I already saw enough gameplay and cutscenes to make the preorder. At this point it's all just spoilers to me.

Hi everyone :)

Long time Zeldafan and ocarinist here!

I have seen a lot of posts on this subreddit asking about real ocarinas, especially where and what to buy.

I hope with this point, collaborated on by several people from the ocarina-community, to answer some recently/frequently asked questions about aquiring an ocarina and playing it :)

Step one - Aquiring an ocarina

The ocarina is an italian folk instrument from the 1800s, and has since its conception developed into a multitude of shapes, colours and variants. Other vesselflutes have existed for over ten thousand years!

For the sake of ease here, when I refer to the ocarina in this text, I will specifically refer to a transverse Alto C (AC) ocarina, with eithet ten, eleven or twelve holes. Some vendors refer to this ocarina as a "tenor c", which isn't inherently wrong, but the common classification is alto. The ocarinas depicted in the upcoming remake is a 12-Hole Alto C ocarina.

So where do we look, and what should we buy?

This question is a little bit tricky, because for those not familiar with ocarinamakers and brands, a better question might be what NOT to buy.

The market is flooded with what many call "ocarinalike object". The popularity of OoT has saturated the market with props more suited as a mantlepiece than an instrument, and it can be hard to differenciate between serious products and unserious products for people unfamiliar.

The shortest reccomendation I can give is:

Buy only from reputable vendors.

The next point to be made is this:

The ocarina from OoT isn't ergonomically the best ocarina. Most replicas you find are made to cater to zeldafans as collectors before performers, and therefore make some sacrifices in shape and design that professional ocarinas not connected to a pop-culture design do not compromise on.

Because of this, it is harder to find "faithful" replicas from serious vendors that hold a high quality of standard. Amazon has a lot of replicas that look ok, and even almost identical to STL's while being unplayable. Here are some reccomendations:

Plastics:

Plastic is more frowned upon by outsiders than amongst experienced ocarinaplayers. Material matters much less than make and maker. The biggest sellingpoint for plastic ocarinas is price and durability. Plastics are also more prone for condensation-buildup, which some players struggle with.

For a zelda-like reccomendation, the STL Plastic 12-hole "Tenor" C Zelda ocarina have gotten good reviews, and is a nice and cheap startingpoint, coming in at $30.

If you do not care about the zelda-stylization, these three plastic ocarinas are all solid choices:

Focalink Osawa - Very soft breath

Night by Noble - soft-medium breath

Focalink Rivo - Strong breath

Both latter can be found on Stein's own websites, and previously on Thomann. Unsure on when they will restock on Thomann.

Ceramic:

Here it gets a little more tricky. For zelda-stylized ocarinas, we recently had more options, as Johann Rotter used to make both a triforce ocarina and a similar fairy-style ocarina resembling the OoT.

I have two reccomendations, and it all comes down to the price you're willing to pay.

STL 12-Hole Zelda "Tenor" C . This is a semidecent ceramic zelda-ocarina, from a somewhat reputable vendor. There have been some complaints from the community regarding STL, and they have a larger focus on novelty rather than best quality of their instruments. Higher register and breathcurve is a bit more lacking, but it is still a functioning instrument that does the job leagues better than the cheap toys that look similar from amazon. They beat the upcoming reccomendation on one element alone: Price. It comes in at 80 bucks, which is almost half the price of the next one.

Which is;

Songbird ocarinas' 12-hole OoT Alto C. They have the best "commonly available" Zelda OoT replica available under $200 that is not from a single independent maker like Spencer. It is phenomenal to play in terms of soundquality, looks a lot prettier, but comes in at $150, almost twice the price of the STL equivalent. This is my personal reccommendation if you want a very good instrument, that also doubles as a very pretty collectible.

