How to make a sweet potato ocarina

sweet potato ocarina

The sweet potato ocarina is a wind musical instrument having an egg-like shape. It resembles other wind instruments and particularly the vessel flute. The ocarina mostly is ceramic however on the market you can find the wooden, plastic, or glass ones as well. The ocarina’s main visual features are: its enclosed-space oval shape, a protrusive mouthpiece, and many holes throughout the body.

The article provides a step-by-step instruction of how to make a sweet potato ocarina with your hands. We will make a clay ocarina without a mould.

First of all prepare the soft clay. All instruments that you will need should be at hand. Set some free space round the place where you will work. The first thing to do is the body - which is a hollow chamber. Depending on the size the ocarina will be either high or low pitched. The smaller the resonating chamber the higher the instrument’s sounding. Different methods can be applied making the sweet potato ocarina. For example we could coil, pinch, use the potter’s wheel, soft slab, or a slump / drape mold. However, we will work on the soft clay with plaster slump, drape / hump mold, and a paper pattern. The size of our ocarina will be 5.5″ (13.9 cm) long. When rolling the clay out with the rolling pin use 13 dowels on both sides – it will make the clay leveled. Put the paper pattern (which looks much like a “heart”) on the clay and with fettling knife (or needle tool) cut the clay out. Bevel one half of the slab, turn the whole thing round and do the same with the other (opposite) side. Once you have applied some water to the both edges join them starting from the wider side. Only in the end of the narrow side a small opening should remain yet. To prevent a crack regulate the sealing process with your thumb from within. This part will latter become the “down side” of the instrument. You may need the fettling knife to level and the frosting one to paddle the ridge. From the narrow side carefully blow inside the ocarina trying to pump it a bit then close the remaining hole. Leave the body in the open air for half an hour. Afterwards slice lengthwise through the dried clay leaving the ridges untouched in the center of the both parts. Now you level the inside of the ridges and flatten one of the parts pulling the walls out and nip the narrow end. Put the sliced sides together. The surfaces most likely will not be fitting well yet.

Now proceed to the mouthpiece. Cut the rolled clay into a 3-4″ long, 1 3/4″ wide, and 1/4″ thick piece. With the slot stick 1/4″ from the edge of one long side cut off the clay with the fettling knife at an angle. Turn the clay slab over and do the same with the other long side. Enfold the slab around a pencil overlapping the leveled edges. Wet, join them and (still with the pencil) roll the piece on a flat surface loosening it a bit. Take out the pencil; press the both ends making one flatter. Move the slot stick inside the mouthpiece starting from the wide end and fitting it in the narrow one – be careful not to gouge the sides. Apply some water, make the clay fit around the slot stick and take it out after you remove the excess material. Let it dry 20 minutes.

Now you can mark and cut the mouthpiece hole on the ocarina’s body. Cut the whistle hole, ramp and undercut a “lip” at a slight angle. Mark and using drills cut the finger positions. The twelve finger holes should be cut according to the sweet potato ocarina classical standard. Using coils of clay adjust two sides of the body and the mouthpiece. Test the sound and make slight re-positioning of the mouthpiece if needed. Using the frosting knife make all necessary final touches giving the ocarina proper look. Let it dry slowly, it will take about 48 hours. Apply wax resist around the finger holes and the whistle hole. After firing you may use your hand-made ocarina!