The Ocarina
The Ocarina is a diatonic, one-piece wind instrument made from terracotta in a natural finish. From its earliest appearance in the ancient civilizations of the world to the present day, the ocarina has possessed the allure of the flute while maintaining a mystique all its own. The ocarina is probably more than 12,000 years old. Ancient examples have been cited -small whistles shaped like birds or other animals and made of terracotta have bee known in India for 6,000 years. In China it already appeared as early as five thousand years ago. There is an egg shaped wind instrument- the Xun, made of earthenware clay with six tone holes with a blowing opening. The Xun has a history of more than 7,000 years. The name "ocarina" was given to a version of the instrument in Italy in the 1850´s. Earlier in this century these were called "sweet potatoes" in this country, and during World War II the U.S. government issued mass-produced plastic ocarinas to its soldiers as a morale booster.