Feature: 30 Years Later, I’m Finally Learning To Play The Ocarina (And You Should Too)
By Image: Omar Hafeez-Bore / Nintendo Life
My initial ocarina was procured from a bohemian store in Birmingham that also offered dreamcatchers. It was a round, brick-hued one featuring zig-zag designs, likely intended to appear ‘ethnic’?
A few years later, I stumbled upon some charcoal-dark, smooth-pebble pendant Ocarinas while traveling in China. They appear and feel almost naturally shaped, shaped by the elements, igneous.
Recently, I impulsively purchased a Zelda-style ceramic one from a stall at an anime expo. Confession: I once believed that having a Zelda-style one would compromise my pop-culture inspiration and make it seem more foolish, a bit LARP-esque, as if it weren’t truly a part of my own journey?
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But that’s silly and overly self-aware (and I’m older and less pretentious now). I adore this hefty blue object with its delightfully tacky box.
Image: Omar Hafeez-Bore / Nintendo Life
Naturally, I could not play any of them.
That beautiful ocarina remained in its packaging like much of my other pop culture memorabilia, nice to behold on the shelf or as a background piece in a podcast interview (Note: I have never actually participated in a podcast interview) but ultimately just another Optimistic Ocarina – acquired but never utilized.
Well, now is the moment. Surely the remake release (with its pleasingly animated finger gestures) is as valid an excuse as any to learn a few melodies, I mused. To finally resonate songs so vital that my atoms vibrate at Ocarina frequencies. Perhaps I’ll be able to play into my controller like Eiji Aunoma!
Thus, I’ve set out to memorize around five melodies – nearly half a Zelda journey’s worth, depending on the title. Here are some adventure notes:
1) The Best Ocarina Is The One You Already Possess!
Image: Nintendo
Clearly, if you already own one, simply begin with that.
