isaacullah
1925 posts
Apr 25, 2012
6:18 PM
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...is Ukulele and Harmonica looping! (link goes to my dropbox account)
I literally have had the Uke for a week (my wife gave it to me as an early B-day present!), and I just know that this the new direction I'm headed (or has it been the direction I've been headed all along?). Anyway, the above linked video is my first attempt at putting the two together. It's full of gaffs, and isn't ready to be played out on the street (hence why I didn't upload it to YouTube), but I wanted to share this with y'all and perhaps get a little feedback. Keep in mind that I've only had the Uke for a week, and had never played on before...
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BronzeWailer
474 posts
Apr 25, 2012
6:28 PM
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Hey Isaac! Downloaded it. All I can say is you are looking good because the thing went very fast. Was over in a couple of seconds. Dunno if it's a problem on my software end or not. Cheers
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isaacullah
1926 posts
Apr 25, 2012
6:55 PM
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@BronzWailer: Thanks for having a try! Hmmm.... Maybe it hadn't finished loading up to the dropbox site yet? I just checked it and it plays fine in my browser (firefox)... Would you mind trying it again? It's an avi video, which pretty much everyone should be able to play...
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== I S A A C ==
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rogonzab
41 posts
Apr 25, 2012
7:20 PM
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Great stuff Isaac. New and good, a rare combination.
I like it a lot!
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BronzeWailer
475 posts
Apr 25, 2012
8:01 PM
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Hi Isaac. Must be my laptop. Tried reboot, cold reboot, downloading in Chrome, playing with Relaplayer and Quicktime as well as Windows Media Player etc. No joy. Look forward to seeing the outcome of your work here anyway. I'll have a lie down and try again tomorrow.
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AW
120 posts
Apr 25, 2012
8:39 PM
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This has lots of potential to be cool. Looking forward to more.
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isaacullah
1929 posts
Apr 25, 2012
8:49 PM
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@Bronzewailer: Dang! Thanks fro going through all that trouble! Okay, I've uploaded it to my photobucket account and will embed it below. The sound quality is quite bad on photobucket, but I've uploaded it there anyway just so folks who can't see it the first way I posted it can at least give it a look see...
@rogonzab and AW: Thanks! I need to put some more time into this, but I really feel like this is where I am headed...
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Arcadiandj
21 posts
Apr 25, 2012
9:25 PM
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FWIW Issac, I know I'm no Randy, Paula, or Simon, but I love the blues. And the singing you did when you did that RL Burnside number the other night was KILLER! In short don't rule out working on your vocals as you move forward.
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mikolune
124 posts
Apr 25, 2012
10:40 PM
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Hi Isaac, I enjoyed it. Regarding the harp playing, FWIW: if I were you I would start working on note dynamics: adding a little vibrato here, a little dip there, work on using different attacks at meaningful places.
just my 2 cents
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BronzeWailer
476 posts
Apr 25, 2012
11:50 PM
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Hi Isaac. Thanks for embedding. I can see you are onto something here. It sounded like you were jamming with your self, rather than just playing over a loop, if that makes sense. Looking forward to your next installment.
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KeithE
202 posts
Apr 26, 2012
8:00 AM
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Issac if you ever need any ukulele inspiration, Troy Fernandez has a youtube account tntmusic2729 and uploads videos of his family busking in Waikiki. Check out a number like "Island Style".
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mr_so&so
545 posts
Apr 26, 2012
10:29 AM
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Isaac, I like it. Looking forward to more. Here's a question for you. What's the difference between a uke and a CBG?
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isaacullah
1930 posts
Apr 26, 2012
10:42 AM
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Wow! Thanks guys! I'll respond to each of you:
@aradiandj: Thanks Dan! I'm still not confident in my singing... Perhaps that's something I can work on when we get together this Sunday for the HARP meetup!
@Mikolune: Thank you very much for the insightful critique! I will most certainly take that to heart and will work on those things you mention!
@Bronzewailer: Thank you for your persistence and your kind comments! I appreciate that you took the time to have another look!
@KeithE: Thank you for the recommendation! I will definitely check that guy out!
@mr_so&so: Thanks! Well, my CBG only has three strings tuned Dgd, which is an open chord (or rather a chord fragment), and has no frets, so I HAVE to play with a slide. CBG tunign systems are "micronized" versions of open tunings for guitar (so I'm using a "micronized" open D tuning on my cbg). This makes it really really easy to play fingerstyle slide blues, but hard to play anything other than major chords. There are other tuning styles for cbg, as well as 4-string versions...
The Uke is tuned gCEA, where the g is a high g, not a low G (this is called "re-entrant" tuning), and it's fretted. The re-entrant tuning of the Uke has a really neat sound, and actually facilitates both chordal playing and fingerstyle. You can basically play chords with simpler fingering than you can on a standard tuning, and the strings are set up in such a way that makes pentatonic playing really easy and cool sounding... By the way, if you have a 4-string cbg, there is no reason why you can't tune it like a Ukulele, and play it that way! Conversely, you can absolutely re-string your Uke, and tune it like a cbg in an open tuning!
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Last Edited by on Apr 26, 2012 10:43 AM
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MP
2198 posts
Apr 26, 2012
1:08 PM
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very cool isaac!
i go to this one music store all the time. i grab a uke and a chord book. then i play for an hour, and put it away.
after checking your stuff out it looks like i have to buy one- either a tenor or concert size. soprano is too high and baritone is too low for my taste.
again, very cool isaac!
