Xun Chinese Ocarina

thingiverse

This is not a remix, but my own approach to create a chinese Xun which is highly playable and tuned out of the printer. It is an ancient chinese instrument, which is still used today. It is similar to an ocarina, but without the fipple. Instead the tone is generated by blowing the air gently over the edge of the upper opening, like blowing over a bottle. It is in principle a perfect Helmholz resonator, and I modeled it according to the physical formula of such a resonator and optimized it. I uploaded a 10 holes version and an 8 holes version. It is quite difficult to blow the higher notes, therefore, if you are a beginner, I recommend to print the 8 hole version. I uploaded them in 2 different sizes which correspond to a C major and E major. E major is quite small but playable. C major is larger and somewhat easier to play. The sound is very similar to my original clay xun. A general problem I encountered with other 3D printed xun's is that it is often difficult to produce a tone when opening one or more holes. This can be overcome by sharpening the edge of the windway. I have specially designed the interior of the blow hole with a sharp edge, and this makes them highly playable without this problem. Due to the printer resolution this edge will still likely require some sharpening after the printing. In general it is not easy to play the Xun. The tone can be varied a lot by varying the blow angle, and playing it requires a certain technique to adjust the tone appropriately in this way. The fingering is to open one hole after the other first of the right hand from the bottom to the top, then of the left hand from bottom to top, then left thumb followed by the right thumb. This gives you a major scale if you choose the correct blow angle (move the chin a bit away from the top and let the air stream hit the edge very horizontally). Check your tones with a piano or a tuner in the beginning. Enjoy!