The difference between ocarina and xun

The differences between ocarina and xun include airway, production materials, production technology, appearance, playing skills, etc.

1. Airway

The ocarina has an airway, which has been determined before production. It can be easily blown when played normally and is easier to control than a xun. The traditional xun is an open-mouthed instrument, and the blow hole is controlled by a lip damper to blow into the cavity of the xun.

2. Production materials

The materials for making ocarinas are generally dolomite, red clay, black pottery, etc. Currently, there are also ocarinas made of wooden materials, synthetic materials and resin. The materials used in early Xun were generally made of natural materials such as soil, bones, and fruit shells. Modern pottery Xun is mostly made of ceramics.

3. Production process

Ocarinas are produced by general injection molding process and mass production. Xun is mostly made by hand, and the requirements for Xun makers are relatively high. Only Xun for tourism products or Xun for popular use will be mass-produced.

4. Appearance

Ocarinas are mostly in the shape of a gun or a "submarine", and these two shapes are most popular around the world. The shape of the xun is more varied, such as the common "gourd xun" (improved patent by teacher Liu Kuanren), "tube xun", "fish belly xun", etc.

5. Blowing skills

The most commonly used technique for the ocarina is tonguing, followed by portamento, and the others are rarely used. As for the flower house, playing, and playing behind the ocarina, Techniques such as overlapping sounds are borrowed from common playing techniques of Chinese bamboo flute, xun and other musical instruments. The performance skills of Bixun are particularly rich, such as vibrato, beat tone, overlapping tone, air tremolo, portamento, flower house, etc.