 The Fingering Forum
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Author: jeremah
Date: 2007-08-06 16:06
Hi!
I'm living in South Korea, and today at the musical instrument market (one of the happiest places on earth) I fell in love with an instrument. I didn't know what it was, the woman at the shop wrongly identified it as a tungso (Korean, vertical notch ended flute) - and I didn't feel up to arguing with her in my rudimentary Korean, so, I bargained her down instead and bought it.
But now, I just have to figure out what it is. I know a bit about bamboo instruments, especially Korean ones - I am studying the Sanjo Daegeum (a large bamboo transverse flute with a buzzing membrane) and the Sogeum (it's smaller sister, sans membrane) - but this is unlike anything I have ever seen.
It is constructed of a thick (6cm) piece of bamboo (45cm long), which has been split, about 3cm from the top edge, and rejoined so that it tapers down to an end about 2cm thick. The overall effect is a rounded, wedge shaped instrument, open at the small end (with a tiny slit), with a notched mouthpiece on the edge of the thick end. It sports a thumb-hole, and eight finger holes, arranged in two semi-circular patterns. It cannot really be overblown, and because the holes run in a vaguely linear fashion, a simple b-flat major, 8-note scale can be achieved with some imaginative finger work (and pitch bending).
After doing some research on the net I have ascertained that it is most likely some form of 9-holed ocarina. This is because I am pretty sure that the pitch changes have as much to do with harmonics as with the length of the bore (you can achieve notes by paying attention to surface area covered, as opposed to relative position along the bore).
Does anyone know what this is I have purchased, if fingering charts are available, or if I have just stumbled across somebody's crazy invention.
If anyone wants pictures, I'll upload a link.
Thanks,
J
Post Edited (2007-08-06 16:12)
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Bamboo Ocarina (I think) new |
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jeremah |
2007-08-06 16:06 |
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Gnomon |
2007-08-08 18:50 |
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hrsp |
2012-05-24 22:09 |
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The Clarinet Pages
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