Ocarina Flutes

This project involves students creating hand-built ceramic ocarina flutes.

Students will learn ceramic building techniques: wedging, pinch pots, attaching clay with the four s's, as well as, focusing on surface quality.

Ceramic Flute

  • Ocarina flute has at least two holes for adjusting pitch
  • Flute makes a whistle sound when played

Sculptural

  • Three dimensional form
  • Hollow (no more than 3/4 in thick)
  • Added Dimension (stuff sticks out or goes in)
  • Textures (2 added textures in addition to smooth)
  • ​Symmetry (right and left sides mirror each other)
  • Name Stamp (stamped into clay)

Added Details

  • Form has added visual interest beyond the flute elements
  • Animal, object, abstract form, etc. 
  • Consider pre-columbian Mesoamerica art for inspiration
  • Glazing choices enhance the form (minimum of two glaze colors)

Technical Videos

Step-by-step Instructions

PINCH POT
  • Create two pinch pots that have evenly thick walls and the same size opening
  • Start with a ball of clay half the size you want your ocarina to be
  • Push your thumb into the clay and starting from the bottom move the clay out and up in small squeezing motions (the smaller the more uniform and smooth the walls of your pot will be)
  • You can make your pots into whatever form you want as long as the openings match
ORB
  • ​Combine the two pots 
  • Score the edges of both - add slip - stick them together - smooth the seams to join them fully
  • Clean up your surface
  • Consider having a flat area or how you want the overall form to look
MOUTHPIECE
  • Make a separate rectangular prism (like a rectangle that is 3D)
  • Test how it will fit on your whistle body
  • Score both parts - add slip - stick them together - smooth the seams to join
FIPPLE
  • Jab a popsicle stick into the mouthpiece to form the windway
  • While that stick is in the whistle body, use another stick to create a beveled labium at a 45° angle to the windway
  • Use a third tool to remove the clay trapping the second stick
  • You should end up with a hole with three sides that are 90° and one side is 45°
  • You might want to run a stick down the fipple into the body of the whistle to ensure they are lined up (just don't push the stick through the whistle body walls)
PITCH HOLES
  • Start small and make the hole bigger based on the note you are trying to create
  • Once you like the sound of the first hole, you can work on the second hole - as the first hole(s) will change the pitch of all subsequent holes
ADDED DETAILS
  • Add details to make your ocarina interesting to look at
  • Animals, plants, objects, abstract art, etc. are all inspiring ideas that can turn your whistle into something fun to look at
  • You need at least 1 additional added texture (smooth plus at least one more texture)
  • You need at least 1 additional added clay feature that isn't the mouthpiece
  • Your sculpture should be designed with symmetry in mind, so if you add something to one side, add something to the other side in approximately the same location

Flute Function

Plastic & Leatherhard Clay

All of the building happens during the Plastic stage, when the clay is wet and pliable.
The carving of the textures happen during the leatherhard stage, when the clay is less flexible, but still changeable.

Bisqueware

Once the clay is completely dry, it is fired in the kiln. When it comes back from the kiln, it is hard and permanently changed. It will no longer reconstitute back into malleable clay.

Glazed

Finishing your sculpture with glazes that add color to your ceramic project. Do not add glaze to the parts that make the sound happen, as it might mess up the sound you have worked hard to achieve

Giraffe Ocarina

  • Ocarina Flute: mouthpiece, labium, two pitch holes
​
  • Textures: Smooth body, impressed clay ears
 
  • Added details: legs, neck, head
 
  • Glazes: Spots - matte off-white color, Body - satin clear

Chicken Ocarina

  • Ocarina Flute: mouthpiece, labium, two pitch holes​

  • Textures: Smooth body, Carved clay feathers

  • Added details: beak, wattle, comb

  • Glazes:  Beak/Wattle/Comb - gloss yellow color, Body - gloss teal color

Double Flute Ocarina

  • Ocarina Flute: mouthpiece, 2 labium, 8 pitch holes
​
  • Textures: Smooth body, uh oh! no extra texture 
 
  • Added details: double body, support bridge
 
  • Glazes: Spots - matte tan color, Body - matte brown color

Research

Find ocarinas you like from history or from contemporary culture. If you want to base your ocarina off of a specific thing, get reference images of that thing also.
Ocarinas have been used in ancient civilizations for over 30,000 years (Africa) and for around 10,000 years (Mayan, Aztec, Incas, Parcas, Kosovo, Chinese Xun). Often inventively shaped (animals, gods, humans, etc.), these flutes were culturally significant. 

