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Richard Ayoade makes some great videos but the one he made for Vlad the Impaler is a whole new level of astounding. Not least because of Noel Fielding’s moustache.
The bass riff, of course, doesn’t work on ukulele at all. But why should that stop us?
Nothing made me laugh more this week than this video by Barbara Holm. I watch a lot of ukulele videos and, with the best will in the world, some of them are really bad. This parody is spot on (there’s always a danger declaring something to be a hilarious parody when you’re not entirely sure it’s a parody at all).
Up this week is Samantha Shelton (who has some very heavyweight friends), The Bad Mitten Orchestre, Marie Darling playing with both arms in plaster and plenty more.
30 Ukulele, 30 Artists – although all the best ones are sold already.
Hilarious parody of ukulele boy.
Demetri Martin busts out the uke at about 7:50 (thanks to Ben).
Ukulele ad banned for reinforcing racial stereotypes.
I got mentioned at SXSW (slide 37). Looks like an interesting presentation on the pentatonic scale.
Rocky and Balls are playing Como in Italy. If you’re not familiar with it check out some pictures.
Student Union election victory for ukulele playing candidate at my old alumnus causes some controversy. Although the best reason for voting for him has to be, “… he has great etiquette on the lacrosse pitch.”
I have to find a ukulele player for a bridal shower in a few hours. What shall I do? I know, I’ll use Yahoo Answers.
Photos: More art ukes, J’ai perdu mon ukulele, My favourite accessory.
I’m in a bad mood at the moment so this might change when I’m back to my usual ‘rainbows and fairy-wings’ self but the Monday Exposures won’t be every week any more. They’re always the least commented on and least read posts.
Blueberry are another guitar company leaping onto the ukulele bandwagon. Their Bluekulele is a bit filigree-heavy for my taste but it’s already commanding a good price and plenty of bidders.
Anyone ever tried a Pickard ukulele? They’re commanding a high price on eBay UK but I don’t remember having seen anyone play one (or even talk about them).
Kotex: now you can play ukulele all month long (and have a scary waist). They had marvellous boxes back then too.
I think this would be a great song for ukulele orchestras. It’s got a really interesting arrangement: simple chords, a bunch of little riffs to play, plenty of space in the arrangement and some nice dynamics (I might rant on this next week). It’s in the key of C. And it sounds great sung chorally.
There are three little riffs in the song a one bar riff, a two bar riff and an eight bar riff.
The first riff from the keyboard:
The first guitar riff:
The second guitar riff is worth playing with pick and some damping (letting the underside of your hand rest gently on the strings just in front of the bridge).
And all of them on one tab:
Here’s my attempt at putting them all together.
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Requested by Gerado.
Mid-East caused quite a splash at NAMM 2010 with a range of ukuleles based on traditional instruments including a hippie’s wet dream – a sitar that’s small enough to carry in a backpack. So I caught up with Jay McDonald from Mid-East to discuss chikaris and sympathetic strings; and to get some extensive use out of superscript.
What made you decide to start making such unusual ukuleles?
Mid-East has been making ethnic instruments from around the world since 1973. I wanted a “crossover” instrument which was a more mainstream western instrument such as a guitar or ukulele but yet would let us capitalize on our world instrument expertise. I felt at least four of our existing instruments lent themselves to be made into 4-string ukuleles. Three of the four had to be re-designed to make them smaller but the Russian folk instrument, called a balalaika, already had the same string scale length as a tenor ukulele so it was a natural fit by adding one more string.
The Lute-kulele™ is based on a 16th century Renaissance lute. I felt it was important to maintain the bowl back, the bent-back peg box, the carved rosette and the wooden pegs.
The Baroq-ulele™ is based on the roundback guitar-lutes made popular in Germany in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. When I first saw the results of my design come into fruition at our overseas workshop, I just wanted to hug it and I’ve seen it have this same effect on many people. This is the most feature- rich instrument in our entire product line in that it is offered in 3 sizes (soprano, concert and tenor), 3 woods, and two tuners options. We are exploring a third tuner option with Pegheads(tm).
The fourth one, getting a lot of buzz (pun intended) is the sitar-based ukulele we call the Sitar-kulele™. Mid-East has been the largest provider of sitars in the USA for many years. We had a toy mini-sitar in the product line so I took that idea and made it into a real sitar using a different maker.
What challenges did you face designing and developing these instruments?
