Double Ocarina

I'm not lying if I tell aloud this is the favorite and most special of my wind instruments for me. And what a challenge!! The Double Ocarina made by Charlie Hind can perform TWO melodies at the same time.

The Double ocarina  are made from Black Walnut wood  (much lighter weight than clay or ceramic ocarinas of the same size) and have a lustrous oil finish which protects the wood, highlights its ri The tone is pure and mellow.

Wood imparts to the ocarina an amazingly pure and mellow tone quality, and the instrument has the warm and comforting feel that only comes from wood. My ocarinas speak effortlessly and have a nice even tone from the lowest notes to the highest.

Each  double ocarina comes with a fingering chart and complete care instructions. A thick corduroy drawstring bag was also provided so it will be well protected when stored for safe-keeping. He also sells hard cases in his site if you want to protect it properly which I recommend.

Above: Custom made Double Ocarina with engraved logo (you can custom order this to him)

The instrument consists of two separate chambers pitched a 5th apart. Each side can play one full octave using five finger holes, and the two voices can be played individually or simultaneously. When played together, they open up a whole new world of harmony never before experienced by most wind instrument players. The double ocarina is a good choice for anyone who is already accomplished on another woodwind, but beginners should learn one of the single ocarinas first, then step up to the double. The left chamber is in C and the right chamber is in F. It comes with a thick corduroy carrying bag, care instructions, and a music book/fingering chart with many songs written out with both melody and harmony.

Below you can watch a video with my cover of the theme "Jen play his pipes" from THE DARK CRYSTAL original movie score by Trevor Jones featuring myself playing a "DOUBLE OCARINA" made by instrument maker Charlie Hind http://hindocarina.com and Biel Fiol at the cello. I made a lot of research as fan of this movie looking for double flutes, and though I found  many with drones and some notes none was versatile enough to play it till I found Hind's double ocarina. It's one of my most precious instruments, and I have to say it's not the easiest to play but Charlie provides a booklet with the basics, and you can also find in his Hind Ocarina youtube channel several video examples of the sheet music provided in the instruction book so you can be sure you´re fingering and playing it all right.

As it happens when you watch the instrument and you see the great amount of patience and love it requires to be done, equal compromise to learn it... but well below you can see me playing it... it can be done better, for sure, but it's not impossible! And on stage it's always eye-catchy!

Above: Priscilla Hernandez performing Double Ocarina

You can read more about Hind Ocarinas and the other models of ocarina he has available at his site HIND OCARINA.COM