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How Ocarinas WorkAs children, many of us have blown over the lip of a bottle to make it whistle. The ocarina makes sound in a very similar manner. Look at the diagram below: When you blow over the lip of an empty glass bottle, here's roughly what happens:
The basic way this works is: smaller volume = higher pressure = higher pitch
The modern ocarina works in a similar manner. The difference between the "bottle flute" and the "ocarina flute" is that the ocarina has holes and a sharp edge (fipple) to help split the airstream. See the diagram below: In an ocarina, you are blowing down a tube (airway/windway) instead of blowing over the top of a hole (as in the bottle). It is quite a bit easier to blow down a tube than to have to blow over a hole. The sharp edge (fipple edge) splits the airstream in two such that part of the air exits the ocarina and part is diverted into the chamber. This splitting mechanism is sometimes referred to as a fipple. You've probably also seen the fipple in recorders, tin whistles and similar flutes. The air vibrations/oscillations are created at the fipple. In the same way that filling a bottle changes the internal pressure and tone of a bottle, the finger holes change the internal pressure in the chamber of an ocarina. By covering/uncovering various combinations of the finger holes, the internal pressure in the ocarina is changed, and that changes the frequency of the air vibrations (tones) at the fipple. Musical notes/tones are changed by uncovering various finger holes in the ocarina. Below is an illustration on an actual ocarina: Next lesson: Oysters, Ocarinas, and Pearl Making
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