When making an ocarina, I start by forming the body. This is the hollow "resonating chamber" of the ocarina. The size determines whether the ocarina will be low or high pitched. The larger the interior of the body, the lower the ocarina will sound.

There are several ways of hand building a hollow clay form, such as pinching, coiling, soft slab, throwing on the potters' wheel or using a drape or slump mold. In this tutorial, I will show three forming methods: 1) using a clay "hump" or "drape" mold, 2) using a soft clay slab with a paper pattern, and 3) using a plaster slump mold (shown below on this page).

If you would rather make the ocarina body by one of the other methods mentioned above, that's fine. You can skip the next two pages and go directly to making the mouthpiece.
Whatever forming method you choose, be sure to make a flattened area. This is where the mouthpiece will be attached.

Tool List

Next: Forming the Body - continued >>

Introduction and Tools 1 | Forming the Body 2 3 | Making the Mouthpiece 4 5 6 | Position Mouthpiece-Cut Voicing 7 8 9 10 11 | Finger Holes 12 13 14 | Align Mouthpiece 15 16 | Adjust Voicing Size 17 | Attach Mouthpiece 18 19 | Tuning 20 | Assembling the Body 21 22 | Tidying up the Ocarina-Finishing 23 24 25 26 27 | Plaster Ocarina Mold | Clay Ocarina Mold | Make an Ocarina using a Clay Mold | Make an Ocarina Without a Mold | Glaze a Ceramic Ocarina | Glaze a Dragon Ocarina