Ruthie Bitton is an ocarina maker based in Santa Rosa, California. She's made tens of thousands of ocarinas over a career spanning several decades.
This article reviews an A Soprano I bought from her, as well as her offerings in general.
You can immediately see the appeal of Ms Bitton's ocarinas in these photos. Each features a beautiful decorative scene. Ms Bitton paints each scene herself, by hand. The scenes are then permanently glazed onto the instruments.
With that kind of talent, it's no surprise that several of Ms Bitton's ocarinas occupy pride of place at the international Ocarina Museum in Budrio, Italy.
When you order your oc, you specify which scene you want from the several dozen on offer. The keys vary but they generally divide into soprano and alto pitches.
The Ocarinas
All Ms Bitton's ocarinas are 4 hole instruments. Thus they have a range of 8 whole notes, plus all chromatics between.
The one I purchased is a soprano in the key of A. Its notes range from A5 to A6. Of course, it fingers in the same manner as all other pendants.
This oc sounds strong and clear, with a very pleasing tone.
The highest note (A6) requires holding the oc at a specific angle. It articulates well, but you must become accustomed to how to hit the note.
I've found that I can play one note below the base note A5 (that is, G5). I use the technique some call "shadowing" or "swallowing the note".
To do this, you blow softly and place your upper lip over about half of the windway. This takes a bit of practice but is eminently doable. Thus you gain a ninth note, for a complete range of from G5 to A6.
Attaining that lowest note is much easier with this ocarina than many because it has a large windway located on top the the instrument. So while shadowing is difficult to achieve consistently on other instruments, it's relatively easy with a Bitton ocarina.
To Purchase
Ruthie Bitton sells her ocarinas directly from her web stores at these links:
In recent times she's made fewer ocs than she once did, so you'll have to see if she has any available. Prices vary but about $40 USD would be typical.
Ms Bitton also offres two booklets full of tabbed ocarina music. Each contains about 100 popular songs. These are always available and ship immediately.
Read my review of these songbooks here.
