Forest Whisper 12 Hole Ocarina Alto C | Classic Strawfire, Masterpiece Collectible, Recommended By Shop Owner

This ocarina. THIS OCARINA. First of all, I've never held a more ergonomic ocarina. It's easy to settle into its use, and the pure, strong sound is downright addictive. It has a good weight to it, sturdy and stable, and it's almost too easy to play! Breath flows through it effortlessly, and the strong placement and shape of the holes makes settling into the notes easy even for an amateur like me. Artistically speaking, the ocarina is stunning. It has a matte finish, a far cry from the sharp gloss of your typical ceramic ocarina. There's nothing WRONG with glossy ocarinas, but the Forest Whisper brings something new to the table, with a sturdy balance of efficient, simplistic shape and a delicate flair. It's rustic but mystical. The whistling music and beautiful coloration makes it easy to believe, from afar, that the ocarina was sung from an ancient oak by some fantasy druid, and even up close, I'm struck by the fantastical imagery it evokes. The beaded necklace only adds to the charm. Once or twice. I've had the necklace come undone, so I VERY STRONGLY do not recommend letting it dangle there! That's what the pouch is for. This ocarina is heavy, and it will fall, and break, and you will cry a lot because it's so beautiful. But that's not what the necklace is for - it's to make sure if your hands slip, it doesn't fall and break and you don't cry. It's not intended to be a permanent, constant support, and it does the job it's meant to do (absorbing shock and preventing falls) very well. It's sturdy AND beautiful, and only adds to the strong fantastical aesthetic of the ocarina. The pouch is also very sturdy, with a strong but not bothersome velcro seal. The strap on the back is wide and strong, and it's never given me any trouble. It's the perfect size and shape for the ocarina, and is surprisingly lightweight (which is good, due to the ocarina's weight). I wear a lot of belt pouches, so I'm comfortable saying this is a good'un. I never have to settle for my plastic one if I want to play on the go! Overall, this is the best ocarina I own, and definitely my favorite. The Forest Whisper impresses on every front, from the effortlessly beautiful playing to the ancient, wild feel of the ocarina itself. I can't recommend it enough, for new and veteran players alike!

Impressive quality and sound. This is an beautiful and amazing instrument

Sound: excellent rich sound. Very clear "ringing" low notes, and very pleasant high pitch notes which do not have distortion. I can produce all the notes very clearly. The range is beyond one octave. I am an amateur in music, but I can easily figure out and produce standard do re mi fa sol la to do, plus 3 very high pitched notes on top of that. The thing that is a useful feature on the ocarina is that because of the design and large holes, you can easily produce the sharp and flat notes by covering half of the hole, similar to how it can be done on the piano with the black keys. Additionally, this Ocarina design has umvery useful small holes next to two big holes, one in each side of the Ocarina. You can cover them to get sharps or flats. Basically there are no issues with the sound this Ocarina makes. It is pretty excellent. Design: No visible flaws with the design. All holes easy to cover firmly. The holes are positioned in a way that is comfortable for the fingers. The outside appearance, color, finish, are just exceptionally impressive. People I showed this "Forest Whisper" ocarina to thought it was made from some kind of dark Cherry or Mahogany wood. The appearance is pretty much indistinguishable. At least it is the case with my individual Ocarina. Extra: the Ocarina came with a nice pouch. I personally don't intend to travel with the ocarina but it should be in some kind of soft bag, or preferably a box of you take it somewhere. For me this bag is very useful because it I intend to put it away for extended period of time I wouldn't want dust settling on it, or some scratches appearing on the outside. Another accessory that I found only two weeks later is a nice necklace string to attach to the ocarina. It's nice to see that it wasn't just a string. It has nice greenish beads on it. Only small issue is that it wasn't attached and it might be tricky to attach it the right away so the tin nylon cords don't self untie and cause the instrument to fall. Small Issue: there is one minor problem I found with the instrument coating which is that when you put a mouth to it you can smell the paint or laquer that it is covered it. I think it is just the paint. It does not smell too strong, nor does it really bother me, but it is noticeable and I guess some people may not like it. The coating/paint doesn't "bleed" or smear. The instrument has been baked and dried thoroughly. It's hits the smell. I would subtract half the star from the five stars but since it is not an option I'd rather leave it at five stars.

