Patent Abstract:
Improved methods for tuning ocarinas to extend their capabilities, musical ranges, and ease of use. Ocarinas having enhanced fingering patterns using subholes, split toneholes, additional tonehole(s), and/or an additional thumbhole. Enhancements to cross-fingered ocarinas with one or two chambers and linear-fingered ocarinas with two or more chambers.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Not Applicable 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 
     Not Applicable 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to ocarinas and other vessel flutes. 
     2. Prior Art 
     Prized for their simplicity, portability, and pure tone, the musical instruments that developed into modern ocarinas have existed for ages. Since their earliest significant modern improvement, the utilization of a modern tuning in conjunction with a linear fingering pattern, the ocarina has been considered suitable for performing western music. Another notable improvement to the ocarina was the development of a four-hole tuning system, commonly called and hereinafter referred to as crossed-fingering. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,815,466. This tuning allows the user to perform the notes of a one octave major scale using only four tone holes. However, even with the addition of thumbholes, these ocarinas have been limited to the range of eleven notes of a major scale and cannot accurately perform all accidentals within the range. This inability to perform all accidentals was partially overcome by dividing the smallest tone hole into two substantially equal-sized holes, such holes hereinafter referred to as a split hole. This split hole functioned differently than subholes common on ocarinas with linear fingerings in that they are stopped together to function as one hole and using them does not lower the pitch below the tonic of the scale. Stopping only one of theses two holes would allow performance of one semitone above the tonic. However, one could still not accurately perform three semitones above the tonic. In U.S. Pat. Application Publication # US 2007/0157792 A1, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, is disclosed an ocarina that utilizes two subholes and an additional finger hole to allow a cross-fingered ocarina to perform all accidentals and a range of thirteen notes of a major scale. A subhole is a tonehole that is typically left open, but is stopped when the performer desires to play below the tonic note. However, this prior art mentions and depicts only an ocarina that utilizes subholes that specifically are adjacent to the first two standard toneholes. Since this requires the subholes to be operated with the same fingers that must also operate the adjacent toneholes, this arrangement would likely prove difficult for many performers. 
     Despite many improvements, the physical properties of ocarinas generally limit them to a range of thirteen notes of a major scale. That range was eventually expanded by adding a second chamber, making two ocarinas with differing fundamental pitches into one instrument. The range of a two-chambered ocarina has been limited to two octaves plus two notes. A two-chambered cross-fingered ocarina has been limited to a range of two octaves. 
     There is in existence two separate two chambered transverse ocarinas wherein the higher chamber utilizes a thumbhole. However, in both cases, the use of the thumbhole does not extend the range of the instrument beyond the common range, and the thumbhole does not raise the pitch more than one tone. The thumbholes of these ocarinas do nothing unexpected, as they function like any other tonehole. 
     While the addition of a third chamber has increased the range of ocarinas to one note less than three octaves, this has also increased costs of production, size, weight, and difficulty of use. 
     SUMMARY 
     The present invention includes ocarinas that have their musical ranges expanded by novel methods of construction and tuning. The present invention also includes ocarinas that permit more accurate performance of accidentals. 
     The present invention comprises ocarinas with one or more chambers utilizing an enhanced cross-fingering having subholes and/or split holes, and multi-chambered ocarinas having a higher chamber or chambers utilizing an enhanced linear fingering pattern. The present invention allows greater possibilities of musical expression to the performer and a lessened level of difficulty in performing. 
     A further advantage of the invention is that it enables a performer to use a single chamber of a cross-fingered ocarina to perform thirteen notes of a major scale, including all accidentals, in a simplified manner. 
     Advantages of multi-chamber ocarinas constructed according to the invention are that they utilize more fully the range of each chamber, which renders the use of a third chamber unnecessary to achieve a comparable note range. A further advantage of the invention is that it allows for the construction of ocarinas that are lighter, smaller, more portable, and less costly to produce than other ocarinas with comparable note ranges. 
