarina! Finally an instrument that can come with me to the mountains or in the sea kayak when paddle camping. On my digital the poly G M.O. weighs 1.8 ounces with lanyard-perfectly justifiable even for someone who counts every gram or milligram when packing up.

In high school I went to all-state on a BB flat bass, what some would call a tuba-but to me a tuba is in the key of C. Started on trumpet, own several baritones, a transverse flute, and as alluded to above several stands of pipes and panflutes. I've always believed that every one should play something other than the radio You don't have to become concert quality-just playing eases the soul, just playing engages parts of the mind that resist aging and senile conditions; in fact my usual audience for any instrument is two cats (they run for their lives when I strike the bag HA!).

My only complaint concerning the poly G M.O. is that for someone who seriously spends a hundred nights a year backcountry is that it is not offered in ORANGE or bright YELLOW. Its just a matter of time before I sit it on a log and then spend thirty minutes looking for it. In that vain I'll affix some neon colored tape to the neck lanyard.

Having tinkered with many instruments, many 'systems', many courses through high school and college I can say that Mountain Ocarinas system is well thought out, highly professional, and designed to get you are far into the instrument as you want to go.

Robert

I ordered the polycarbonate G and C today.... I have zero experience with ocarinas , so I hope to learn as much as possible from the forum here. Anyway, c-ya around !

Just purchased my first ocarina (poly G), can't wait to try it. I'm not a musician, although I play a little guitar at my church. I'm hoping to get good enough at the ocarina to play in worship team at my church. We'll see!

Funny, I had never heard of the ocarina until I tried the popular iPhone app (http://ocarina.smule.com/). Then researched what a REAL ocarina is, and came across mountain ocarinas. The videos had me sold.

- Jim

I was told that I would be cheating myself if I didn't register to the forum. I didn't feel like being cheated, so I followed that advice.

I played in a band class back in middle school, and it's been many years since I've played any music. I got the bug again, and am now anxious to start playing again. Back in the day, I mostly played brass instruments, but I figured something more pocket-sized would be a little more convenient this time. Seeing the gold-colored metal ocarina for sell, I couldn't resist. So, now I wait for my package to arrive, and to start the hobby of music again.

Hey all, the name's Karasumaru, Karasu, Devon, that one guy.... whatever. I just ordered my C Ocarina yesterday, so I don't have it as of yet, but I'm really looking forward to learning to play. ^ ^ I've played guitar and piano for a few years now, so I'm not a complete musical newbie, but I am completely self taught so far, so I'm a little lacking in the theory department.
After looking for ocarinas for a few days, I stumbled onto MO through the octalk website, and was amazed at the sound quality that you were getting out of a $25 instrument, as well as the volume you were getting out of such small ocarinas. I have the utmost respect for this company as well, after seeing how directly Karl likes to be involved with customers, how many steps in the ocarina making process are done by hand, and how you charge far less than you definitely could for all of the Ocarinas.

Well, I suppose I got a bit too serious there for a second... anyway, I'm looking forward to learning about my new ocarina

hi from uk

Totally new to the site and just ordered the 2 mo deal and the guide inc cd thingy i am blown away buy how good they sound and that i can keep it around so i can practice anywhere. well just a quick hi! and off to bed now as its 23:20 here!

Today I became the proud owner of a new Warmstone G oc (joining a family of several sweet potatoes).

Thanks Karl for designing such a wonderful instrument and providing us the opportunity to deal with such an awesome business.

Greetings! I'm Cheshire-dragon. I live in North Carolina and began college last fall.

I am a proud owner of a 6-hole cross-finger style sweet potato, and soon MO's polycarbonate G. I love playing my little ocarina, and I used to take it with me everywhere I went. That is until I accidentally pulled it out of my purse with my wallet and dropped it. Thankfully, only a chunk of the mouth piece broke off. I was able to repair it with some super glue and it plays just as it used to. That incident made me want to get a MO so I don't have to worry about shattering my ocarina when I take it out with me.

That aside, I love video games, and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time got me into ocarinas as a child. I always wanted one, and I had gotten my 6-hole last July. I used to play trumpet in junior-high, but I didn't care for the instrument. I also wasn't very good at reading sheet music... I currently rely on tabs for playing my ocarina and I really want to try my best and learn to read sheet music so I can easily play any song I wish.

I truly can't wait for my MO to arrive!

Poland here

Hello everyone.

My name's Katja, I'm 25 and live in Warsaw, Poland. I just got my first ocarina ever yesterday and I am really impressed at how easy this is. Seriously... frighteningly easy. I fiddled around a bit yesterday, trying some classic Polish cartoon themes by ear (not too well) and sat down with the tabbed Greensleeves today and BAM! I already familiarized myself with which hole is what note. I'm so proud of myself And don't sound half bad, although some of the holes seem too huge for my fingers (which aren't that small either). I don't know, probably needs getting used to. And while watching the introductory videos I doubted the neck cord, but man was I wrong to do so. I took the ocarina off for decency's sake (it's after 10pm, better let the neighbors sleep) and I keep catching myself trying to pick it up off my chest and play

Anyway, I hope it's as fun for everyone here and I'm not coming off as an overenthusiastic freak.

Cheers!

Greetings from Down Under

My name's J and I reside in chilly Victoria. I've been incredibly keen on ocarinas since playing the Legend of Zelda, Ocarina of Time (bet you wish you had a dollar everytime you heard that one!) as a kid and have owned a few ocarinas in the past. Sadly, due to the difficulty in finding these instruments (impossible without the internet!) I've only owned cheap Peruvian display ocarinas and a cheap, plastic eBay 12 hole...

I've just ordered my poly in C (I chose C due to my interest in playing with my boyfriend, who just happens to be AMAZING at piano and guitar), I hope that I've made the right choice here... it's a shame I could only chose one! But now I'm left waiting anxiously, deciding to introduce myself.

So that's it as far as my "background" in ocarinas, I've played guitar but nothing serious. I've been after a 'serious' ocarina for years now and at first I wasn't too convinced as to MO... the look of them put me off. After seeing the demonstartion on durability I think that sold me - from there I saw videos of it being played and was convinced.

So that's it from me, I hope to learn a lot and I've got very high expectations on my new ocarina (not so much on my playing skills!)!

Hello from Appalachian Ohio

Newbie to the Ocarina here. Dropped by to say hello. Got a WoodStone G Mountain Ocarina in yesterdays mail and am having lots of fun with it. Been blowing Ro on a shakuhachi for a couple of years, do some noodling on a native american flute and wanted something to play the old standards with. So here I am and I'm sure it's going to be a pleasant journey. Take care,

Jude

I just ordered my first MO! I am going with the polycarbonate G because it is higher pitched than my other ocarina and I didn't want essentially the same thing! I originally got into ocarinas because of The Legend of Zelda and so naturally my first ocarina was a Zelda replica from STL. I love the ocarina so much even though I am not especially musically talented but i can't take it anywhere because it's made out of clay. This ocarina will go anywhere! And I think I will take it everywhere. I can't wait to recieve it in the mail I'm sure it will get here soon

Howdy folks, thought that I should stop by and introduce myself to the gang! Oh, hmm, a bit about me:

Ocarina history:
As it turns out, I am one of the many who were introduced to ocs through Zelda. There, eyes have been rolled, LOL. I loved the sound of the ocarina from the game, but it was a matter of: "is that instrument real?". When I found out that it was, I was ecstatic, however at the time, being 12, I had no money to buy one, so sadly I moved on with life... Until now. I now have the means to buy myself an ocarina, and have spent a lot of time considering the different styles, sounds, and materials before ordering my MO. When it comes to music, and the instruments that I use I am very methodical in their choosing. The reasons will spell themselves out below, LOL.

A snapshot:
So, being a younger fellow, I lead a fairly active life. Attending college, working, studying the martial arts (Ed Parker's American Kenpo (Karate)), and living on a ranch mean that I am often on-the-go. I dearly love music, I listen to it, I sing (in choirs usually), and I played trombone; however a trombone is NOT very portable, so I needed an instrument that is small, light, yet still sounds nice. I love the ocarina, however most are clay or wood, which is fine, they make wonderful instruments, however I needed an instrument that could take a licken'... Hail the Poly C!

Having some musical experience already, I'm hoping that the ocarina being one of the more user-friendly instruments to learn, that I should be able to pick this up even faster than I normally would for something completely new!

Oh! The name:
I chose to call myself GoatPiper because my family has a small herd of goats! I am hoping that I can eventually teach my Kinders (kin-derh) to respond to certain songs from my ocarina. (Hmmm, sounds rather... Zelda-ish, eh? LOL) Forgive me if this intro has been over-long, but I thought it best to simply put it out there and not have to have it be told bit-by-bit.

OK, so my ocarinas arrived. Unbelievably fast shipping, these Mountain Ocarina folks are right on top of things. (There was a question regarding the color of one of the ocarinas but since I wasn't really worried about looks, that was easily, and quickly, dealt with.)

Along with the C and G ocarinas, I also bought "Learning to Play Mountain Ocarinas." Probably not necessary since I have a musical background but I like to be thorough. So far I have, as expected, been flying through the lessons. One thing that I have noticed is that the ocarina is much more sensitive to embouchure and wind pressure than the recorder. Also, of course, the range of the ocarina is much smaller. On the other hand, some things just cannot be played with a recorder. Overall, so far the ocarina seems much more versatile and "jazzy" than the recorder.

I ordered the C & G ocarinas but they haven't arrived yet.
I love music but only play by ear. I have played harmonica since a child and also guitar.

I enjoy different instruments so thought I would try the ocarina.

From the High Country of Colorado

Just ordered my Poly G (Doesn't that just beg to be called a Polywog?), and before receiving it, I've already learned that these things I always pronounced like oh-carina are actually pronounced more like awk-a-reena. Anyway, I've been playing a mess of instruments since I was a wee pup, and probably own a few dozen harmonicas, a few recorders, three Shakuhachi's and a Banjo. I've carried and played my Shak's all over the place, and I've played my harps in a Neolithic Flint Mine in England...I'm always looking for the place with the most interesting sound. The Oc should be great in many places I frequent.

Hi, I'm Myah. I have had my Poly G for some time and I love it, but due to a hectic schedule I have not been able to practice regularly until recently. I Just started working on my Learning to Play Mountain Ocarinas regularly a couple of months ago and hope I am finally making some progress. I am getting a Hardwood MO for Christmas and am really looking forward to it and want to be able to play adequately when I get that one. I love the fact that they are portable and can go anywhere with you. I can tell you that I have really been inspired by all of the postings of members playing. You all sound so wonderful. If I can ever get my little MO to sound like that, I will be SO happy. I also love the fact that there is so much support out there. It is so important to be able to ask about things that are happening that you don't understand. I am very glad to be part of such a great group.

Hello all.
New ocarinist(?) here, waiting for my Mountain ocarinas to arrive. I've lots of musical experience and love the sound. Finally...
Sending one to son in army (Germany). Perhaps it can help keep him sane and balanced! Hope he doesn't have to hurt anyone! He's the one that pokes the ground with sticks finding bombs, making it safe for the front lines in this idiot war! The recruiter promised him 'something else'. Thats why they take our young! He actually believed the recruiter!
Well, that's enough rant.
I'm sure that I'll have ocarina questions, so, nice to be here..

tat tvam asi

Hello all,
I'm Mike, from the Seattle area. I stumbled into ocarinas in general a couple of months ago. Goodness knows I didn't need to take up another instrument, spreading my minuscule bit of talent even more thin. I made an impulse purchase of a pendant ocarina at a music store, and was intrigued by the idea, but annoyed at the sound. I then purchased a sweet-potato ocarina, and was happy for a bit, until my hand started hurting from the playing position required by the shape of a sweet potato. The search for a more ergonomic ocarina was very brief, as Mountain Ocarinas sound clips and videos, coupled with the affordable price of the polycarbonate made it an easy decision.

I've had the instrument for a couple of days now, and am quite satisfied so far. I am happy that the instructions included the point about sounding better as you grow into the instrument, as the sound was a bit thin at first, and the low "b" was notably absent when I tried to play it. I was able to manage a few tunes right out of the box, and the ergonomics are great. After a few surgical repairs of repetitive strain injuries, such things as ease of playing take on a much larger importance than the cool ray-gun shape of the sweet potato.