Easy to learn, easy to play. Good sound. Nice, compact woodwind to play outside. I'd recommend for any age. Maybe not little kids, though. It can be pretty loud inside.

Mine just arrived and I am blown away. I don’t have much experience with wind instruments (much more so with stringed instruments.) so, while I cannot compare it to other ocarinas, I can say that it has a beautiful sound and is easy to start playing right away. Personally, I am going to recommend ocarinas (in general, but also this brand as it is not only very reasonably priced but also well tuned) to anybody looking to start playing instruments. Part of the sound vs. price, I’m assuming, has to do with it being a fundamental heavy helmholz resonater (overtones make for a rich sound, but construction becomes very important.) Another benefit is that without a rich harmonic spread, fundamental heavy instruments almost force you to focus on technique and timing. This will, in the long run, make you a more skilled musician. Also, it comes with a nice case and sheet music/ tablature (there is a fingering guide on top of the scales for every song included with the book.) An update: I apparently forgot to press submit on the review above, so, here are some added thoughts after owning this instrument for some time. I saw a number of reviews complaining of tuning relative to a fixed reference tuning. Number one, there are two smaller holes that you can cover if you extend your middle finger, also, varying the pressure you put on the two thumb holes varies the size of the resonant cavity enough to allow for fine tuning of the notes. Breathing technique may also allow for this but my focus there is still just trying to shape the notes. Number two, this is a much older type of instrument that was invented long before scordatura, fixed tunings, and orchestras. Instead of trying to keep pace with other people, find a quiet place and bare your soul.

Admittedly, this is my first ocarina, but here are my thoughts so far: -It has a good weight. It's definitely made of ceramic/clay as advertised. Feels sturdy, beautiful colour. -I investigated several different ocarinas on different sites, and some in some audio files, it was clear that the instrument was poorly made, resulting in an airy sound. The audio reviews for this product intrigued me, and I'm pleased to concurr with the others on this— it has a good, clear sound. Are there others on the market that sound better? Probably. But for $30, this is a steal. -Certain things in the reviews concerned me— some reported scratches or dents in the instrument, some complained of an unbearable smoky smell, and I read one review that mentioned not receiving all the items advertised in the pictures. None of these were my experience, thankfully. The instrument is in pristine condition, smells a little like a bonfire, but that is to be expected, given the creation process includes firing. I also received all of the items advertised: a book, cleaning cloth, neck strap (?), and case. In all, this arrived really quickly and I have no complaints. For a cheap instrument off amazon, this was definitely worth it, and if you're on the fence, I'd highly recommend this ocarina as a starter.