    
    
     
       DRAWING FIGURES 
         FIG. 1A  is an elevation view of a cross-fingered ocarina according to the invention. 
         FIG. 1B  is a fingering chart of the ocarina depicted in  FIG. 1A . 
         FIG. 2A  is an elevation view of a cross-fingered ocarina according to the invention. 
         FIG. 2B  is a fingering chart of the ocarina depicted in  FIG. 2A . 
         FIG. 3A  is an elevation view of a two-chambered cross-fingered ocarina according to the invention. 
         FIG. 3B  is a fingering chart of the lower chamber of the ocarina depicted in  FIG. 3A . 
         FIG. 3C  is a fingering chart of the higher chamber of the ocarina depicted in  FIG. 3A . 
         FIG. 4A  is an elevation view of a two-chambered linear-patterned ocarina according to the invention. 
         FIG. 4B  is a fingering chart of the higher chamber of the ocarina depicted in  FIG. 4A . 
         FIG. 5A  is an elevation view of a two-chambered linear-patterned ocarina according to the invention. 
         FIG. 5B  is a fingering chart of the higher chamber of the ocarina depicted in  FIG. 5A . 
         FIG. 6A  is an elevation view of a three-chambered linear-patterned ocarina according to the invention. 
         FIG. 6B  is a fingering chart of the middle chamber of the ocarina depicted in  FIG. 6A   
         FIG. 7A  is an elevation view of a three-chambered linear-patterned ocarina according to the invention. 
         FIG. 7B  is a fingering chart of the middle chamber of the ocarina depicted in  FIG. 7A   
         FIG. 7C  is a fingering chart of the middle chamber of a variation of the ocarina depicted in  FIG. 7A . 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION 
     In order that the above-recited advantages and features of the invention may be thoroughly understood, a more specific and detailed description of the invention summarized above will be rendered by reference to the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood that these drawings provide only selected embodiments of the invention and are not therefore to be considered limiting of its scope. Also, the skilled artisan would understand that the invention can be practiced without employing these specific details. Indeed, the spirit of the invention can still be practiced while modifying the illustrated instruments. With reference to  FIG. 1A , an ocarina  1  comprises a hollow body  10  which includes an airway  11  for directing an air stream against a voicing  12 , thereby generating the sound of the instrument. The ocarina  1  includes a plurality of toneholes  100  that are stopped or unstopped to alter the pitches the instrument produces. The embodiment of a cross-fingered ocarina depicted includes a split tonehole  101  that, when stopped, performs the normal function of the second smallest tonehole of typical cross-fingered ocarinas. The second smallest tonehole common in prior art must be replaced with the split tonehole  101  to achieve the improvement found in the embodiment. The smaller of the holes that make up the split tonehole  101  is sized to alter the pitch of the instrument by one semitone when performing any pitch within four semitones above the tonic. Thereby the user may perform the pitch one semitone above the tonic by unstopping the smaller hole of the split tonehole  101 , and also may perform the pitch three semitones above the tonic by unstopping the smaller hole of the split tonehole  101  and the smallest of the standard toneholes  100 . In this manner the performer overcomes the inability of cross-fingered ocarinas of the prior art using a split tonehole to provide an accurate means of performing three semitones above the tonic. 
     As depicted, a cross-fingered ocarina may also feature thumbholes  102  which may include an enlarged thumbhole  102   b  that is used to raise the pitch by three semitones, as opposed to the customary two semitones. The fingering pattern is altered accordingly. 