I'm pleased and surprised by the neck cord. I play harmonica, which is a highly portable instrument (until MO I would have said the most portable) so I didn't think that having it around my neck would make much of a difference. I was dead wrong. It seems that even the extra effort required to pull it out of my pocket cuts into my playing time, or the energy required to start playing. I play the Mountain Ocarina a lot more, simply by it being so accessible. I don't know whether that says more about ergonomics, awareness, human nature or simply my own laziness.

-Mike

Hello, I have just ordered a Polycarbonate G Ocarina and I am very excited to finally start playing it.

I started guitar about a year ago, but now it doesn't appeal to me the way it used to. I started looking for another instrument to play when I stumbled upon a youtube video where it shows a person play the ocarina app. I looked up an ocarina on google and it brought me to this website. I researched a bit about your types of ocarinas and when it told me that Mountain Ocarinas are usually very portable, that feature appealed to me very much. So after learning more about Mountain Ocarinas I decided to order one.

Now I'm giving music another try so thanks for reading this!

I've just this morning ordered a Polycarbonate G Ocarina, and a Hardwood G Ocarina thats gonna be wrapped up (X-mas present for myself ) to attempt to spur me on to learn stuff with the Polycarb first...

First of Hello! I'm a 22yo, Juggler/general circus nut from Australia, I haven't played many musical instruments successfully, played recorder back in primary school, and attempted guitar in high school with little results...

I saw and heard one of the Mountain Ocarinas played by a guy at a market that I frequent and said then and there I had to have one... After speaking to him and learning the name of the company that makes them I ordered 2 of them and then here I am...

The problem I think I had with learning in the school environment I think was the fact I had to learn how to read music and just never could... (Musical dyslexia maybe) but did better playing by ear...

I may one day learn to read music but what I really wish to achieve with my ocarina is to tune my ears more and learn musical theory (particularly keys and transposing between them playing with other musicians, I wish to know where all the notes are, learn the key they're playing in, then be able to play along, improvise etc...

I'd really like to get as much information on these things, drills or programs people use to train their hearing, and information on Keys, notes within them, and Transposing between them...

Any help would be greatly appreciated

I hope I don't upset my alto recorder.


Hello . I have no musical background but have always wanted to learn to play an instrument since I was a child. About 15 years ago I attempted to learn the acoustic guitar on my own. Bought tons of books with the guitar then a 2nd guitar, that was more portable (Martin Backpacker), to get extra practice in. This extra practice didn't happen so I gave up. I then thought I really needed something I can carry in my purse, like a harmonica or a soprano recorder, so I tried both at different times. This practice has been on and off (more off than on).

Last month I picked up an alto recorder, because I fell in love with the mellower sound. It is portable, however, but still awkward to assemble when I have a moment to play unless I leave it assembled all the time (it's about 25 in long and just doesn't fit cute little designer bags ). Then I came across a You Tube video on someone playing the ocarina and fell in love again (no assembly required and sounds so pretty). I am impatiently awaiting delivery of my G and C polycarbonate. I still want to keep up my recorder practice. I am now starting to sound as though I am playing music and not just a bunch of random notes as I am pausing less between measures.

I was wondering, however, whether this will be a mistake to attempt to continue my practice on recorder and start ocarina at the same time. Will this make my recorder jealous? Will it squeak at the high notes? Will I cause too much strain on this 45 year-old brain? Well I guess only one way to find out.

Happy playing,

Maggie

I'm an 18 year old from Belgium, and I have no experience with playing music of any kind at all.
I found out what an ocarina was by playing zelda, I looked up the songs on the net and decided that I wanted to play the ocarina as well.
I took a mountain ocarina because I don't like the look of those other ocarina's, because it looks more practical and because I simply love the forums (I have read a lot of them already, I couldn't understand a thing about what you were saying but that will change quick I hope).
You may have found out already that I like to share random facts within (bracelets) (hope that is the right word).
I just ordered my C and G ocarina, and the course, so now I only have to wait 2 more weeks and I can start annoying the whole neighborhood.

so far my first post of many (I hope), if you have tips and tricks, help is always appreciated!

thanks for reading all this useless info,
yannes

Hey everyone! Im so glad I finally purchased a set of mountain ocarinas! I had been looking at them awhile back and finally convinced myself to take the plunge and buy a set of the C and G polycarbonate ocarinas. I already can't wait for them to get here!

A little about myself: I'm currently a music education major at Texas Lutheran University in Seguin TX. My principal instrument is the Euphonium, I also play the bass guitar. I really want to get a great understanding of the orcarina and develop my skills as a musician on this amazing instrument.

My main vision of myself as an orcarina player is me backpacking out to some remote campsite, and as the sun goes down, playing some great ocarina music. Can't wait to finally get these instruments in my hands! Hopefully I can learn alot from everyone here and everntually contribute something back to this community.

hello from alberta canada i just ordered the poly g and c today i have been playing for 6 months or so on a 12 hole alto c but would like to be able to travel with my oc and the stuff i have heard played with the polys are great ubizmo is amazing. i cant wait for them to arrive and try them out.

Hi I'm Stefan, from Chile (yeah, the country of the huge earthquakes).

I got a Polycarbonate G last week (I must say that the customer support is awesome), and I completely love it. The first days I didn't play too much because I was a little shy of learning while other people could listen, but now I play all the time everywhere, even on the street sitting on a bench (I played greensleves and a woman asked me if it was the song of Romeo & Juliet... I had no idea lol).

I really like the instrument, I know it has a huge potencial (karl, ubizmo and docjazz are great inspirations, watching their videos made me take the decision to buy the MO) and I'm already satisfied with the songs I can play now. I also like the fact that it helps me to improve my playing by ear.

Today I recorded a song from Tenacious D (if you don't know who they are, you have lost 50% of your life). I know there is a section to post videos, but this video is not worth it, is just to show how happy I'm with my ocarina
Here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpmOr4gD_Hw

Hello from Glens Falls, NY

Hi, my name Mickey and I was introduced to the mountain ocarina at the Tree Man didgeridoo gathering. I have pretty much no music background but love music. I look forward to long hikes with my family and learning to play my ocarina.

Hello there, My name is Louie. Im 16 and ive been playing for little over a year, i play several instruments and Im very happy to be a part of this ocarinist community.

Hello from Cabarrus county, NC, USA. Name's Jeremy, but call me Kazareh. Well, I was already interested in MO's even with my transverse&pendant, but I wasn't So sure on gettin one till I saw the video of I folletti di Cetrella on youtube. Thought about it for a few more days, then bought it! So far? LOVING the MO! I hope eventually to have a C&G Aluminim, but time'll be the key for those.

Greetings from a 46-year-old music noob in the muggy Midwest

...OK, so I had about two months of classical guitar lessons at age 13 and a year as a bass in the high school choir...

I'm awaiting my MOs & curriculum with a mix of excitement and terror; making loud noises is so not in my nature, but I'm determined. All of your great YouTube performances have made me a fan.

I love the inventiveness Karl & others have shown in coming up with ways to sometimes play quietly...I think I'll have to build me a trash bin sound booth.

-Jim

Hello, from England

Hi I'm Max,

I had a plastic pendent oc when i was younger but lost it, later i got a clay peruvian ocarina accidently smashed it (those things come from living with 3 brothers that hate most of my instruments)
I got my poly C&G about 2 weeks ago for my 14th birthday and am absolutely loving them!
I would have joined the forums sooner but the day i got them i had to go camping for a week. Needless to say it was a perfect place to test out the ocarinas
i was also wondering if anyone could tell me if there is an ocarina guild of some form near Milton Keynes.

Max.

I just purchased my first Mountain Ocarina - a polycarb G - which I received today. The instructional information on site has been very helpful in getting me familiar with my new friend, and helping me brush up on my rusty and meager music reading. What I'm eventually hoping to develop, however, is a relaxed, creative and playful approach to music, while preferably reading as little as possible!
After just a day, I can really say this instrument is user-friendly. Lucky me!

Good day everone. I'm a 79 yr old Trumpet player. Been playing 4 over 67 years. U need a good lip for trumpet, and as u near 80 muscles tend to weaken. I love playing and have been looking for a new instrument play. I just stumbled on the Ocarina. I particularly like what I've seen about Mountain Ocarinas. I'll start slow and we'll see how this goes.

Thanks to Karl for following his Ocarina dream to the ends of the earth and beyond to bring us back something to enjoy and enrich our lives. Though I'm glad he didn't try to play Bach on a peanut husk Thanks to Cliff for his pedagogical expertise (I bought the course, too) and forum support.

*Warning* Though at times rambling, opinionated, pedantic and/or ignorant, whatever I say is meant in good spirit to share my experience, thoughts so that I and others might learn. So feel free to chime in and bring me down from my cloud...

Reading Karl I thought of myself and how I have longed to make music an everyday part of my and my family's life, to make music like eating or sleeping. Just a part of life as it still is in some places--when working, washing, cooking, being with family. I too studied an instrument early (silver flute) only to leave it by the wayside without having mastered it or music reading/theory. I sadly then fell into the all to big ranks of us who see ourselves only as listeners--My collection of licorice pizza took way too much of my time and money Over the years I have dabbled in Shakuhachi, Harmonica, Berimbau, Kaval, Surdo, Digeridoo...I am Walter Mitty, dreamer of many, master of none--I am a guitar hero playing to millions; Sax man in the Miles-Hendrix band that never was; Dylan-Elvis to the girl of my dreams...

Singing with my children in Music Together has rekindled the fire to be a maker of music in however simple, silly and on the spot a way. We now make up songs to a familiar melody about whatever is in the moment. And I now sing in a community choir. So it is begun...And lately I've gotten back into playing with the Native American Flute. And after stumbling upon the Mountain Oc's website and seeing, hearing Karl's passion for it I couldn't help but jump in. Karl you are a happy virus

Since the MOcs have come to my house I've played at a stop light, at Hurricane Harbor (a water park) where I found how to dampen my sound with the inside of my lower lip, making a quesadilla...so I totally get the encouragement to make the Pocket Flute (a name I like better) the light saber of the humongous music day-to-day comeback. We pay too big a price for the technical over-specialized post-industrial world of performers and listeners in which we live. Sometimes I feel we have to reinvent the wheel of dancing, singing, playing that our ancestors and some still today already know--they are as vital to life as breath, as food...So let the MOc be the instrument of the reawakening. Does anyone know where I can find Yoda?

I look forward to sharing what I come across and companionship of fellow MOc-ers on the road ahead!

Hi everyone. I'm Lyn and live in Massachusetts. My music journey began with piano lessons in junior high, thanks to an aunt who paid for my lessons. We didn't even have a piano, so, I had to stay after school every day for half an hour to practice. I'm so grateful for this gift that I'm still enjoying more than 40 years later. I took more lessons in the early 80s, making about 4 years total. I have a lot of instruments. I think I'm an instrument/music junkie! I play the guitar (just chords), Native American flute, penny whistle, Irish flute, ocarina (I have the poly C and GMOs, and a few others), recorder (many), and the Boehm flute. I've been teaching myself on the Boehm for the last 1 1/2 years. I've sung in my church choir for 25 years and have played the Boehm several times.

Our youngest daughter of three, is getting married in 4 1/2 weeks. Now I'm starting to panic! Still so much to do. My music, however, is my reprieve.

Hey all! I just ordered two Gs, one C and the Celtic songbook. The second G is for my dad who used to play flute. I used to play clarinet for a few years, but I couldn't stand the sound of it in my head. Like the difference between how you think you sound and listening to a recording of your voice? I've also got a lovely glazed clay ocarina that's actually been pretty durable and has survived several moves. I got tired of only being able to play tabs however, and am looking forward to being able to play songs that I haven't heard before. Despite not being very musical myself, I've grown up in some very musical communities with some very musical friends, so it'll be nice to be able to join in.

My poly G and C ocarinas arrived today -- my first ever ocarinas.

I love them much already. Both of them. Very much. Very, very much.

Have played with them hours already. Practiced fipple bending and getting the extra high semitone on the G. Played songs by ear. Learned the fingering, except for a few of the sharps and flats that I keep forgetting. Learned how to get fair sounding tone on both the C and G.

They are MUCH easier than soprano recorder.

Also MUCH easier than harmonica.

I want to carry one of them in a pocket all the time.

