Some Facebook Reviews

Todd Moody
Philadelphia, PA

Coda Was What I Wanted All Along

For full review, click here “…Finally, we have an instrument portable and durable enough to be EDC, but with a two-octave chromatic range.  This is enough to play almost any pop or folk song, and even a lot of classical material (such as traditional recorder music).  And unlike existing double-chamber ocarinas, it would not require the clumsy switching of the fingers of the right hand between two sets of tone holes. 

In addition, Coda’s sound is full and clear throughout its range.  The low notes are beautiful, whereas on both recorder and whistle they tend to be weak and fragile;  you can’t push them without breaking them.  But on Coda you can belt them right out.  These days, I play in church most Sundays.  I play the sax again, and I’ve picked up the standard concert flute, but I also play Coda every week.  It comes through very clearly, even with piano and choir in the mix.  People notice it, and often stop by afterwards to ask me what that instrument is that I was playing.  It doesn’t sound quite like anything else. 

But the most important thing is that it allows me to play anywhere, anytime.  I sometimes use the Silencers to practice, but mostly I just play.  With Coda, it’s not a problem to just wander off somewhere and play without bugging anyone, especially since I’m not shy about playing outdoors where there are people around.  If Coda had existed when I was in school, I would have been playing it.  It was what I wanted all along… “

Here is a link to Todd playing Carolan’s Welcome on Coda.

Randy Waugh
Member of Fiùran Band
Ottawa, Canada

Creative Director, Bassist, Bagpiper and Whistle/CODA player

“I wanted to reach out to you.  I received my Coda EDC flute on Sunday and have now had a few days to play it.  I LOVE the product!  I not only enjoy playing the Coda, but find it intuitive and sweet sounding.  …  I want to commend you for a job well done and for creating such a lovely portable instrument.  This one can travel in my pocket.
 
All the best from Ottawa, Canada,
Randy”
 
Update eight weeks later: 
“And, the more I play and become used to the CODA, the more I enjoy it…  it’s one of my new favourite go-tos.”
 

Nick K.
Morgan’s Point Resort, TX

Accept Praise

“My Coda just got here and I’m ecstatic about it.  It sounds beautiful, but I’m even more excited that with the silencers I can practice in my small living area without my wife asking me to stop, which is something a drawer full of disused wind instruments has not allowed me to do.  I appreciate the hard work and dedication you put into perfecting the Coda!”

Roberto G.
Milan, Italy

Very impressed with your product!

“Wow!!  I have very big hands and always struggle to find a nice double ocarina but yours just fits perfectly!  When I first saw how small and light it was my hopes went down, but when I played it I could not believe my ears, the sound is excellent in every note!  You are wizards, keep up the good work!

Thanks from Italy for your awesomeness.”

Mike Guthrie
Foresthill, CA

“Hi Karl.  I just got my silencers! I can’t believe how awesome they are. It is so easy to practice now. I just had to thank you for those… AMAZING
Mike <>< “

Evgeniya D.
Victoria, Canada

“I got my flute a week ago. Thank you so much! Your learning support is very helpful so far and Japanese folk songs with fingering diagrams is a great thing for me to move faster going through routine of the very beginning. And I like silencers very much! Thank you!”

Some YouTube Reviews

Coda Was What I Wanted All Along

“I started in music at age ten, when my parents rented an alto sax for me through the public school music program in Cranston, RI. The sax was my dad’s choice, because he played clarinet but always wished he had played sax. They had the money for the rent-to-own alto sax (I wish I still had that horn) but not for private lessons, so I just attended the weekly school group lessons, where we learned to read music and play together. After two years of that, I was in junior high school and never had any more actual instruction. But I did play in the band all the way through school, eventually playing bari sax in the marching band and tenor in the stage band. 

Even back then (mid 1960s to 1971) I experienced one of the main problems that many musicians face: It’s hard to find a time and place to play. The sax is relatively big and inconvenient to carry around. It’s loud enough to be annoying to people. I wished I had an instrument that I could just carry around and play when I felt like it. I tried the harmonica, and learned a few obligatory blues riffs, but it just didn’t satisfy me. I discovered the recorder, and bought an inexpensive wooden one that I could carry around with me. Well, it wasn’t ideal. I had to carry it in a pocket, from which half of it protruded. But I put up with that because…what else was there? 

