Hind Musical Instruments

Biography

Charlie Hind grew up on St. Simons Island, Georgia. He first began experimenting with making wind instruments in 1975 while a student at the University of South Carolina, where he later received a Master's degree in music education, with an emphasis in clarinet and viola. Over the years he has designed and built recorders, flutes, xylophones, panpipes, and since 1982, has concentrated on a wide variety of ocarinas, which he sells worldwide through his online store.
Since 1975 his constant experimentation with wood and sound has resulted in the creation of many new and unique musical instruments. In 1985, after designing and building a pipe organ, he was inspired to come up with a way to make the organ "play by itself." This led to years of intense study of all types of mechanical musical instruments, culminating in the building of two cylinder music boxes completely "from scratch," an accomplishment rarely attempted in the twentieth century.
 

Three years later, he created the unique Ocarina Celestina, a hand cranked organ that plays twenty of Charlie's trademarked walnut ocarinas automatically by reading perforated paper rolls similar to those used by a player piano. It is the result of over 1200 hours of work and is the only one of its kind in the world.

Today his work is divided between the making of his family of walnut ocarinas, continuing the development of his new wooden sweet potatoes, providing personal assistance to customers through email and phone, and maintaining his website Hind Ocarina

Above: Inline ocarina line (including Double Ocarina)

Above: Sweet potato Ocarina

Above: Ocarina cases to protect your most valuable items

I have a lovely double ocarina from Charlie Hind that we review in depth in this article about the Double Ocarina

Above: me performing a double ocarina manufactured by Hind Ocarina