I am excited to give a first look at the newest batch of high end wooden inline ocarinas from Bretti Musical Instruments for the month of November this year, and my first completed custom bass C4 ocarina build. This is probably one of the most unique and stunning ocarina sets I have made yet, crafted with an incredible selection of just amazingly exquisite woods. This batch consists of two ocarinas, SN 045 and 046, made from a selection of the most incredible curly old growth redwood I have worked with yet for ocarinas for the body, contrasted by an amazing piece of spalted ambrosia maple for the top. The massive rippling bands of iridescent curl absoilutely roll across the body, further complimented by the beautful rich warmth of the aged redwood color. Small surface cracks and checks from the aged salvaged redwood can also be seen peppered across the back of the ocarina, adding to the aged feel of this beautiful wood. The beautiful patterns in the spalted ambrosia maple top flow diagonally across the surface in an asymetrical manner, with rich hues of white, cream, tan, and thin black spalting lines, making for a truly stunning showpiece.
This ocarina set also happens to be my softest wood ocarina build to date, not only making for an extremely light bass ocarina that is very easy and comfortable to hold, but gives the tone a beautifully warm and richly mellow flavor and a resonance that you can feel in your fingertips as you play. While it is an unfortunately common notion in flute making that softwoods are considered inferior in tone to hardwoods, make no mistake that this ocarina has just as much beauty in the tone as even the hardest of woods I have used to date. With a low breath pressure and gently rising breath curve across the range, this ocarina has deep lows, warm mids, and beautifully sweet and clear highs that play effortlessly without having to push the ocarina. And like all of my ocarinas, even though this is a larger bass, you get the full extended 19 note range, from low B3 to high F4, allowing you to enjoy any song you might play on a typical single chamber ocarina in a beautifully deep and mellow key. Both ocarinas are voiced and matched very well, though there is just a slight difference in response between them. Ocarina 045 is characterized with a more open tone and slightly lower back pressure, with beautiful warmth and richness across the range. Ocarina 046 has a little more backpressure, making the low end a bit more reserved, but giving a tiny bit more texture going up the scale. In additi0n, the right thumb and left pinky hole for 046 is a bit larger than usual, so it takes more work to get used to, and may be more of a challenge to play for people with small fingers.
For full details about the development of the C4 size, as well as sound samples of this ocarina, you can check out the unveiling video and song demo for this batch in the links below on the Bretti Musical Instruments YouTube page.
Batch 17 Inline Ocarina Review – Custom Bass C4 – November 2025
Mononoke Hime – Batch 17 Custom Bass C4 Ocarina
