[ocarina technical support]

36 minutes ago, neilestrick said:

The wedge has to split the air, so the alignment of the mouthpiece and the tip of the wedge is critical. Adjusting the wedge up or down usually solves the problem. The width of your mouthpiece slot may be a problem, since the slot appears to be wider than the wedge hole. Could be a lot of the air is just going into the cavity without ever touching the wedge. I used to do a lot of whistles with my kids classes, and we just used a sharpened popsicle stick to make both the mouthpiece slot and the wedge hole, so everything was the same width. Beyond getting it to whistle, I cannot offer any help with actually tuning an ocarina. I've only ever made whistles.

yes the popsicle stick tool has been my go to.  I will double check the thickness of both.  the micro details matter.  thanks 

[ocarina technical support]

3 hours ago, Pres said:

Have you mastered the whistle yet, working with the whistle will help you to get to the ocarina. I taught a few sessions  for the music teacher that taught theory and harmony  at our school. We had them making whistles, but some got into doing the ocarinas after completing a proper whistle. these are more difficult and his book explains about needing to tune them. I made a few along with the teacher and found that the body wall thickness was important. For tools we found that bamboo chopsticks worked really well for cheap tools in abundance. a little whittling and you had all the tools you needed. Your pic does not show exactly what I need to see as the position of the top hole depends on the shape of the mouthpiece and throat. The air hole has to be over the curve of the throat .

 

best,

Pres

 

mmm I did jump right into ocarinas.  ill take a step back and tackle whistles first.  thanks

[ocarina technical support]

I would love to connect with someone who knows about ocarinas.  I have Barry Hall's book From Mud to Music and Janet Moniot's manual Clay Whistles, but I am having a hard time.  I have watched countless youtube videos.  I have make about 10-12 ocarinas and all of them either have a lousy sound or no sound or you have to blow with great effort.  even the specific lip placement is so subtle .  I would love to brain storm to improve the sound quality. ) the one in the picture is two small domes thrown on the hump.. slip scored together with a hand built mouth piece)

Thank you so much ,

Courtney  

[top load vs front loading kiln]

3 hours ago, Min said:

I don't make tiles but I have owned both a front loader and several top loading kilns. My front loader had a floor element plus elements on all four walls of the kiln, coolest part of the kiln was the upper area. Don't recall having cool spots near the door. Hinges on the door were adjustable, door sealed well. Depending on the size of the front loader it might be more difficult to get it through doorways to your kiln area. How tall you are makes a difference too, I needed a platform in front of the front loading kiln to get the top shelf in without really overextending. 

Richard Zakin (kiln building book author) and Frederick Bartolovic article below with some of the things to look for with both front and top loading kilns.

https://ceramicartsnetwork.org/daily/article/An-Introduction-to-Electric-Kilns-What-to-Look-For-When-Buying-an-Electric-Kiln-or-Test-Kiln

 

this was a good article to start with.  I was already making a pro con list, but now my list is more through.  Thank you

[top load vs front loading kiln]

Thank you Glazenerd, that was helpful. The hot spots on a front loader stood out in your message.  I have been firing similar to the picture, that is for bisque.  for glaze fire I lay down on a bed of silica sand.  I do this so glaze doesn't run all over.    thanks you

[top load vs front loading kiln]

Hi I currently have a 50 year old Cress electric.  i am thinking of the investment of a new kiln.  

I often make tiles. With that in mind, would you recommend switching to a front loader?  or maybe stay top loading  but change to a rectangle or square shaped kiln? Also, if I switch to front loading would the tiles get fired laying flat?  

As of now I bisque fire upright. 

thanks.