I think I'll start off with the ocarina! It's one of my favorites, so where better to start?
Ocarina
The ocarina is a wind instrument. It is similar to the recorder in the way it is played. There are holes on the top, and usually one or two on the bottom, that are covered to make different notes. There are many different types of ocarinas, all the way from little sopranos:
to (dun dun DAA!) TRIPLE ocarinas! (sorry for the large pic, couldn't resize)
Though you can't see it from the pictures, the smaller ocarinas have one internal chamber for one octave, and the triple ocarinas have
three internal chambers for
three whole octaves!
Now onto playing techniques. *please note, there will only be playing tecniques for the ocarina and piano, as I actually play these instruments myself*
-Let's pretend for a moment that the lowest note on your ocarina is a C (it probably is). By blowing a bit softer, you can slightly lower that C to a B! (For those of who have
no idea what I'm talking about, C and a B are notes. C is one note higher than a B. So by blowing into your ocarina a bit softer, you can lower the pitch a little.)
-A cool effect that you can easily do with an ocarina is called a "trill". What you do is place then take away your finger over a single hole. However, you do this
very rapidly, and many times. The result is something that sounds reminiscent of birdsong. Some combinations of trills are very pleasing to the ear; try C and B, or C and B flat.
Well, that's it for the ocarina! I'll probably add more to here as time goes by, so check back every so often! Thanks!