Types of ocarina

Ocarinas are all vessel flutes (without a terminal hole). They are distinguished from other vessel flutes by the presence of a windway guiding the air flow toward a labium where the air split in two streams, one going in the chamber, the other out. For instance, Chinese xun are similar to ocarina, but players has to aim their breath toward the edge of the blowing hole, which takes so practice to perform correctly.

Materials
Ocarinas are commonly made from different materials that offers various advantages and drawbacks :
 * plastic:
 * shock resistant;
 * generally inexpensive;
 * drawback: can have condensation issues (moisture from breath building up in the fipple);
 * lesser number of models available due to high initial production costs.
 * ceramic:
 * one of the most common material, also historically the traditional material used for the construction of most ocarinas;
 * clay allows creating intricate designs easily without requiring a heavy investment in equipment;
 * its porous nature avoid condensation issues in the fipple;
 * can be glazed for cosmetic effect;
 * drawback: more brittle than other material.
 * wood:
 * rather shock resistant;
 * pleasing aesthetics;
 * drawback: time consuming production, may require surface treatments and avoiding harsh temperatures and humidity fluctuations.
 * metal:
 * very solid;
 * drawback: expensive and with condensation issues similar to plastic ocarinas.
 * Horn: the gemshorn

Shape and types
From a physics point of view, the shape and disposition of holes of the ocarina have little influence on sound. The most important factors seem to be the inner volume and total area of open holes.
 * Pendant (generally smaller ocarinas) :
 * As the number of holes is limited, usually from four to six, it requires cross-fingering to play the scale;
 * A few rare cases of two-chambered pendants exist;
 * Ovoid in outline (for instance many Peruvian ocarinas);
 * Circular in outline;
 * Animal-shaped;
 * Sometimes more exotic forms.
 * Inline :
 * The body of the ocarina is in the axis of the fipple, holes are organized in two parallel rows, one for each hand;
 * Often with 10 holes, the fingering is linear, as with transverse ocarinas;
 * Some two-chambered ocarinas are inline, such as the CODA EDC.
 * Transverse / sweet potato :
 * This shape is at the origin of the name ocarina (Italian), from similar outlines to the head of a goose;
 * The body of the ocarina generally point to the right side, so that the right hand is held closer to the player's face, and the left hand is held on the other side of the instrument;
 * Transverse ocarinas with the body oriented left instead of right also exist, either as faithful replicas of the ocarina featured in the Legend of Zelda video game series, or as "left-handed ocarinas";
 * Most multichambered ocarinas are transverse.
 * Variations on the shape of transverse ocarina exist:
 * Symetrical ocarinas with the body extending on either side of the fipple, resembling some Chinese ethnic xuns from Yunnan.
 * A similar variation lead to bat-shaped and axe-shaped ocarinas for instance.
 * and sometimes more exotic forms.

Pitch range (Tessitura), holes and chambers
Ocarinas often have a somewhat limited pitch range. The number of holes one the ocarina may give an idea of its range: usually, more holes allow a wider pitch range. In practice however, the number of holes is limited both by the physics of the instrument and the way the instrument is handled and played.

One way to increase the range of ocarinas is to use multiple chambers, which is similar to combining several single chambered ocarinas into one instrument.

We can therefore divide ocarinas into single and multichambered ocarinas.

Single chambered ocarinas
Single chambered ocarinas are the most common type of ocarinas: there is a single fipple leading to a single chamber. The number of holes varies between 4 (pendant) to 12 or 13 (transverse). These instruments have a pitch range around 1 to 1.6 octaves. In some high-pitched ocarinas, it may be possible to overblow some note to extend slightly the pitch range.

In general, smaller ocarinas are higher pitched and larger ocarinas are lower pitched. Also, higher pitched ocarinas comparatively use less breath than lower pitched ocarinas.

Multichambered ocarinas
Multichambered ocarinas are basically the combination of multiple single chambered ocarinas to form instruments with extended range, polyphonic capacities, or drones, that would not be feasible with single chambered ocarinas.

The number of chambers in a multichamber ocarina varies from 2 to 5 - the limit being the usability of the instrument, as more chamber implies a heavier and more complex instrument.

The scope of multichambered ocarinas varies: Most multichambered ocarinas aiming at having a wider pitch range than single chambered ocarinas can be subdivided into two types:
 * Most multichambered ocarinas allow and extended pitch range by combining a first, lower pitched chamber to a number of higher pitched chambers.
 * Some multichambered ocarinas allow playing two chamber at once in harmony, creating a polyphonic effect.
 * More rarely, some multichambers are designed so that one or more chamber is used as a drone playing a single note.
 * Vicinelli type (V-type): most asian multichambered ocarina, and most multichamber transverse ocarinas: the range of each chamber do not overlap, so that the total range of the instrument is as wide as possible.
 * Pacchioni type (P-type): some multichambered ocarina try to provide a balance between an extended range and less frequent switching between chambers by having a small overlap between the range of each consecutive chamber.

The CODA EDC
The CODA EDC (EveryDay Carry) is a type of double chambered plastic ocarina manufactured by Mountain Ocarinas: the holes of the first and second chamber have been cleverly grouped so that the instrument is compact and both chambers may be played independently or at once in harmony.

Correspondence diagram Tessitura and SPN.
The diagram gives an overview of the possible amplitudes for each pitch range by cumulating the different tunings (C, A, B, G, etc) and some manufacturers' specificities.

The name by tessitura can cover a rather wide range depending on the manufacturer. This one is not precise enough to be the only guide in the choice of the ocarina.It is preferable to refer to the amplitude with the notation SPN.

Diagram in progress.

Single chambered transverse ocarinas
* SPN: Scientific Pitch Notation