Songbird: The Physical Store
So, while I was very, very briefly in LA, I decided to pay a visit to the brick and mortar location of Songbird Ocarina.
What a lovely place to visit! If you get the chance, you should go there. The people there are super friendly, and they'll offer to show you around the workshop and everything.
So, I got to finally see in person and try out a number of ocarinas I'd had my eye on.
They still have some old Fairy Sweet Potatoes, which I picked up and... Wow, the hole placement is different from my super old OOT from years back (the holes are much more on the right side as opposed to centered), and my thumb seems to cross over the sound hole. That's kind of awkward. I really don't know why they don't place the holes differently. I didn't quite feel like buying one anymore. And then there's the new one, which I picked up and-- Nope, nope. This isn't going to work. Can't hold this.
Strawfire finish is absolutely lovely, though. They had some 9-hole Fairy Ocarinas, which they sell at the physical store, but don't make anymore.
They seem to be pushing the holes on the OOT further to the edges, which I don't think is very comfortable. It's still pretty, even though it's now quite pointy. The grooves for the subholes are a nice addition, though. It's an interesting expansion of the pendant fingering, and I nearly bought one so I could have that larger pendant-style I've been wanting. But still... that pointiness just bothers me, you know, along with the fact that Songbird's nerdier 9-hole ocarinas are... more game-like than the regular transverse ones... but not completely. They still "face" the wrong way. Also, I'm saving my "It looks like the in-game ocarina" for Tenrai.
(who knows, though. Maybe in the future I'll send my cousin down to see if they still have any.)
I tried an XL Ocarina of Time that they used to sell. Well, I would have, but it's so huge my pinky slipped in the hole. Nope. Not gonna work.
I briefly picked up a Dragon Tooth. I didn't spend much time with it, but it does sound lovely. It's quite large, though, and that left thumb hole has a position that seems odd to me. Maybe I'd get used to it, though.
And then there's the Little Wing. Actually, it's the first I tried out. At first, I tried one with a copper finish and what I think had an older tuning. My fingers were slipping all over the place, and I got turned off. However, for the heck of it, I spotted one of the white ones and picked it up. It was easier to hold, and its right pinkie hole was done in a different way.
And that's what I bought.
It's a lovely little ocarina. It's a high pitched soprano, BUT it's in the key of F, which makes enough of a difference that your ears don't start bleeding when you play it (I can only handle my Soprano C for so long before I have to put it away). It only has 10 holes, so my repertoire is a little limited on it, since a lot of the songs I usually like to play use sub holes.
It also was portable enough to bring to Symphony of the Goddesses with me, and other people who brought their ocarinas and I jammed after the concert. :3 Ocarinas bring us together.
What a lovely place to visit! If you get the chance, you should go there. The people there are super friendly, and they'll offer to show you around the workshop and everything.
So, I got to finally see in person and try out a number of ocarinas I'd had my eye on.
They still have some old Fairy Sweet Potatoes, which I picked up and... Wow, the hole placement is different from my super old OOT from years back (the holes are much more on the right side as opposed to centered), and my thumb seems to cross over the sound hole. That's kind of awkward. I really don't know why they don't place the holes differently. I didn't quite feel like buying one anymore. And then there's the new one, which I picked up and-- Nope, nope. This isn't going to work. Can't hold this.
Strawfire finish is absolutely lovely, though. They had some 9-hole Fairy Ocarinas, which they sell at the physical store, but don't make anymore.
They seem to be pushing the holes on the OOT further to the edges, which I don't think is very comfortable. It's still pretty, even though it's now quite pointy. The grooves for the subholes are a nice addition, though. It's an interesting expansion of the pendant fingering, and I nearly bought one so I could have that larger pendant-style I've been wanting. But still... that pointiness just bothers me, you know, along with the fact that Songbird's nerdier 9-hole ocarinas are... more game-like than the regular transverse ones... but not completely. They still "face" the wrong way. Also, I'm saving my "It looks like the in-game ocarina" for Tenrai.
(who knows, though. Maybe in the future I'll send my cousin down to see if they still have any.)
I tried an XL Ocarina of Time that they used to sell. Well, I would have, but it's so huge my pinky slipped in the hole. Nope. Not gonna work.
I briefly picked up a Dragon Tooth. I didn't spend much time with it, but it does sound lovely. It's quite large, though, and that left thumb hole has a position that seems odd to me. Maybe I'd get used to it, though.
And then there's the Little Wing. Actually, it's the first I tried out. At first, I tried one with a copper finish and what I think had an older tuning. My fingers were slipping all over the place, and I got turned off. However, for the heck of it, I spotted one of the white ones and picked it up. It was easier to hold, and its right pinkie hole was done in a different way.
And that's what I bought.
It's a lovely little ocarina. It's a high pitched soprano, BUT it's in the key of F, which makes enough of a difference that your ears don't start bleeding when you play it (I can only handle my Soprano C for so long before I have to put it away). It only has 10 holes, so my repertoire is a little limited on it, since a lot of the songs I usually like to play use sub holes.
It also was portable enough to bring to Symphony of the Goddesses with me, and other people who brought their ocarinas and I jammed after the concert. :3 Ocarinas bring us together.