I'm eagerly anticipating the arrival of my new ocs! I had a ceramic one that I lost in a flood two years ago and have been without ever since.

The idea of the poly ocs is awesome for me...I have three young children who love to explore all things musical, and I'm a music therapist...I need something tough!

I'm looking forward to working the ocs into my daily work

Hello, I'm Bemolendeprime, a French guitarist. Oh yeah, i'm a guy
I started playing Ocarina this year but i decided to buy a MO so i could play everywhere.
I got my C an G MO in the middle of june and had some great hollydays thanks to them. (they ended today by the way)
I'm glad to be able to write on the forum now. I had some troubles with my account before.

By the way I have a G and a C polycarbonate ocarina, a Sweet potato tenor in C and a peruvian ocarina.

I love my new MO ocarina Its a little bit weirder than my other Oarinas but its still awsome thanks!

Hello there! From Spain.

I have a brand new Poly G ocarina on the way from the UK, so I thought I'd introduce myself while I wait for it to arrive.
Shame on me, I bought it off eBay (shipping costs to Spain were much more affordable). Of course, if I get the hang of it, I'll want to upgrade to a warmstone or wood one sooner or later. Then, I'll get it from Mountain Ocarinas directly.

I have Galician roots, and I've always been drawn to celtic folk music, although I like other genres as well.
I don't have any kind of musical background, and couldn't sing to save my life But I'm pretty good at whistling, and I can somewhat play keyboards (by ear, self-taught) if the chords aren't very complicated.

How I found about MO, and ocarinas in general? Well, this may come as a shock, but it had nothing to do with Zelda
Some of my favorite Celtic tunes have a flute/tinwhistle/ocarina. I had tried playing them on the recorder, but never got the hang of it. Then, one day, I was out for a walk around the main square in Santiago, and I met a street performer playing a little clay instrument that sounded very much like a flute. He was selling them very cheap, and I immediately bought one.

It was a kind of pendant ocarina called "Asubio" (from "asubiar", which means "to whistle" in Galician). It had 5 holes and a range of 1 octave, but the fingerings were quite complicated. I managed to learn a couple of tunes on it, because it was portable, and didn't carry the "children's instrument" stigma like the recorder did. But the weird fingering soon put me off, and I put it away and promptly forgot about it. That was years ago.

Fast-forward to a month ago... I found my old asubio in a closet. I got curious and searched online, finding their website. One thing led to another and... there you have it.

I think the Mountain Ocarina is an instrument I will enjoy playing - enough to not abandon it after a while. We'll see how it goes. Maybe one day I can play it well enough to post vids on YouTube

Hi From Sydney

I'm the current, newest newbie, I am a 19 year old just turned on the 13th from Sydney, Australia. I have had some musical background, with the piano not very good, singing and a recorderor 3 I lost one, and bought 2 to replace it .

I found Mountain Ocarinas when I was looking for an instrument that had a larger range than a recorder and that would not break if I dropped it, I drop things almost constantly so having something not break when dropped is a wonderfully beautiful thing

I despite my attempts at different instruments I am not profficient in reading music. I can barely sight read the melody lines. I mostly play things by ear.

I ordered a poly c & G, the teach yourself kit, and the 300 Celtic songs Songbook.

I haven't got them yet, they are coming though. SO EXITED!!!!!!!

greetings from austria

hi everyone,

i started playing ocarina last dec., when i received my 7 hole ocarina made of clay in shape of a turtle as a christmas gift.
what initially looked like a toy turned out to be a high quality instrument with quite a good sound and that great handy size, perfect to carry around and travel as it fits into every pocket.

my second one is a 10 hole ocarina, made by the same austrian company, unfortunately bigger and fragile hence not that good and easy to transport, an important issue on my travelings.

one day i came across those wonderful intruments from "mountain ocarinas", which proved their high quality on various samples on youtube and the mo site, so i eventually decided to order a hardwood g a few days ago.

now i'm still waiting for it and looking forward to holding it in my hands.

Hi from Australia

Gi day mates

I have just ordered a poly g oc they look and sound fantastic. I've been wanting to learn to play an instrument for some time so I was browsing on you tube and came across the ocarina. No matter which video I watched every single person looked like they loved what they were doing no matter what it sounded like so I thought hey why not give it a go!!

So a bit about me. I'm an English guy who moved to Australia three years ago I am 28 and I am an engineer who makes the big gears for gold mines etc. I don't have much of a musical background I have played the trumpet when I was younger but I'm not sure how much I can rememer about Reading music hopefully mo's tuition booklet will help me remember!!

Im looking forward to getting to know you all

Rossco

Greeting from Oregon

I saw a news interest on TBN about a boy that makes and plays (expert level) the ocarina and was intrigued by this instrument. While doing research to find out more about this musical instrument I ran across mountain O's site.

I'm born and raised in Oregon (pronounced "or-gun") where there are fields to run in and trees and mountains to climb. I found that I like it better here than anywhere else (except maybe Colorado), but my work brought me back here.

I got my "G" Ocarina a few days ago and got a chance to play with it today. Even tho' the description was on the website, I was surprised at the size of the ocarina when I held it in my hands. I tried playing it out in my workshop and the notes sounded flat... Disappointed, for the money, I was expecting more. Then, I remembered the How-To Videos that Karl did; he changed the microphones between talking and playing the ocarina. I was blowing to soft (trying not to scare the neighbors.) I tried again, I blew harder and the tones were no longer flat, but instead were perfectly pitched. On my second chance at playing I realized that this was no simple toy, but a musical instrument that even I could sound really good with!

I have a friend that plays guitar and piano at church and with his Christian band, I showed him my ocarina and he thought that it would be something good for his kids (pre-kindergarten) to start learning music with. In a few weeks maybe he'll see that this is not just for kids... Maybe, in a little while, I'll be playing the Ocarina for others to enjoy. Truly something to Grow into!

Eeyore

Im sherb, I have played the ocarina for about a year and a half and i would say i'm okay.
I purchased my first mountain ocarina about 3 weeks ago, from an ebay seller.
When i discovered that it had broke, probably due to being re-sold I contacted the guys.
And when the guys offered to replace it, I realized the MO customer service is great.
I had to join the forum

You can find my youtube account here
www.youtube.com/ocarinasherb
Im yet to make a SERIOUS video with a mountain ocarina, as the one is just a joke.

Anyway, its going to be a pleasure to see you around

~sherb

Greetings from Canada

French Canada actually, also known as Quebec.

I'm 22, never learned to play a real instrument aside for the occasional playing on a piano. I first heard of ocarinas through my little borther's Zelda games. At first me and my sister scoffed and were even against the idea of "wasting" money on this little fad of his. Until I saw the delivered product that is. When I heard the sound coming from such a small instrument I fell in love with the concept, and I immediately took back all the negatives I had said.

My brother's gotten pretty good with his, he even played it during a talent show at his school. He upgraded to a larger ocarina with a broader octave a few months later and he gave me his first one so that I could try it out. I thought of getting myself a song-bird ocarina like his, but I'm glad I hesitated. My brother brought his nicer ocarina to school one day and he dropped it to the ground, shattering it. Understandably he took back the small one he had given me, and I decided to buy myself one.

This was almost a year ago though... now that I think about it. I did a lot of research, and I wanted to get myself something that sounded just as nice (if not nicer) than my brother's but with a more solid design. I came across this site, and I was sold. Initially I didn't have any money to spend on such trivialities, but I recently got a tax-return and this is going to be my first special present to me. I got myself a gold-colored aluminum key of G mountain ocarina, along with the Self-Learning Music Curriculum. Waiting for the delivery now, and I'm very excited.

Anyway, I'm very new to playing ocarinas. About a month now.
I've been seriously wanting to get an inline ever since I stumbled on
ubizmo's vid of Dust in the Wind.
I checked out the MO website and really liked what I saw.
The only issue was funds. Well I received a bonus on my check that was
almost equal to the price of the poly carb c & g and the tutorial.
So I took that as a sign that I should go ahead and make the purchase.
Now I only need to wait a few more days.

My name is Brett but you can call me Baggins. I live in the Monterey Bay area between Santa Cruz and Monterey. My ocarina's been collecting dust the past few years and I've said to myself that I MUST get with it and get to know it better. So, I'm going to finally make a commitment to set aside some time each day, starting tomorrow, to learn how to play. I have the CDs and now there is some instruction videos, I see. No more excuses!

Hello from BC, Canada.

Hi all! I have just recently heard of the ocarina while researching an instrument that I might be able to use to start a music program at the school where I teach. I must say i love it and am really impressed with y'all ocarinists. I ordered a couple of polycarb sets today and can't wait until they arrive. i imagine being in canada that it will take a little bit. my two youngest kids have been playing pretend ocarinas all day and also can't wait for the real things to arrive.

hope to get to know you all soon. i have lots of questions! where is the best place to post them? in particular, i was wondering about using the polycarbs for my school program. it seems that other schools have gone with the 4-holes instead. is there a thread about beginners using 4 hole vs inline?

thanks!

Greetings from Seattle!

Hello everyone,

I just ordered a combo package of the G and C polycarb MO's and am really looking forward to receive them!

I already play most all of the historical keyboard instruments (clavichord, harpsichord, fortepiano, piano, and pipe organ) and all of the recorders. I have flirted with a little pendant oc from time to time, but the sound was too shrill for my comfort. Summer is a great time to try new things, so I decided to buy two MO's and really work on this!

I work with university choirs and instrumentalists. I admit that there is a bit of an agenda in learning to play oc. The sound is so warm and sweet; either of the MO's would likely sound just lovely with voices and/or harp and/or strings. Mmmmh...

And I love the idea of just tucking an oc in a handy pocket or tote to fill in small bits of downtime with practice. I spend a LOT of time waiting for buses. This will be ideal.

I saw in the "carrying your oc" thread some nifty ideas and suggestions. I'm an obsessive knitter and crocheter; I think I will make bags for my babies: singleton models and also a bag that will hold them both. Or maybe a hand-quilted bag... Everything with neck or across-the-body shoulder straps. Be prepared, yes?

Once I get a couple of knitted/crocheted bags worked up, I'm happy to share design or pattern ideas with anyone who'd like to try. Not a step-by-step pattern, but some ideas on how I will have done this. I'm also happy to share the hand-quilting technique (which is easy, will totally protect the ocs and doesn't require a sewing machine).

I'm a manic Ravelry junkie; so if you want to PM me about the knitting/crocheted thing, feel free to do so, but please don't be alarmed if I don't get right back to you. I will, I promise.

Hi, I bought my ocarinas (C+G) a year ago now, but I didn't get around to posting on the board. Well, I'm posting now. I've been doing a lot of playing, investigating my Gaelic roots, playing lots of music from Skye and elsewhere around Scotland. (My roots are around Oban, so mountains and sea feel like home to me).

Also, being a programmer, I knocked together a few scripts to generate scales and arpeggios with fingerings to practice. Only now, I've been able to finish them off and get the results polished and put up on my website. I hope that they will be useful to someone!

Check out the pages on http://uazu.net/ocarina/scales/.

I hope there are no errors, but if someone sees one, let me know and I'll try and correct it. (All the images take about 5 hours to regenerate, though, so it won't be instant!)

My reason for learning the ocarina was in order to have a portable instrument. I've done a lot of spiritual stuff over the years: sweat lodges, retreats, and so on. Having an instrument is like having a kind of voice or medium to communicate a message with -- but different to talking. I'm happy to have found the ocarina, which is starting to allow me to form a bridge between my sense of ancestral past and the people around me -- as an expression of my power, and also to allow me to convey influences from one place to the other. For example, I played one of the Gaelic Songs of Skye at a friends house, and his 5-year-old son suddenly stopped running around and curled up at my side in the fetal position, listening to the sound. I finished the song, and he jumped up and carried on. They joked that I was like the pied piper. Really it is more like pausing time around you, and helping everyone feel the peace from somewhere else, some lonely island up in the Hebridies. I'm still learning how it works.

I know people that receive new songs and melodies during their spiritual experiences. That hasn't happened to me yet. However, I've dreamt a couple of tunes which I've later tracked down in the real world and learnt. I hope to progress further with this -- I guess this is easy for some people, but I just haven't found the way yet.

