Introduction: Make a Clay Ocarina
Ever since "Legend of Zelda : Ocarina of Time" came out, everyone associates ocarinas with Zelda and there fore, anyone interested in ocarinas is considered a die-hard Zelda fanatic!! There is alot more to Ocarinas than Zelda you know. With this Instructable, you can learn how to make wonderful masterpieces THAT SING!! And you will learn a little about the history of the Ocarina but that is besides the point...
Step 1: The Clay
Well, obviously you need clay to make a clay ocarina. It is possible to make it out of wood but that will come some other time when i have the time, money and patience... Ocarinas have been around since the stone age. Aztecs used them for ritual purposes.
Step 2: The Mold
I made a simple, carrot shaped mold and with this, you just wrap the clay around and seal it up. The mold can be made by taking a large chunk of clay and rolling it out on a slant to make it a sort of "Carrot" shape.
Step 3: Wrapping the Mold
Take a hunk of that Clay and flatten it out about and inch longer than your "Carrot" mold. It must be at least 1cm thick too. You have to make it wide enough to wrap around the mold and have a bit extra.
Step 4: Making the Mouthpiece
While the main chamber of the ocarina is firming up around the mold, We are going to make the mouthpiece. Roll out a piece of clay how ever long you want to make the mouthpiece. Take a "slot stick" (i just use a Popsicle stick with the end cut off) and force it through the mouthpiece like in the picture. Shape it however you want. Ocarinas arent just made of clay. They can be made of wood, metal, plastic, or just about anything that can be molded and will hold its shape.
Step 5: Getting the Mold Out of the Ocarina
Cut the mold in half lengthwise and pull the mold out of the ocarina body.
Step 6: Optional Step
Look closely and notice the grooves put in the edge of the body halves. These help to grip the wet "slip" clay and make a proper seal.
Step 7: "Slipping" the Body
Slip is a muddy clay mixture. To make it, just put a bunch of small clay pieces in a bowl and fill it up with water just over the clay. Let it sit for a day or so. Put the slip on the grooved edges of the body and then smush the two halves together!! In medival times, ocarinas were made of wood and shaped like a stone. They were called Pendant ocarinas. We are making a Sweet Potato Ocarina.
Step 8: Marking the Voicing
Place the mouth piece up to the bottom of the ocarina. Trace around the bottom and about 1/3 a ways up the ocarina. This is the outline for the voicing or voice box. The voicing is what makes the noise.
Step 9: Cutting and Perfecting the Voicing
Put the popsicle stick into the mouthpiece and put the mouthpiece into the hole with the popsicle stick in it. push the popsicle stick into the clay in front of it and cut on a slant towards the popsicle stick. This slant makes noise when air is blown onto it.
Step 10: Making the Holes
There is a chart on making the holes at green vurdigo Green vurdigo has instructions on making ocarinas without a mold if you don't have a mold.
Step 11: Sanding
After it is dried out (may take a few days depending on the size of it...) you can sand it with a low grit sanding pad and then if you really want to make it look good, you can burnish it by taking a metal spoon and rubbing the back of it on the clay in little circles. It makes it really shiny and it is quite interesting. Believe it or not, Ocarinas are on Wikipedia. There are multi-chambered ocarinas that make a polyphonic noise. it is kind of like bagpipes. The bass and tenor drones work at the same time as the chanter. the bass and tenor sound chambers on the ocarina work the same time as the one with the finger holes.
Step 12: Finishing Touches
After your done your optional burnishing, you can engrave it with something, keep it on a shelf as is, get it fired, glaze it and then get it fired, JUST BE CREATIVE!!!
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