So, this morning I hopped on the ole computer feeling a little bit groggy (I'm not a morning person). I headed over to twitter to see if I had missed anything, and I notice that @valcam1 has tweeted a Youtube link at me. The morning is starting to look up. So, I made my way over to Youtube to see a Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain video that I've never seen before. Huzzah! Now, I don't know if I'm just slightly emotional today, or maybe slightly hungover, or what, but when they all come in together at the end, I definitely teared up a little bit. Yeah, I'm a sap, I'll admit it. Enjoy!
I finally got a few free minutes during lunch to make a video showing off the
I think that the powers that be must have known I only had a few minutes, though because they kept effing with me. I'd play the song perfectly and the cat would run by and mess it up. Or, the shot was great and my brain turned off. It seemed like it was something every time, so finally, I just decided that I was going to do one more and that was it. Of course my freaking knee was covering the pocket uke the whole time though. Doh!
Next time I'll be more careful to let you see the uke while I'm playing it. Anyway, this song is one of my favorites to play (even if I can't always remember all the words) and my son Simon really loves it as well. He usually sings the chorus with me if he's anywhere near while I play it. So, that's pretty fun. He and I have a Ramones cover band also, (we're called "Second Verse, Same as the First") so maybe I can convince him to make some videos with me of that action.
Anyway, if you have ever watched George Formby play this on Youtube then you'll notice that he uses different chords. I learned it this way and I guess it just stuck so there's no undoing it now.
So, while I'm still going to make a longer video showing off the adorable Kala Pocket Ukulele, I wanted to answer your biggest question first. So, while I could have just told you that it's 16 inches long, it still might be hard to visualize that, right? Well, hopefully that won't be an issue after this video. If it is, I don't want to hear about it .
Video Notes:
In case you were wondering, I rolled a natural 20 with that die.
The Rubik's Cube I show you actually has 6 sides (it's a cube, after all) but each face is 4x4. Sorry for any confusion about 4-sided cubes and whatnot.
Anyway, here is your size comparison video for the
So, it happened. I was able to convince the boys in Volumen to play a Misfits song with me. I'm not sure why I had my heart set on this particular song, but I did. As I said yesterday, the audio is pretty blown out, but that's because we are so F-bomb loud. Also, Volumen Beta (our drummer) is a machine and the camera was sitting right next to him for most of the video. (Something tells me that I'll have my proximity to Volumen Beta, and his massive beat generation, to thank for significant hearing loss in my right ear. Heh.)
Anyway, up until yesterday, I've always sort of treated Volumen and Ukulele Guy as two separate (but equally fun) entities. So, it was really nice to combine the two of them for this video. The boys were real champs about learning this song real quick. I mean, we had already practiced for 2+ hours on our original material for an upcoming show, so it's not like they hadn't already filled their rock quota. Well, quota be damned, I always say... hrm... actually, I've never said that, but I wholeheartedly believe it now.
Just in case you are playing the home game. Volumen are:
Also, if you want to play along, you should check out UkuleleHunt.com. Woodshed wrote up some tabs and lyrics that I actually used. Ukulele Hunt is actually one of my favorite Ukulele sites because it seems like I have similar tastes to Woodshed. That is to say, I love the songs that he chooses to make tabs of.
So, as you may or may not know, when I'm not "Ukulele Guy", I play in Volumen. We are a heavy new wave band from Missoula, MT, and we've been playing weird sonics since 1996. Well, yesterday was Wednesday and Wednesday=Volumen Practice. So, I went in a little bit early and brought my Eleuke so that I could make some videos of it through a better amp.
I lucked out because Volumen^2 (my brother) showed up just minutes later with a case of Coors and he agreed to hold the camera for the second half of this video. Woo hoo! I didn't really have an idea of what I wanted to play, so I just went for it. Sadly, my wah wah pedal badly needs a new battery, apparently, so that part is a little bit weak, but you get the general idea right?
After we finished recording this video, we had regular Volumen practice and then I convinced the boys to play "Halloween", by the Misfits, with me on the Eleuke. We'd never played it before, but we picked it up easily enough. I'll post that video tomorrow, or maybe later today. It's a little blown out, because we are so damn loud, but that just makes it punk rock, right?
P.S. Whoever can tell me what I'm playing during the "clean" portion of this video wins extra special bonus Ukulele Guy points.
Well, my Eleuke arrived on Friday and I've been as giddy as a schoolgirl ever since. For those for those of you who don't know what an Eleuke is (shame on you, you mean you aren't hanging on my every word?) check out my "Everybody, meet Eleuke (and a rad Pedro da Silva video)" post. I imagine that this will be the first of several videos talking about the Eleuke and showcasing what it sounds like.
