Are Ocarinas a 'Serious' Instrument?

The ocarina community has highly disagreeing discourse on how we present the instrument.

Serious, or casual? Professional, or "from Zelda?"

How SHOULD we present the ocarina?

#Ocarina #OcarinasAreSerious #OcarinaInstrument

Credit for GOB video clip:

00:00 Intro
00:45 The "Stepping Stone"
02:37 The "Casual" Instrument
03:21 The "Zelda Instrument"
06:55 The "Serious Instrument"
09:39 All the above?

______

[kilosierra]

The way I see it, any instrument can be a "serious instrument". It all depends on the musician/band. Beautiful music is beautiful music, it does not matter what it comes from.

[jvdos]

Im an example of someone who didn’t discover the ocarina through Zelda; Couple years ago, my friend had a 3D printer and wanted to know if he could print an instrument, and so I found someone who had 3D printed an Ocarina. I actually looked up “Ocarina STL” because thats the format for 3d printable files, and I came across STL ocarina. We did end up 3D printing one, but when I wanted a real one, I returned to STL ocarina. I played Ocarina Of Time because I already liked Nintendo and, of-course, people assumed I was a Zelda fan when bringing up the Ocarina. Sure I wouldnt have heard of the instrument without Zelda’s influence on pop culture, but I still didn’t discover it through the games which is supprising to plenty of people.

[timlinnabary]

Andy, you may want to look at the history of the BMG Movement (Banjo, Mandolin, Guitar) in the late 19th century. This was a movement to elevate these three instruments to the level of art instruments on a par with orchestral instruments. An excellent source of information on this is the book “The Guitar in America” by Jeffery Noonan. I think the ocarina faces the same problems these three instruments did in that they were not taken seriously. The solution was to create art-level music for them, and to support high-level players who were true artists on their respective instruments.

[jaynava]

Thank you for oc videos Andy <3 they are very good and nice. Congrats on finishing grad school too!!

[JoshTseng]

This video made me feel like sharing my brief (thus far) but somewhat complicated ocarina journey. Andy, I hope you'll enjoy me indulging a little!

I got my first ocarina about 1 week ago and have learned a tremendous amount from videos like yours even before the instrument arrived. Now that I've had it, I'm confidently playing Bubblegum KK and the Pokemon Centre theme song after 1 week of light practice.

I do have a bit of a music background. I used to play musical instruments and have Grade 5 (aka intermediate) level certificates in piano, violin, and musical theory, which I got before I went blind from childhood glaucoma at 16. My mother was a music teacher before she retired and was the one who quite literally beat the music into my head through my childhood and teenage years before I stopped after losing my eyesight. Maybe it's the Asian kid in me but now that it's years past the trauma, I kinda started missing it.

Which is why, as an adult, I've entertained the idea on and off about getting back into music. I never thought of instruments like the recorder or ocarina as "serious" instruments anyone could play masterfully until (a) I heard the Azumanga Daioh anime soundtrack, which has tons of recorder sections in it, (b) I watched a video of a professional recorder player that absolutely bklew me away (pun intended) and (c) my girlfriend randomly suggested one day for us to learn the ocarina together because she saw it on TikTok. Before that conversation, I had never even thought about the ocarina beyond being that funny instrument in the title of that Zelda game I never played.

8-10 hours of YouTube video research later, and buying 2 Bravura Altos for my gf and I from Amazon, here I am. Learning a "proper" instrument again after more than 10 years of stopping after my blindness. And learning to play silly video game music on it.

Most importantly, I'm learning how to have fun with music again. This time without the verbal abuse thankfully.

I'm having enough fun that I'm even entertaining ideas like: What if I stick with it for years and get good enough to play it semi-professionally? Right now, that sounds like it'd be such a great life experience, and I wonder what my local ocarina community is like.

Once I get more practice in, maybe I'll go look for other people in my area. If there isn't one, maybe it's time I organise an ocarina meet-up in my city myself. Maybe, like you, I can make some great friends along the way tootin away on this funny but beautiful-sounding little instrument.

