Dating back at least 12,000 years to ancient Chinese, Mayan and Aztec cultures, the ocarina is one of the oldest known musical wind instruments. Made of any kind of hollowed vessel, just about anything can be turned into an ocarina. Most commonly, ocarinas are made of wood or ceramic, but they have been known to be made out of anything from carrots to sea shells too.
Interesting that two civilizations across the world from each other would develop practically the same instrument at pretty much the same time, eh?
What makes them unique is that, unlike other flute-like instruments, the tone of the ocarina is produced by the percentage of the surface covered, not the location of the holes themselves. That and the fact that most all ocarinas are hand-made, and so no two of these are the same.
The ocarina was made popular world-wide in 1998 with the release of the Legend of Zelda, Ocarina of Time. Here is a little tribute to that momentous occasion. After the video, Click Here and check out another world wind-instrument.