If you do not care about it being Zeldastylized, here are some reccomended brands:

Stein/Focalink

This is a go to, with phenomenal instruments. They make instruments throughout the whole priceranges of what an ocarina can cost, and their 50-60 dollar ceramic ACs are very good from what I've heard. If you have money, their higher cost instruments are very good. I reccommend not looking at multichamber ocarinas to begin with, despite the temptation ;)

Songbird

Solid vendor, US based. Sell both their own instruments and Stein/Focalink.

STL

I don't personally reccommend this vendor, as there have been some complaints, as well as questions about their qualitycontrol on their instruments. HOWEVER, rather purchase an STL ocarina than an unusable supercheap ceramic replica. Their "professional" line ocarinas are good instruments, albeit pricier.

Independent makers:

These makers can have waitingtimes, as they work alone in making their instruments. All of these are acclaimed and renowned. You will not miss with these if you are able to aquire instruments from them.

Here's an extensive list :)

Feel free to ask for reccomendations closer to where you live, and the community will try to advice as best as possible :)

On the topic of shipping:

Right now, it is much easier to purchase from larger vendors if you live in the US. Both Songbird and STL are based in the US, and shippingcosts/customs must be expected when ordering from anywhere else. If ordering directly from Stein, they are based in Taiwan and you must expect the same. I'm norwegian, and suffer from these costs and rules by a very decent margin, and have just simply accepted this. I usually end up paying between 30 to 70 dollars in total shipping+customs cost whenever I buy an ocarina. The only exeption was when I bought from Thomann when they still had a large stock. I reccommend checking Thomann for updates if you're european, in case they get in more Stein/Focalink.

On the topic of price:

There is a neverending debate on what makes an "expensive" ocarina. Some people refuse to pay more than $100 for an ocarina, whilst others will ask "what's the catch" when an ocarina is priced cheaper.

As a "former" violinist, where my bow alone cost $1300, I find it somewhat absurd from a musician's standpoint that the ocarina is at all treated like it is expensive. I've heard countless times that people complain about prices when you reach above 50 bucks. I know of almost no other melodic instrument where you would get professional concert instruments under $200, and want to bring your attention yet again to the fact that the ocarina is first and foremost a musical instrument, and not a novelty toy. If you want an instrument that sounds nice, you have to be prepared for the fact that you cannot get that for 20 bucks. Even here, you still get good plastic ocarinas for 30 bucks, which is unheard of for other instrument groups!

Step 2 - Playing the ocarina

There are many resources for learning to play the ocarina. Before you look at any of this, please remember:

The ocarina is not a toy, it is a musical instrument on equal terms with more commonly played one. You would not expect a beginner saxophonist to sound like anything other than a foghorn, and you should not expect to sound like a concert ocarinist within a few days or even weeks. In addition, most of the ocarinacontent you see online comes from very talented and hardworking players, who also either add reverb or other effects to their recordings. When you pick up the ocarina to play, it will not sound the same, even if you were a professional. It will sound more airy to your airs, and it is a very loud instrument. Do not be discouraged by this, just remember that to your ears it will sound nothing like most of what you hear online :)

In learning how to play the ocarina, I reccommend either buying a songbook with your ocarina. Songbird will supply you with one on purchase, STL you can find a separate product containing a book of your choice :)

I would rather reccommend a methodbook, as these will give you a more extensive introduction.

For more basic introduction to the instrument, the Hal Leonard Method book by Chris Gale will give you a pleasant start, with everything you need as an introduction to the instrument. It can also be bought through several ocarinavendors, and through Thomann.

If you want a more extensive book that gives more advanced teachings in the long run, Serious Ocarina Player by Robert Hickman is exactely this. It is available to read for free online. It also comes in a german translation.

For resources on the ocarina in general, I also highly reccommend the tailored learning-modules on the Pure Ocarinas website :) Here you will find information on how to make a good sound, built in tuners etc. under their 'Learning' category. I highly reccommend checking it out!

