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Bridget Cruise (ocarina) MountainOcarinas 818 views http://www.mountainsocarina.com/b/?v=bridget-cruise mp3s for complete album available here (must be registered to forum to access): http://www.ocarinaboard.com/bb/index....
What To Do When You Snowshoe MountainOcarinas 1,488 views http://www.mountainsocarina.com/b/?v=snowshoe Karl Ahrens of Mountain Ocarinas on snowshoes running in his backyard with his dog takes a quick "ocarina break." Find out mor...
The Cumberland Crew (ocarina) MountainOcarinas 73,072 views http://www.facebook.com/pages/MountainOcarinas/109333625809657?sk=app_119521701459709 mp3s for complete album available here (must be registered to forum to access): ht...
Tam Lin (aka Glasgow Reel) on Ocarina MountainOcarinas 1,728 views http://www.mountainsocarina.com/b/?vd=tam-lin Shared with us by ocarinaist extraordinaire ubizmo: this is a headbanger version of the traditional Scottish tune, with varia...
Down By The Salley Gardens MountainOcarinas 83,624 views http://www.facebook.com/pages/MountainOcarinas/109333625809657?v=app_119521701459709 Ubizmo shared this video with us. Subscribe to Ubizmo's channel at: http://www.you...
Paolo Gavelli - Putz e Stingl - Mountain Ocarinas Blue Aluminum G MountainOcarinas 538 views http://www.mountainsocarina.com Paolo Gavelli sent us this fun video. Sharing it for all to enjoy... Thanks Paolo!
Karl and Docjazz4 - I Am Never Alone MountainOcarinas 37,593 views http://www.mountainsocarina.com This video contains two versions of the same song, "I Am Never Alone." (Music and lyrics by Karl Ahrens.) I play the first version on the oc...
Willie MacIntosh MountainOcarinas 259 views A set of impromptu performances by Karl at our annual family New Year's gathering. He had an ocarina and the acoustics of the room were good, so we just decided to shoot a ...
What a Friend MountainOcarinas 248 views A set of impromptu performances by Karl at our annual family New Year's gathering. He had an ocarina and the acoustics of the room were good, so we decided to shoot a few q...
Wayfaring Stranger MountainOcarinas 302 views A set of impromptu performances by Karl at our annual family New Year's gathering. He had an ocarina and the acoustics of the room were good, so we decided to shoot a few q...

About Mountain Ocarinas

FREE Album on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/MountainOcarinas/109333625809657?v=app_119521701459709

Concert-quality, palm-sized woodwinds, tough enough to go anywhere... guaranteed.

This is the official channel for Mountain Ocarinas Inc. We make durable inline ocarinas, self-learning materials, and music books.

Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/MountainOcarinas/109333625809657

Join the MO discussion forum:
http://www.ocarinaboard.com/bb/

Mountain Ocarinas FAQ:

1. What ocarina(s) do you recommend I start with?
http://www.mountainsocarina.com/b/faq/#start

2. What are the differences between the 4 materials that our ocarinas are made of?
http://www.mountainsocarina.com/b/faq/#materials

3. Do the more expensive ocarinas sound better than the polycarbonate ocarinas?
http://www.mountainsocarina.com/b/faq/#polycarbonatesound

4. Are your ocarinas accurately tuned?
http://www.mountainsocarina.com/b/faq/#tuning

5. Why does the C ocarina have one less hole than the G instrument? Does it have one less note?
http://www.mountainsocarina.com/b/faq/#holes

6. What type of hardwood are your flutes made out of?
http://www.mountainsocarina.com/b/faq/#hardwood

7. If I were only going to buy one, should I purchase the G or the C ocarina?
http://www.mountainsocarina.com/b/faq/#buyone

8. Should I curve my fingers when I play your ocarinas?
http://www.mountainsocarina.com/b/faq/#curvedfingers

9. Can you explain the how you flute's fingering works?
http://www.mountainsocarina.com/b/faq/#fingering

10. What is the tonal range of your ocarinas?
http://www.mountainsocarina.com/b/faq/#tonalrange

11. I have large hands. Can I still play your ocarinas?
http://www.mountainsocarina.com/b/faq/#largehands

12. How often do you have to clean your ocarinas?
http://www.mountainsocarina.com/b/faq/#cleaning

13. How much is shipping? Do you ship worldwide?
http://www.mountainsocarina.com/b/faq/#shipping

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mountainsocarina.com

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MountainOcarinas

Latest Activity

Oct 15, 2006

Date Joined

Oct 15, 2006

About this user

Mountain Ocarinas' founder Karl Ahrens explains how he started:

Growing up, I wasn't familiar with ocarinas. In fact, until about 9 years ago, I'd never heard of one. I did love music, though, and as a kid I played the saxophone and a little blues harmonica. When I went away to college, my saxophone stayed behind, and I just never picked it up again.

As an adult, I started missing instrumental music, so over time I dabbled a bit in the tinwhistle, the recorder, I played the harmonica kind of seriously for maybe a year or so. But, for whatever reason, I didn't stick with those instruments.

Then one day I was visiting Boston with my family --we had gone to the Children's Science Museum-- and on the way back to our car there was this, uh, street vender, a Honduran guy, with his colorful blanket spread out on the sidewalk. So I stopped to talk to him, and he had these little clay things that I'd never seen before. He told me they were ocarinas, little flutes, and I was instantly smitten with the idea of a pocket-sized flute. I thought, "Wow! This is the instrument I've been looking for! A flute I can fit in my pocket and play anytime."

To me, it's kind of like with my Palm Pilot. I use it because I carry it with me, and I thought, "Wow, it'll be that same way with the ocarina." Well, sure enough, I really took to the ocarina even though that first one was so poorly made that I couldn't even play a scale on it. But it got me started searching for a really good ocarina, and I eventually found some nice ones. I guess my disappointment, though, with the best one's I could find was that they needed a little more range or a more fluid fingering pattern, and in general, they needed more sound because I wanted an instrument that I could play with other musicians.

I mean, here was the instrument that I wanted to, in a sense, dedicate myself to musically, but I felt like I wanted a really good one. So, I went through a period there of dreaming about making my own. I remember my wife saw me out in the barn one time just staring at a piece of wood with a far off look in my eyes, and she said, "Honey, what's up?" And I said, "Well, I was just thinking about how I could make an ocarina out of this piece of wood."

My chance to start prototyping came when I was I was taking some time off teaching Bilingual Ed. and Spanish to finish a Master's thesis. Actually, when I first started prototyping, my thought was to make just one really good ocarina for myself, but as I got more into it and saw what a complex task it was, what an exciting task, it kind of took over, and it wasn't too very long before I started thinking about doing it full time. Sometime around New Year's of 1996 was when my wife and I had a conference and decided we would give ocarina making a try.

From an interview with Karl Ahrens, October 8, 2004 from our website:
http://www.ocarina-maker.com

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