I recently purchased two OcarinaWind Ocarinas: First, the OcarinaWind® 12 Hole White Ocarina Exquisite Craft of Ice-crack,Recommend by Shop Owner, and second Forest Whisper 12 Hole Ocarina Classic Strawfire Masterpiece Collectible,alto C,recommended By Shop Owner. I thought I’d give you my evaluation of each in order to possibly help anyone trying to decide what to buy. I am an amateur musician, a long-time wind instrument player, but rather new to the ocarina. I chose the two ocarinas I bought because they were “recommended by Shop Owner.” I assumed that meant they were of the top quality that OcarinaWind had to offer. And the price was right. First I bought the Ice-Crack White ocarina. I thought it played very well. It is heavy and takes a bit of time to build up the finger muscles to play comfortably for long periods of time, but it doesn’t take long to get used to it. I now play it daily. I thought the sound was very pure, even the upper notes. You had to blow rather forcefully in the upper end of the scale, and rather softly around the low C and lower…making this a rather dynamic instrument. The ability to go from a high note to a low note, and play in tune, will take practice. But the tuning seemed good (once you adjusted your blowing pressure), which was very important to me. I had such success buying this ocarina I bought my second. My second ocarina was the Forest Whisper Strawfire ocarina. I have a very sensitive sense of smell, yet I did not detect much of an odor at all, unless I really put it right against my nose. Even then it was not too strong. I suppose how much of a smoky odor it has will depend on how recently it was made and what sort of ventilation it has been stored in since. This ocarina also had a very beautiful tone and I felt it was rather ergonomic, with the angled mouthpiece. My problem with this ocarina was that the tuning was off. I could not blow softly enough to get the sub notes to sound clearly and on pitch, and I could not blow strongly enough to get the notes around high C and above to sound in pitch; they were flat no matter what I did. So, both ocarinas sounded nice, both arrived in one piece with a nice storage/carrying pouch. In the end, I decided to return the Forest Whisper. If I could not play it on pitch, I knew it was just not going to be played. But I’m keeping the White ocarina, as it plays well. Naturally, each ocarina is somewhat unique. Will I buy more ocarinas? Most definitely. Will I buy more ocarinas from OcarinaWind? I don’t like returning things, so perhaps not. My admittedly limited experience with their ocarinas has me thinking that whether you get a great one or not is, in part, up to chance. The seller was very nice however, emailing me after each purchase to check my satisfaction level.

As a lover of instrumental music I can say this is one of the most beautiful instruments to play in my opinion! Mine came lighter in color than the photo suggested but that's fine with me. I had the idea of purchasing this ocarina after remembering my parents buying one for me from Mexico when I was a child. I didn't know how to use it then, but I wanted to try again. Long story short... I already know how to play Scarborough Fair after two days of practice! Anyways, mine didn't smell that bad as others stated, so I guess that's another plus. I take this with me in my truck to play at long lights and whenever I am parked somewhere. It is very addicting to play once you know at least one song! I chose to go without the bead string that can be attached to the ocarina only by preference not quality. I would definitely buy again from this seller if mine breaks in the future. There is a songbook that is pretty useful in teaching you the basics so you can run with it after you get it down. My only struggle is my right pinky finding the hole. I can find something that I can use a permanent fix to help with that (no issues). All I can say is thank you guys for contributing to my music addiction! :D Oh, and last but not least, I found that the lowest of the tones seem to be more airy than the higher tones requiring less volume. After searching online, I read that this is fixed by using an ocarina in the key of "G" or "F" which plays the lower tones with better volume.

Expongo mi comentario...debido al otro comentario que hay....he tenido esta ocarina varias veces en el carrito y luego la he eliminado.... Siempre cuando se lee algo que es negativo del producto una lo piensa....pero al final decidí adquirir y la verdad que uy e estoy encantada...sonido cristalino incluso en agudos pues cada ocarina tiene un manejo que cambia...pero no me ha costado nada...la he probado....escala....vibrato...la doy un aprobado...el color es hermoso...un tamaño también manejable...un poquito pesada...pero vamos feliz con la compra....yo si tengo que decir que la recomiendo... calidad buena y precio asequible... acompaño unas fotos donde se ve que es súper linda...tiene unos colores con contraste muy agradable....

Exactly what I ordered. All my expectations satisfied.

Me gustó mucho la ocarina, no sé por qué algunas personas se quejan, creo que no leyeron bien la descripción, ya que claramente dice que es de cerámica flameada, por lo que tiene aspecto como madera pero definitivamente en ningún momento se dice que sea de dicho material. Está muy bonita, bien afinada, con buen sonido y buen equilibrio entre notas bajas y agudas al soplar. Si bien no todas las ocarinas de Ocarina Wind son de la misma calidad, ésta me parece que es de las mejores, por lo que la recomiendo.

El sonido es hermoso, el acabado una obra de arte, espero que nunca se me caiga porque se rompe seguro... La cuidaré muy bien

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