Ukulele Guy

So, today I felt like I needed to do something special for my wife, Erika.  I stayed up super late playing poker and maybe drinking too many beers and I slept in too late, etc.  She's the center of my world and I knew I needed to remind her of that today.  So, what did I do?  Well, I covered some Magnetic Fields, of course!

Maybe this doesn't make sense to everyone, but Magnetic Fields are pretty much a touchstone for us.  Hell, our youngest son's middle name is Merritt for heaven's sake.  We're pretty rabid fans.

But, this song is something special for us.  A fantastic Missoula band, The Oblio Joes, played on our wedding day and they played this song as "our song".  I actually sang it with them (although, I guess I probably should have been dancing with Erika, right?) and it sealed this song in time, as ours.

Then several years later, The Oblio Joes played their last show ever in Caras Park in Missoula.  Well, this last show took place on the anniversary of our wedding.  So, as a surprise to Erika, I jumped up on stage and sand Strange Powers with the Obes for the last time.

Well, today I had to do it without the Obes, but I did as best as I could.  There are 11 tracks in this song and they are:

1. muted strumming on a Tacoma acoustic guitar
2. muted strumming on a Rogue baritone ukulele
3. muted strumming on a Lanikai CK-TEQ tenor ukulele
4. bass on my Applause acoustic bass
5. guitar on my Tacoma acoustic guitar
6. ukulele on my Lanikai CK-TEQ tenor ukulele
7. vocals
8. backup vocals
9. tiny hook on my Kala Pocket Ukulele
10. weird harpsichord (?) part on my Lanikai CK-TEQ tenor ukulele
11. synth electric guitar sound from my Eleuke

Oh yeah, and I recorded it on my MOTU Traveller interface.  I love it!  And I used an AKG C 2000B Microphone.  But, enough of all that tech jibber jabber.  This one is for my baby.  I hope you like it, Erika.

Strange Powers (Magnetic Fields Cover) - by Ukulele Guy, for Erika

P.S.  I need a windscreen for my mic.... I know.  I'm buying one today as well as new Aquila strings.

P.P.S. I'd love to make a video for this song.  You know one of those rad videos that shows me playing each of the instruments as the part comes in for the first time.  But, that seems like a ton of work and I'm not really sure what software to use.  Does everyone do those with Adobe Premier?  It seems like it has a steep learning curve (and costs about a million dollars).  Any other suggestions?

P.P.P.S  Crap.  I just realized that I muffed the lyrics in a few spots.  Hopefully Stephen Merritt never hears this because I'm not sure I could stand up to his sardonic comments and cool stare.

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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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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

They have quite a few styles available, though, check out all of Eleuke's Solid Body Electric Ukuleles on Amazon. Another one that really dig the look of, is the Eleuke Mahogany Electric Uke.  It looks like something that Les Claypool would play (that is, if he played  Ukulele).  Here's a picture:

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.

EleukeUSA Website: http://www.eleukeusa.com
EleukeUSA Twitter: http://twitter.com/eleuke
EleukeUSA Facebook: http://facebook.com/eleuke

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