Blowing a multichamber ocarina

Most of the technique used to blow multichambered ocarinas is the same as single chambers. If you have not already I strongly advise reading 'How to blow an ocarina correctly'. The main difference is that each chamber has its own windway and voicing, thus you have to constrain your air to a single windway.

Multichamber ocarinas have a mouthpiece featuring multiple windways and voicings, the air channel that you blow into controls which chamber sounds. Some ocarinas allow multiple chambers to be blown to create harmonies, but most are not tuned to do so

Constraining the air to a single windway is done by forming an aperture with the lips. This aperture should be moderately sized as it will create a noisy tone if too restricted.

LIGHTLY touch the mouthpiece of the ocarina against the aperture, in line with the desired windway, using just enough pressure to create a seal. You should have as little of the mouthpiece in your mouth as possible. Positioning it too deep in your mouth creates excessive friction which makes it difficult to switch windways, called chamber switching.

The best posture for the lips when playing an ocarina is slightly parted and a little puckered. Create an aperture between the lips to direct air into the windway. This is essential technique for multichambers, so you can direct air into the correct windway

Correct lip posture for a multichamber ocarina. The lips are slightly puckered with a small aperture between them, and the ocarina lightly touching the outside of the lips. The mouthpiece of A multichamber should never be put a long way into the mouth, as this will make chamber switching very difficult

You may find that you are blowing into two windways at once. If this happens, you need to vary the width of your lip aperture. It is possible to finely control the position of your lips to do that. However, I don't know how to explain it. Doing so came naturally to me having previously played the flute. Experiment with blowing through your lips and varying the shape of them.

Usually, you will only be blowing one chamber at a time. The nature of the breath curve means that they normally don't sound in tune if played together. As when playing a single chamber, you should angle the ocarina so you are blowing directly down the windway. Tilting it sharply up or down kinks the air passage and results in a noisy tone.

Ocarina being blown correctly, creating a smooth air passage from the mouth into the instrument. The ocarina is held parallel with the ground, with the head in a normal upright position

A diagram showing an ocarina being blown at a poor angle, with the ocarina angled sharply down. This will increase turbulence and result in a worse tone