Ocarinas can also be found under other names, such as the Uskirik from Kazakhstan or the Boendo from India. Europeans credit Giuseppi Donati, an Italian, for inventing and naming the modern ocarina (shaped more like a sweet potato). These were more focused on tones and playability, rather than aesthetics.
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HOLLOW
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ADDED DETAILS (bird head, beak, tail)
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SYMMETRIC
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TEXTURE (impressed)
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TEXTURE (added clay)
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TEXTURE (carved)
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WINDWAY, FIPPLE, LABIUM
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2+ PITCH HOLES
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NAME STAMP
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RESTING BASE (no glaze on tummy)
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RESTING FEET (no glaze on bottom of hooves)
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RESTING HOLDER (ocarina lifts off base)

Ocarina Requirements

SCULPTING REQUIREMENTS
  • HOLLOW (resonating chamber needs to be smooth)
  • ADDED DETAILS (added clay to create parts that stick out)
  • TEXTURED SURFACES (1+ different applied textures - in addition to smooth - impressed, carved, or added clay)
  • SYMMETRY (symmetric balance - mostly the same on both sides)
  • FUNCTION (flute must make a whistling sound when played)
  • PITCH (must have at least two holes for changing pitch that are different from each other)
  • STAYS TOGETHER (wedged clay, scored, used slip, smoothed joints, doesn't blow up in the kiln)
  • RESTING BASE (needs to sit on a flat surface - ie. flat bottom, feet, etc.)
  • NAME (stamped using your name block)
GLAZING REQUIREMENTS
  • TWO or more glaze colors
  • NO glaze on standing/resting surface (wherever it touches the kiln shelf)
  • COMPLETELY COVERED except for flute components (windway, fipple, labium) and the bottom of resting surfaces

Rough Sketch - 3 Views

• Side View
    Added details
    Textures
    Pitch holes
• Front View
    Symmetry
    Resting base or feet
• Back or Bottom View
    Windway, Fipple, Labium
   Name Stamp

Resonating Chamber

Two pinch pots joined together

Design Elements

Add main pieces to match the design

Flute Function

Add Flute Function (Windway, Fipple, Labium)

Pitch Holes

Add Pitch Holes
​(start small and change pitch by widening holes one at a time)

Textures

Add Textures (impressed, carved, or added clay)

Added Details

Added Clay elements

Name Stamp

Name Stamp impressed into clay

Turn in to Dry

Dry clay is very fragile - don't touch it after you turn it in

Glazing
UNDERGLAZE
You can use underglaze to make detailed designs on your sculpture surface. Underglazes can be applied underneath a regular glaze or you can test out on top of a glaze.
TEXTURE & GLAZE
You can use impressed, carved or raise lines to create glaze barriers that make controlling glaze designs easier.

​You can also use stencils or stickers to create a glaze barrier to make designs within the glaze easier to manage.
GLAZE
You can use glaze to cover larger areas on your sculpture. Regular glazes can mix, run, or move unpredictably.
MINIMUM OF 2 COLORS
NO GLAZE WHERE IT RESTS ON THE KILN 

Documenting

Take four photos of  your sculpture
  • One photo - front view
  • One photo - 3/4 view
  • One photo - side view
  • One video - in use (we can hear the whistle pitch changes - at least 3 notes)

​Fill out the written reflection
Send an email sharing your work with an important adult following the email instructions

Grading Criteria