Joy of Wood Thrush 12 Hole Alto C Sweet Potato Ocarina Pottery Ocarina with a Protective Bag and Songbooks (Water Blue)

This is my first Ocarina. I own many tin whistles, several recorders, guitars, and a piano. I have been a musician off and on for most of my life since very young. I have played professionally and just for the pleasure of music. I decided to learn this instrument after hearing some songs on YouTube. They were beautiful. After a careful analysis I decided to purchase this one. Primarily because of the reviews that stated it was easy to play and had a wonderful sound.I couldn't agree more with those assessments. I am very happy with the purchase and would recommend this to anyone for learning, playing just as a hobby or even professionally. It is a very well made instrument. The case it comes in is well constructed and protects the ceramic ocarina. It comes with a strap if you want to use one, a protective piece that slips over the mouth piece shown in the photos.I bought the Hal Leonard Ocarina Method book to go with it. It is very well written and has helped me to learn the ocarina quickly. It was in the first week I could already play Ode to Joy well with no squeaks or squawks. I know there are many other good brands out there but I would not hesitate to recommend this one to anyone else who either already played or was wanting to learn like me.I learned a long time ago that the quality of an instrument can really make a difference on whether you stay with it and continue to learn or give it up. Also, high cost does not always equate to high quality. It pays to take the time to really research any purchase if you want to be happy with your decision.The instrument does stink when you first purchase it but that is the nature of kiln dried ceramics. The smell does fade away after a week or two. I only mention this as I read plenty of reviews that took away a star on their review because of this but if you read about ceramics and the drying process you would learn that it is typical for them to smell some when first purchased. I don't see this as a reason to reduce my rating for such as well made instrument.The holes on the instrument are well done as well with a curved slope on them that helps you to feel them by touch easier. I have purchased many tin whistles over time, and some of them have been wonderful instruments where others I would not recommend to anyone.I don't have any other ocarina I own at this point. I feel eventually I will purchase another one but I am so happy with this one I'll have wait and see if I see a need for another. Likely, what would motivate me is buying would be to own one with more range to it. A bass or double hole ocarina with more octaves might be nice to have. I am a fan of Baroque style music and have already started learning a Bach song on the Ocarina outside of the Ode to Joy.

I don't know enough about playing music to write a proper review for this but I like the way it sounds. The tone sounds somewhat heartwarming to me in general. It was actually a video review here on Amazon that made me decide to try the ocarina because of how good it sounded in the video. Alto C is a nice range and it is the most common ocarina major. I'd like to try an F major, which I believe would a tenor, for a smoother deep tone, but I also want Alto D for Irish music, so maybe Alto C is a good balance to play a wide variety of music with. I bought this ocarina back in October but I've been too busy to spend more time playing it, but it seems fairly easy after a while. I don't have a background in music but I was able to get Happy Birthday down in a day, although I needed the fingering chart to remember the notes. What I'd like to learn for this ocarina is European folk music, like the music played on medieval and ancient flutes. The funny thing is how many other people have also jumped over to Ievan Polkka with their ocarinas, so that's one Finnish folk song I know can be played well. I don't know if I'll ever get good enough to play something like Korpiklaani's music but the ocarina should be great to have when hiking and camping, good campfire instrument. I mainly bought the ocarina as something to bring into the outdoors as a hobby, so I don't have any plans to join a metal band with it or anything big like that. Based on my time of using it though, I really enjoyed the way it sounds and simplicity of the instrument. It feels just right for size and weight, and then the color is a plus. My pictures don't show the cord because I didn't bother figuring out how to tie it on but I'm thinking of using a thick blue lace or hide.Forgot to mention one last thing from my original review, I do have a few notes that play airy at lower volume, those where the right thumb is uncovered. Does anyone else have this? The ocarina seems to play best at a medium air pressure, like half of full blown. Maximum air flow doesn't produce noise because [explanation of acoustic and wind physics here] but you can still get very loud with it.

The media could not be loaded.  hitting the exact notes consistently requires breath control that i don't have yet, and the high end of the scale sounds a little bit airy (mind you, compared to a lot of other budget ocarinas out there, the airyness is practically non existent), but it sounds well tuned enough for a beginner to learn on. if you want something with an established reputation and (probably) more stringent quality control, then just spend an extra $10 and get a night by noble instead. if you need something that is as precisely tuned as an ocarina could possibly be, then you should be looking for something from a well known brand that costs more than $20. don't expect this to be the ocarina equivalent of a stradivarius.also to comment on the visuals, the gradient and crack effect look very nice.

J'ai acheté des occarinas plus chers, celui-ci est de loin le meilleur que j'ai jamais eu. Bravo!

I love this instrument. Easy to learn, and sounds really nice. Comes with a nice carrying case and a nice little "how-to" and songbook.

Ich hatte mir bereits vorher eine Ocarina bestellt und die gleich zurück schicken müssen weil sie schrecklich klang.. die hier ist ihr Geld wert.Sie klingt schön und ist gut verarbeitet. Die höheren Töne sind etwas unsauber aber als Einsteiger reicht das für den Preis vollkommen aus um mit Spaß bei der Sache ein Gefühl für das Instrument zu bekommen.

Item came early and it sounds okay except for two notes that sounds airy but I am no expert.My biggest issue with this is that it smells pretty bad almost like someone was a heavy smoker.Tried washing it and the smell will not go away.