THE INSTRUMENTS
One of the best things about ocarinas is the shear number of sizes, shapes, and styles available to fit every player’s needs and preferences. Regardless if you are a seasoned veteran or a new learner, there is a special place for the pendant style ocarina that appeals to all types of players. Like beautifully polished jewels that sing, these high end wooden pendant ocarinas are perfect companions for anyone looking for a quality wearable musical instrument. My pendant ocarinas follow the same design inspired from my inline development, with the same methods of crafting, finishing, and details. Like my inlines, every pendant consists of a body, a top, a decorative lamination if required, and a solid aromatic cedar or redwood mouthpiece. The wood selection for my pendants are just as broad and diverse as my inlines, and are made from an exquisite selection of fine and unique woods from around the world.
These pendants are made as 7-hole pendants (standard 6-hole pendant fingering plus 1 sub-hole for dropping down a semi-tone below the fundamental) for a total range of 18 chromatic notes. Each pendant is carefully voiced with sweetness and clarity across the range, with a low breath curve that makes them easy to play even at the high end. Despite these ocarinas being very small instruments, I still consider them fully capable, high quality musical instruments, and with a respectable range for a portable pendant with only one note less than my standard extended range inlines, these pendants have tremendous flexibility in the music they can play. And despite being smaller and higher pitched ocarinas, the wooden body construction helps mellow the tone, and with the low breath pressure means you can play these without harsh shrillness or painful volumes at the high end like other clay and plastic ocarinas of similar pitch or size.
Finally, like my pioneering inlines, each pendant ocarina undergoes the same exact long and laborious finishing process, which balances food safety and durability. All parts of the ocarina that directly interact with the player’s mouth and breath (the inside of the ocarina cavity as well as the outside of the cedar/redwood mouthpiece) are finished in numerous, hand-brushed layers of the highest quality shellac made from pure shellac flakes and 100% food grade ethanol. The outside of the body is finished in a number of hand-rubbed layers of a penetrating, hardening oil varnish, which not only brings out the extra beauty and richness in the colors of the woods, but also provides an extra level of protection. Both the mouthpiece and body are finished to a high-gloss for a showpiece-quality instrument as beautiful to look at and display as they are to play. Each ocarina is signed and dated on the inside and stamped with a unique serial number on the outside. Each pendant also includes a 3.5mm drilled hole for a neck cord to be worn, and every pendant will come with a beautiful 3mm black waxed cotton cord.
THE KEYS
THE SOPRANO F#5
RANGE: F5-A#6 (18 notes)
SIZE: 3″L x 2.5″W x 1.25″T
COMMENTS: The highest pitch model of my pendants in this size, the soprano F#5 has a beautifully bright and clear tone with almost a birdlike-sweetness to it.
THE SOPRANO F5
RANGE: E5-A6 (18 notes)
SIZE: 3″L x 2.5″W x 1.25″T
COMMENTS: One of the flagship models of pendants, the soprano F5 is characterized with a bright and sweet, rich tone.
THE SOPRANO E5
RANGE: D#5-G#6 (18 notes)
SIZE: 3″L x 2.5″W x 1.25″T
COMMENTS: One of the flagship models of pendants, the soprano E5 still has the brightness and sweetness of the F5 with a bit more warmth to the tone.
THE SOPRANO Eb5
RANGE: D5-G6 (18 notes)
SIZE: 3″L x 2.5″W x 1.31″T
COMMENTS: The soprano Eb5 pendant is the same size as the F5 and E5 but a characteristically warmer and mellower tone.
THE ALTO D5
RANGE: C#5-F#6 (18 notes)
SIZE: 3.5″L x 3″W x 1.25″T
COMMENTS: A slightly larger size than the F#5-Eb5 sizes, the alto D5 offers a beautifully warm and softer tone for players who want a bit larger and warmer sounding pendant.
THE ALTO C5
RANGE: B4-E6 (18 notes)
SIZE: 3.5″L x 3″W x 1.25″T
COMMENTS: The same size as the alto D5, the alto C5 offers a deeper tone that is warm and soft in one of the most popular and versatile keys.
THE GALLERY