     By reference to  FIG. 1B , a fingering chart, a clear understanding of the use of toneholes of an ocarina of the embodiment is rendered. On each representation of the ocarina  1  are representations of toneholes  100 . Stopped toneholes  100  are shown filled in black and unstopped toneholes  100  are shown unfilled. Representations of thumbholes  102 ,  102   b  are depicted adjacent to each representation of the ocarina  1 . Below each representation of the ocarina is printed the pitch  13  produced according to which toneholes  100  are stopped or unstopped if the tonic note is the note “C”. The tonic may actually be any note. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2A , an ocarina  2  according an embodiment of the invention adds at least one, but preferably two, subholes  103  to an otherwise standard cross-fingering. The subholes  103  are not adjacent to the other toneholes  100 , but are arranged to be stopped by fingers other than those used to operate the other toneholes  100 , preferably the ring fingers. This allows for performance of all accidentals with greater ease than the prior art and as well as additional advantages. Since the subholes  103  are not adjacent to other toneholes  100  as they are in all prior art, they may more easily be utilized to perform trills, aid in performing crescendos, or change the key of a small passage. The subholes  103  are similar to subholes common in linear-fingered ocarinas of the prior art in that they may be used to expand the range of the instrument and lower the pitch below the tonic note. However, the subholes  103  are different from all prior art in that the fingers dedicated to the subholes are not needed to operate other toneholes and are thus unencumbered.  FIG. 2B  is a fingering chart depicting how the subholes  103  and other toneholes  100  of an ocarina  2  of the embodiment may be used to perform its range of pitches  13 . The tonic note may be any note, but in this example is the note “C”. 
       FIG. 3A  depicts a two-chambered cross-fingered ocarina  3  according to an embodiment of the invention. It includes a body  10 , two airways  11   a  and  11   b,  and two voicings  12   a  and  12   b,  with the voicing  12   a  on the underside for a lower chamber  14   a,  meaning lower-pitched chamber, and the voicing  12   b  on the top for a higher chamber  14   b,  meaning higher-pitched chamber. The chambers  14   a  and  14   b  are both enclosed by the body  10 . A wall or partition  15  that separates the two chambers  14   a  and  14   b  is visible in cross-section in a broken portion of the ocarina  3  and is represented by hidden lines where the partition  15  lies hidden beneath the body  10 . In each chamber, the standard toneholes  100  of a cross-fingering are adjacent to the corresponding toneholes  100  of the other chamber. The two chambers  14   a  and  14   b  are used independently or simultaneously. The standard toneholes  100  can be used simultaneously to perform two corresponding notes at a one octave interval, or they may be fingered independently. Thumbholes  102  on the lower chamber  14   a  are optional but desirable. These aforementioned features of the embodiment depicted in  FIG. 3A  are common in the prior art. Novel features according to the embodiment are the addition of at least one, but preferably two, subholes  103  to the lower chamber  14   a  and two additional toneholes  104  to the higher chamber  14   b.  The subholes  103  function in like manner to those described in the embodiment according to  FIG. 2A , and overcome the limitation of the prior art to permit accurate performance of accidentals in the lower range or notes below the tonic. The additional toneholes  104  to the higher chamber  14   b  function similarly to thumb-operated toneholes common in the prior art and overcome the limited range of one octave of the higher chamber of the prior art, such limitation being due to the impossibility of accessing the higher chamber with the thumbs. As an optional enhancement, the artisan may widen one of the additional toneholes  104  to increase the range by an additional semitone, in like manner to the enlarged thumbhole  102   b  described according to  FIG. 1A . 
     The artisan is required to form the shape of the higher chamber  14   b  such that it can accommodate toneholes  100 ,  104  that may easily accommodate the performer&#39;s fingers. Typically, the shape is like a widened one half of a peanut shell or a dome roughly in the shape of the number eight. The higher chamber  14   b  may also include a split tonehole  101  as the second largest tonehole, like that described according to  FIG. 1A , to allow the ocarina  3  to accurately perform all accidentals within the entire range. 
     Reference to  FIG. 3B  will make clear the fingering of the toneholes  100  of the lower chamber  14   a.  Reference to  FIG. 3C  will make clear the fingering of the toneholes  100  of the higher chamber  14   b.  The tonic of an ocarina according to the embodiment of the invention depicted here is “C”, but it may be any pitch. 
