Tuesday 31 January 2012

OkamiDen Limited Edition Music!

I'm such a sucker for Japanese music. 

I was playing OkamiDen on my DS Yesterday And I realized I wanted to enjoy listening to a few tracks on my MP3 player. So this morning I went surfing on you-tube and to my Shock and amazement I found a "Limited Edition" track!
Meaning that you could probably get this "L-E OST" with a special Pre-Order of the game. 
Just a though...... 

Why am I so spazzy about this? Because the DS can't handle Fully Orchestrated music. That's what this Limited Edition is: DS music played by a orchestra! The way it should have been!

The only Limited edition track that I wanted was the one posted above. "Yakushi Village". Even if you don't like video games, I highly recommend listning to the music!

Sunday 29 January 2012

Ocarinas of the world.


 Modern Ocarinas really are quite the marvel. As fun to look at and collect as they are to play! 

The most common Ocarina seen today is the Transverse or "Sweet Potato" Ocarina. This is the ocarina that we think of when and if we think of them. This was also the ocarina made famous by Nintendo and is therefor the most popular in Asia. 
This one here is my Blue Soprano in the key of "F".
 But, that's not to say that this is the ONLY kind of ocarina! You also have the "English pendant/Seedpod" Ocarina. It's called an English pendant because...... well.... that's where it comes from...... duh! XD

They usually never have more than 4 or 6 holes but what makes them different from the Peruvian Oc's of Yester-year is that despite having fewer holes they can still play 8 notes and a few sharps and flats! That is thanks to a guy named John Taylor who invented them in the 1960's. He figured out that by changing the diameter of the holes and using  a "Cross Fingering" system, you could still crank out an octave.
The other thing about English pendants is their transportability! Very light and comfortable to wear! These are my soprano "Snail Shell" pendants. One in chocolate and one in butterscotch! Yum! 
There are other variations of these 2 family of Ocarinas but I need to get going so I'll leave you with a video to watch.

This is one of my older videos but out of all my old Ocarina videos this one has the best audio quality. 
Enjoy The Chinese song "Bamboo in the Moonlight"! 

Saturday 28 January 2012

What is an Ocarina?

The Ocarina's past is pretty long so I'll explain only the most important parts.

The ocarina originated in Peru and the surrounding South American area around........ ok, lets say this: The Ocarina's the oldest wind instrument dating back almost 12,000 years! That's a LONG time and WAY before Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was even thought of!
They looked allot like the ones in the picture above. They were folk instruments, meant more for aesthetics than for serious playing and usually ranging between as few as 6 holes and as many as 9 holes. 
Other similar instruments have been found in China and Japan and looked like this. 
In China it's called a Xun and in Japan it's called a tsuchibue or "Earth Flute". 
You see Mei and Satsuki playing these "Earth Flutes" in the Studio Ghibli movie "My Neighbor Totoro".
As Europeans started to move around more and more they soon brought some of these little guys back with them.

They stayed primarily as children's toys in Europe until the 19th century when an Italian named Giuseppe Donati who lived in Budrio transformed it from a child's whistle to a more comprehensive instrument, capable of playing an octave+2, therefore creating the modern ocarina!
You can usually tell an Italian Ocarina from it's Asian cousins because of the curious and noticeably pronounced "bump" on the left end of the ocarina.

Once Nintendo's Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time showed up that skyrocketed the Ocarina to new sales, heights and popularity!

As for all the different kinds of ocarinas there are in the world? Well, that will need to wait till the next blog post! 

Later! A.M.

Friday 27 January 2012

Hi there and welcome!

As the Above states I'm an Ocarinist. The purpose of this blog is is mostly for Ocarina video performances by me but that's not to say I won't talk about other things. :3 
Like my pets, current favorite movies or fave Anime (Japanese cartoons). This is also to talk about I and My little sisters Handcrafted Jewelery from our online store GlitzSis.com