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A friend of mine wants to buy an ocarina for their significant other, but they don't know anything about instruments. Do any Halforumites know enough to provide some buying advice? Is there any significant difference between plastic and ceramic?

Durability and price, I would imagine.

--Patrick

Make sure it can change time and the weather.

All I know about ocarinas, is that even a poorly made one is a great symbolic gesture to give to your son after he bought your house just to force a lesson on you.

Stay away from artsy hand-made Peruvian ocarinas. They're not usually well tuned.

Really, though, that only matters if the thing is going to be played. If the ocarina is more in the nature of a tchotchke then those Peruvian ones can be great.

If the person receiving the ocarina is a musician who already knows how to play one, it's best to look at what they have already to make your choice. There's a lot of different styles: sweet potato, inline, pendant, etc. There's also mutli-chambered ocarinas that help overcome the limited note range of the instrument. Each of these has different play styles and fingerings, so it's important to get something in a similar style to what the person is already playing.

If the ocarina is *intended* to be played, but the receiver has never played one before, it's probably best to stick to the $20-ish range, rather than shelling out a couple Benjamins for a professional model. This is a decent starter instrument made by a reputable company.

This is where I buy my camping knives, but strangely they sell these things too.

http://www.baryonyxknife.com/musicfortrail.html

Thank you so much @Tinwhistler I'll let you know if my friend has any further questions/info.