     Referring to  FIG. 4A , a two-chambered linear-fingered ocarina  4  according to an embodiment of the invention is depicted. It includes two airways  11   a  and  11   b,  two voicings  12   a  and  12   b,  a lower chamber  14   a,  a higher chamber  14   b,  and a body  10  that encloses the chambers  14   a  and  14   b.  A wall or partition  15  separating the two chambers is also visible in cross-section in a broken portion of the ocarina  4  and is represented by hidden lines where the partition  15  is hidden beneath the body  10 . The toneholes  100  of the lower chamber  14   a  are the same that are common in the prior art. However, the higher chamber  14   b  and its accompanying toneholes  100  have novel functions that enhance the range of the chamber  14   b.  A large thumbhole  105  is added to what would otherwise be a typical fingering pattern for a higher chamber of a two chambered ocarina. After the toneholes  100  of the top of the ocarina  4  are all unstopped, the performer unstops the large thumbhole  105 , and then uses the other toneholes  100  in a novel pattern to perform at least five additional semitones, these pitches all being above the highest pitch of a typical two-chambered ocarina. 
     A fingering pattern like the one according to the embodiment is not possible to add to ocarinas of the prior art. All linear-patterned two-chambered ocarinas of the prior art have higher chambers that are substantially tube-like in shape. Accordingly, not only is there insufficient space to accommodate a large thumbhole, but also a tonehole, whether for the thumb or another finger, large enough to expand the range would adversely affect the properties of the chamber to the extent that it would nullify the correct operation of the entire chamber, or, in other words, the notes would not play after the thumbhole is unstopped. Furthermore, a tube-like chamber is so lengthy that the fundamental pitch of the chamber must be well below the desired lowest-pitched note for the chamber. In compensation for this, and to compensate for weak volume or blowing strength of such chambers, a hole or holes are added to raise the pitch and let air escape. Since each chamber is limited in range, especially a higher chamber that requires greater blowing strength, a chamber whose fundamental pitch is many semitones below the desired lowest-pitched note cannot adequately perform above what is standard in the prior art. 
     The higher chamber  14   b  according to the embodiment depicted is not tube-like. It preferably has a shape similar to a shelled brazil nut, with the widest portion thereof positioned toward the airway  11   b.  The higher chamber&#39;s  14   b  rounder shape has several advantages. The shortened length raises the fundamental pitch to the desired lowest pitch to be performed or near to it. Furthermore, the vessel-like shape typically results in a stronger, more sonorous sound. These two advantages may remove the need for additional tuning holes to allow air to escape for tuning or dynamic purposes. However, a small tuning hole or holes, not depicted, may be included if desired. A further advantage of the shape of the higher chamber  14   b  is that it is sufficiently wide and tall that the presence of a large tonehole, for example, a large thumbhole  105  that raises the pitch by several tones, does not adversely affect the operation of the chamber  14   b  and the other toneholes  100 . Accordingly, a higher chamber  14   b  according to the embodiment in conjunction with an improved fingering enables the higher chamber  14   b  to equal or exceed capabilities of both a second and third chamber of ocarinas of the prior art. 
     In order to achieve the improved shape of the higher chamber  14   b,  the pinky finger tonehole  100   p  typically must be angled toward the higher chamber  14   b  from its outlet on the surface of the body  10  of the ocarina  4 . This method of angling the tonehole  100   p  is depicted by hidden lines. Also, placing the pinky finger tonehole  100   p  substantially near the side surface of the ocarina  4  as opposed to the top will allow the user to partially tuck the pinky finger under the ring finger in an ergonomic manner to cover the pinky finger tonehole  100   p.  It is usually important to make a depression or indentation where the pinky is to be placed, both for comfort and so that the pinky finger tonehole  100   p  may properly be sealed. The artisan should take into account the need to give the user&#39;s fingers sufficient space and to distance toneholes  100  from the voicing  12  as much as possible. 