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MP
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isaacullah
1931 posts
Apr 26, 2012
1:31 PM
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@MP: Nice! Yeah, ukes are super fun! The one I have is Kala Makala Tenor. It's the budget line from Kala (I think I paid around $75), but is surprisingly well constructed for that price... I agree on the sizing. Tenor or Concert, at least until you can get all chord shapes memorized, and then perhaps go for a soprano if you still have "the bug"!
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Gig74
108 posts
Apr 26, 2012
2:05 PM
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Very nice Isaac,
It kind of reminded me of Jack Johnson, it had that chilled out vibe, liked it a lot.
I think I might have to dig out my 6yr olds uke, if it's still in one piece :o)
cheers
Greg.
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Living the dream and learning the blues one little trouble at a time.
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Aussiesucker
1094 posts
Apr 26, 2012
5:27 PM
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Great stuff Isaac.
Each time I enter a music shop (often) I sense that the Ukulele is taking over. Rows and rows plus every inch of wall space dominated by ukuleles. It is booming in popularity and Ukulele groups are popping up everywhere. I'm tempted, really tempted but my Bluegrass group have banned members turning up with ukuleles & I have to be careful as they barely tolerate harmonica players.
Something about ukuleles to me is that they are a happy instrument. Impossible to play without having a smile on ones face. I will get one but I won't be playing harp in a rack.
The Uke was extremely popular years ago but I think the likes of Tiny Tim 'Tip Toeing Through The Tulips' sort of made the instrument really uncool for a decade.
What do you use to loop the track?
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HARPOLDIE’S YOUTUBE
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isaacullah
1932 posts
Apr 26, 2012
7:23 PM
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Thanks guys! Yes, the Uke is most definitely becoming popular again these days... I'm not sure if it's the chicken or the egg, but there are a lot of new well-regarded indie bands who feature the uke, and even some pop music too... It's a great, fun, happy little instrument, and, like harmonica, it's pretty easy to get some rudimentary "musical sounds" out of it, so it's attractive to a lot of people. Actually, it is this populist characteristic of both the Ukulele and the Harmonica that draw me to both instruments! I love the idea of taking something most people see as a toy and then making really great music on it, and watching jaws drop to the floor! :)
To answer you question, Aussiesucker: I'm using my Zoom G3 for the looping...
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oldwailer
1882 posts
Apr 26, 2012
7:44 PM
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Very nice! I love the sound of the Uke--especially the tenor ones. I've been messing with them for a while in the music stores too--but haven't combined it with a harp yet.
Is that being played straight? Kind of a lot like 12th too--but I couldn't decide.
I recently had a break-through on the 12th position stuff Chris was teaching us that time--years ago--I might have something on that to post soon. . .
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isaacullah
1934 posts
Apr 26, 2012
10:09 PM
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Hey Ray! Yeah, I was playing in 12th. I've started playing a lot in 12th now... it's great for pentatonic stuff... I still need to go back and play over your guitar track like that night we were at Chris's... I just need to really do that... I owe it to him!
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oldwailer
1884 posts
Apr 27, 2012
5:33 PM
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Yeah, Isaac--that tune, "Ain't No Tellin'" is a great one for 12th--also--you might have seen Jim Rumbough's (sp?) tab for "Georgia On My Mind" in 12th.
I've almost got Georgia down on a rack, with a guitar back--but just the other day all kinds of tunes started popping up in 12th--tunes I had never played harp with before--suddenly 12th is the most important position to me--except of course for 2nd. . .
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Always be yourself--unless you suck. . .
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isaacullah
1939 posts
Apr 28, 2012
1:18 PM
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I'd almost forgotten about the version of Georgia Jim did! It's very cool... Yeah, 12th has become one of my go-to positions as well. Anything pentatonic or "pretty", 12th is the way for me to do that... I play from time to time with a local singer-songwriter in the alt-country vein, and I find that I'm either playing 12th or 3rd with him, and almost never in 2nd. I mainly do solos over the breaks, and that great, soaring, 12th position sound really cuts through in that format...
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Bruce
7 posts
Apr 28, 2012
2:54 PM
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Real nice Isaac!!! I too am learning the uke. It is amazing to see how many harp players pick up the uke as a second instrument do to the way the uke can be intuitively played (I think I am intimidated by the guitar due to the number of strings and its complexity) as it is seen as a toy and not a "real" instrument which in fact it is. This is the stiga that is sadly attached to the harp as well. I build CBG's and I am soon going to take some time and build something in between a tenor and a barotone and go from there. Thank you for the encouragement - you are a real cool dude. Keep up the great postings.
-Bruce
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isaacullah
1940 posts
Apr 28, 2012
4:16 PM
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Thanks, Bruce, for those very kind words! I agree with you completely about the Uke. I feel the same way about it as I felt (and still feel) about the harp when I picked it up for the first time... I just gotta play it!
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Stevelegh
485 posts
Apr 28, 2012
6:19 PM
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Hey! This is supposed to be Modern BLUES Harmonica!
That stuff was happy! WTF? Heh.
It was also very pretty and lovely. I really liked it. Sometimes you listen to music with a technical ear, sometimes it's angry music, sometimes it's sad or funky and so on.....
It's past 2am here. I'm tired and hungry post gig, wondering whether bed or food is the answer and I'm a little cranky.
It made me smile. Thanks. I really enjoyed that. Perhaps it's coincidence, but it was a nice little lift.
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