Ocarinas - Pt1

Ocarinas

What is an Ocarina?
An Ocarina is, simply put, a wind instrument. (An awesome one!)
They commonly look like this:

(Image from www.songbirdocarinas.com)
This is a simple, single- chambered ceramic Alto C ocarina. They come in many shapes, sizes and ranges, however, which will be covered in Part 2 next week. :3

The history of the Ocarina

In fact, the first known ocarina-like instrument appears around 12000 years old!
Its origins can be traced back to many different cultures found in South and Central America, the Mayans, Aztecs, and Incas - all developing and performing on clay ocarinas, often shaped like small birds or animals.
China also had its own form of Ocarina called a Xun, which were more rounded and egg-like in shape.  

Some possible ancient Ocarinas

In 1527, a small group of Aztec dancers and musicians were sent to Empereor Charles V, performing at the royal court. The performances were a great success, and the ocarina was replicated by a Roman baker who made his own, and nicknamed it the "Ocarina" meaning "little goose".This was quite popular as a novel item, but was not considered a real instrument, as it lacked a wide range of notes.

In the late 19th Century, however, a young Italian baker and musician, Guiseppe Donati, re-made the design into the known potato-shape we commonly see today. This new Ocarina now included an accurate pitch, as well as a far more extended range of notes. Many varying sizes were also made, allowing the Ocarina to become useful in Western music at that time - there was even the creation of Ocarina ensembles, one of which is still actively performing today - the "Gruppo Ocarinistico Budriese"
Who you can see perform here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8TYceDNcCk


With the coming of World War 1 and 2, the small pocket-size of the ocarina made it ideal to carry around, and servicemen would often use it to boost morale.

This, of course, resulted in an increase in popularity for the Ocarina in both Europe and America. Sadly, however, this was quickly overshadowed by the rising popularity of the Recorder - an instrument with a similar sound as the Ocarina, but far easier to make and play, and so the Ocarina found itself vanishing in the world of well-know instruments, to join the likes of the Theremin or Hurdygurdy among the ranks of obscure instruments that still exist, but aren't really commonly played.

The Theremin

The Hurdygurdy

However, this does not mean that the Ocarina was completely forgotten! Hope still remained for our small little potato-shaped instrument.

However, this does not mean that the Ocarina was completely forgotten! Hope still remained for our small little potato-shaped instrument.
In the 1990's, one game was to forever change the way the Ocarina was perceived. “The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time” caused interest in the Ocarina to skyrocket; most notably in Europe and America. If you know video games, and you know The Legend of Zelda, you'll know what an Ocarina is! :D

Link from The Legend of Zelda, playing the Ocarina

Interest was also piqued in Asia, particularly Japan, due to Ocarina Master, Sojiro and his performances. This instrument is still fighting back against the bonds of obscurity!
On that note, Sojiro's performances are certainly very good! Give them a watch here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmjGjaCldz0&list=PLA4D309DBBC8D3945
Seriously. Do.
It's awesome.

Anywho, Dragina out!
DFTBA. :3

Aliens and Tardigrades

We have all heard stories of mysterious UFO sightings and I’m sure most of you don’t believe them, however are there actually other life forms out there? I believe the answer to that question is yes.

If you think about it statistically, it is almost certain that there are other forms of life out there somewhere. The radius of our observable universe (The observable universe is how much of the universe we can see in each direction, so Earth is the centre of our observable universe) is 46 billion light years and just one light year is roughly 10 trillion kilometres. What I’m trying to say is the observable universe is big, really, really big. And the observable universe could just be a tiny section of the actual universe. This means that because there are so many planets orbiting stars it is highly likely that on one of them there is some form of life, possibly even sentient life.

We have already found other planets and moons which have an atmosphere and may possibly be able to support life, in fact we have found other planets and moons within our own solar system which may have or may have once been able to support life. The most famous example is of course Mars. Now I’m not saying that there are little green men running around on Mars but I do acknowledge the pact that given that Mars once had an environment that could sustain water flow. We know that there is currently frozen water on Mars. If you think about it an environment like this could have very probably supported single cell life forms, maybe even more.

Less known is the 6^th moon of Jupiter Europa. Europa has a mostly oxygen atmosphere and is has an iron core and the surface is mostly composed of ice. Nobody knows if there is liquid water underneath the surface or not but it is entirely plausible. This means it is also entirely plausible for Europa to have sustained or currently sustain some form of life.

There are at least 3 objects in our solar system alone that do, or might have in the past sustained life. Therefore is overwhelmingly possible for there to be other forms of life. I can’t comment as to whether this life would be sentient or not or have at least evolved into animals or developed plant life. In fact thinking about the statistical probability I think it is quite plausible that there is other sentient life and it is my hope that someday we will be able to communicate with them.

Now I want to talk about some amazing microscopic creatures called “Tardigrades” these little creatures, also known as water bears, have been taken into the vacuum of space and left there completely exposed for 10 days. (A project called “Tardigrades in space” also known as “T.A.R.D.I.S.”) Now for any other known living being that would have killed them instantly, however when they retrieved these Tardigrades and brought them back to earth, they found that they were still alive! Not only that but they were happily swimming and some of them even made little Tardigrade babies. This ability to survive in the vacuum of space has given weight to the theory of Panspermia, which is the theory that originally basic life forms arrived on planet Earth from out of space and from there have evolved to form life as we know it.

So whilst I don’t think little green men have come down to earth in flying saucers, I do believe that there are other forms of life out there, maybe even other sentient beings. I hope one day that science will evolve enough to allow us to find these species and possibly communicate with them.
What do you think about the Panspermia theory? Food for thought! :3
DFTBA