TLDR: Andy, I'm exactly the kind of person you're talking about. If it weren't for educational, welcoming creators like you who didn't make the topic of learning more about ocarinas approachable and understandable, I wouldn't be in this position right now. Having fun with music, adding +2 people to the population of the global ocarina community, and writing this silly comment for you. If the ocarina community was overly snobby and gatekeep-y, I probably wouldn't have found it approachable enough to be worth the effort getting started.

I know you probably read most of these comments and I hope this makes your day. Because your videos certainly have made a difference to my life. Looking forward to learning more about your ongoing non-profit initiatives (I work in the non-profit space too) and happy tootin' everyone!

[AceOfKestrel]

I've never played Ocarina of Time, but I simply love how the instrument sounds and it's just something you don't see every day and I'm all for niche stuff! Been thinking about learning to play it for a while...

[VoiceUnder]

An instrument that summons Epona, turns night into day, or warps you to the spirit temple... How could this not be serious?

[TritoneAddiction]

Great video Andy.
I’m still pretty new to the ocarina. Played it for a year but already have a musical background with other instruments.
I think one of the best things about the ocarina community is that it’s very positive and welcoming. Sometimes when a community grows too large it can also bring some toxicity with it. At the same time with more people/players there’s also more content/information and more ocarina makers to match the demand for the instrument. Those are all great things.

Personally I did not find the ocarina because of Zelda. I found it when I was looking for random exotic instruments on Thomann a year ago. I got myself a tongue drum, udu drum and a double chamber ocarina. One of the reasons I was drawn to these instruments was that they were not that established. With many mainstream instruments there are already so many expectations about what you’re supposed to play and sound like. Associations with different instruments are already established in peoples minds. With lesser known instruments that’s not the case. I could show the ocarina to pretty much anyone around me and they would have no idea what it should sound like or what the instrument is capable of. That can be freeing in a way.

I can’t say that I have anything against that people are drawn in from Zelda. People should enjoy and play whatever they like.
But having no connection to the game myself I do find it a bit repetitive that so much ocarina content is based around Zelda. Not talking about Zelda cover videos here but educational videos where Zelda songs are used as musical examples over and over again. It can be a bit too much sometimes for a non Zelda enthusiast who’s looking to learn the instrument.

Personally I would love more content for intermediate players. I feel like there’s a lot for beginners. And then it tapers off a bit from there. Could be anything from more deep dives into different makers and what sets them apart, or more videos on techniques, bends, vibrato, trills, alternate fingerings for sharps and flats etc. There are some of this content, but not nearly as much as the beginner material.

Anyway great stuff you’re doing Andy. I own two ICO ocarinas thanks to your videos and I love playing them.

[Kyle-wbwx]

I’ve been playing the ocarina for about 4 months. I’m so glad I found your channel.

[MatiasMiloro]

I love this videos, thanks Andy. I really like your approach.

[Dojibu]

I wouldn't have known what an ocarina was if it weren't for Legend of Zelda. I was gifted a bunch of cheap crappy potato ocarina's with very nice art very reminiscent of Mexico on them. Some of them were more animal shaped, but they were always described to me as a "flute" as a child.

[murraymon]

I don't think we really need to worry, same thing happens in reverse with things like guitar and violin with people thinking if you play a certain type of music or play an electric it's not viable fsr. Just play the thing and have fun. You can take it more seriously if you want, or don't, it's really up to the musician

[nvdawahyaify]

I have never played ocarina of time. I heard about the ocarina because im weird and love all unusual world instruments.

[waddlepigarmy]

I got an Ocarina of Crap for my. 12th birthday, and I did play a bunch of Zelda songs, plus a few pop culture tunes. I had always loved music but had never been that serious about it. But the ocarina (even a trash one) made my love of music very profound, and I began taking more "serious" lessons for more "serious" instruments. I play guitar now, but recently I picked one of my four ocarinas, played Epona's song (and a couple others) by ear, and fell in love all over again. now I have an intense musical problem. I consider myself to be quite talented, and could go far. But I don't know how to read sheet. I read tabs for guitar, and read music for piano, but it takes forever. I was wondering, with the ocarina's small(ish) range, would it be simple enough to learn to read sheet? and if so, do you have any recources for sight reading sheet with the Ocarina? thanks for reading this, I appreciate any help I can get, since I mostly teach myself.