This Lute-kulele™ was a challenge in that Renaissance lutes normally have between 11 and 15 strings. I wanted to keep the peg box in proportion so I added two double strings to make it a 6-string ukulele but since they are double-strings, the instrument is still played like a normal 4-string uke. The nylon frets, typical on a Renaissance lute were a challenge too. Tied at the top of the neck, this is never and issue with a wide-neck lute but for the Lute-kulele™ these knots preclude fast thumb-over techniques. It is best suited for fingerpicking in the John King-style of music.
The Sitar-kulele™ has been the biggest challenge. It was a struggle to get the sitar makers to center the strings down the neck (sitars are offset). Regular sitars have very high action so the height of the arched frets can permit a wide degree of inconsistency. I wanted to achieve standard low action for the ukulele version, so leveling the arched frets was also something new for the sitar makers. I tried a nylon-string version but the sitar buzz that everyone knows and loves doesn’t work unless the strings are of steel or brass.
The instruments look great. Did you have to make compromises to the sound or the playability to get that? Which was your priority?
I wanted to keep the integrity of the original instruments as much as possible yet make these all truly playable instruments. These were not designed to be novelties or décor items.
Without a soundhole the small Sitar-kulele™ is really very quiet, so a pickup was added as standard. A strap is recommended for the Baroq-uleles™ with their round backs. Otherwise they tend to want to roll out. I could have flattened the back to prevent this but the instrument would lose its huggable personality for sure.
The Sitar-kulele looks very unconventional. What are the string and fret arrangements on it?
A typical sitar has 7 main strings with two of these called chikari strings that ride on posts along the edge of the neck. There wasn’t enough real estate to keep both these and the sympathetic strings on a ukulele-sized version. I converted the chikari tuning pegs into sympathetic string pegs enabling 6 sympathetic strings instead of only four. The sympathetic strings run underneath the frets and can be tuned chromatically or to a particular key. The frets are spaced like any standard ukulele except I eliminated the 9th and 13th frets in keeping more with the heritage of a true sitar. This also enabled one more sympathetic peg to be added where the ninth fret was removed. The instrument can be played normally as long as your tuning or key doesn’t require the notes omitted by the two absent frets. I would encourage alternative tunings on this ukulele. It’s a Sitar-kulele™ so keep in the spirit of “sitarness”.
Have you got plans for any more ukuleles in the future?
Absolutely! We are already planning a larger version (tenor or baritone) of the Sitar-kulele™. The Baroq-ulele™ has been such a hit we’re exploring a baritone version and we’re looking into other woods. Our very first ukulele, the Cumbus-ukulele (pronounced Joom’-bush) has been in our product line for several years and I will be visiting Turkey next month to make some changes to the fingerboard. We also have plans for 3 new ukuleles based other old-world instruments that we’re real excited about. I don’t want to say too much right now but Ukulele Hunt will be the first to learn about them later this year.
You-kulele™ can pre-order Mid-East’s new-kulele™ u-kulele™s on their website-kulele™.
View Ukulele Clubs and Groups in a larger map
We’ve been updating the other group lists, so if there’s something we’re still missing, let me know.
Agneaux a son Ukulélé Club
Location: La Mediathèque d’Agneaux Place de Gouville AGNEAUX, 50180
Website: http://www.lesrendezvoussoniques.com/le-club-ukulele-d-agneaux-aux-rendez-vous-soniques.html
Association Ukuleles Valbonne Sophia Antipolis (Alpes Maritimes)
Location: Municipal School of Music, 22 crosses of the Gothic district of Garbejaïre in Sophia Antipolis
Website: http://www.vsalele.org/
Les Cafélélés de Strasbourg
Location: Strasbourg
Website: http://www.mydoghasflea.net/sitecafelele/
COULE (Ukulele Club Olympique de Lille and surroundings)
Location: Caf&diskaire in Lille
Website: http://www.coule.fr/
Faders of Nantes Ukulele
Location: Rio do Camaroes, 22 bis bvd Babin Chevaye 44200 Nantes
Website: http://les-fondus-du-ukulele-de-nantes.over-blog.com/
Nuke Ukulele Explosion
Location: Nice
Website: http://nuke06.wordpress.com/
Ukulele Fun Box of Bordeaux
Location: Cafe des jours heureux
Website: http://www.ukefunbox.com/
Ukulele Hui
Location: Baroc ’spruce establishment, 36 Rue Sambre and Meuse in the tenth district
Website: http://www.ukulele.fr/
Ukulele in 47
Location: Brasserie du Parc de l’Aquitaine
Website: http://www.myspace.com/ukuleleen47
Ukulele Social Club Oleron
Location: Oleron
Website: http://www.mydoghasflea.net/wiki/index.php5?title=Clubs_Associations_Rencontres_Ukulele
Ukulélé Social Club de Picardie
Location: Picardie
Website: http://www.ukulpic.fr/
Uke’n'Play
Location: Montpellier, France
Website: ukenplay.tumbler.com – ukenplay@gmail.com
Ukulele Club Vicenza
Location: Vicenza, Italy
Website: http://ukuleleclubvicenza.blogspot.com/
Club del ukelele de Madrid
Location: Madrid, Spain
Website: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=131466486122
Fagersta Ukulele Club
Location: Sweden
Website: http://www.fuk.dinstudio.se/
Ukuleleklubben
Location: Hit Club in Gothenburg Redbergsteatern, Sweden
Website: http://www.ukulele.nu/
Ukelerum
Location: Lerum, Sweden
Website: http://ukulerum.org/
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A much simpler riff this time. Most of it is just the G chord shape moved up the neck (to create C and Bb chords). I used a pick when I recorded this one but only because I still had it in my hand whilst recording some others. It does help with the triplets – which need to be played as all down strums – but it isn’t required.
