Notes

Let's assume that I read music and want to play the ocarina by reading notes on the page...

What note does #1, #2, etc relate to on the music scale? Since there are 12 notes in an octave, can I assume that the other 4 'notes' just extend the scale on one side or the other?

Thanks!

I am wondering the same thing.

I posted the mary had a little lamb score, and I figured it out because of the ode to joy score. I knew the basic structure of that note wise.

Since Mary Had a Little Lamb is:

B A G A | B B B- | A A A- | B D D- | B A G A | B B B B | A A B A | G---

4/4 time, each letter is a 1/4 note, each dash adds a quarter beat (so B- is a half note, G--- is a whole note)

So:

11 - D

8 - B

7 - A

6 - G

Here's where I am a little thrown off and unable to just complete the pattern:

If you just take 6-8 as GAB, then 9 would be C, and 10 would be D. However, that wasn't right, and then I tried 11 which worked. So, obviously 9 is C, and 10 is C#. But, there is no A#. So, I am not totally sure which notes there are sharps/flats for, and which there aren't.

I don't have good enough tone recognition to just play a note and see what it sounds like either.

Maybe we should have some sort of FAQ on here that explains things on the simple level for those that have no musical experience, a bit more advanced for those that can read music (I played saxaphone in middle school, so by no means am I a musical prodigy or even very talented, but I know how to read music and a a few other things)

It would also be a way to explain for those that don't understand exactly what the different modes and roots are/mean.

i think its not capable of producing every note because there are other ways besides covering 4 holes in various combinations to produce different sounds on an ocarina...

Hi all,

I'm hoping to post a tutorial/list of notes in each mode later today. I'll keep you posted when I do.

best,

Rob

wonderful rob! thank you.

I have a book somewhere of tv theme songs, and it has sheet music for a large number of them. I should be able to translate some of them with that tutorial.

Is the guide up but hidden somewhere? I tried to work it out myself using sheet music and some songs out already, but that wasn't working too well for me.

How is that guide coming rob? I found my book and I've been trying to figure out the scales but without any luck. There are a couple of sharps/flats thrown in there at various places that throw me off, and I've been unable to logically reconcile which they are.

In reference to my note above where I postulated

11 = D

8 = B

7 = A

6 = G

Well, the following also works

9 = D

7 = B

6 = A

4 = G

The first one means that 9 = C, 10 = C#,

the second one would mean that 8 = C, 5 = G#, and there is no C#

And thats where I am thrown off. Obviously I am just assigning the notes based on pattern (When I learned marry had a little lamb on the recorder, the notes were BAGA BBB AAA BDD. I have just been unable to find a group of notes where that pattern fits and the sharps/flats are logically consistent.

Hey all,

It's great to see so much interest in the Score Generator and our little notation system!

I'm cranking out a set of scales in each Mode in each key right now to tide you all over until the next update of the Score Generator, which hopefully will include an option to display the notated score alongside the fingering charts.

Should be posting a good clean readable version shortly; worst come to worst I'll throw up a big pdf of scales :)

Thanks for your patience,

best

Rob

Awesome, hopefully we'll have a score for "I wish I were an oscar meyer weiner" up shortly after that!.

I was actually thinking about that with the score generator, some way to indicate the note.

You could get really fancy and have a program that lets create the musical score (something like noteworthy composer) and generates the ocarina version.

Hi all,

I've just posted a set of .pdf's which show every scale of each of the Ocarina modes starting on each possible root pitch:

http://www.smule.com/ocarina/scores/ionian.pdf
http://www.smule.com/ocarina/scores/dorian.pdf
http://www.smule.com/ocarina/scores/phrygian.pdf
http://www.smule.com/ocarina/scores/lydian.pdf
http://www.smule.com/ocarina/scores/mixolydian.pdf
http://www.smule.com/ocarina/scores/aeolian.pdf
http://www.smule.com/ocarina/scores/locrian.pdf
http://www.smule.com/ocarina/scores/zeldarian.pdf

Each score displays 12 16-note scales in the given mode starting on C and moving the root pitch up incrementally by 1/2 step with each scale. The scores are in traditional Western musical notation and for simplicity's sake for now, most are rendered using sharps instead of the technically-correct enharmonic spellings for each key (don't worry if you don't know what I mean by "enharmonic").

Hopefully these can tide you guys over for a short while :) I'm hoping on integrating scales like these into the Score Generator soon.

Please let me know if anything seems out of whack. Good Karma to all who find mistakes and pass 'em on with a smile. :)

For those interested, all these scores were generated using Lilypond, a fantastic open-source and free-as-in-beer notation software: http://lilypond.org/

Best,

Rob

Thanks for your hard work!!

rock on smulers!

:mrgreen:

I looked through them all, but couldn't find one that contains these 16 notes. Can you confirm there isn't one:

D C# C B A# A G# G F# F E D# D C# C B

Rob, I was just composing something using Zeldarian C. When I use the #2 fingering (upper left only), the note is actually higher than the #16 (nothing covered).

According to the scores, we should be looking at a B that is below the staff vs an Eb/D# that is on the staff. The latter should definitely be higher. Even if both notes were on the staff, the latter should be higher.

Hi All,

Great work Rob!

But I don't understand your numbering system... Does it indicate which holes I need to cover? I would much prefer a binary system similar to the one suggested by Punksmurf in the 'volume and complete scale' topic...

I've just noticed that the Score Generator has the finger positions for the numbers. I guess I can figure it out for myself.

Cheers,

Corin

re: chasep2001

I'll take a look at it Chase and let you know. Zeldarian mode behaves a bit differently than the other modes so it's definitely possible that my scales and fingerings are a bit off there.

On the links you put there is only one of those page not found pages. Could you find more or fix them?