Ukulele Guy

Well, this wouldn't be much of a  Ukulele blog if I didn't talk about this Ukulele version of We Are The World.  It's 33 Ukulele players from all over the world playing We Are The World and it's be edited into one video.  Apparently there are ukulele players from Australia, Canada, Germany, Hawaii, Italy, Malaysia, Sweden, Switzerland, the U.K. and the U.S.

I like the concept of this (it remind me of that great Stand By Me youtube video), I just sort of wish they picked a different song.  Sure, I grew up in the 80s, but I pretty much can't stand this song.  But, it's nice to see all the great ukes and players and hear everyone's style on this, regardless of the tune.

If you want to see more of a particular player, check out all of the following links.  They are the Youtube pages for everyone who is in the video.  You're going to have to do a little guesswork, though, if your favorite is in the middle of the video.  Either that or be a really great counter.

http://www.youtube.com/user/keonepax
http://www.youtube.com/user/YoppyKyabetsu
http://www.youtube.com/user/russbuss415
http://www.youtube.com/user/krabbers
http://www.youtube.com/user/fourteentwelve
http://www.youtube.com/user/UKISOCIETY
http://www.youtube.com/user/jmmquah
http://www.youtube.com/user/thesebinextdoor
http://www.youtube.com/user/alyssamarie067
http://www.youtube.com/user/olu143
http://www.youtube.com/user/idrnoel
http://www.youtube.com/user/wishiwasreading
http://www.youtube.com/user/NatalieLin6
http://www.youtube.com/user/mugambismonkey
http://www.youtube.com/user/deach69
http://www.youtube.com/user/UnluckyMum
http://www.youtube.com/user/BaronK69
http://www.youtube.com/user/kiduke310
http://www.youtube.com/user/degcon
http://www.youtube.com/user/theBradlands
http://www.youtube.com/user/lisaxy424
http://www.youtube.com/user/cjhoylemusic
http://www.youtube.com/user/uketreehugger
http://www.youtube.com/user/krenfilm
http://www.youtube.com/user/giizer
http://www.youtube.com/user/princessandgoblin
http://www.youtube.com/user/ctrymaus
http://www.youtube.com/user/mctrmt
http://www.youtube.com/user/pfrogner
http://www.youtube.com/user/hilo65
http://www.youtube.com/user/learninguke
http://www.youtube.com/user/SydMaddocks
http://www.youtube.com/user/KenMiddletonUkulele

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So, I got a press release from Kala saying that their U-Bass is currently on tour with Paul Simon.  Well, I guess I could say that more clearly.  The U-Bass is actually being played by Bakithi Kumalo (thankfully, no one has invented the sentient, walking ukulele... yet. When they do, I'm out of a job.).  Bakithi Kumalo is an incredibly musician and you've probably heard his playing before on Paul Simon records (he played on Gracelenad).

Anyway, reading the press release makes me realize that I need to know more about the

So, I did a little searching and this is what I've come up with so far.  It's a 20" scale bass guitar and the strings are some sort of fancy polyurethane that is some sort of Kala secret ingredient deal.  What is blowing my mind is that, for it's size, it has incredibly rich and deep tones.  I think if you were listening to it and not looking at it, you'd assume you were listening to an upright bass.  So, I guess it's like the musical instrument equivalent of a Bag of Holding from D&D.  Somehow, it's like a magical vortex that channels extra deep tone?

Here, take a listen to these guys covering "Stand by Me" and tell me that this bass sound isn't exceptional deep.

Anyway, if someone has one of these, tell us more about it! Heck, make a video even, why doncha?

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Andy Smetanka posted a link to a video today that I figured I could get away with re-posting here. For one, I just need to start posting again (stupid real life getting in the way of my blogging) and for another, I'm actually playing Ukulele in the music of this video.

But, I'm getting ahead of myself.  Andy is a long-time friend and full-time Renaissance man.  I met him around 1997 or so when he was fronting Humpy, a great Missoula hardcore band.  If you've seen any Volumen videos, then you've seen his work before.  He made videos for Sexy Astronaut, Snakes and Lost in the Baltics.  Heck, he's even made videos for The Decemberists.  Heck, he even officiated my wedding, if you can believe that.

This particular video was made for Big Sky Brewing, a local Missoula Brewery.  However, the music that's featured in the video was recorded, I think, for another project.  I think he was making a Tolkien-inspired video for Le Force.  This music was supposed to be for the Hobbit's merry-making and whatnot, I think?  Anyway, besides me on the Ukulele, Al Pils is on the jawharp and I think Bryan Ramirez and a few other folks (Andy as well) are stomping, snapping, etc.  I'm actually a little surprised that there is no musical saw in this song because Andy is also the king of musical saw, if you can believe that.

Oh, hang on!  I just found a link for the Le Force video as well.  I'm probably stretching it by including this video here, but hay, it does have some ukulele in the beginning.   Besides, the video is freaking RAD!

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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:

• Volumen-1, Shane, Guitar/Bass/Vocals (aka Ukulele Guy)
• Volumen-2, Doug, Guitar/Vocals (not appearing in this video, he was filming)
• Volumen^2, Bryan, Bass/Guitar/Vocals (my brother)
• VolumenBkawck, Chris, Keys/Percussion/Vocals (wrestling mask)
• Volumen Beta, Bob, DRUMS (drums!)

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.

Enuff of my gabbin'.  Here's the video.

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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.

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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.

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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.

P.S. Thanks to @Gmorks on Twitter for this one.

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