Terry Riley Vessel Flutes' photostream  

Terry Riley majored in Ceramics at the Central School of Art in London in 1970.
He began making pottery vessel flutes in 1974.
Terry has made his living by designing, making and playing his pottery wind instruments since moving on from his pottery and art teaching career in 1984.
In the early 1970's he developed an interest in the musical potential of ancient South American and early Chinese ceramic instruments which dated back several thousand years. He began experimenting with techniques to re-create the sweet, clear sounds of the original instruments. Years of experimenting with various types of clay, methods of production, firing temperatures and various 'fipple' configurations eventually led to the remarkably consistent properties found in his work today.
Over the years, thousands of enthusiasts have bought Terry's instruments - and the popularity of the instruments continues to grow.

Vessel Flutes are globular wind instruments based on very ancient designs. They are now commonly known as Ocarinas. Tens of thousands of years ago vessel flutes were made in stone, bone, shells and gourds. Between three and six thousand years ago various cultures started to make clay vessels flutes which were fired at relatively low temperatures in simple kilns.

His commissions have included:
Reg Presley of the Troggs, required a replacement ocarina to enable him to continue to play the "Wild Thing" ocarina solo when his original instrument was damaged.
Michael Copley of the Classic Buskers requested Terry to develop a set of silicon rubber trouts in order for his band to play Schubert's Trout Quintet on five realistic fishes.
David Weiss, the international acclaimed wind instrument player, received two finely tuned instruments to use on film sound tracks.
Terry also supplies concert instruments to numerous professional musicians and schools worldwide.
At present Terry is developing the potential of twin chambered vessel flutes. These fully chromatic instruments are tuned either fourths or fifths apart and give a range of one and half octaves. The chambers can be played separately or in harmony. He is also working on a new range of European Transverse Ocarinas for professional musicians.

Terry can be contacted on his personal email for prices and availability of Ocarinas shown on his Flickr site.
terry.vesselflutes@virgin.net