[marymoocow]

Agreeing with essentially everything in the video. I started playing ocarina just after 6th grade I think. I accidentally started out with a South American Ocarina and gave up on it for just a little bit until I found a video by David Erick Ramos on different ocarina types and I realized what was wrong. Then in 8th grade, I bought a double chamber ocarina with my first ever paycheck, but I was almost ready to give up on by freshman year because it was so lonely, I felt like it didn't belong anywhere, and I couldn't play it seriously. But then I found out about the history, learned about all the passionate artists who make them, saw musicians like Tomohiro Ibaraki, found a friend who played too, and continued working on it. Now I'm headed to college majoring in music education and once again it's hard that in a group full of other musicians there still isn't really a place for the instrument I'm so passionate about while others are able to pursue the instruments (or singing) that they love most of all. But it's also okay. And as a music teacher I know I'm introducing English pendants and not recorders. Because they're good beginner instruments. And every bit of music from the Legend of Zelda (which I became a casual enjoyer of after playing for a few years) has some beautiful music which is excellent, but also some really good beginner ocarina player music. I think the best things we can do to promote the ocarina as a professional instrument though, is to produce more material for professionals. More songbooks, more supplies (like cases etc), and especially access to international music that already exists. I'd love it to have songbooks from Sojiro, You Xuezhi, the GOB's repoitoire, etc. But who knows where this will go

[TJtheBee]

I think if we want to take the ocarina on its own terms, then we need more compositions for the instrument. Alas, I am not a composer. But I'm sure there are people out there who are!

(And yes, I agree on your final points. The ocarina can be all of these things and more! And we should welcome everybody who has an interest into playing the ocarina.)

[joeldawsey]

I would like to see more sheet music on imslp for ocarina. I think it would be cool if we could get some transcriptions of Bach pieces. The limited range is a challenge to overcome, but with some clever arranging I think its possible.

[ArtemisDalmasca]

I have two friends that I've gotten to play the ocarina; both because of Zelda. The most recent one only got it to play Zelda songs cause he's a huge Zelda fan, and the other is branching to other songs like Phantom of the Opera.

I, myself, picked up a poorly tuned one at the ren faire, then got curious what a good one sounded like. Now I'm hooked. I play largely folk/fantasy/nerd music with it. I'm more casual than I'd like to be with it, but I adore it all the same. I also didn't come to it cause of Zelda, but I did know what it was because of Zelda

[morning]

I've found that I love the ocarina because of how easy it is to play a little, put it down, go back later. I used to play flute, but if I were to try and play it again, I'd have to 1. Find it or buy an expensive new one, 2. Put it together just right, 3. Make sure it's the right temperature, THEN I can play. Since I mainly play for stress relief, I only play for a few songs at a time, so it would make no sense to pull out a flute just for that. Ocarina for the win!

[ObscureMachines]

The music situation in America is cheeks. We have elevated people to a point that if you aren’t on American Idol then you ain’t shit. Instrumentally if it isn’t in a symphony orchestra it ain’t shit. Amazing musicians can do insane stuff and people might not even care cause it’s already been done or they saw it on YouTube already.

My 5 year old daughter has music in school like once a week maybe even every other week. In Hawaii, all them kids could sing and play ukulele cause they did it every single day because it’s a part of their culture.

Mass proliferation is just one huge mainstream artist away though. If Taylor Swift busted out an ocarina all her fans would jump on it. But then again do we really want that? I’m not sure either way. But music is for everyone. Ocarina is for everyone!

Side note, recorder isn’t taken seriously in music school or by the general population probably cause of the garbage ones everyone played in elementary schools. So if we do it, gotta do it right. Osawas for everyone! Or at least NbNs!