Multichamber ocarinas and their tuning systems

Multichamber ocarinas are an extension of the single chamber design. They were created to extend the range of notes, allowing a wider variety of music to be played.

Due to physics, a single chamber is only able to sound a small range of notes. Multichambers work around this using larger and smaller cambers, each providing a small part of the total range, similar to how the strings on a guitar sound different pitches.

The first chamber (labelled '1' in the image below) is almost identical to a single chambered ocarina. A double ocarina has one additional chamber played by the right hand, and labelled '2'. Triple ocarinas simply add another chamber next to this one.

Each chamber has its own windway and voicing, and a player will finger the note they want on a given chamber and blow into the corresponding windway. Typically only one chamber is blown at a time, though they can play in harmony in limited situations.

Multichambered ocarinas have both obvious and less obvious advantages over single chambered instruments:

• They can provide a much larger sounding range. A lot more music can be played without the need to adapt it to the instrument.
• They offer makers more control over sound quality. Because each chamber provides a smaller part of the instrument's total range, makers can choose part of each chamber's range with the best tone, discarding higher or lower range which often produces undesirable tonal characteristics.
• They offer more diversity in timbre. The previous point means that makers have much more freedom to craft the tonal character of their instrument. Voicing designs can be used that would not produce enough range for a single chamber ocarina.
• Improved ergonomics. Due to the way that they work multichambers can easily eliminate the need for a right thumb hole.

Having no right thumb hole is a big advantage because the right thumb can serve the single function of supporting the instrument, like other wind instruments. As long as the ocarina is designed to balance on the right thumb, supporting the instrument is trivial.

How multichamber ocarinas are tuned

Multichambered ocarinas are made with a number of tuning systems, most commonly the Vicinelli or Pacchioni system. The Vicinelli system is also called the 'Asian' system, being the standard design in mass-produced Asian instruments.

• The Vicinelli / Asian system focuses mainly on maximising the range of notes available.
• The Pacchioni system aims for player convenience, offering features which can make complex music easier to play, and can allow more harmonies between chambers.

The tuning and range of the first chamber is almost identical between the two systems, and differences are only apparent in higher chambers. The chamber ranges have been shown assuming an alto C ocarina, although multichambers in other keys are made.

Only the ranges are covered here, and the fingerings are discussed in 'Multichamber fingerings'. The range may vary by a note or two between makers however.

These should be treated as a guideline, and you'd need to look at a fingering chart for a given instrument to know the range for certain.

First Chamber

The design of the first chamber is almost identical to a single chamber ocarina, with a subtle difference on the high end. As multichamber ocarinas lack a right thumb hole on the first chamber, they have a primary range of an octave and a note. If you have an ocarina in C, this equates to C to D an octave higher.

Multichambered ocarinas often have one or two subholes that extend the range down to low B or A. Unlike with single chambers, including them in a multichamber does not have such a detrimental impact on sound quality.

The highest note playable on the first chamber is usually a D♯ on a C instrument, which is played with the left pinky. The note can be tuned to E giving one extra note on the first chamber, but doing so makes the pinky hole very large.

Higher chambers on the Vicinelli / Asian system

Second Chamber

The Vicinelli / Asian system tunes the second chamber as a linear extension of the first. As noted, the highest diatonic note of the first chamber is generally D. The second chamber begins on E and continues upwards to C an octave higher.

A double ocarina with Asian tuning has a total range of two octaves.

Third Chamber

The third chamber of a Vicinelli / Asian system ocarina continues directly from the C of the second. It can play from about D to A, giving the whole instrument a total range of about two octaves and a sixth.

Fourth Chamber

Vicinelli / Asian system ocarinas with 4 chambers are extremely rare, however would continue following the same pattern.

Such an instrument would have a total range of about three and a half octaves.

Higher chambers on the Pacchioni system

Second Chamber

The Pacchioni system tunes the second chamber an octave above the first. If the first chamber is C, the second begins from C an octave higher.

In relation to the Asian system, the total range is reduced by two diatonic notes, giving a total range of an octave and a sixth. However, the instrument gains two notes of overlap between the chambers. C and D can be played on both the first and second chamber, highlighted in the diagram.

Note that Pacchioni system ocarinas can include a subhole on higher chambers, giving a semitone below the ranges stated in the following sections. This hole is positioned between the voicing of two chambers and is played with the left thumb.

Having this overlap is useful for a few reasons:

• Because music often spends time around chord tones the overlap increases the chance that a note will exist on the same chamber, reducing the need to switch chambers.
• It also gives you more freedom to place chamber switches in places that align with the phrase breaks of the music.
• Certain ornamental possibilities also become practical, such as a D to E trill on a C instrument. Both notes exist on the second chamber of a P system ocarina.

The following tune exemplifies the reduction in chamber switching. Slur marks indicate sections played on the second chamber. This tune is usually played in D and works well on a Pacchioni system double in D. I have transposed it down a whole tone for consistency.

Si Beag Si Mor

Third Chamber

The third chamber on a Pacchioni system triple has a range of about F to C; the lowest two notes of this overlap with the highest two notes of the second chamber.

On a triple Pacchioni system ocarina, the second chamber does not have a thumb hole as this note is instead provided by the third chamber. There is usually a thumb subhole next to the voicing which produces an E, overlapping with the second chamber.

A triple Pacchioni ocarina has a range of two octaves.

Fourth Chamber

Something that may seem odd about the fourth chamber is that it begins on an accidental, A♯ on a C instrument. This is because the chamber uses the same fingerings and has the same intervals as the lower three chambers. It is covered in more detail in 'Multichamber fingerings'.

A quad Pacchioni ocarina has a range of two octaves and a fourth.