I prefer the C ocarina, but I can see how the G ocarina could work -- I played up on a moor on Scotland, and the G tone seems like it carried a lot better. However, I also enjoyed sitting down by the shore with the crashing waves and my C ocarina, and seeing what music worked there best -- like Sioghan Ni Dhuibhir from 300 Celtic Folksongs, barely audible played at full blast over the waves. I don't get a lot of chance to get out in nature -- I live in London, England -- but anyway.

I'm not sure if I'm going to have enough time to participate much here, but I wanted to get the 300 scales out anyway. I'll be ordering a wooden or warmstone C ocarina, as soon as I see one come up on the site, now that I've settled on this instrument.

All the best to the ocarina family!!

Our ocarinas came 4 hours ago!!! I can see how this could change a person's life -- for instance: We have draw bridges here (where the road crosses a river and they put a bridge that has to "open" for the boats to be able to pass, which, obviously, stops traffic). I used to change my route if the bridge was scheduled to be open. But because we had our ocarinas, I drove straight into the stopped traffic. I'm practicing Units 1 and 2.

My sister -- after some practice, I showed her, "This is B, A, and G." She immediately, without even looking at the book, played Mary had a Little Lamb and another song from the first lesson.

My little nephew (5 years old) toots (fingers flying, although he hasn't actually learned the notes yet) happily for about a minute, and then stops to announce, "That's my bear song." It makes me well up to see him so happy (bad family situation I won't get into here), but he is so enthusiastic that even strangers smile and tell him they like his song (although not particularly a pleasing sound, it is not shrill either -- probably thanks to those bumpers) His first goal is to learn to play (the most important song in a kindergartner's repertoire) a recognizable "Happy Birthday to You." I was delighted to find the tabs for it on your website!

g2g!

I got the polycarb in C, based on all the reviews and sound clips. I couldnt' affrod the nicer wood ones right now, but I will probably get addicted to playing it and upgrade sometime in the future. I like the fact that these ocarines are linear and the fingering goes up and down. I used to play clarinet, so it should be easier for me to play this. Thanks!!

Hello everyone, My username here and in all the places I visit, is legodac. Yes I love Lego, my real name is David Carruthers and I live just north of Toronto in Ontario Canada.

I don't have my instruments yet, I only ordered the other day and am looking forward to receiving them. I love music and havn't played an instrument since my childhood. I used to play the piano and like our really talented leader, the saxaphone as well.

I found this place by accident when I googled "Ocarina" while simply looking for a picture of an Ocarina. What I found in "Mountain Ocarina's" website truly inspired me enough to whip out my Visa card and order 3 of them. Watching and listening to the music brought tears to my eyes and made we wish I could make that music aswell.

Well, soon as they get here, I'll be here much more, getting involved with people here who have been doing what I should have done, a long time ago.

See you soon, and have a great day eh!

Have been interested in ocarina's for some time since I learned how to play the recorder when I was younger (recorders are cool, but ocarinas are, well a whole nother league). I have played music all my life, mainly piano. Recently I have seen a slip in my playing because, lets face it you can't lug around a keyboard. Then I found mountain ocarinas and heard a couple samples and was hooked, and bought one (polycarb G). This is going to be a fun and exciting experience and I can't wait for my ocarina to arrive (i hope it shows up before i head out on my backpacking trip next week!)

A bit about me. I'm a student living in playing in the region of New England (you cant stay in just one state here). Studying to become an engineer and hopefully do something worth wild in life (gotta have fun). I love nature and the outdoors. Fanatic UL backpacker, though i don't get out as much as i would like, and avid skier, I'm out in the woods all the time. I like to build things (from alcohol stoves to drums to potato canons) and figure out how stuff works. I hope to get to know more of you guys on the forum and learn how to truly enjoy my ocarina (which is on it's way!)

Cheers

Red

Hi from Alaska.

I have been thinking of ordering one of these for a few years now. I have decided this past week-end that I really like music a whole lot more than I realize sometimes. If I am listening to something I know the words to I really prefer to sing along. Which may not be to pleasing to the people around me sometimes particularly when the music I am sing along to is on an ipod. It is hard to know how good or bad you really sound. Usually if you get feed back it is about the bad.

I have had some clay ocarinas for years. I only have and know how to play music on them with "cheat sheets" that are fingering diagrams. I though it would be good to be able to play something more than that and perhaps learn to read music to boot. I found Mountain Ocarinas while looking for a way to do that and finally decided it is time to give it whirl.

Bought two one for my nephew, what a mistake thinking I would give one away.


I received the two ocarinas I ordered, bought the C for myself and the G for my nephew. I loved playing the C but everything on the website said begin with the G, now I love both. My mistake was thinking I would give one away.

This website is wonderful. I love hearing others play. I found it encouraging during those squeaky moments I had. I am glad I bought a quality instrument because I knew when I hit those squeaks it was just me learning. I now wear both around my neck. If my nephew likes mine I will buy him one.

It is wonderful to see a company so in love with their product that they go out of their way to ensure you enjoy it too. I am so happy I purchased from you. Nice instrument plus friends to share with who could beat it.

I already have a concert flute which I learned a little on a few years ago and then set aside. I have a 6-hole Irish, which I never have learned (yet). I also have a 12-hole oc that I just got to try out. I like it, but have trouble covering the double holes with my fingers. I can't wait to get my MOs and the teaching material I ordered. They are so portable that I can take them anywhere to practice (and won't break like the ceramic 12-hole - love the crash test video!). I also like the fact that I will not need to do a half-hole covering like on the Irish. I still want to learn them all, but the MOs are first, and I may just end up selling the rest!

Hi everyone!

Greeting from Norway! =)

My name is Geir, and I'm a drummer from Norway (No, not the capital of Sweden. The COUNTRY of Norway! Hehe!). I've been playing the drums since I was... 8? or was it 9 years old? Anyway, I've been hitting stuff for quite some time (I'm 20 now!).

I've always wanted to play the flute, but have taken my drums very seriously (a bit over the top at times), and focused on only one instrument. This year I found out, after a couple of years working as a free-lance musician, that I want to take a big break from living off of it. I LOVE music, but playing crappy gigs night after night in front of drunk people didn't do it for me.

I'm currently back to basic, back at the stage I was when I started playing - I just love the sound of music.
That's why I figured out I wanted to pick up a melodic instrument as well, and it landed on the ocarina. It sounds very nice (very flute-ish, the kind of melody-tone I LOVE!), but at the same time seems a little bit easier (?), as well as... more exotic!

I just received them (C + G poly) yesterday, and just LOVE the portability. I drove down to the beach in the middle of the night and just played. WOHO!

I've already planned an "ocarina trip" - just me, a tent and my ocarina. It will be awesome.
I'm moving to Japan in a couple of months, and I just couldn't figure out a way to bring my drum-set, but I can pocket these babies. Yay!

Talk to you guys later!

Peace,
Geir...

Hullo there, I'm Sam. (Sam I am.)
The first thing I should say is that I own both polycarbs. I love them, and take them camping and such. (The boy scouts love 'em.) They aren't my only instruments, though--I play piano and pipe organ on the side. I'm 17, was homeschooled for a good bit (until I graduated this year), and am going off to college in CA (which is a good ways away from Baton Rouge).
I was introduced to ocarinas thusly: I'd never played Ocarina of Time as a kid (we only had three games on our N64), but I knew of the game. Several years ago, looking through a musical instrument catalog, I came across a replica of the OoT, which floored me. "I didn't realize that this was a real instrument! HOW COOL IS THAT??" So I got on the internet and spent hours looking for the best ocarina for my money. MO came up pretty high in Google's findings, and the rest is history.
And that's me.

Hi there, I'm new.

My name is Tamar and I've only just started playing Ocarina, though I've loved the sound of them ever since I knew what one was (Thanks, Legend of Zelda.) I had some cheap plastic ones as a kid but my first "real" ocarina came in the mail yesterday, a polycarbonate C. It's addictive

So, hi there!

Hi,
I am a musician from Spain. I play bagpipes, recorder, whistles,... I play ocarinas made from clay and I am interested in your instruments.
Regards,
Chema

Used to pendants, but ready to try the mountain

Pretty much sums it up. When I saw the durability, I couldn't not buy a mountain. Hopefully I get it soon!

Newbie seeing the light!

I just got my key of C & G Ocarinas a few weeks ago even though I purchased them three months ago (they were for Easter). And about a week ago I received Learning to Play Mountain Ocarinas. The book and the Ocarinas are awesome and I have been enjoying them each and every day. A week ago I figured that I better start learning the actual music notes instead of just making things up each time I practice. So far I think I am making progress but I still have a lot of stuff to learn. I have a few books of sheet music for the Native American Flute. How do you transpose music from both F# and G# minor to the MO key?

Karl thanks for making your dream come true by producing a small flute we all can carry with us daily!

Best regards,

Kristian

After about a week of online searching and watching you tube videos and emails back and forth to Cliff, I decided to place an order for the combo pak G & C poly.

I received my order yesterday. I was crunched for time before having to leave for work. But I quickly ripped open the box and found my 2 Ocarinas neatly packed inside. After I unwrapped the tightly wound neck strap I put the piece of plastic up to my mouth and blew.

Nothing....

Oh, then I figured out I needed to cover those holes in the thing. Ah...

I must say these things don't work like the videos at all! The noise and high pitch sounds that came from these was awful!

I'm thinking there must be something wrong with mine. No matter how hard I blew or softly I blew there was no comparison.

I thought I'd be making beautiful music "right out of the box".

OKAY>>>>>> if you'd read up to this point you're probably thinking this guy just doesn't get it?

I AM ONLY JOKING!!

I know it takes practice and practice and practice. it's like anything new you have to learn how to use it. The more you play or practice the better you get.

It's like driving a car, I use to have to drive with my eyes open, but now I can even drive with my eyes closed. ...ok just kidding again!

After having both of these in my hands, I would have to say in my opinion, that the tonal quality is deeper with the "C". and of course the pitch is higher with the smaller "G". I do like the lower sound. It reminds me of a pan flute (which I really love - almost bought, but didn't)

I am very happy with my purchase, and can't wait until I'm playing like the rest of you..... well, those of you who play well that is.

Greetings from Espirito Santo, Brazil

Hi. I'm sorry that I forgot to introduce myself.
My name is Carlos and I am 24. I started trying to play the keyboard when I was 7. Unfortunately it just felt too complicated and frustrating. I tried the recorder, and I got absolutely frustrated too. I couldn't learn a thing, and all I got was that horrible squeaking! After I turned 20, I decided to play the acoustic guitar (I love its sound). I can play a few notes, but I hate how it messes up with my fingers. And then I decided to go for an ocarina (yes, originally I wanted to buy the Zelda one). Then I saw Almartino playing mountain ocarinas and I fell in love with it. I just had to have it!

It's been a day and I can play Mary had a little lamb and Hot Cross Buns. I'm almost memorizing Au Clair de Nune. I feel so confident I can actually play something now!

Back to the topic, I bought two polys: the C and G ones. I have to say I prefer the C one, even if I can't get the G right sometimes. I think the C one has a "deeper" sound.

I saw someone playing a Poly G while I was attending a gaming convention in Indianapolis (GenCon) last year and asked him about it. He told me about MO. I bought a Poly G for my son at Christmas... but decided a few weeks ago that I'm really the one who wanted one (despite not having any wind instrument experience and little musical experience overall). I got my Poly G and ended up getting a Hardwood G as well along with the Curriculum. I'm so happy at the progress I've been able to make in such a short amount of time and it makes me want to play them all the time.

Thanks Karl for making such great products at affordable prices!

-Kenn

Hello everyone.
Im a little late on doing my intro because I tend to sit in the background and observe what everyone else is saying. I've been a member for I think somewhere around a year. What happened was I got my Mo ocarina
and I started playing it a little for a few days and was not very happy with my progress. So I put it in away
and life got busy and I forgot about it. A few weeks ago I pulled It back out and started playing it again.
Low and behold I am picking it up very fast now.
So about me. Im 46 years old ,married, have 2 kids and live in Rohnert Park ,CA. I love all kinds of music.
I play the recorder,harmonica, and now the ocarina.
I consider Mountain Ocarinas to be one of the most honorable companies I have ever dealt with.
I just ordered a C ocarina to go with my G ocarina I already have.
Its sort of funny even though I have never met any of you, I feel like I know some of you from following your posts and video's.
well I guess thats all for now, Duane or aka windjammer

Greetings from Ayrshire, Scotland

Hey guys. I'll start by saying after reading a lot of the boards on here, the community is so welcoming and friendly I look forward to getting involved in the forum. It's my 17th birthday tomorrow and i've ordered both the poly C and the poly G but unfortunately they probably wont arrive tommorow but I couldnt wait to get involved in the discussions so I'm here saying hello. A little bit about me: I couldnt be any more of a stereotypical Scot; I'm ginger, play the bagpipes, LOVE haggis, own a kilt and anything else you can apply to the scottish I probably fit as well. I also play guitar and have sang in a band although unfortunately the rest of the members were older than I and all left for college. So that's my musical background and I cannot wait till my ocarinas arrive. Look forward to chatting to you soon.