Because of the amount of money and people it takes to make a film, it’s very rare you get someone who is willing to try completely new ways of doing things. Cory McAbee’s latest film, Stingray Sam, is made up of six 11 minute episodes, designed to be watched on mobile phones as well as cinema screens and was released for download minutes after its premiere (which itself was streamed live on the web).
And he’s quite a renaissance man. He writes, directs, stars in, provides the music for (with his band The Billy Nayer Show), choreographs and even paints his films. Most pertinent for us, he is also a keen uker. Stingray Sam has two scenes of McAbee ukeing for his real life daughter and on-screen co-star Willa Vy McAbee (check out Lullaby)
And he was kind enough to answer a few questions for us.
How did you come to pick up the ukulele? What keeps you playing it?
My best friend, music/film producer and drummer for The Billy Nayer Show, Bobby Lurie, brought me one from Hawaii. A girl I knew had an antique booklet on how to play the ukulele. It had some basic chords and the sheet music for “Frankie and Johnny” and “Old Black Joe.”
The scenes with you playing the ukulele for Willa are adorable. Is that something that goes on at home as well?
It used to happen a lot. That was the inspiration for that scene. Music happens around the house spontaneously. My 2 year old son also likes to contribute. Mostly he loves to dance. He has a crush on a cartoon mouse named Angelina Ballerina.
Do you approach writing songs for the films differently to writing Billy Nayer Show songs?
Songs usually occur for different reasons. The ukulele piece entitled Lullaby Song in Stingray Sam was written for the film. Most of the songs for Stingray Sam and some of the music for The American Astronaut were written on the ukulele. I think part of the reason was that I can leave a ukulele sitting on my desk and reach for it without preparation.
Stingray Sam is made to work on small screens and is in YouTube sized chunks. And I, like many people, discovered American Astronaut on YouTube. How do you feel about people sharing your stuff on the net?
People share it for different reasons. When they share it because they like it, I’m happy, as long as they don’t put the whole thing up. The people who do that mean well, but it works against filmmakers. There are also now a lot of sites that aggressively advertise their websites using my films. They give my work away for free to sell ad space, subscriptions and so on. It would be a fulltime job to fight them. They protect themselves by working from countries that don’t have copyright laws. US sites link to those so they take no blame. They post every film they can get their hands on.
What advice would you give to people who are making their own music and videos and putting them up on the net?
If it makes sense for the kind of work that you do, then it’s perfect. But what’s good for one artist isn’t always good for another. For example, the Grateful Dead became enormously famous through live events. It wouldn’t have happened for them on youtube. Or so I think.
You’re one hell of a mover. What are your top dancing tips?
I usually make it up when I’m writing. Sometimes I come up with a dance a day or so before a shoot. When I work with other actors we work together on their moves based on what they can do. Thanks for saying that, by the way.
What can we expect from you in the future? More Stingray Sam? More episodic films? Werewolf Hunters of the Midwest?
I’m hoping to begin Werewolf Hunters of the Midwest within a year. I’ll keep you posted at corymcabee.com. There’s a link to everything I’m working on posted there.
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There’s a very good reason why Julia Nunes went for a chord-based version when she covered this tune – the riff is a nightmare to play on uke.
It’s not in the same key as the original and slightly adapted. I’ve used harmonics for the notes at the 12 fret to buy a bit of time but you can just fret them normally if you prefer.
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