Chamber switching on multichamber ocarinas
Because multichambered ocarinas have multiple chambers, you have to move your fingers and your lips between the different chambers depending on the note that you want to play. This is called chamber switching.
As was discussed in How to play multichambered ocarinas, you use your lips to direct the air into a single windway. On the surface, chamber switching is just a matter of sliding the ocarina from side to side, aligning the aperture with the desired windway, and fingering the note as needed.
But how you approach these movements impacts the ease of switching. For instance, if you either have a lot of the mouthpiece in your mouth or there is a lot of pressure against the lips, the mouthpiece will grip against the lips, pulling on the skin. This way, smooth switching will be difficult or impossible.
First, when you are blowing a multichamber ocarina, the mouthpiece should not be inside your mouth at all. Rather, you form an aperture with your lips and gently rest the mouthpiece against it, so that there is minimal pressure. See Blowing an ocarina correctly.
You may slide the instrument from side to side while blowing it to find the windway. If you blow off-centre, the instrument will not sound very good.
Then, to switch between chambers, this pressure needs to be released, as follows:
- Slightly move the ocarina away from the lips, such that the mouthpiece is not touching them.
- Move to the desired windway.
- Move the mouthpiece back into contact with the lips.
Note that it does not matter if you get a slight air leak when switching, though I recommend using the tongue to stop the airflow.
You can see the process in the video below. Note that this video does not have audio as I am not blowing the ocarina. I don't recommend blowing while practising at first.
When you first start out with this, you may move the ocarina to create a larger break between the mouthpiece and your lips, as shown in this video. As your skill develops, aim to reduce the amount that you move the ocarina from your lips. The main thing is to reduce the pressure against the skin and, consequently, friction.
Experiment with holding the ocarina against your lips, making very small movements to vary the pressure of the mouthpiece against the skin, and see how hard it is to move the instrument. It is desirable to find the minimum amount of pressure that allows you to blow the instrument without air leakage.
A basic exercise for chamber switching
Try fingering a fixed note on two chambers and alternate between them:
- finger a G on the first chamber and an E on the second, assuming an Asian tuned C ocarina. See The fingering systems of multichamber ocarinas.
- To a slow metronome, play the two notes alternately: G, E, G, E. Use a tuner to check your intonation and aim to play both notes in tune from the start.
- It is a good idea to tongue chamber switches to avoid creating off sounds. However, this can be done very lightly to create a legato switch.
Moving the instrument vs moving the head
Note that there are two ways to switch chambers: moving the instrument or rotating the head. Some players have strong opinions about this, but I don't think it matters.
- Try moving between chambers by moving only the head.
- Then try moving between chambers by moving only the ocarina.
An optimal approach is probably to do both at the same time, moving in opposite directions so that each only moves half as far.
Supporting a multichamber ocarina while chamber switching
Holding a multichambered ocarina while chamber switching is much simpler than playing the high notes of a single chamber. Because only one chamber is active at a time, you can support the instrument by covering the holes of the inactive chamber. Thus, the task of supporting the instrument alternates between your hands.
Commonly, the fingers of the right hand will rest on the second chamber by default and will only move onto the first chamber when you are using it.
If you were to play a scale starting from the low C, you may want to rest your right-hand fingers on the holes of the second chamber once you have reached the G.
Some multichambers are balanced so they can be supported between the right thumb and pinky. This is ideal because the ocarina is normally supported by the right thumb, with the other fingers providing only additional support. You usually have to apply some force with the pinky to balance the ocarina.
Please note that I have curled my fingers in this picture to clearly show where the right pinky is. Curling your fingers like this is never desirable while playing.
The only time supporting the instrument while chamber switching may become tricky is when playing the highest notes on either chamber, as there aren't enough fingers down to push the ocarina to the other windway. This can be accommodated by placing your left index finger onto the cappello, the same as you would on a single chamber. Again, note that fingers have been curled for image clarity only.
If a right thumb hole is present, you can usually deal with it by holding the ocarina with your other hand. It is also possible to roll the right thumb instead, like the three-point grip on a single-chamber ocarina.
How to practice chamber switching
You can practice chamber switching in two ways:
- By learning music that naturally includes chamber switches.
- Using exercises.
In either case, playing over a slowed-down recording or a metronome will help you with smooth switching.
The goal of exercises is to build muscle memory for interacting with the instrument in advance, making playing new music easier.
Diatonic intervals exercise
Play diatonic intervals like thirds, fourths, etc., starting on the first chamber and repeating the pattern following through the whole range of the instrument. Once you get to the top of the range, go back down again.
Melodic figures exercise
Choose a melodic figure and practice it across your instrument's entire range.
Adjacent chamber leaps exercise
This exercise is to practice jumping between the first and second chambers. If you have a triple or quad ocarina, ignore the higher chambers for now.
Assuming C ocarina fingerings:
- Finger G on the first chamber.
- Play the sequence G–A, G–B, G–(high)C, G–(high)D.
- Then continue this across the chamber break, G–E, G–F, and so on, moving your fingers between the chambers as needed, until you have leapt to all notes on the second chamber.
Once you have done this, starting from G, the same pattern can be performed using A, B, etc. as the first note: A–G, A–A, A–B, A–C, A–D, A–E, and so on.
This exercise can also be performed in the other scales.
Leaps from the low notes on the first chamber
Once you can do this reliably, practice playing leaps starting from the low C on the first chamber, playing all leaps until the highest note on the second chamber. This will require jumping your right hand between the first and second chambers repeatedly while playing.
Leaps between the second chamber and third chamber
- Start on the lowest note of the second chamber.
- Leap through the scale notes on this chamber sequentially.
- Once you get to the chamber break, start playing leaps between the two chambers as before, moving your fingers as needed.
Leaping here will involve moving your right-hand fingers back and forth between the two chambers.
Leaps over a larger range
If you aren't playing music that is leaping around the range, practising large leaps may not be useful for you.
Leaps from the first to the third chamber
Finger G on the first chamber and practice leaping from G to the notes on the third chamber. Doing this requires skipping over one of the windways, but does not entail jumping your right hand between chambers. Repeat this from A and the other higher notes of the first chamber.
Do this over the whole instrument
Do the exercises addressed above and extend them over the full range of the instrument. Start from the lowest note on the first chamber and leap to every note sequentially, up until the highest note on the highest chamber that you have on your instrument. Also, practice them chromatically if you wish.
Practising on ocarinas with note overlap between chambers
If you have an ocarina with note overlap between chambers, play the figure in all possible positions. Play it just on the lower chamber, any possible combinations crossing chambers, and on just the higher chamber.