- Gavin

I bit the bullet today and ordered the poly C and G. These will be my first ocarinas. I've played recorders on and off for over 60 years and have played at one time or another: violin, flute, clarinet and currently sax. I also tinker with banjo and uke. I'm in two community bands playing alto sax. I've been at the sax about 3 years now.

I'm looking forward to trying the ocarinas. I saw someone playing on YouTube alongside a ukulele. That got my attention. It's a great combination. Now that the weather is warming up, I'll be taking the uke and ocars out to the porch. (If I took the sax out there I'd drive the neighbors crazy!)

Hi, my Name is Christian. I'm new to ocarinas. Just ordered mine yesterday. Thanks Ubizmo for convincing me to go with the mountain ocarinas. His videos have convinced me that mountain ocarinas are the way to go. Hopefully one day I can play great as well.

When I first discovered the ocarina, I was undertaking another challenge which drew me into the ocarina experience in a very backward kind of way. In November '09 I embarked on the NanoWrimo.org National Novel writing frenzy. If you don't know what that is, I will briefly explain. In November countless people strive to write a 50,000 word novel in a month, with a minimum of 1667 words a day required if you are methodical. Most of the time, people find themselves thousands of words behind and trying desperately to catchup. There are loads of obstacles to overcome and lots of distractions that you can fall prey too. One of my distractions was the ocarina of doom.

Why the ocarina of doom? Let me explain. While writing one night, my character surprisingly picked up a small flute. I had no idea what this little instrument was called but I had seen it before, in real life--not just in my head. I began hunting down links online for flutes and could not locate the one that was in my mind. Finally it dawned on me. I owned it! It was passed down to my husband by his grandfather. I ran through the house wondering where we had stashed it, and lo and behold I held it in my hands. And finally with the ocarina in my hand, I was able to locate the name: Ocarina.

And what do you do when you have an ocarina in your hand? Well you play it! But I didn't know how. So I did more research and hours and hours later, I could play part of the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly theme song! How rewarding! I was so excited. And yet, after sitting down to write, I had written 0 words, but learned a song on an ocarina. So I dubbed my ocarina, the Ocarina of Doom because researching it's name, and how to play it, and then what brand and style I had took hours and hours and hours and hours from the writing challenge. I did eventually get my 50,000 words.

And I did eventually decide that my Bb wooden ocarina was not enough. I'm a little musically challenged (see above where it took me hours to learn the few notes of The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly). I now (as of yesterday) have a C and a G MO. The notes on these are going to take a little getting used to. The tone sounds kind of plastic to me, but that is most likely because I have been playing on a wooden ocarina since November. I have learned 8 or 9 songs on the wooden ocarina since November.

You might ask why I went through the trouble of buying a polycarbonate ocarina if I already had a nice wooden one, and I can already get a nice tone from my wooden one. The reason for this was because I was having a hard time finding songs I could play, and figuring out what the notes are when I do find songs. Most of the songs I've had to pick up by ear, and only learned 2 by reading the music and trying very hard to figure out how to convert the song so it sounded nice on my ocarina. This might seem easy to some, but it is not easy for the musically challenged. I thought if I purchased the G and C ocarina, and the Learning to Play curriculum then I would have a little more fun and get farther faster.

I have been through unit one, and of course I've played the 9 songs I had already learned on my new ocarinas. So far I like the C one better as it is lower. The G is much higher sounding than my Bb ocarina. I will continue to play both and learn what I can.

Hello from Indonesia.


Hello, i new member in here. I just buy MO yesterday and still wait my MO.
I hope it not gonna long waiting for get this stuff. Actually i never play any instrument, so i dont have any exp about music. Hope, all of you can tell me how to be good Ocarina player.

I buy PolyCarbon C and G, also Easy Learn book. Wish this can help me.

Hope i not frusstated to learn this instrument.

Warm Greet from me, to all of you here.

My name is John.

My friends and I decided to form a band that only uses exotic or unconventional instruments. I chose the ocarina. After looking through a couple sights I found Mountain Ocarinas and I thought they where perfect. I just got my Key of G today and after watching the first 5 intro videos on youtube, I now know how to play Hot Cross Buns.

Though now I'm laughing at my own short sightedness because I don't know what to do from here...

Anyways, I'm loving it so far, I'm excited to learn how to play and looking forward to the future.

P.S. This is my first instrument.

Hello everybody, I am Joe from Singapore and I have just placed an order for the Poly C+G together with the music curriculum today. I currently owned 2 ocarinas; a Focalink alto C double, and a 9-hole ocarina. I have got my first ocarina (9-hole) from Taiwan and almost immediately after playing it, I got hooked. And so, the following week I placed an order for the alto C. Since then, there wasn't a day I don't play the ocarina. It is so addictive and I loving it more and more now! Hence, I decided to get myself another ocarina (hehe... in fact I am waiting for 2 ocarinas to be delivered to me.)

It was only few days ago that I started to think about getting a new ocarina, and Mountain Ocarina wasn't at the top of my list of which ocarina to buy then. However, I must say that after reading reviews and seeing youtube clips on MO, I am convinced that MO is going to be my next favorite toy!

Cheers,
Joe

Hello, I've played the trombone for about six years in school. I wanted an instrument that was more convenient. I found out about ocarinas by accident looking at youtube videos about Irish music. Saw DocJazz's video with the inline poly/carb from Mountain Ocarinas and decided based on what I know about the material and the inline configuration that was the instrument to try. Got the G poly/carb and am enjoying it as much as my family will allow.

Hey guys, just ordered the Polycarbonate combo along with the Self-Learning Music Curriculum (very exited).
I'm new to the world music, love hearing it but don't know anything about reading it or playing it , anyway i was drawn to the ocarina for its beautiful sound and its compact looks.

I also love how tough the MO ocarinas are and these wont be the last i order from you folks

Hello all!

I received 2 ocarinas for Christmas, sorry I'm a little late introducing myself! I'm a substitute teacher in Susquehanna County, and I was first introduced to Mountain Ocarinas several months ago by a music teacher at one of my schools. I was instantly hooked, and I've been having a blast with my ocarinas ever since. I'm certified in music education, so I'm really looking forward to learning more about this instrument and hopefully one day sharing it with my own students.


Kahna

Hi Everyone!

I am a trained singer, instrumentalist, and music teacher - ocarina is only the most recent in a long line of instruments I have learned to play (including hammered dulcimer, melodica, as well as most standard band instruments). I currently teach advanced music theory to teenagers at a community music school, as well as private piano lessons.

I currently have a Charlie Hind black walnut double ocarina which I enjoy very much, but I was looking for something more fully chromatic, with more range and more durability (as well as more portable than most of the instruments I play). I've just ordered the Poly C & G and am excited to receive them soon.

Regards,
Paladin

We just placed our order today and my son and I are really looking forward to getting our ocarinas. I have gone through this site over and over watched all the videos and read through the forums I feel as if I sort of know everyone a little bit. This seems like a wonderful community supporting an outstanding company and product and we are excited to become part of it. I am sure we will have more to post in the future after we get our ocarinas and have tortured the people and animals around us a bit with our terrible clueless beginner playing.

I'm a retired university faculty member and administrator living in Washington, DC. I am a long-tme musical amateur, and I now concentrate on renaissance music for the viola da gamba. But I also play recorders, crumhorns, rebec, and various percussion instruments. Long ago I studied piano, violin and clarinet. And as a kid I had one or more sweet potato style ocarinas which I remember fondly. I was recently introduced to the Maui Xaphoon (or pocket sax) and, in reading about them, I was reminded of the ocarina. This, in turn, led me to the Mountain Ocarina web site, and I decided to add to my instrumentorium. The linear design is new to me, but the fingerings are nearly the same as those for the recorder. The range is like the crumhorn. So the new instrument should fit right in with the music I play with a number of friends.

I have wanted my ocarina for a long time. Ordered it this weekend (along with all three songbooks),received it today (Wednesday) - very fast shipping. I have already played some songs and am focused on getting used to the fingering chart. Awesome company, awesome little instrument!

I'm Jose Antonio and I'm from Puerto Rico. Although I have been focusing most of my musical life in the guitar and the "cuatro", I have also enjoyed plenty of time playing a type of "flute" known as quena. I had, I believe, one of those peruvian ocarinas when I was little, bound the sounds was terrible and I got away from it.

A couple of moths ago I bought one of those Zelda replica ocarina ( , I know... classic ) to have as an instruments and as a collectible, but the tuning wasn't quite right and I didn't play it that much. It wasn't after a friend of mine (who unfortunately is not part of the forum) showed me one of the hardwood ocarinas from Mountain Ocarinas that I got my interest back and decided to give it a shot... and that's basically why I'm writing right now.

I hope I can learn from all of you as much as I can, cause not everybody knows about the ocarina and I'll like to take my music with the ocarina to the next level and to those people who have never even heard about the term... and make them fall in lvoe qith it.

Just wanted to say hi to the community from a new ocarina player. This forum was very helpful for me in deciding what ocarina to buy, and I finally settled on one of the key of G Warmstone ocarinas. I was a little disappointed I couldn't get the key of C hardwood, but after doing some searching on the forum I realized that was probably a bit of a sore spot here and I shouldn't be expecting one any time soon. I kind of wanted a key of C Warmstone, but for a new player, it is probably best that their unavailability forced me into the key of G ocarina, though I prefer the deeper sound of the key of C. Hopefully I'll have some things to contribute to the community here, and from what I've seen, this is a very helpful place.

Jon

Hello, Everyone!
I just ordered my Mountain Ocarina. I got the polycarbonate in G. Once I get it under control, I'll get it in C. If I get to playing really well, I'll probably get the hardwood versions.

I am 63 years old and have played clarinet as an amateur for most of my life. Mostly in church orchestras. A few years ago, I added soprano saxophone and then tenor saxophone to my instruments.

About a year ago I developed Bell's Palsy so that the right side of my face was paralyzed and I have not been able to play my regular instruments since then. The clarinet and saxophone have too much resistance and I can't build up enough pressure to get a tone. All I get is a pffbttt! BP usually resolves fairly quickly but I am in my 11th month.

Recently, I tried my clarinet again and discovered that I can build up a little pressure. Not enough to get a tone but I am thinking that it will be enough to be able to play the ocarina. I hope so!

Looking forward to getting my Mountain Ocarina! I'll keep you informed on how it goes! You may have given me my music back!!

Mike

I just ordered the Poly C & G Ocarinas along with a learning course. Since I'm becoming a MO Player, I would like to aqquiante myself with you guys (and the board of course!) I'm turning 18 tomorrow, I'm a senior in HS, and I do have prior Musical Experience. I was in Orchestra for 5 years, playing the Viola. So I might have a easier time reading music. I also come from the South, Arkansas.

Hi everybody.
I just order a G and a C ocarina to bring me back to music. I used to play guitar but since i bought my farm ( 15 years ago .. ) , they're sleeping under the bed in their dusty cases. Here on the farm, we received travelers from around the world ( tanks to WWOOF ) and many of them travel with a music instrument ( except the one that plays piano and drums ..... ) . Every time i wish i would have something small i could carry around easily. I had a look at harmonica but it didn't "hooked" me in many years of just thinking about it. I always liked the sound and style of " pan flute " but it doesn't fit well in a pocket. And then i found out about ocarina 2 weeks ago and they're in the mail now ! Special tank to Ubizmo who showed me ( and inspired me ) that it's possible to play the style of music i listen to. But hey ! i found out about new things too. Can't wait to try them !!

Pour ceux qui se le demande. Ma ferme est situee a 1 heure de Montreal, pres de St-Hyacinthe et Drummondville.