     The fingering method for the lower chamber  14   a  of the embodiment is common in the prior art and is therefore not depicted. The manner of performing the pitches of the higher chamber  14   b  of the embodiment is depicted in  FIG. 4B . The large thumbhole  105  is depicted adjacent to each representation of the chamber  14   b.  The toneholes  100  are depicted within each representation of the chamber  14   b.    
     Referring to  FIG. 5A , the two-chambered linear-patterned ocarina  5  depicted is identical to the ocarina depicted in  FIG. 4A , with one exception. In  FIG. 5A , an additional tonehole  106  has been added to the chamber to achieve a highest note two semitones above the highest note capable with the ocarina of  FIG. 4A .  FIG. 5B  depicts the fingering pattern the performer would use to ascend the pitches  13  of the higher chamber  14   b  of the embodiment to the highest possible pitch. With practice and skill the artisan, by using a large thumbhole in the higher chamber of a two-chambered linear-patterned ocarina, may possibly achieve a range even beyond that of the ocarina of  FIG. 5A . 
     Referring to  FIG. 6A , a three-chambered linear-patterned ocarina  6  according to the embodiment is depicted. The lowest chamber  14   a  preferably has a layout and fingering pattern very similar to the lower chamber of a typical two-chambered ocarina with the exception that the notes to be performed are typically one octave below the normal range. The highest chamber  14   b  of the embodiment is typically identical to the higher chamber of the ocarinas depicted in  FIG. 4A  or  5 A, here depicted identical to the higher chamber of the ocarina of  FIG. 5A . The middle chamber  14   c  of the embodiment preferably is pitched near the upper range of the lowest chamber  14   a  of the embodiment, the middle chamber&#39;s  14   c  lowest performable note being tuned to one semitone above the highest performable note of the lowest chamber  14   a.  An optional tuning hole  107  helps balance the strength of air required by the performer to properly perform the lowest-pitched note, that the blowing strength required may be very similar to that required to properly perform the highest note of the lowest chamber  14   a.  The performer utilizes a modified linear fingering pattern for the middle chamber, like that depicted in  FIG. 6B , to perform the pitches of the chamber  14   c  up to the highest. The highest performable pitch of the middle chamber  14   c  is the lowest performable pitch of the highest chamber  14   b.    
     Constructing an ocarina  6  according to the embodiment enables the skilled artisan to provide an instrument capable of performing four octaves of notes, which is about one octave greater than three-chambered ocarinas of the prior art. 
     Referring to  FIG. 7A , the three-chambered linear-patterned ocarina  7  depicted is identical to the ocarina depicted in  FIG. 6A , with two exceptions: In  FIG. 7A , one of the toneholes  100  on top of the instrument has been removed and has been replaced with a large thumbhole  105  on the bottom of the ocarina  7  and the tuning hole has been moved. Since a performer&#39;s thumb is able to seal a larger hole than the performer&#39;s other fingers, a large thumbhole  105  can be made large enough to allow the performance of additional pitches. Depending on the size of the large thumbhole  105  and the fingering pattern desired, the tuning hole  107  may also be incorporated into the fingering pattern. Providing additional notes in the middle chamber adds the benefit of allowing the performer to optionally perform some of the same notes on both the middle chamber and the higher chamber, which will reduce the need to switch between chambers.  FIG. 7B  depicts a fingering pattern of the middle chamber  14   c  where the toneholes  100 , tuning hole  107 , and the large thumbhole  105  are used to perform pitches as labled.  FIG. 7C  depicts a fingering pattern of the middle chamber  14   c  where only the toneholes  100  and large thumbhole  105  are used to perform pitches as labled. 
     While the above description contains many specificities, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the invention, but as exemplifications of the selected embodiments thereof. Many other ramifications and variations are possible within the teachings of the invention. Thus the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents, and not by the examples given.

Technology Classification (CPC): 6