Don’t miss the first ever Uke Hunt Podcast. Unfortunately, it seems to be the only audio-widget doodads that’s working at the moment – seems like a plugin problem. UPDATE: I’ve figured out what the problem is but it’ll take a few days to fix entirely. So you might have problems until then.
Anyhoo, there’s no arguing over which decade represents the world’s cultural nadir: the 1980s. Jean Michel Jarre’s Oxygene sums up everything that was wrong with music in the 80s. So I’m not sure why I covered it. The only branch of the arts that did well in the 80s was comedy. And they certainly had balls to think they could film unfilmable Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. It ended up looking terrible but having charm (not something you could say about the film).
I’ve just finished listening to the first episode of the Uke Hunt podcast and I bloody loved it. I can say that without being big-headed because it was all done by Bossarocker. And she did a bang up job.
Subscribe
The Uke Hunt podcast is up on iTunes. To subscribe click here or search iTunes for ‘uke hunt’.
As well as some top-notch tunes and plenty of swearing, there’s an interview with Herman Vandecauter who tells us about fingernails and why you shouldn’t strum a ukulele. Here’s the full line-up:
Amanda Palmer/Radiohead – Fake Plastic Trees (Chords)
Amanda Palmer’s much anticipated Radiohead-ukulele EP is out next week. So time for this one, I think.
It’s frustrating listening to Amanda Palmer’s music. She can be ball-crushinglyawesome at times and bloody shit at other times. Often within the same song. Which is how I feel about this project. I certainly can’t say I like all I’ve heard.
But there are parts of this version I really like (and some I don’t) – she’s at least using the Pono rather than that nasty, red Hilo that she spends forever tuning without ever getting there. So I’ve written up this version of the chords.
Suggested Strumming
The main strumming pattern is more nifty than most. A bit too complex for usual notation so I’ll break out the slash notation and see if anyone understands it (hint: the strumming directions are at the bottom).
I’m really inspired by sanfordandsong‘s channel at the moment. No Shimabukuro or Beatles covers for him. This week he’s doing Aphex Twin.
Before you throw accusations of snobbishness at me, there’s a Shimabukuro cover in the post (albeit Bruce) played by cute ukulele boys.
Famous folks this week include Florence and the Machine and Eef ‘Clem Snide’ Barzelay (the video starts with a beer commercial and 90 seconds worth of jaw flapping – I almost didn’t include it but it is very good).
Favourites this week are Veronica Sbergia and her buddies spreading the good times and The Sneaky Mister.
Having had my uke-lust temporarily sated by the Sceptre, there’s not much leaping out at me this week.
Although Ukulelia did direct me to UkuZoo which has a few collections of vintage ukuleles for us to peruse. I we were playing the ‘you can take one thing home with you’ museum game. I’d go with this Lenoardo Nunes.
This fancy Kamaka would make a nice addition to any collection.
Photos: Super hot stud plays the ukulele, beach girl plays ukulele.
“Racy ukulele website ad sparks complaint“. ukulelesongs.com got in hot water for having a ‘Date hot girls in your area’ type ad on the site which lead to a page with a girl holding a sign saying, “I love Auckland guys that play the ukulele.” . Maybe I should have ads on this site. That sounds like exactly the sort of trouble I want to get into.
The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain have re-released two old long players Hearts of Oak (1989) and Pluck (1997). It’s fascinating just listening to the previews. By Pluck they’ve hit on the formula that’s made them huge. But Hearts of Oak is entirely different.
Charlie Connelly talks ukuleles with the Radio Times. “My girlfriend once told me she can always tell when I’m thinking because I start playing the ukulele. She thought for a moment, then added that I don’t play the ukulele much.”
I’ve had quite a few requests for the little guitar figure from this song. Perhaps because the high capo takes it just about into ukulele territory. And I’m happy to do it because it’s a beautiful song and it gives me the shivers. It was the highlight of the film it was written for, The Bucket List. It’s very difficult to write a song on this subject without being mawkish or tiresomely literal (neither of which you could say about this Tim McGraw song) and John Mayer pulls it off perfectly.
Despite the sound of it, the riff is really tricky to play on high-g uke. I’ve simplified it to this:
Riff for Low-G
If you use low-G and a capo, you can play it the same way he plays it on the guitar (according to the tabs on the net). The uke is in low-G with the A-string tuned down to G and a capo on the third fret.
I’ve been lusting after a KoAloha Sceptre for a long time. So much so that as soon as the Southern Ukulele Store got one in they contacted me for an easy sale. With these things, there’s always the possibility it’d be a let down once I got it. So…
12th fret harmonics followed by 12th fret fretted.
The Good Stuff
Playability: My Flying V experiences have taught me to be wary of unusual shapes. So I had some trepidation picking up a Sceptre. But it immediately felt very comfortable to play. Sitting down my arm naturally rests on the first curve and standing on the second. The beveled edges are a nice touch too.
The action is perfect for me. It’s very easy to play and doesn’t create too many buzzes and flubs even with my sloppy playing.
Construction: Flawless as far as I can tell. No fudging or corners cut.
Volume: Alvin Okami makes a big deal about the volume of the Sceptre. And he’s right to. It’s very loud. But he demonstrates the volume by playing loud. Which isn’t when you notice it most. It’s when you’re not playing loud that you really notice the response. When you’re fingerpicking on it you don’t have to force it to get decent volume. You can play very softly and still hear it. Which gives you a lot of dynamic range to play with.
Look: It is one sexy plank of wood. It’s not to everyone’s taste. But I love it.
Smell: Light and sweet.
The Not So Good Stuff
Hmm. There’s not much I don’t like about it. If I’m being really harsh, the tone of it isn’t very rich and I’m not completely sold on the koa fretboard. The shape does cause some storage issues and renders most stands useless.
That’s about it.
Comparison
After yesterday’s discussions, I decided to do a Sceptre version of Carmina Burana to compare to the Ohana version. I tried to keep everything else the same – even the shirt (thus provoking more “you looser does you only has one shirt lol” comments).
The extra volume does distort the Sceptre version (although to be fair, I was closer to the mic). The main thing that strikes me is how clearly the higher notes sound compared to the Ohana. And it was certainly much easier to play up there.
Conclusion
I love it. Right now I want to redo every video I’ve ever made with this ukulele.
Confession time. I originally started arranging this on the assumption it was a good hundred years or so old and would go in my How to Play Classical Ukulele ebook. Only after hours slaving over it did it occur to me to check. 1935.
But it’s such a hilariously pompous tune I couldn’t resist finishing off a version for the ‘umble ukulele. The piece is so over the top it’s almost always used tongue-in-cheek. The only people who don’t get the joke are those putting on displays of Aryan superiority.
Main tip for playing: after the big intro, keep the first part as quiet as possible to give you somewhere to go later. I’m quite tempted to redo this video with my Sceptre because the Ohana version needs more volume towards the end.
