Recently I received a complimentary OcToBrass from Chason's music for a review. Right now, my camera is malfunctioning so I cannot add any of my pictures, however I will add them soon. Specifically i received a Trombone/Euphonium LS OcToBrass kit. It came with a polycarbonate OcToBrass, leather case, fingering chart, DVD, clip on tuner, key ring flashlight, and a green 5G Kelly Mouthpiece. This invention is marketed as the ultimate buzzing tool. Do I agree with this? Lets dive into it a bit.
Design - This tool is essentially an ocarina with a large shank mouthpiece receiver on it. The ocarina itself is a product of Mountain Ocarinas (polycarbonate, key of G). For those of you that don't know, an ocarina is a flute like instrument with 8 tone holes on the top and 2 tone holes on the bottom. There is also a resistance valve on the mouthpiece receiver that allows you to adjust the resistance to match your horn's. There is also a cord which allows you to make a fashion statement and wear your OcToBrass around town. It is also very light. All in all, the design of this tool is not bad. Simple, yet effective.
Design rating - 4/5
Ease of Use - From here on out my review is rather split between using this as a buzzing tool and using it as an ocarina. I'll first go with the review as an ocarina. This instrument is very cool. The tone is very pure without being too shrill. However, it is very loud. Do not expect to use the ocarina in places where quiet is needed. I have enjoyed using the ocarina function of the OcToBrass. It is cool to do as a brass player. When one starts buzzing on this though it gets a little iffy. It takes quite awhile to adjust to playing with it. The tone of the ocarina and buzzing loses the purity of the ocarina alone as well as buzzing alone. I'm not sure if this is due to the octave difference or what. Buzzing alone on the OcToBrass is fairly useful because it can be used to match the resistance of the horn. Then again, I like to use buzzing as a breathing exercise and breath control exercise.
Ease of Use - 3/5
Functionality - I'm really not sure what to think of this device yet as a buzzing tool while I can see the benefits (the video demonstration looks awesome) i just can't seem to produce the same results. I guess its just a matter of practice on the ocarina side of things. The quiet buzzing mode is nice. However, the tone is distorted when only buzzing due to the air escaping the tone holes. Personally, my ear is better at pitch accuracy with the normal buzzing tone as opposed to through the OcToBrass. The functionality as solely an ocarina is great though. Personally though I'm not fully convinced of the actual effectiveness of the tool. Is it cool? Yes. But, on trips I think I would rather only bring a mouthpiece. For me, a mouthpiece is all I need to keep in shape and I feel as if the OcToBrass tries to do be a sort of "Jack of all trades but master of none."
Functionality rating - 2/5
Accessories - Ironically, I personally find the accessories of the kit more exciting than the actual OcToBrass. It comes with a lexan Kelly Mouthpiece (either 51D or 5G). I've already done a review of these mouthpieces, and really like them. These mouthpieces are light, cool, and don't suffer much at all in tone. Oh, and they're very durable. The kit also comes with a clip on tuner. This tuner is really cool and accurate. It is perfect for checking your pitch while playing in a group setting and can't play alone. Or checking tuning on that one sustain note in a phrase that just doesn't sound right. Very useful, small, and accurate. I love this tuner. The keyring flashlight is totally unrelated, yet very functional. Overall, the accessories of this kit are very useful and very nice.
Accessories rating - 5/5
Price:
OcToBrass kit - $99
Clip on Tuner - $19.95
Kelly Mouthpiece - $26
Mountain Ocarina - $24.95
Overall - This is an interesting tool. It is a very nice ocarina which is very fun to play. However, combining it with buzzing makes it difficult to learn and gives it a sub-par tone in my opinion. This is a really cool idea and I really did want to like this product. However, it simply took me a long time to learn and offered less than stellar performance. Perhaps over time it will grow on me, but right now I can't say that I enjoy buzzing in my OcToBrass. If this were up to me and I had to buy products I would rather buy the mountain ocarina for about 25% of the cost since the ocarina is what I find to be the most useful and fun about the OcToBrass. However, I would highly recommend getting the tuner as well. It is definitely worth the $19.95 and functions flawlessly.
