JimOfTheCorn
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« on: July 26, 2010, 03:14:25 PM » |
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My C & G ocarinas arrived on Friday & I immediately started working on the first unit of the curriculum. As I said in my intro, my musical experience consists of about two months of classical guitar lessons and an [academic] year in the high school choir, both around thirty years ago. I tried both instruments and found the C to be more immediately accessible; the sounds I got out of it sounded more musical, more "right". So I'm sticking with that one for now. I wish there were audio samples in the curriculum using the C ocarina... After working through the rhythm pattern exercises and practicing the unit 1 songs for an hour, my (arthritic) hands were a bit sore and my windpipe felt tired, so I stopped. Within half an hour or so, I started to experience these cravings..."must pick up ocarina...must practice more..." If my wife hadn't already gone to bed, or if I'd had any drinking straws in the house, I probably would have. I've noticed the same thing on subsequent sessions, there's a craving to continue that weakens over time. I've begun to engage in other dubious behaviors, like practicing rhythm patterns in (cough) the throne room. Do I need professional help?  -Jim |
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Spatolo
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« Reply #1 on: July 26, 2010, 07:17:11 PM » |
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I often practice in the bathroom while I'm taking a bath in the tub. I attach the sheet music to the clothes drying poles above the tub and I practice comfortably. With the ocbox too if it's late. I used to work on rhythm patterns "mentally" while walking and on public transport. And hey, being committed pays off!  |
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JimOfTheCorn
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« Reply #2 on: July 26, 2010, 07:48:54 PM » |
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I imagine my shower might interfere with the tone...  I just had a thought about carrying sheet music around. Without my glasses, my left eye focuses in under 10 cm...if I can print the score fairly small on an index card and mount it on top of the ocarina somehow between the fipple and the first row of holes, I might be able to read it... -Jim |
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JimOfTheCorn
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« Reply #3 on: July 30, 2010, 03:26:16 PM » |
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My wife & I went up to Chicago for the day a couple of days ago to help her parents with some things & got caught in the rush hour on the way home. We took the shortest route out of town & hit the back roads. I pulled out my poly C ocarina and the tab sheet for Clementine and started noodling, and I had my first little quantum leap in sound quality; I actually started getting clear, flute-like notes a fair amount of the time. I have to thank Ubizmo for his breathing exercise video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9Iu1NBtLOY. I noticed a couple of things: 1) Those Toyota engineers are really good at acoustics. I was expecting to be deafened, but the sound was actually pretty mellow. 2) Playing that low C note is a real...um...you know. I have a question about that, but I see there's already a thread about it so I'll post there: http://www.ocarinaboard.com/bb/index.php?topic=369.0-Jim |
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Spatolo
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« Reply #4 on: July 30, 2010, 07:49:40 PM » |
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1) Those Toyota engineers are really good at acoustics. I was expecting to be deafened, but the sound was actually pretty mellow.
Wow. If I play in the car I have a tolerance of some minute only with both the front windows fully open. No more than a minute in the closed cabin. 2) Playing that low C note is a real...um...you know.
LOL!! |
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JimOfTheCorn
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« Reply #5 on: July 30, 2010, 08:12:56 PM » |
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You mostly play the G, right? That one seems like it wants more space...
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Spatolo
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« Reply #6 on: July 30, 2010, 08:16:45 PM » |
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You mostly play the G, right? That one seems like it wants more space...
