Always.
(Source: omocat)
My friend Kris performed in and edited this video (he’s the one playing the ocarina, among other things). Check it out! The song is from a MMORPG called Dream of Mirror Online. Pretty catchy, don’t ya think? :-)
For more from Kris, check out his YouTube Channel here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/subakuryu
If you like what you hear, don’t hesitate to subscribe! He’s always coming up with new music to perform, and he’s damn good at what he does too! ^_^
Remember this post? Well, it was official. Here’s a picture of my Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D themed birthday cake, which I promptly devoured on my 20th birthday! YUM! :D
![So I was thinking of having a Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3DS themed birthday cake. Since my birthday falls awfully close to its release date, I figure it’ll be fun to celebrate both events. Not only that, but my birthday party is being held just a few days after Nintendo’s E3 press conference! Oh, yeah, June is gonna be a TON of fun. :]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lm11xqAIKp1qd0tlfo1_500.jpg)
So I was thinking of having a Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3DS themed birthday cake. Since my birthday falls awfully close to its release date, I figure it’ll be fun to celebrate both events. Not only that, but my birthday party is being held just a few days after Nintendo’s E3 press conference! Oh, yeah, June is gonna be a TON of fun. :]
This is “Saria’s Song” (AKA the “Lost Woods theme”), probably the most recognized song from the Legend of Zelda franchise, being played by me on my Focalink Alto C Ocarina.
Enjoy. :)
[May 25th, 2011]
Ya know, Nintendo has a remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time slated to release on the 3DS this June (which also happens to be the month of my birth (BONUS!)), so I figured I’d celebrate this release (and my upcoming birthday) by uploading a bunch of videos of myself playing songs from The Legend of Zelda series on my very own ocarina.
This song is “Zelda’s Lullaby” and is probably the second most-recognized song from the franchise (second only to “Saria’s Song” (AKA the “Lost Woods theme” (Which I’m also uploading today))).
The ocarina I’m using in this video is a Focalink brand Alto C in a White Crackle finish. If you’re interested in purchasing an ocarina of your own, I highly recommend ordering from one of these fine, reputable ocarina makers/retailers/distributors:
Songbird Ocarina (U.S.A.)
http://www.songbirdocarina.com
Focalink (Taiwan)
http://www.focalink.com.tw/about_en.php
Teddy Tseng’s eBay store (Canada)
http://stores.ebay.com/Teds-DoReMe
Thank you for watching my video! I hope you enjoyed it!
Be sure to Subscribe to this channel for more Ocarina Videos:
http://YouTube.com/HealyHQ
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If you would like to learn more about Ocarinas, or if you already own one and would love to join a community of Ocarina enthusiasts (like me!), be sure to check out TheOcarinaNetwork, at: http://TheOcarinaNetwork.com
We hope to see you there! ^_^
[Shot on March 22, 2011]
Hey, guys! Time for another ocarina video by yours truly! This time it’s my pleasure to show you a sound sample of the Muse ocarina from:
http://SongbirdOcarina.com
I chose to order this particular Muse in D.
Unfortunately, my camera does a terrible job at recording the low frequencies emitted by the Muse. My apologies for this, but there’s not much I can do about it. The Muse is an ocarina of deep and relaxing timbre that you can feel resonate, not only in your hands, but in your entire body. No video can truly do the Muse justice. Because of that, this really is an instrument you have to hear live to get the full effect.
In any case, I go ahead and perform a scale and then play a little song. The song should be quite familiar with nerds such as myself. ;) It is “Concerning Hobbits” (also known as the “Shire” theme) from “The Lord of the Rings.”
Thanks for watching!
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If you would like to learn more about Ocarinas, or if you already own one and would love to join a community of Ocarina enthusiasts (like me!), be sure to check out TheOcarinaNetwork, at: http://TheOcarinaNetwork.com
We hope to see you there! ^_^
[Shot on March 20, 2011]
Yeah, yeah, I know, everyone; this video is incredibly late. I promised a sound sample of my Focalink Alto C ocarina would be up shortly after the unboxing video, and I got to it only now. I have no excuse, and I apologize. I’ll try to get videos up when I say I’m going to from now on. :)
There really isn’t much to say about this video: it’s the long awaited sound sample! I play the Focalink Alto C ocarina through its entire scale, then the two subholes which give you lower B and A. Then I proceed to play a little song, which should sound very familiar to those who watch DocJazz4 on YouTube. ;) Yes! It is none other than the OcTalk Jig, composed by David Ramos AKA DocJazz4, one of the most renown ocarinists on YouTube! You can find his channel here: http://YouTube.com/DocJazz4
Thanks for watching, everyone!
