 Vessel flutes were first used by pre-contact Native societies in Latin America, especially in the regions of Costa Rica, Colombia, Guatemala, Panama and Peru. Made from clay or beeswax, these flutes had four or fewer finger holes, and were often in the shapes of human beings or animals. Elaborately carved ceramic flute effigies (for example, a human face peering through the open jaws of a tiger) have also been found in the Tairona region.
The name ocarina is an Italian word, translated as "little goose"; this rounded instrument was first named by a 19th century Italian manufacturer, Guiseppe Donati. He created a variety of sizes (or families) of differently pitched clay instruments which he organized into ocarina ensembles.
To produce sound, you blow into a windpipe which directs your air across a beveled edge. Air leaves the instrument through a whistle head, similar to that found on the mouthpiece of a recorder. The range of an ocarina is determined by the number and size of its finger holes.
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