Jul/2/10
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Friday Links

In case you missed it, the latest Uke Hunt ebook How to Play Classical Ukulele was released yesterday.

One of my favourite uke tunes this year, Keston Cobblers’ Club’s You Go is one of the Storm the Charts tracks. I don’t much care what’s in the charts but it’d be nice if this song were better known. So if you’re in the UK pick up the track from Amazon for 50p (thanks to shameless).

The Boston Globe chats uke with Amanda Palmer and One Happy Island.

Vote for Sophie Madeleine on Ellen Degeneres’s eleveneleven thing (mercifully no login required).

Jake says there’s a video of him playing with Tiny McItchyFace.

In the comments: reckons Martin ukuleles are over-priced: “I will still look for martins, but i refuse to pay a ridiculous amount of money for one. In reality the only reason they are so expensive is because they are very popular and vintage.”

MP3s: Craig Robertson is offering up a free track from his latest album, Tinyfolk and Wisdom Tooth have a new split album up for free, Indiehere have a lovely MP3 from Panic Attract (although they seem to be having problems with the band’s name).

Pictures: grumpy mountain band uke tattoo, ukulele bot.

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  • Written by Woodshed
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7 Comments

  1. Ron Hale July 2nd, 2010 10:34 pm

    Martin or Mahalo; Flea, Fluke, or Favilla; or whatever else, at the end of the day, guess what,
    it’s still just a ukulele, a litle (usually) 4-string instrument. I see most ukuleles as being overpriced once they get beyond a certain minimum point (which isn’t very high). Perfectly good music making happens on modestly priced instruments. If people want to pay more or much more for a little 4-string instrument, fine, but it’s not necessary for any musical reasons whatsoever.

    All the fancy luthiers with all their fancy thises and thats and all their fancy prices, are unnecessary in the same sense that haute couture designers are unnecessary to the real world of clothing and celebrity chefs are unnecessary to the real world of eating – they make toys for a select few,
    and the vast rest of us can just blithely ignore them
    and not miss out on anything even remotely meaningful to the real world of making and enjoying music.

  2. Chris July 2nd, 2010 11:11 pm

    @Ron What a waste of internet space that comment is.

    “at the end of the day, guess what,
    it’s still just a ukulele, a litle(sic) (usually) 4-string instrument.”

    What a boring world you must live in if everything can be broken down in such a trivial manner. Watch this:

    Gold or aluminum; tin, copper, or platinum; or whatever else, at the end of the day, guess what,
    it’s still just a metal, a heavy (usually) collection of atoms.

    You may not have much regard for ukuleles but to say a beautiful well made ukulele that is almost a century old has no inherent worth beyond the functional purpose behind it is the reasoning of a caveman or a toddler…I’m not sure which.

    What a waste the Louvre must seem to you. All the paint wasted on art when it could be used for something useful like painting bridges.

  3. Woodshed July 3rd, 2010 12:17 pm

    Ron: I’d agree that for people who just want to play and have a laugh that it’s not worth spending vast amounts on an instrument. But that’s no reason to stop people with ambitions beyond ‘perfectly good’ buying a better ukulele.

    There is most definitely a difference in sound and playability between cheap and expensive ukuleles. For many people that difference might not be worth the extra outlay. But for some it is.

    Chris: I think you right that you can’t ignore the level of artistry that goes into making some ukuleles.

    A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
    Its loveliness increases; it will never
    Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
    A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
    Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.

  4. CharlesHugh July 3rd, 2010 7:55 pm

    Anything is only worth as much as people will pay for it and there are people willing to pay huge amounts for Martins, even if there are cheaper ukuleles that sound as good. I’ll still love a Martin.

  5. CharlesHugh July 3rd, 2010 8:01 pm

    Anything is only worth as much as people will pay for it and there are people willing to pay huge amounts for Martins, even if there are cheaper ukuleles that sound as good. I’d still love a Martin.

  6. Tinyfolk July 8th, 2010 4:29 pm

    Ha! Here I just emailed you about the new split and now I found you’ve already made a post. How you manage to be so on top of things I’ll never know.
    Thanks!

  7. Woodshed July 8th, 2010 9:19 pm

    CharlesHugh: Me too.

    Tinyfolk: Nice work on it. I’m subscribed to Meagan’s blog so it wasn’t hard to find.

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