Hum... for those who don't know, Quebec is in Canada !

So, in the future, if the rows are not straight in the field, it'll be because i need my 2 hands to play and i'll drive with my knees ...

MO reached Ukraine

Hello everyone (excuse me for English its foreign language for me),

Seems like I am the only one from Ukraine (so far)!

I don't know how many of you heard about Ukraine. But it's ex-Soviet Union country that was called "bread basket" of Soviet Union. You can locate it on the map next to Belarus, Russia, Poland and to the Black sea. Or yes and everyone heard about Chernobyl. Sorry guys, it was us!

Well, I am newbie and just got my poly ocarinas 10 days ago. And I like both sound and portability! Thanks Karl and all MO guys! I hope I will grow unto the MO! Thanks Karl and all MO guys!

Hey guys. I ordered the Polycarbonate G ocarina a couple months ago, but I am just now being able to move into it. I have an ear for music, but the temptation to play by ear has hindered my learning of sheet music in the past. I hope to overcome that now, and learn to read music and play the ocarina in due time. My goal is to be able to play Christmas carols, Celtic music, and other folk songs. I wish to play for groups, go caroling where I am welcomed, and echo haunting melodies throughout the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Hello, Folks! My name is Blayne, and I live in Oklahoma. I currently play the ukulele and the hammered dulcimer. But, I never learned to read music; so yesterday I ordered the "learning to play" curriculum along with the C & G polycarb mountain ocarinas. I'm anxious for them to arrive! I like the compactness of these ocarinas.

Hi from Stratford Upon Avon. Not only am I new to the ocarina,I am also new to the realms of the computer world so please bare with me.
I play the harmonica and have tried the penny whistle,but having heard the haunting sound of this incredible instrument,i've decided it's the one for me.
Haven't got hold of one yet and when I do will probably get one in each key C&G,but haven't made my mind up of what material.
Anyway that's about it for now,just hope this posts,as it's my first attempt at joining a forum.Regards to all.Dave

Hey there! As you can tell from my name, I am a bagpiper . My daughter asked me to look up where to buy an ocarina for her boyfriend. Of course, now I want one... so a little background on me.

I am a 41 year old father of 2. I have played guitar for more than 25 years. I perform with a couple of bands as lead singer and co-lead guitarist and with a local opera company. I am a songwriter as well (www.myspace.com\tomdonovan). I just love playing music and performing. I began playing bagpipes Sept 08 and progressed quickly, marching in the NYC St Patrick's Day parade and about 11 others. I really found the instrument to be a wonderful journey so far ... each day providing some new learning experience and even more gratification.

Last night when my oldest daughter asked me to find some info for her... it seems I also found my next muse. Which could be a bad thing... or not! hahahaha

I hope this forum is a fun group of people... musicians have to be, right?!?!?! HAHAH

I ordered my first ocarina a couple days ago. I'm *very* excited, despite my deceptively calm introduction here. It will be my first real experience playing any musical instrument. I've messed around with a piano here and there, sat in on quite a few piano lessons by chance, and have messed around with the ocarina available for the iphone a bit. The iphone ocarina is largely what inspired me to look into ocarinas. I was able to pick up on playing it with regular sheet music (as opposed to the pictoral fingering things) pretty quickly, and have had quite a bit of fun doing it, so I figure I might as well dive into the real deal!

I've spent the past week and a half trying to cram as much basic music theory into my head as possible. Can't wait to dig in with the instrument in hand!

I must add that so far I have been tremendously impressed by this business/website!

Julie

Hi. im stevo landis. I just bought a mountain ocarina- it's very nice. They're extremely durable. My band teacher- clarinetcat- introduced me to these. I played a recorder in 4th grade, and then got a tin whistle- maybe 6th grade. Now, in 10th, I checked out MOs- I liked the sound of the ocarinas- and with encouragement from clarinetcat- I bought a G. Lookin' forward to buying a C and maybe the 300 Celtic songs.

I play trumpet in Senior band, jazz band, and wind ensemble. You probably met clarinetcat, he's my band director. I also play tin whistle, didgeridoo, steel drums, and my nose-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=218Ayxyvi-A. I not very good at playing my nose- I need some practice.

After wrestling with a sudden urge to learn the ocarina for over a month, I'm eagerly anticipating the arrival of a polycarb G. I'm so excited.

I live on a tiny island 12 miles off the coast of Maine, with a winter population of about 60. It's a wonderful, quirky, exasperating community, and I love it.

Seems like this might be a wonderful, quirky (exasperating?) community as well! I'm looking forward to my adventures in Ocarinaland.

Of course I was teasing about the "exasperating" part. Actually, the active online community was one of the reasons I chose a Mountain Ocarina. There's a lot of support, knowledge, and talent on this site! My ocarina can't get here soon enough. In the meantime, I'm reading older posts, esp. in Beginner's Corner and Challenges.

And it came to me so suddenly, out of nowhere. I mean, I'm not a Zelda fan, I don't have any ocarina-playing friends. One day I just said "I need an ocarina! Wait... what's an ocarina again?" and went on an intensive web-search. I made myself wait, thinking I was having a bit of pre-cabin fever... uh, fever. I'm hoping there's something to be said for delayed gratification.
I'm embarrassed to admit, I was initially snobby about the design. I saw some ceramic ones that were so elegant, and I was pretty smitten. But I started thinking about that pottery on a lobster boat in my pocket, or on a hike to the cliffs, and I began to feel differently about the polycarb. And now, it's not even here and I kinda love it already!

I played the clarinet in high school band and loved it, but did not continue with it when I went to college. For the past several years I have had an interest in playing again, but a good clarinet is very expensive, and I did not want another student clarinet. I wanted to play some type of wind instrument, as I am already accustomed to the fingering of wind instruments. Researching various instruments, including ocarinas, I came across Mountain Ocarinas. The selling point for me was that this was not a "student" ocarina that I would grow out of...it was an instrument that I would develop in to. I purchased the poly C & G, the beginner's course, and the books for both hymns and carols. I am so very much looking forward to it.

Hi everyone, just ordered the poly G. Made first contact with the ocarina in Zelda(I used to pronounce it Ork-arina though, not sure why I inserted an 'r' there. Still, I think oh-carina sounds more pleasant than ock-arina. It wouldn't be right to mislead people into mispronouncing it though, so I'll say ock-arina from now on). I played a bit of violin, but I was never too good with it. Even if it makes such a sweet sound, it takes too much care. The ocarina's appeal is it's freedom, that it can be summoned in a moment and put away the next. I wasn't sure which ocarina(transverse, pendant, inline) to get, but the sheer amount of support for Mountain Ocarinas I've observed has made the choice clear. I watched most of docjazz's videos on youtube and especially liked the portal tune(can't wait to reproduce it myself!). Hmm... I wonder when the ocarina will arrive... I'll just whistle until it does then...

I've just ordered the polycarbonite G/C combo and look forward to learning to play them. I have no real musical background but have been playing around with the ukulele for about a year now. The ocarina looks like a good match with the uke, compact and loads of fun.

After playing and making tin whistles, paraguayan harps, shakuhachi and a hammered dulcimer I have recieved a G and a C MO.

These are delightful instruments. I doubt that I will ever be a virtuoso on any instrument but I have great fun trying.

i everyone. I've just ordered a polycarbonate G ocarina a few minutes ago, after a few days of poking around various sites in search of inexpensive woodwinds. I'm also planning to pick up an alto recorder once my recorder-playing friends get back to me on a couple of questions I've asked them.

I'm not new to music in general. I used to collect bamboo flutes and such, but emphasis is on "collect" rather than play I'm afraid. I am really more into hand percussion and computer-based composition. I played violin and jazz piano 20 years ago in high school, soprano and alto recorder younger than that (I could be a bit rusty...), I am completely awful with a guitar, and due to the Geneva Convention I don't even sing in the shower

I enjoy nearly all kinds of music, though in some genres I am more particular than others. Relevant to the ocarina, I was on a big Celtic folk kick for a while, but I expect I'll be using it in fairly unconventional ways as well as just playing to unwind, and maybe even accompanying singers and percussion if it comes to that.

My name is Marcy and I've had my polycarb C MO for a couple years and I LOVE it. I play flute, piccolo and some piano. I dabble a little bit with the celtic harp as well. But of all these instruments the one I love the most and play every day is my mountain ocarina. I just ordered the celtic book and can already play almost half the songs. I can't wait to master this adorable little instrument and move on to even more challenging tunes. Someday I hope to play as good as Karl and Ubizmo, but I have tons of fun everyday trying! AND, my 6 month old twin babies absolutely love for me to play to them. They become mesmerized!

I am a pastor of a local church and I play recorders, tin whistle, and my xaphoon with our praise band. Music is a big part of my life and in our family. In high school I played clarinet and majored in voice in college. You might could say that I know enough music to be dangerous.

The Mountain ocarina has facinated me and I look forward to using them outside and in church when I can play them in tune. I know this will take time but I have patience.

I just ordered my Polycarbonate Key of "C" today and would like to start by thanking Karl and his editor(s) for the Right out of the Box series. I have a feeling these tips will come in handy along my musical journey.

I enjoy all sorts of folk and unique music and have a small collection of instruments I've acquired on my travels. A novelty clay ocarina which I later realised is more of a decoration than a playable instrument, a Djembe, a tin whistle, and hopefully someday a hang drum. I look forward to receiving the Mountain Ocarina and sharing my experiences with the community.

Thanks again,

Keesh

I just ordered the Duo G & C ploycarbonates. My name is Tom and I'm a professional musician by night, a stay-at-home dad by day. I play sax in my own jazz quartet and am thinking of adding the Ocarina to my repertoire. (I also play flute)
I wonder how bebop will sound on an ocarina? Could be just the thing to make me stand out in the crowd.

My name is Rod and I am a new user of this forum. I am 53 years old and I have never successfuly played any instrument before. I bought my Mountain Ocarina a few years ago at the Northern States Exposition because I love the clear sound of a flute, I always have, and I admired the size and weight of the instrument. I also picked up the 3 disk course at the same time, took them all home and just about forgot about them until last week when I found the disks in my music collection. I saw the web site listed on the disks and it led me here.
This site looks like a tremendous resource for Mountain Ocarinas and this forum caused me to find my ocarina and start playing, I am working on taps first. I can't find the book that came with the 3 disk set but the tabs and mp3 files that are here should be the ticket to get me started. If I get going real well maybe I will work on reading and playing from sheet music.
I tried to learn some tunes on a cedar flute a couple of years ago but I couldn't find much tab music on the internet for flutes. I think it was a bit easier to get the clear notes but of course it was much larger and fragile. I can work, in uniform, with my ocarina around my neck and no one notices.
I think this forum is great the way it is but a spellchecker would help, also an expanding collection of tabs and maybe a little sheet music for the same tunes to compare with the tabs. One of my ultimate goals would be to pick up some standard sheet music and be able to play it with my ocarina..
Thank you all very much for this resource, this is the best opportunity I have ever had to learn to play music.

I consider myself a musician -- my current aspiration is to be a private music teacher. My main instrument is the recorder. I can also play bassoon, oboe, sax, guitar, bass guitar, a little piano/keys, ocarina, and basically any folk-type flutes that I can get my hands on. I also want to learn baroque bassoon, baroque oboe, traverso, harpsichord and organ.

I've had my Mountain Ocarinas for ~2 years now, although I've neglected them in practice until recently (I was studying recorder at university, which unfortunately I am not going to continue due to illness, instead I'm going to study recorder privately which will give me more time to play ocarina, I guess being too sick for work or study is good for getting a bit of extra time in the day).

I'm actually in hospital right now. I'm supposed to be here for a few weeks, so I brought my recorders and my MOs with me (technically musical instruments aren't allowed but no-one is complaining!), because I think continuing with my music will help me recover, or at least that is my excuse for not being able to be separated from my instruments for so long . I've already infected one of my nurses and one of the cleaners with MOs, which is pretty cool, so surely they should be paying me a commission or something.