P.S. I have a surprise in store for all of you soon! I purchased a couple more ocarinas just this week, and you’ll be seeing videos of those uploaded to my channel in the near future! Be sure to Subscribe to my channel at http://YouTube.com/HealyHQ for the latest as they come! Look forward to them! :D
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If you would like to learn more about Ocarinas, or if you already own one and would love to join a community of Ocarina enthusiasts (like me!), be sure to check out TheOcarinaNetwork, at: http://TheOcarinaNetwork.com
We hope to see you there! ^_^
Huzzah! My brand new ocarina has finally arrived! Experience the excitement with yours truly firsthand with this nifty unboxing video! :D
I ordered this Focalink Alto C ocarina from Teddy Tseng’s eBay store “Ted’s DoReMe” on January 2nd, it was marked shipped on January 3rd, and it arrived today, exactly one week later, January 10th. Not bad at all for international shipping.
You can check out Ted’s store here:
http://stores.ebay.com/Teds-DoReMe
I ordered from him instead of from a U.S. seller like Songbird Ocarina because most U.S. sellers don’t have the Taiwanese-style sub-holes that I wanted. All in all, I’m happy with my purchase. Though I don’t give a demonstration of the ocarina in this video (don’t worry, I will be making videos with this ocarina in the near future :P) after playing it after the video was shot, I was amazed at just how much warmer, richer, and clearer it sounded than my pendant ocarina. Now, there are great and high quality pendant ocarinas out there, but the one I have is not one of them. I found out after doing a bit of research last week that the pendant that I have is actually a Pakistani rip-off of someone else’s design (more on this in a future video). In any case, the differences in sound quality between that pendant and this Focalink blew me away. I don’t think I’ll ever be using that old pendant again.
This is going to take some time for me to get used to. All I know is the English Cross Fingering style that pendant ocarinas use. I’ve never played a transverse ocarina until now, and it’s very different. I’ll need to practice a bunch before I start making any videos with it playing various tunes and such. I don’t know how to play anything on this thing yet. ^^;
Thanks for watching, and look forward to more with this ocarina in the future. :)
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If you would like to learn more about Ocarinas, or if you already own one and would love to join a community of Ocarina enthusiasts, check out TheOcarinaNetwork, at: http://TheOcarinaNetwork.com
We hope to see you there! ^_^
I thought I’d share with everyone that I shall soon be receiving a new ocarina! This one’s a single-chambered transverse from Focalink. Specifically, this model will be a 12-Hole Focalink Alto C ocarina with a white glaze and a “crackle” pattern. I’m excited about this, because I’ve wanted a transverse ocarina for months, and now I’ll finally be getting one. Yay!
I purchased this one from Teddy Tseng, a well-known ocarina distributor who imports and sells ocarinas on his eBay store, “Ted’s Do Re Me,” which you can check out here:
http://stores.ebay.com/tedsdoreme
So I suppose it goes without saying now for you to look forward to videos of me playing my new ocarina after it arrives in the near future. :)
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If you would like to learn more about Ocarinas, or if you already own one and would love to join a community of Ocarina enthusiasts, check out TheOcarinaNetwork, at http://TheOcarinaNetwork.com
This song is called “Korobeiniki” and is a famous Russian folk song that tells of an incident between a peddler and a girl ‘haggling’ over a price, with the details only being said in metaphor.
In Western Culture, the song is primarily known for being used as the “Type A” music in the Game Boy version of Tetris. However, Korobeiniki was written and published in 1861, a full 128 years before Tetris was released on the Game Boy.
“Korobeiniki” is translated as “Peddlers”.
Enjoy, as I play Korobeiniki on my unbranded Six-Hole (English Cross fingering) Pendant Ocarina — once in a fairly standard way, and then again with a little more flair. ;)
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If you would like to learn more about the Ocarina itself, or if you already own one and would love to join a community of Ocarina enthusiasts, check out TheOcarinaNetwork, at http://TheOcarinaNetwork.com
[Shot on August 27, 2010.]
This is Lilium, the opening theme to the anime Elfen Lied, as played by me on an unbranded Six-Hole Pendant Ocarina (English Cross fingering). I know I’m not that good, but enjoy anyway! :D
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Oh, and if you would like to learn more about the Ocarina itself, or if you already own one and would love to join a community of Ocarina enthusiasts, check out TheOcarinaNetwork, at http://TheOcarinaNetwork.com
Accomplishments (Aug. 16-23, 2010)
Time to tally up the second week’s score!
Accomplishments Unlocked from August 16th to August 23rd (2010):
- Spring Cleaning (A little late, but hey, better late than never, right?)
- Master Procrastinator (Still haven’t finished that short story, huh?)
- Thumbs Up (Congratulations! Your face is on a Motivational Poster!)
- What’s New Pussy-Cat? (Learn anything new today? You sure did!)
- Ocarina Novice (You played the Song of Time!)
That about wraps it up for this week. I unfortunately never got around to my short story, so I’ve made zero progress since last week. I probably won’t get around to it this week either, but hey, that’s okay, I’m getting better at playing my ocarina, which is pretty cool if you ask me. Who knows, maybe I’ll make an ocarina one day. :)
Playing my six-hole pendant ocarina. :)
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LOOK AT ‘DAT CONCENTRATION, YO!
‘DAT BE SOME HARDCORE SHIZZLE RIGHT DER!