I learned the recorder fingering quickly enough, but I wasn’t terribly interested in the recorder repertoire. I just wanted an instrument to play pop music melodies and improvise. And of course I didn’t get lessons, so I taught myself a lot of bad habits, no doubt, which I still have. But the soprano recorder was my first try at an EDC instrument. As you might imagine, other teenagers found it pretty amusing that I carried that thing around, but I eventually won some respect by being able to play pretty much anything that anyone requested, by ear. Since that’s what I was doing all the time, that’s what I got good at.  

That was a long time ago, and during many of those years I didn’t make much music at all. I became too dignified to walk around with a recorder sticking out of my pocket. I sold my sax to pay bills (but I later got another). It wasn’t until I was in my fifties that I decided to try again. By this time, there was an Internet and I could get some ideas from it. I wanted an instrument portable enough to carry around and play with little or no preparation. I still wasn’t keen on harmonica. I discovered tin whistle and the ocarina, and decided to try both. 

The tin whistle is slightly more portable than the recorder, and it has a somewhat different sound, more open and rustic. The recorder has a smaller, “pinched” sound, and it squeaks very, very easily (although enough practice can get you beyond that). The tin whistle is as simple as a wind instrument can be, but because it’s diatonic (doesn’t play all the sharps and flats), there are limits to what you can play on it. I still play the whistle for most Irish dance music, but I don’t always want to play that music. 

The ocarina has a purer sound than either whistle or recorder, but the trade-off is its limited range. Still, I accepted that and played Mountain Ocarinas for years. They were virtually indestructible, fit easily into a pocket, and had a pleasing sound. But there were plenty of melodies that I couldn’t play without modifying them. All of us who played Mountain Ocarinas knew that Coda existed as a concept, and were eager to see it become a reality. Finally, we have an instrument portable and durable enough to be EDC, but with a two-octave chromatic range. This is enough to play almost any pop or folk song, and even a lot of classical material (such as traditional recorder music). And unlike existing double-chamber ocarinas, it would not require the clumsy switching of the fingers of the right hand between two sets of tone holes. 

In addition, Coda’s sound is full and clear throughout its range. The low notes are beautiful, whereas on both recorder and whistle they tend to be weak and fragile; you can’t push them without breaking them. But on Coda you can belt them right out. These days, I play in church most Sundays. I play the sax again, and I’ve picked up the standard concert flute, but I also play Coda every week. It comes through very clearly, even with piano and choir in the mix. People notice it, and often stop by afterwards to ask me what that instrument is that I was playing. It doesn’t sound quite like anything else. 

But the most important thing is that it allows me to play anywhere, anytime. I sometimes use the Silencers to practice, but mostly I just play. With Coda, it’s not a problem to just wander off somewhere and play without bugging anyone, especially since I’m not shy about playing outdoors where there are people around. If Coda had existed when I was in school, I would have been playing it. It was what I wanted all along.

One other thing: Because I played Mountain Ocarinas, and then Coda, so much, it has made me a better musician on the other instruments as well. Some instrumental skills don’t translate well from one instrument to another, but the really important ones do, such as the general instincts about what makes musical sense. I don’t play a song on the sax in exactly the same way I play it on Coda, but playing it on Coda gives me ideas that I do bring to the sax, or flute. And vice versa, of course. I sometimes find myself playing sax phrasings on Coda too, which is a lot of fun.”

In another email, Todd wrote,

“I almost always carry Coda in a pocket.  I’m just not a clip guy.  In the cooler weather, I keep it in a jacket or coat pocket.  In warmer weather, I wear cargo shorts, specifically to have a pocket for Coda.  And yes, the EDC idea is absolutely crucial.  It’s just very difficult to find time and space to practice most instruments regularly, and regular practice is key, as we now know from a mountain of research.  It doesn’t have to be a lot of practice, but it does have to be frequent, and focused.  So being able to have an instrument with you all the time (or most of the time) is a game-changer.”