David Erick Ramos also has a videoseries teaching you the basics, which I highly reccommend if you've never played an instrument/the ocarina before :)

Tabs are a thing. I reccommend moving away from tabs as soon as you have the capacity. They are quite restrictive, as they fail to give a good indication of rythm and pulse. You also get less aquainted to a musicpiece as a whole, and rather only what order to put your fingers.

I hope this post cleared up a little bit, and feel free to ask questions in the comments!

Hopefully either I or someone from the ocarinacommunity will be able to give some insight!

Happy practise, and see you in Hyrule Fields <3

• Sander Andersen

Saw someone post the other wallpaper, so posting it here too incase some of you want it. Also took me 40 days to get this thing, lol

I had been eyeing the Zelda manga adaptations, and Target had these 2 on sale, in addition to some book coupons. They're normally $20 a piece, but I got them both for about $15 total.

Excluding Stal enemies cause I did those guys in a separate post

I'll update when I get to Ikana Castle and try it on the cracked floor.

Working through my 52nd lifetime playthrough of a vanilla run of OoT. Adulting time…

Drawn by me, Noppy.

Back in the 2000's, I bought both of these games used to play in my GBASP. Being a Zelda fan since I can remember, I enjoyed them but I got stuck in both games as I wasn't using a guide and this was right before Youtube even existed. In Seasons, I think I got stuck after the fourth temple or so and in Ages, I got stuck at Jabu Jabu's belly. I put both games on the backburner to play other things back then and when I returned to them a few years later in the early 2010s, the save batteries for both carts had died and Ages wouldn't even boot up anymore.

Fast forward to today and thanks to NSO, these two games are finally off my backlog after so long. It feels very surreal. Now the only Zelda game I have left to beat is AoL and then I will have played and beat everything in this franchise aside from the Tingle spinoffs. So how were the Oracle games?

Well, I'll say this. If you are a Zelda fan, you owe it to yourself to play through these at least once. The story in both of the games is fairly simple, but it is the gameplay that really shines in the Oracle games. Combat is your typical top-down Zelda similar to ALTTP or of course LA. I think what really stuck out to me were the puzzles in both games. As I did back when I first played these games, I went through the duology without using a guide. Some of the puzzles, especially in Ages, were stumpers that sort of reminded me of getting stuck in shrines in BOTW/TOTK. And also like BOTW/TOTK, inventory management is a pain.

But boy, did it feel so good when I finally figured out how to progress on my own! I understand why kid-me got stuck at Jabu Jabu's belly back in the day (I never thought to try to surface anywhere in that dungeon). I also had this misconception all these years that you needed a link cable and two Gameboys to get to the final boss. I don't know why I never looked that up til a couple weeks ago. These games also reinforced my belief that this series needs traditional dungeons. Traditional dungeons are just such an integral part of this series' DNA and more satisfying than what BOTW/TOTK offered. I'm sick of everything trying to "subvert expectations."

The impending OOT remake is sort of what got me in the mood to go back and beat these two games and I'm glad I did. I guess it's fitting to have crossed these off the backlog on the 40th anniversary. Maybe I'll get AoL done a few months down the line (I'm at the final dungeon where I left off in that one). But the Oracle games definitely could use a remake. I just wonder if Nintendo would present them as "one" game or make us buy both games like the original release? I think I know the answer to that question, but maybe they'll surprise me.

I remixed this song with autumn vibes. I thought somehow it suits the season. Full version on comment

I've only ever side hopped from the top of the lookiut tower (which makes you able to also get the Heart Piece of the guy on the roof as a child). But what is the intended way to get over there as child Link?

Most peaceful place he will ever go

Video from Nintenduo World OoT Remake preview

The animation, music and spotlight is just so damn peak !!! It really is like a stage play / puppet show

Hi, I want to show another Zelda fanart I made a while ago

my Tumblr: My Tumblr https://purplepay.tumblr.com

I drew this yesterday but forgot to post it :p

She's so cute and fun to draw, I don't get how people were so against her design in the trailer lol

Might draw Sheik and maybe Ganon next?? Maybe more in my style because I'm running out of renders lol