Little Geese and Dragon's Eggs

Animals in my music blog?? Not really. In fact the instruments described here are not related to animals at all. They're what are commonly known as Ocarinas - enclosed clay wind instruments with holes.

Wikipedia tells us: The word ocarina is derived from Italian meaning "little goose." Don't ask me why.

Ocarinas are ancient instruments that, like flutes and panpipes, seem to have existed in cultures all over the world for centuries (or perhaps even millenia!). The Chinese have theirs, the Europeans have theirs, the Mesoamericans have theirs. Today I'll introduce a few that I have.

my ocarina collection

The Little Goose

When we use the word 'ocarina', what comes to mind most readily is the kind with a mouthpiece that resembles a whistle. The Chinese call it the "tao di" (陶笛).

Such ocarinas come in all shapes and sizes. Lots of them come in animal shapes too. It's up to the creativity of the maker.

I own 6 ocarinas of this type. The first is a plastic one I bought from Yamaha at Plaza Singapura (the yellow one). It's a 10-hole instrument. I think the piece I got wasn't too well made as some parts don't have a good seal (it's made in 2 halves joined together).

Clay ocarina

The second one is a clay handmade piece made by my friend's uncle who's a potter. It's a nice piece of pottery with interesting texture and a glazed mouthpiece. It's not tuned very well though, and probably needs some tweaking to sound better.

Fish-shaped ocarina from Eastern Europe

The third one is one that a friend of mine purchased for me in Eastern Europe. It's made of red clay and shaped in a piece. This unfortunate one was the victim of my carelessness when I accidentally swept it off my desk and shattered it to pieces. I've since glued the pieces back together, but I think it leaks air and doesn't sound as it once did...

TaoDi

The other 3 are Chinese TaoDi. Two of them were made by a famous ocarina shop in Taiwan. My friends who visited Taipei got them for me. They are 6-holed ocarinas. The last one was given by someone else and made elsewhere.


The Dragon's Egg


It doesn't take a genius to guess why this ocarina is referred to as a dragon's egg. Apart from the shape, it originates from a culture where dragons are symbols of power and good fortune - the Middle Kingdom, China.

This ocarina is known as a Xun (埙). Unlike the TaoDi, it is edge-blown and doesn't have a mouthpiece. You play it the same way you blow across a bottle opening to get a sound.

I bought this Xun at a roadshow in a shopping mall during Chinese New Year a few years back. It has lovely carvings of carp. Paid $50 SGD for it. It's more an ornamental piece than a musical instrument though. While playable, it's not tuned well.

Listen to the Xun here!

Note: You can probably make ocarinas of this type using ostrich or emu eggs. I've seen instructions on this in a library book on making your own musical instruments. That set of instructions included making a fipple (mouthpiece) for the ocarina.