A few years back I ordered a couple of Ocarinas from another company, one of them was a beautiful piece of work made of clay, regretfully when they arrived my clay ocarina was broken! To set matters worse, the company refused to give me a refund or send a new one on the basis that I "had no proof" of it getting broken in transit... Why bring this up? Well, mainly because it put me off ocarinas since then. I still play my second one, but I've never really been dedicated to learning, mainly because the sound quality seems rather poor. I've even had a friend play it (who owns four different ocarinas) and she agrees with me about the quality!! Then I stumbled across Mountain Ocarinas a couple of days ago. Since then I've been lurking the forums and reading up, watching the videos by Carl (or is it Karl?) and generally built up my knowledge. Well, not ten minutes ago I just placed an order for two ocarinas here (the Polycarbonate C and G key) and happily await their arrival. Hopefully I can learn a few more things from the kind folks here, and maybe in the future pass along my own knowledge.

I've spent a lot of time researching about ocarinas and it looks like the mountain ones are definitely worth a try. I'm going to buy the polycarbonate pair as soon as i can. I can't play music very well yet, but i have been learning piano for a little while now. I've been watching mountain ocarina's videos and got very excited about the challenge of making tiny/ good sounding/ resistant/ wearable/ easy to play musical instruments.. like they say: so you can play after a good hike on the top of a mountain (or at a friend's house without having to plan it, whatever). That's just my point, music anywhere anytime, ocarinas fit that very well.

I'm also a huge fan of the Zelda games, by the way, that's how i got to know ocarinas in the first place.

I live in Sao Paulo (capital city), Brazil.

I got my pair of polys (C and G) about four months ago
and I play them mostly when I'm driving... I mean, I take
them with me and play a few tunes whenever I stop
at the red light . I've even managed to come up with
a little song by joining small fragments I found pleasing
when playing during some of those short moments -- I intend
to post it on YouTube as soon as I figure out how to make
my EEE PC webcam record videos.

I am 68 and live near Newcastle upon Tyne in England. I have been playing music for over 60 years and want a new instrument to play. I play organ and piano. Have played in Jazz Bands, Big Bands, Theatre orchestras and church. I am currently play a rather large 4-manual organ but it's rather awkward to carry arround hence the ocarinas.

I took my ocarina to church today and a lot of folks asked about it, so I explained a little and then played "It Is Well With My Soul" (with a few less mistakes than the video) and got a positive reaction from everyone we had a meeting for the men of our church (just to get to know eachother and whatnot) and we had to introduce ourselves. When it was my turn, I got to show off my ocarina I got positive reactions from all (roughly 15 people I think) that were there, and one of them even asked where to get one ^^ It was cool.

My name is Lois and I live about as far north in Wisconsin as possible. I have had my G and C polycarbonite Ocarinas for about a week and a half now, and am beginning to understand what was meant by the statement, "You don't grow out of Ocarinas, you grow into them". I do see my tone and speed improving with practice.

I must share a neat thing that happened several days ago as I sat outside practicing with the C. I was playing the songs in the instruction book and suddenly realized that there was a morning dove sitting in the tree above me answering my playing with his (or her) own song. This went on for quite awhile. My Grandson arrived on the scene and was actually able to duplicate the bird's call pretty well, and he continued to receive a call back. I hope we didn't confuse the poor bird too badly.

Thank you for a fun and versatile instrument.

My order arrived on Wednesday; that's great service since i placed the order on Sunday.

I am very happy with my Ocarinas and am enjoying the instruction materials.

I'm 57 years old and have been singing in choirs and small groups since I was in Junior High. I never learned to read music very well - I sing the intervals, not really the notes, if that makes sense to you. I have been looking for an instrument that was easy to play. I tried the Trumpet and Saxophone in School but never mastered either. The Trumpet was probably the worst but it was also the first. In college I tried the Piano and Guitar - I don't have good enough manual dexterity to do more than play a few chords on the Guitar or anything much more advanced than Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on the Piano. I got discouraged and gave up. I have tried other instruments since; I thought that the Ukulele might be easier than the Guitar (fewer strings) but that turned out to not be true for me. I have tried recorders but was never able to overcome the squawks and squeaks.

I had heard of Ocarinas and thought they might be easier to play than anything I had tried but never seriously looked for one. I'm not exactly sure what prompted me to search on Sunday but I found a web site that explained a lot about the different kinds of Ocarinas. This site provided a link to Mountain Ocarinas and I was very impressed by what I found.there. I thought I might have found my instrument so I ordered it (actually, I ordered two) plus the instruction kit and two song books.

The Ocarinas arrived much more quickly than I had anticipated and I have enjoyed them thoroughly. I've progressed faster than I thought possible. Of course my singing experience has helped a lot - I don't need to spend much time on the rhythm patterns and can concentrate on the fingerings and breath control.

Again, thank you very much for your instruments and your passion for music.

Des Moines, IA
a.k.a. Beulah Land

first i would like to say that the ocarina's are fantastic, i pick up both the C and the G and my favorite out of the two is the C. I don't know y but i just like the sound of the C more than the G, don't get me wrong though, I like the G alot to. I have never play a ocarina before so this is something different from my guitar or my drums. but after playing with it for 3 hours i got use to it in no time. The way I found out about these was from the iphone app that apple has. When i purchase the app i was like, this is pretty neat. so i checked the web to see if they had such a instrument (i never knew what a ocarina was). Then i came across they sweet potato ocarina's and the pendant's. I was thinking about getting one of those but i was having second thoughts about it because they r made of clay and are very fragile. So i did more research then came across mountain ocarina's, then my mind was made up. So i purchase both the C and the G polycarbonate ocarina's. Karl, you are a fantastic player.

Hi, my name is Rick and I'm hooked on ocarinas.

I live in Muskego, Wisconsin. It's near Milwaukee but I'm pretty sure they can't hear my polycarbonate G from that far away.

I've been playing recorders and penny-whistles since I was a kid. I've done Renaissance music with a professional ensemble and Irish folk music in pubs and for dancers. I even make my own flutes and whistles, so I was quite the junkie when it came to straight-pipe instruments.

Then out of curiosity I bought a four-dollar sweet-potato from the kiddie section of a music store. Then I mail-ordered an English style pendant ocarina (a Susato "Papageno" in high C, which they probably can hear in Milwaukee when the wind is right). Soon after that, I found the Mountain Ocarinas web site. I resisted as long as I could before ordering the polycarbonate C and G combo package.

After getting used to them for about a week, I took them to choir practice to show them off. To my amazement, I got TWO of the same reactions that the MO web site talks about... within five minutes! One woman asked me if they were electronic and another asked where she could get them for her granddaughters. I'm glad I knew the URL. Everyone had that look on their faces which said, "Wow, did that big sound come out of that little thing?"

I've also gotten shouts of enthusiastic approval from people who have heard me playing at stop-lights.

I love the speed of these instruments and the chromatic fingerings were so easy to master that I already feel confident in four different keys on each one. It's just insane how easy it was to pick up!

Hello, my name's Scott and I'm from NB, Canada! ^.^

I have had someone on my mind for the past month or so, because he has been going through some pretty hard things in life - Much more than I could ever bear. I heard he was in the hospital because he tried something, and it made me feel very sad for him. So I felt impressed upon my hear to go and visit him to try and show him some support and love, to try and encourage him some. Well, he was very surprised to see me! We had never been close, but we've known each other all our lives. After encouraging him and showing him some support, he asked what the thing was around my neck. So I told him it was an Ocarina (my poly G). He asked for me to play something but I was nervous that I might disturb someone because I was in the mental clinic after all haha. But I played a small tune and he really liked it!

A few minutes later, someone (looked to in his early 20's) sat down with us in the lounge area, and he asked me the same thing. So I decided I'd just go ahead a play a little something. I played a little of I Have A Bonnet Trimmed With Blue and Concerning Hobbits. Every stopped and listening as I played, and as I finished they all responded with positive things! The younger guy asked me if I knew the "Namek song" haha but I said I didn't. Haha I found it funny because I was in the mental clinic after all, and that guy looked like he was as high as a kite on meds or something, but he couldn't stop talking about the Ocarina and asked me if it was alright if he got one. I smiled and said of course! I almost gave him mine (I had a warmstone G on the way, which I have now ), but I didn't think It'd be a good idea to give a random person a gift in the mental clinic lol.

I just thought that was kind of neat, and that's my story haha.

Hi everybody, i'm new here, but i've been playing the MO for just under a year, and i'm really loving it.

i mostly play hymns and celtic melodies, but i sometimes play other little tunes as well. I'm actually still working my way thru the first curriculum book w/ the CDs. I just ordered the book of hymns off the MO site.... so i'll be working on those soon. Most of the hymns i learned already were by ear, so it will be nice to have music to read for a change !

ive had my g and c ocarinas for about 4 months and i love playing them, much to my dogs' dismay. i also play the flute, so the ocarina wasnt a difficult transition.

Hey everyone, I got my poly MO in C, and i am pumped! I got it a month ago and im still learning more and more songs. I do wish that I could find "if I only had a brain" though. Important thing is that I loved my oc, and It loves me. so hey to everyone. pce

I just got my Poly G MO and 300 Celtic Songs songbook yesterday, and to be honest, I'm quite stoked. The oc is a biiit a bit harder to play I thought it would be (Karl makes it look so easy )
I don't really have much musical experience. I took piano for a bit (I love it, but I'm too lazy to play regularly ) and I have played a 6 hole sweet potato style ocarina (Songbird) but I never was satisfied with it (I find cross-fingering is cumbersome).

My two polycarbonate ocarinas just arrived today. I uncurled my fingers for long enough to type this.

zapot

I got my ocarina in the summer, but before that I played the sax and guitar. Anyways, I fell in love with the Mountain Ocarinas for three reasons:
1. I love celtic music and it sounds amazing on them!!
2. They fit in my pocket, so i can take it anywhere!
3. They're indestructable! Which is expecially handy for someone like me who can be a bit of a klutz XD
So ya, I finally was able to log back onto my youtube acount (MikaOcarina of course!), because it was glitched for a LONG time! But when I checked my messages I found one from Mountain Ocarinas suggesting this forum, so I thought I might as well give it a try. So, hello everyone!
-MikaOcarina

I just got done purchasing my first Mountain Ocarinas Ocarina. The funny thing is why I decided to go with an inline model from Mountain Ocarinas, and not a transverse potato one. Like from Legend of Zelda. Ok, now you all know. I am a huge Legend of Zelda fan, and it was for this reason that I originally wanted to get an Ocarina. However, after I investigated the different styles, materials, etc., I decided on getting one from Mountain Ocarinas, because as a piano player of 15 years, I value quality of sound and ease of play. While it won't "look" perfect with a Link costume, I know that I will be able to produce quality music in or out of character.

I stumbled onto Mountain Ocarinas about a year ago and purchased one. I played on and off for a bout year, and really enjoy it!

Hello everyone, my name is Peter. I just received my Polycarbonate G and C ocarinas and I'm absolutely in love with them already. I've been playing music for 14 years but this is my first wind instrument and I'm very excited.

I've been playing music for the last several years with an amateur group currently made up of 4 other recorder players and a ukulele player. In the long-ago past, I played clarinet, guitar and piano. In other hours of my life, I work as a legal assistant in a large law firm, so music is one of my stress-busters (along with my wonderful husband and our crazy dog).

I received my C & G ocarinas last Friday and they are great instruments! Although the range of notes is more limited compared to the recorder, I like the fact that they are more portable, almost indestructible, playable outdoors even in windy conditions, and louder. I'm finding them to be superior to recorders (ouch!) for punching out catchy Medieval tunes. The other day, I experienced a little separation anxiety when I left the house without my ocarinas -- are they addictive or what?!!

Aloha,
Susan

Hello, ocarina enthusiasts!

It's great to see this forum became such a lively place, so I decided I'll start participating too. I'm Marko, 21 from Slovenia, still studying. I play guitar, keyboards, some accordion, didgeridoo, pan flute and of course ocarinas Now and then I compose a tune or two, always instrumental music. My musical taste is somewhat classical, but I also love ethnic music from around the world and that's what brought me to ocarinas also. I've owned mountain polycarbonates for some time and I must say they are amazing little instruments. The real beauty is in their simplicity, portability, but most important, they are fun to play. Like most other simple flutes, they can be picked up and played the very next moment. There is something magical about such instruments, because they allow you to be creative and play tunes from your heart in free flow from the first moment on, which is by far the most important thing in music.

Marko

Hello from central Florida,
I just got my C & G Mountain Ocarinas a couple days ago and I already love them. I've always wanted to take up an instrument and I think this might be the one.