I was in such a rush to do this video that I didn't even leave my office. The down side to that is that the only amp I have in my office is a wimpy little guy, but it'll give you an idea anyway. Tomorrow I'll run the Eleuke through my Fender SuperAmp and various pedals (Electric Mistress, Marshall Guv'ner, etc.) Maybe I can even run through a song with my Heavy New Wave band, Volumen. I'm thinking Misfits (Maybe Halloween?), but we'll see what I can talk them into.
Anyway, on to the Eleuke itself. This is the model that I have in my grubby little mits:
Eleuke Solid Body Electric Ukulele Concert MP3 - Blue CCK100BL-MP3
Just holding the Eleuke is pretty soothing for some reason. I think I am so used to playing Electric Guitar that the smaller body and weight of an electric instrument feels more natural to me. So, if you spend more time on Electric Guitar than you do on Acoustic, then you might have a similar experience with this Electric Ukulele.
I have to say that I'm pretty impressed with the Eleuke, overall. Sure, It's the first solid body electric ukulele that I've played, but to be honest, there aren't really that many of them out there. It's well constructed, sounds great and the design is really interesting. It's also hard to believe that it's only $220. That seems like a scream of a deal. Anyway, enough of my jawing. Here's the first of what I hope to be a long string of videos showcasing this little number.
Ya know I think Frank Zappa said it best when he said "You can't always write a chord ugly enough to say what you want to say, so sometimes you have to rely on a giraffe filled with whipped cream." To prove that the reverse of that is also true, I'm not going to say anymore. Just let the goodness wash over you from this video.
Somebody was nice enough to send me a link to The Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra's web site recently. However, they sent it as a Twitter Direct Message so it's a miracle that I ever saw it. Seriously folks, Twitter DM-land is just auto-responder-spammer hell. I have to be pretty drunk to go there on purpose. However, if you tweet @ukulele_guy, I'll pretty much always respond.
Anyway, I was check out the WIUO site and it looks pretty classy and professional. Heck, they've got T-shirts! Even kid's sizes, I think? Awesome. I always get pangs of jealousy when I see all these towns with their own Ukulele Orchestras, but I suppose I should just get off my ass and make the Missoula Montana International (because Canada is so close) Ukulele Orchestra. Maybe one day it will happen.
Well, my jealousy was compounded after I watched this video. I mean, they do The Coral covers? I freaking love The Coral! Any band that makes a video inspired by the 1973 version of Wicker Man is tops in my book. Anyway, enjoy The Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra doing The Choral's "Dreaming of You". The claim the video was made in 11 minutes with a budget of $5.98. But, for my $.02, I'd gladly watch this over and over again.
So, as you might have noticed this morning, if you follow me on Twitter that is, I discovered a rad little solid body electric ukulele. Or, that is to say, I discovered a whole bunch of them made by EleukeUSA. Frankly, I was a little embarrassed that I hadn't discovered them much earlier. Especially considering that they sell them on Amazon and, again, if you follow me on Twitter you will know that I'm obsessed with tweeting random Amazon ukulele-related items. (Ukulele Salad Tongs anyone?)
Anyway, I've talked with the good folks at EleukeUSA and they are going to send me one to test drive! I think I'm getting the K-Series Blue Ukulele. Here's a picture of this little beauty:
Eleuke Solid Body Electric Ukulele Concert MP3 - Blue CCK100BL-MP3
Eleuke MP3 Solid Magogany Concert Solid Body Electric Ukulele
I know what you are thinking, though? What does a $200-250 electric ukulele sound like? Well, here's an answer, in video form. This is Pedro da Silva pretty much melting faces with an Eleuke (Mahogany, I think?).
When I get my hands on my Blue K-Series, I'll definitely make some videos for everyone to check out. Don't expect such proficient wizardry as Pedro, though. But, I think I will test drive it through my Fender SuperAmp and all of the effects pedals I use when I play guitar in my Heavy New Wave band. So, that'll be fun! It will surely be my loudest video to date, anyway.
Anyway, expect more posts about Eleuke in the coming days. I'm pretty intrigued by the MP3 input on the Uke. I'm trying to think of weird ways in which to make use of that. So, hopefully I'll have it figured out by the time I test drive it.
Here's more information for those who are interested.
Peter from Easy Music Center, in Hawaii, just sent me an e-mail with a link to a video showing off the Seeing how small it actually is in the video is a little bit mind-blowing. Especially when you see it next to the Soprano (which completely dwarfs it). The guy who is playing the pocket ukulele looks like he is struggling a little bit, but I suppose that makes sense. It's probably a bit of an adjustment to get your hands used to that tiny thing [insert your own joke here]. But, at the end of the video, the poket uke player really starts kicking out the jams. Anyway, enough of my yakking. Check it out for yourself.
![The Joy of Uke 2 [VHS]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41PjVXGJJcL._SL75_.jpg "The Joy of Uke 2 [VHS]")
![Marcy Marxer: Ukulele for Kids 2 [VHS]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51WHR72ACWL._SL75_.jpg "Marcy Marxer: Ukulele for Kids 2 [VHS]")
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