Right, I mostly play the G for what matters mountain ocarinas. |
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JimOfTheCorn
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« Reply #7 on: August 25, 2010, 08:19:31 PM » |
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OK, so it turns out that part of the reason I can tolerate playing in the car is that--as I guess everyone discovers at some point--I wasn't blowing hard enough on the low notes. And I think the reason that I sometimes wasn't getting a more buzzy timbre on the low C is that I was playing it fairly flat. Can anyone confirm that the timbre of that note on the poly C is fairly different from the others, or am I still doing something wrong? On the up side, while coming in to work over the weekend (project with a tight deadline) I discovered a great place to practice. On the down side, it's at work, so I have to wait until I have the building pretty much to myself. It's a 30x30x20-foot room with a 10x10x10-foot acrylic cubical room inside:  The reverb in there is tremendous, the instrument has a very ethereal sound. The catch is that the difference in timbre of the low C is even more pronounced, and if I'm not very careful it sounds like an ethereally sick cow. -Jim |
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JimOfTheCorn
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« Reply #9 on: August 26, 2010, 03:17:18 PM » |
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No, I can hear the same buzziness there, too. A bit in the D and fairly pronounced in the C. Thanks! Was that a poly C ocarina? I'd be curious to hear a side-by-side comparison of the various ocarina materials on just that note. It feels like the plastic is actually getting involved a bit in the vibration, so I wonder if a different material with different resonance properties would sound noticeably different on that one note. Though I guess they all have the plastic insert on top...have you noticed any such difference? I know you've said that the overall differences are subtle... I've also just noticed--after using the tip suggested by Elven Spellmaker for transposing the tunes in the curriculum to the key of C: However converting them to WAV or MP3 and then using a free audio editor, such as Audacity one can transpose them down for the key of C Ocarina. (In Audacity use -7 semitones, which is the gap of a perfect 5th. =))  ...that the low G on the poly G, once it's transposed down, picks up a slight buzz as well. Not nearly as much as the real poly C, though. -Jim |
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ubizmo
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« Reply #10 on: August 27, 2010, 10:30:17 AM » |
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I don't remember whether that was the poly or not, in that sample. Probably not, since I tend to use the hardwood most of the time.
The "buzz" is simply part of the personality of the MO. It's less audible on the G, because of the higher pitch, but it's there. It's the result of overtones. This is why many transverse ocarinas have a different timbre from MOs. The root cause, I believe, is the shape. The closer to spherical an ocarina is, the fewer audible overtones it generates. Transverse ocarinas, especially of Asian origin, tend to be pretty round in form. Their timbre is therefore simpler. The MO and other inlines, such as Hind, have a slightly reedier sound, because of their boxier shape.
A lot of people want that simpler sound, at least at first. I did, at least. But over time I found it cloying and lacking character. To me, the sound of the rounder ocarinas is closer to that of a computer-generated wave, and I no longer like it that much. When I bought an album of Ann Licater playing Native American Flute, it struck me that the MO C sounds a great deal like the NAF, and that's a very good thing. I think the "buzz" gives the MO's sound more definition, which I like.
The timbre of Nancy Rumbel's ocarinas is also similar to the MO's, which isn't surprising, given their shape.
No, the materials don't make much difference to the sound. That's why I can't tell, listening to that sample, which MO I played it on.
Ubizmo
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JimOfTheCorn
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« Reply #11 on: August 28, 2010, 12:17:03 AM » |
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A lot of people want that simpler sound, at least at first. I did, at least. But over time I found it cloying and lacking character. To me, the sound of the rounder ocarinas is closer to that of a computer-generated wave, and I no longer like it that much. When I bought an album of Ann Licater playing Native American Flute, it struck me that the MO C sounds a great deal like the NAF, and that's a very good thing. I think the "buzz" gives the MO's sound more definition, which I like.
So do I--actually, I like both sounds in different contexts. It's not the overall buzz of the MO that bugs me, it's the perceived difference in timbre of that one note. Seems to make it harder for me to hear the pitch. A note will sound quite wrong even if on closer inspection it's maybe just a little off. A beginner's issue, I guess. -Jim |
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ubizmo
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« Reply #12 on: August 28, 2010, 01:56:24 AM » |
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Not necessarily a beginner's issue. The lowest note on many ocarinas can sound a bit different from other notes because, with all holes closed, all sound emerges from the voicing. When more holes are opened, the sound can emerge at more points, and this can affect the timbre a bit.
Ubizmo
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JimOfTheCorn
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« Reply #13 on: August 28, 2010, 09:32:37 PM » |
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Interesting. Is there a good book on the physics of wind instruments? Not necessarily a beginner's issue.
...but I assume it eventually stops being surprising and disconcerting. I sure hope so, anyway. I'm currently possessed by "Aupres de Ma Blonde", which has been bouncing around in my memory for decades and is making a bid for freedom...The ascending eighth-note runs with a B-flat in the middle are slowing it down, though. -Jim |
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