Overall rating - 2/5
Afternote - The owner of Chason's music is a great guy. It has been a joy communicating with him and I can really tell he loves what he does. The products he develops seem to be very innovative and very cool.
Design - This tool is essentially an ocarina with a large shank mouthpiece receiver on it. The ocarina itself is a product of Mountain Ocarinas (polycarbonate, key of G). For those of you that don't know, an ocarina is a flute like instrument with 8 tone holes on the top and 2 tone holes on the bottom. There is also a resistance valve on the mouthpiece receiver that allows you to adjust the resistance to match your horn's. There is also a cord which allows you to make a fashion statement and wear your OcToBrass around town. It is also very light. All in all, the design of this tool is not bad. Simple, yet effective.
Design rating - 4/5
Ease of Use - From here on out my review is rather split between using this as a buzzing tool and using it as an ocarina. I'll first go with the review as an ocarina. This instrument is very cool. The tone is very pure without being too shrill. However, it is very loud. Do not expect to use the ocarina in places where quiet is needed. I have enjoyed using the ocarina function of the OcToBrass. It is cool to do as a brass player. When one starts buzzing on this though it gets a little iffy. It takes quite awhile to adjust to playing with it. The tone of the ocarina and buzzing loses the purity of the ocarina alone as well as buzzing alone. I'm not sure if this is due to the octave difference or what. Buzzing alone on the OcToBrass is fairly useful because it can be used to match the resistance of the horn. Then again, I like to use buzzing as a breathing exercise and breath control exercise.
Ease of Use - 3/5
Functionality - I'm really not sure what to think of this device yet as a buzzing tool while I can see the benefits (the video demonstration looks awesome) i just can't seem to produce the same results. I guess its just a matter of practice on the ocarina side of things. The quiet buzzing mode is nice. However, the tone is distorted when only buzzing due to the air escaping the tone holes. Personally, my ear is better at pitch accuracy with the normal buzzing tone as opposed to through the OcToBrass. The functionality as solely an ocarina is great though. Personally though I'm not fully convinced of the actual effectiveness of the tool. Is it cool? Yes. But, on trips I think I would rather only bring a mouthpiece. For me, a mouthpiece is all I need to keep in shape and I feel as if the OcToBrass tries to do be a sort of "Jack of all trades but master of none."
Functionality rating - 2/5
Accessories - Ironically, I personally find the accessories of the kit more exciting than the actual OcToBrass. It comes with a lexan Kelly Mouthpiece (either 51D or 5G). I've already done a review of these mouthpieces, and really like them. These mouthpieces are light, cool, and don't suffer much at all in tone. Oh, and they're very durable. The kit also comes with a clip on tuner. This tuner is really cool and accurate. It is perfect for checking your pitch while playing in a group setting and can't play alone. Or checking tuning on that one sustain note in a phrase that just doesn't sound right. Very useful, small, and accurate. I love this tuner. The keyring flashlight is totally unrelated, yet very functional. Overall, the accessories of this kit are very useful and very nice.
Accessories rating - 5/5
Price:
OcToBrass kit - $99
Clip on Tuner - $19.95
Kelly Mouthpiece - $26
Mountain Ocarina - $24.95
Overall - This is an interesting tool. It is a very nice ocarina which is very fun to play. However, combining it with buzzing makes it difficult to learn and gives it a sub-par tone in my opinion. This is a really cool idea and I really did want to like this product. However, it simply took me a long time to learn and offered less than stellar performance. Perhaps over time it will grow on me, but right now I can't say that I enjoy buzzing in my OcToBrass. If this were up to me and I had to buy products I would rather buy the mountain ocarina for about 25% of the cost since the ocarina is what I find to be the most useful and fun about the OcToBrass. However, I would highly recommend getting the tuner as well. It is definitely worth the $19.95 and functions flawlessly.
Overall rating - 2/5
Afternote - The owner of Chason's music is a great guy. It has been a joy communicating with him and I can really tell he loves what he does. The products he develops seem to be very innovative and very cool.