I tried guitar, but I'm very active and it can be a bit cumbersome. Same thing with the keyboard. I tried Harmonica, but just never took to it.

I was looking for an affordable, portable, durable, and easy instrument to learn and I think I've found it!

I have a LOT of learning to do, but it's good.

Best wishes to all=)

P.S. That was some quick shipping!

I got my ocarina after christmas. I love it. I haven't had too many opportunities to practice, but I have noticed improvements here and there as I discover things I'm doing wrong and correct them. I look forward to being able to play this instrument well. I had a sweet potato ocarina and I am very impressed with the Mountain Ocarina. The range of things I can play on this instrument are very exciting.

Hey Everyone!

I figure since I am new to the whole world of ocarina's I'd Introduce how I got into it. As many people who play the ocarina I got introduced to this amazing instrument through a famous video game called "Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time." Before I tried the ocarina though, I had always wanted to play piano ever since I was a kid, but as things go I never got around to it instead I ended up taking guitar lessons...well I was younger then and not motivated enough to pursue it (I one day will try again, but until then.) So as time went on I decided to give something unique a try and I once again looked up the ocarina...I knew nothing about it so my biggest inspiration to start playing this amazing instrument was DocJazz4. I looked up his Youtube videos and began to follow his reviews and videos. Through him I was introduced to Mountain Ocarinas when he review the Polycarbonate Key Of G it was different from the ocarinas I had seen before, but it was portable, easy to learn, sounded beautiful when played and all around something great to start off. Well about Christmas time '08 I was going to purchase my first Ocarina, come Christmas day though I didn't need to I received my very first Polycarbonate KEY of G&C inline Mountain Ocarina I was thrilled, that very day I started teaching my self how to play. I am still learning slowly and still learning how to read music but for the most part I would recommend starting off with this ocarina...I already can play the basic of songs and I have only picked it up a few times since christmas (real busy). I am still looking for new ways to improve everyday but slowly it'll happen thanks to everyone and their stories and videos I look forward to posting a video of my own. Hope to meet ya'll and hope one day to inspire someone myself.

~Josh~

Well my Ocarina just arrived in the mail today, so I figured I'd make my introduction post then!

My name's Yannick, and I'm 20 years old. I don't have any musical background, though I do have a keyboard (and a rather expensive one too >.>)

I bought that keyboard hoping to get into music with it, but I failed very very hard at the reading music part of it, so I can only play songs after doing them over and over again after watching a video on youtube or something ... not exactly the ideal situation I'd say.
So I tried learning to read music, and it just didn't seem to be working out for me.

However, I think today will totally change that, thanks to this awesome company called Mountain Ocarinas ... As I already said, I can not read any music, but I just finished Unit 1 of that music curriculum book all by just looking at the measures!

I'm having a blast with this, and I think I'll also try and see how this curriculum will work on keyboard, because it has always been my dream to play both a keyboard and flute instrument ... because they go so nice together :]

And here you have it, yet another happy customer, thank you

I'm one of a few Aussies here.

I go by Tox or MrSquiggle or... Scott if you want to get into what my drivers licence has to say about the matter.

Ive been playing ocarinas for most of my life if you ignore the almost 20 year break from when i first played them till i decided to take up a pair of Poly Mountain Ocarinas at the begining of this year.

Ive never been the most musically capable as such id say ive improved from horrible to regular bad in my playing over the last year.

But im persisting and improving and well just plain anoying a few people who live around me, but thankfully i have the diplomatic skills (and access to a multi acre property with no one for km's) to keep up praticing.

Soooo, well that should count as a serviceable intorduction of myself, ohh and i should say i love the design, quality and well the 'Noise' of Mountain Ocarinas.

Hi All, my name is Mervyn and I have just bought a C & G polycarb.I have no experience in playing any musical instruments but have a very good ear for music. I decided that I would like to start playing something and the Ocarina interested me, so I am sure I am going to have fun learning. I live in a small village just outside Cambridge, UK.

I may be asking for some advise in the future so please be patient with me.....

Best regards Mervyn

Hello from Naples FL.

My name is Karl and I have a polycarbonate G Ocarina. We bought 2 (on for me, one for my son) also the course, the Favorite Hymns book, and the Favorite Carols book.

I do not play any other instrument, I cannot read music.

I liked the concept of having an instrument readily available for practice and performance. So we bought these great instruments. Unfortunately I am like a third oyster I read about not too long ago. I am trying to be like another oyster, a fourth one. Anyway...

I do want to learn the ocarina so I do bring it with me to work (I'm a carpenter) and practice Mary had a little Lamb. I also pick out songs by ear, but only usually a few notes.

Karl

Anyways, I have been singing for my entire life, and I had been playing the piano for about a year and a half when I first picked up my Mountain G.

I must say, it is a great joy to play my Ocarina.

Hi everyone. I bought my mountain ocarina back in college, about 12 years ago at the Big E fair in Western MA. I'm pretty sure the guy on the front page of the web site sold it to me - he was going through them like hot cakes because he played it so well. Any way, I never played it much until fairly recently. I now have a 19 month old daughter. She loves music and loves it when I play guitar (my main instrument). I remembered recently that I had the ocarina in a drawer and pulled it out one day, and have played it every day since. My daughter loves it because (unlike my guitar) I'll let her play with it, and its so durable I don't worry about her breaking it (even as she smashes it on the floor!). She's just figuring out how to blow in it, but mostly just puts it around her neck, takes it off, and puts it around her neck again. She calls it a "fhoot" (flute) since she couldn't say ocarina. Since I'm pretty musical I'm just picking up tunes by ear. My fingers have actually learned their way around the instrument faster pretty quickly once I started playing it regularly. Christmas tunes have been especially fun. I hope to get better and better at it as my daughter grows, and maybe it will be the first instrument she learns.

Hello there ... I'm a newbie on the mountain oc' although I've played sweet potato off and on for over 40 years. My Dad was in the 320 bomb Group of the USAAF back in the Last Good War, and was issued an old-fashioned clay ocarina. He brought it home from the Mediterranean Theater with him and I learned to play on it. I played in university, fooling around with a jug band at the off-campus coffeehouse; since then I'vemostly played for myself.
I bought my Mountain Ocarina about nine months ago, IIRC, and I've been playing with it since. I love the tone, even though I only have the polycarbonate version. I sing in a 70-voice community folk choir here in Toronto, and if I get good enough on this lovely instrument I can see playing accompaniment at concerts.

Hi from Ontario, Canada!

I'm more of a lurker than a poster, but I wanted to see if there were any other geeks out there..

I'm a computer programming professor (Java, PHP/MySql mostly, sometimes .net junk, sometimes other stuff) and I started playing wind instruments back in grade school (clarinet and flute). When I finished high school, I didn't play because I couldn't afford my own instruments at the time. As career stuff became more and more stressful, my blood pressure went up like crazy and I needed to find some ways to relax and get away from work for a while. I decided to get back into playing so I bought myself a clarinet and a flute and went back to those, then moved on to the tin whistle which I really enjoyed... playing for too long bothered my carpal tunnel, though (saw someone else mention this in another part of the forum, interesting).

One day about a year ago I was chatting with some students about music and was showing them pics of the tin whistles I'd bought from other sites, and we came upon a picture of a sweet potato ocarina!

One of my students said, "..isn't that from Zelda?" (I get this allllll the time; does anyone else? I've never even played Zelda.. I was more of a Galaga girl, myself.)

I decided I had to learn to play an ocarina so I did some research (reading, listening, youtube videos) and decided to purchase 2 of the polycarb ocs from MO -- have been tooting away on them for over a year now. Blood pressure's gone down (enough that I can start drinking a bit of coffee again, thank goodness - I was getting pretty cranky!) and it gets me off the computer for at least an hour each day. I really like these ocs, though. I don't play the tin whistles as often anymore, and I love that I can easily carry the ocarinas around (bought a neat little hemp pouch at a local fair trade shop that seems like it was made to hold two MO ocarinas!) My boyfriend plays the Kalimba and we have a good time trying to play together sometimes.

You can call me Ethan. I'm from Perth, Australia. I come across the ocarina for the first time through the Smule ocarina software on the iphone a few weeks ago. As many people, I just enjoy the sound of this instrument. I have done my research on the web and end up buying my first G Polycarbonate here. I received it only two days ago and I'm looking forward to a fair bit of practice

Musical background:
Well, I have tried to read music and play an instrument for many years now. Many years ago I took some lessons on classical guitar. I am not happy with the progress I made on it. I hope my experience will be better this time. At least, the learning curve on the ocarina seems to be faster.

I have two sons who play clarinet and they are way better. They do it at school, in band and won prizes etc. For me, playing the ocarina is just for the pure joy of bringing some freshness in every day life. BTW, job-wise I am a management consultant in the IT industry. So, music is good for me to get away from the too serious environment.

I wish I will be able to play the ocarina decently in the coming weeks. Glad to join the community.

Cheers

I have been a customer of Mountain Ocarinas for several years. My background is in music, but I neither have the time or inclination to keep up my violin/viola skills. The ocarina is in a sense the polar opposite of the violin. It is a simple instrument to play, easy to learn. You can leave it aside for days,weeks or even months at a time, pick it up and play immediately where one left off. Most instruments require daily practice, often hours, just to maintain a fairly high proficiency level, which rapidly deteriorate without this daily discipline. Glad to be here, hope to make new friends.

I began playing a few weeks ago after ordering 2 diffrent keys, and much to my surprise, my 5 year old picked one up and decided she wanted to play with mommy. She refuses to let it go, and keeps it in a special place in her bedroom. She takes it out everytime I play. I've been playing wind instruments for most of my life, and although she's only 5, she has been singing since before she could talk (she insists she's going to be like Hannah Montanna). I think the ocarina will teach her really good breathing and control techniques. I surprised myself, even, that I could play it right off the bat. I figured I would have to practice like a dog to even be listenable, but I had no idea that the wind experiance I had would be incorporated so well into playing the Ocarina. Don't get me wrong, it's not without practice and work to play well, but it was easier then I thought it would be.

I've been practicing the ocarina, myself, because I wanted to surprise my father, who encouraged me to learn all types of instruments, for Christmas. For the man who has it all, I thought it might be a diffrent type of a gift, what do you think? I hope he likes it! Hey maybe my daughter can learn Jingle Bells and we can play a duet!

Hello all.

Mountain ocarina owner and player since about two weeks. Gradually growing into it. I play the tin whistle since one year now; I'm still a very beginner with the whistle too, but it helps a lot with the ocarina. I can play some easy tunes on the Mountain Ocarina; I cannot yet play a jig or a reel on the ocarina (actually I can barely do that on the whistle).

I love the ocarina versatility, this is the reason why I choosed to get one. Since I can safely wear and carry my MO anywhere I'm enjoing it a lot and it's probably becoming my favourite instrument.

Spatolo

Luckily I work ever other week. In the last 10 months I've either backpacked or paddle camped on every off week except this one.

For years I've wanted an instrument that can come with me. As a bagpiper for almost 20 years I can tell you that they are not quite the instrument to carry in a pack for 10-15 miles. Panpipes/panflute, another incredible instrument but the nice ones are wood or bamboo and again not an instrument for mud/rain/snow and an occasional drop.

Enter the Mountain Ocarina! Finally an instrument that can come with me to the mountains or in the sea kayak when paddle camping. On my digital the poly G M.O. weighs 1.8 ounces with lanyard-perfectly justifiable even for someone who counts every gram or milligram when packing up.
In high school I went to all-state on a BB flat bass, what some would call a tuba-but to me a tuba is in the key of C. Started on trumpet, own several baritones, a transverse flute, and as alluded to above several stands of pipes and panflutes. I've always believed that every one should play something other than the radio You don't have to become concert quality-just playing eases the soul, just playing engages parts of the mind that resist aging and senile conditions; in fact my usual audience for any instrument is two cats (they run for their lives when I strike the bag HA!).

My only complaint concerning the poly G M.O. is that for someone who seriously spends a hundred nights a year backcountry is that it is not offered in ORANGE or bright YELLOW. Its just a matter of time before I sit it on a log and then spend thirty minutes looking for it. In that vain I'll affix some neon colored tape to the neck lanyard.

Having tinkered with many instruments, many 'systems', many courses through high school and college I can say that Mountain Ocarinas system is well thought out, highly professional, and designed to get you are far into the instrument as you want to go.

Robert