Bethan Batiste EPQ – Page 2

First Test

This I tested the first method of making, the two pinch pot method.

For this, I made a picture diagram of a step by step method to make sure I knew what I was doing.

Firstly I gathered to small balls of clay roughly the same size and made them both into pinch pots. Next, I connected to two pinch pots together by creating a long thin strip of clay to put between them to strengthen the gap and added slip. This created the chamber of the instrument. Then I added a mouthpiece to the instrument, I did this by gathering a little cube of clay scoring one side and scoring a side of the instrument and added slip the smoothed the clay out.

Next to make the voicing of the instrument I created a hole in the top of the instrument to create the voicing hole. Then I created an airway in the mouthpiece which linked to the voicing.

From this test I realised it would have been better if I had made two to check whether it due to chance that this product didn’t turn out well.

Using Clay

This week I decided to contact the head of the art department in the school to talk about using clay. I also watched several videos about using clay.

I thought that a practical learning approach would be a better way of learning for me. Mrs Nic the head of art taught me the different use of tools and how to make a pinch pot. From this, I merged two together in order to try to create a chamber just as practice.

This week I learnt the basics of working with clay, and how to make a pinch pot.

Methods

This week I decided to do some research on different making methods.

For this, I research on Youtube people’s creations of ocarinas and narrowed it down to 3 different ways of making, then I altered the slightly to make them differentiate more.

The final 3 ways are; Pinch pot method, Cone and 2 Pinch Pots.

The pinch pot method is when you create a pinch pot then close the end and lastly add a mouthpiece.

The cone method is creating a cone out of clay and the making a hole in the centre but leaving enough room at the end for the mouthpiece and closing the cone up.

Lastly, the 2 Pinch pot method is creating two pinch pots and merging them together to make the chamber then, adding on the mouthpiece last.

I’ll test each method of making and the and compare the final product of each. method. From this, I will decide upon the best making method and make my final products using that method.

As well as this I created a annotate drawing of the final product I hope to create.

Research

This week I have been doing some research on the history of the instrument how different parts work.

From this, I have learnt that the ocarina been in many parts of the world for quite a while, original made of out animal horns. That a baker made them with the excess fire they had left. When moving to Europe a bricklayer developed the different sizes of the ocarina. As the ocarina became better know they started making them out of different materials including plastics and metal.

When moving to America they gained and new name sweet potato. Lastly, when they came to Britain a mathematician create what is know as the English pendant creating an octave of tones only with 4 holes.

From watching a few videos I learnt that the sound is produced from the air going through the airway and separating as the lip, the air left inside the chamber vibrates against the walls creating the sound. The sounds are the altered but the holes added after the chamber is made.

From this research, I now know how the sound is made in the instrument and how the type of ocarina I plan on creating developed to the way it is now.

Initial Plan

Below is the original plan I created for my project.

Firstly to understand how different parts of the ocarina work I will do some research on the instrument, how the sound is made and possible the history and how the instrument developed.

Once I have an idea on the product I wish to produce I will find a few different ways on making it. From this, I would like to find the best method of making the instrument.

Once I have decided on my method of making I will make 4 (Bass, Tenor, Alto and Soprano), documenting the process and problems I run into along the way.

Lastly to show my work I will create a video of a visual demonstration and audio demonstration.

Meeting Aspirations

When deciding on a project I thought a lot about what job I wanted once I left school and how this could help. When I leave school I would like to become a wind instrument repairer and teacher. I thought that learning how the sound is created in different instruments and how different aspect of the instrument contribute towards it would help largely in this aspect.

I also thought the general skills gained from this will help me with self-employment as I need to manage my time and be critical on my work.

Resources

When thinking about the project I need to think about what resources I could possibly use. I’ve made a list below of the main resources I think I’ll be using.

I thought I sound also mention the materials and physical resources I plan on using to make my project and produce my blog.

Ipod – To take photos and sound recordings.
Clay to make the instruments.
The tools I may need I will borrow from the art department.

Skills

When planning and creating this project I need to think about what skills would be needed and what skills I could gain.

I made a mind map to show my thoughts:

Project Plan

When I am creating the ocarinas I have got 4 aims which I hope to achieve.

To learn how to work with clay.
To learn how to create and alter an airway.
To learn how to tune an ocarina.
To find the most effective way of making an ocarina.

As I haven’t worked with clay much before I need to learn how to handle it. I will do this via asking for help from the art teachers as I find practical learning is better for me. I’ll also find and watch video from Youtube.

When creating an ocarina making the airway is a key part of the process and to get this right is the most import part of the instrument making a sound.

After creating the airway the instrument must be tuned via holes in the instrument. This is also important for the instrument as my aim is to create a video with all 4 ocarinas at the end playing a song. For this, the instruments need to be tuned well.

Lastly before I make the final family of instruments I am aiming to find the most effective method of making.

Topic and Title Choice

When choosing to do the Extended Project Qualification I had to decide upon a topic. From the very start I had an idea on two topics; Media and Music. I knew I wanted to created an artifact so, from gathering several thoughts I came up with a few projects within each topic.

Media

Creating a short film about the school
Creating a short documentary on Epilepsy

Music

Creating a family of ocarinas
Creating a wooden flute
Creating a composition

I choose music as my final topic as it’s the area I’d like to work in once I’ve left school. Then choosing music project was a little harder, I removed composition from the list as I was already creating one for my music A-level. In the end, I choose to create an ocarina family as the resources needed we easier to access within the school and they are lesser know than other instruments.

My final title choice is:

‘Plan and produce an ocarina family’