YOU GOTTA BE A REAL O.G. TO PLAY AN OCARINA!
After Years of Hiding
A long time ago (when I was in the 7th grade (year 2003/2004)) I went to an old cultural world store in North Carolina. I forget the exact town it was in, but you can’t really mistake it — it’s the town where there’s lots of interesting stores and people play instruments and perform various talents on the sidewalks and it’s a really happy place and a lot of fun…but I digress. The point is, it was in this town that I came across this world music store, which had many, many CD’s with music from, well, all over the world. Eclectic, oriental, tribal, you name it. It was such a fascinating place.
It was in this place I came across a hand-made, clay, “pendant” style, 6-hole ocarina. Something about the instrument, not this one specifically, but ocarinas in general, have always spoke to me. Like…they called out to me. They posses a worldly timbre that no other instrument can replicate. I’ve always been a fan of woodwind instruments anyway — something about the music coming from one’s breath, as though the music was an extension of your very soul, not just plucking or hitting with one’s hands, or something like that — but the ocarina interested me more than any of them.
Unlike most kids though, I did NOT learn of the ocarina through the Nintendo game “The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.” (Surprise!) I was always interested in other cultures and did my own research on them using books at the library (I didn’t have Internet at home until like the 10th grade, so I did things old school. lol!) and found out about it when researching European countries. Eclectic and such musics have always been my favorite world musics.
Anyway, it was that day at that North Carolinian world music store I decided to get that ocarina I found on the shelf. I remember thinking it was a little expensive for its size, but I got it anyway. A souvenir, why not?
I was just a kid of course, so though I liked the instrument, I never did anything spectacular with it. Just played around with it for a few weeks. I’d wear it around my neck sometimes, but I wouldn’t really play it much. I just liked having it. I took it back with me to KY and showed my mother. It was a neat little thing.
But over the course of a year, I lost it.
It didn’t seem to matter to me much that it was lost, and I simply went on with life as I always had. No problem. It was just a little something to remember my time being at that place. But something happened a few weeks ago. While cleaning out some boxes from beneath my bed here at home, I came across that very ocarina. Something about it just filled me with happiness and I decided that, “Hey, I’ve got free time, as well as an Internet connection now…why not learn a little tune on this?”
And through research, I came across many interesting things, including various communities dedicated to the instrument! I was pretty amazed, really. I didn’t know the ocarina had such a following! Though the instrument isn’t “mainstream” it has its fair share of fans, and though I’ve never really “played” it myself, I’ve always been interested in it and the music that comes from it. I’ve been listening to ocarina music for years, but it wasn’t until just recently that I’ve discovered a passion that lies within me that I never really knew was there.
I wanna pursue this. I don’t just want to listen to the ocarina anymore; I wanna play it.
And low and behold! After a short week, I can now play The “Song of Time” from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. (It was easy to find tablature (Yes! There’s ocarina tablature! How cool is that?!) of Zelda songs, so that’s what I did first. Besides, I’m an avid gamer, as well as an admitted Nintendo fanboy, so I couldn’t resist. )
In any case, I think I’ll be pursuing this further. The ocarina has always held a special place in my heart, and now, I can actually play a little tune on it! It won’t be long ‘till I start playing more complicated pieces. I also wouldn’t mind learning to ‘truly’ read sheet music (like I used to a little when I played the Trumpet in band class in the 6th grade) so I won’t be limited by my own improvisations and tabs I can scrounge up. But I’d like to learn to play the different “styles” of ocarina before I start getting into theory like that.
I’m now saving up for several different ocarina’s after having “lurked” various ocarina forums (my favorite is TheOcarinaNetwork.com) for the last couple weeks and gathering a bunch of data and opinions on the myriad types and styles and such. I’ve already decided on the ones I’d like to obtain in the future.
But there are also many other things I’d like to get this year! (This is a good year to be a gamer! Not so good on the wallet though…Christmas is coming up, and I expect to use monies accrued from that to get a 3DS and that’ll pretty much tap me out. I’m planning on selling some of my other systems and games though, as well as my Trumpet (the very one I played in 6th grade band class) among other little things. Rock Band 3 is also releasing…and the Pro Mode instruments would help me immensely in learning the guitar (which I’ve also been (trying) to self-teach. (Not working out too well…) …oh, jeez, I’ve lost my place in the parenthesis layers…oh, yeah! Here we go!) Ahh, that’s better.
Point is, it’s a busy year, and many things I’d like to get. I think I’ll be sticking with my unbranded clay 6-hole pendant ocarina for now (even though I’ve realized it’s incredibly ‘airy’ and a bit out of tune on the higher notes) until I get a bit better. I’ll reward myself with a new ocarina eventually after that.
Well, I think that’ll do it for this wall of text. Thank you for taking the time to read it. Hahaha!
I’m 19 years old now. Seven years with an ocarina but I wasn’t ready for it until now. Everything happens for a reason, right? I believe suddenly finding this instrument after all this time of it being ‘lost’ was fate. Let’s see where these winds of fate take me!
