The Mountain Ocarina is a new breed of ocarinas. Invented by Karl Ahrens, these little fellows will fit in the palm of your hand. They have a sound quality quite good for an ocarina, and are capable of about one-and-a-half octaves. Mountain ocarinas come in two keys, C, and G. The C’s are a bit larger than the G’s.
Mountain Ocarinas come in a couple of different materials:
Wood
Polycarbonate; a type of hard plastic
And Aluminum, very solid little bugers
The mountain ocarina is a ‘pick up and play’ type instrument. Everyone (musical experience or not) should be able to get a sound out of it at once; unlike most flutes and wind instruments (Western Concert flute, clarinet, trumpet etc.). The fingerings are quite easy to memorize. Start with all holes covered, then uncover holes (bottom to top) with the four right fingers, three left fingers, and right then left thumbs, consecutively.
Ocarinas are capable of all sorts of different music styles; but I (this is a personal preference) think they sound best in the Celtic/Irish genre (they also sound admirable in gospel music and christmas carols).