The adventures of a plucky ukulele player
Just finished filming the video to accompany the song I recently wrote and recorded. The song’s lyrics mention Birmingham so it meant a trip there to get a shot of the Library in Centenary Square. The next job will be editing the video and adding titles & end credits. Hopefully I’ll be able to upload it onto YouTube by the end of this month our early August.
At the weekend I joined the All About Uke group from Stafford at their gig as part of a local village fair. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and it was a “Sunny Afternoon” ( which happened to be one of the songs in our set list). The fair took place on a playing field with various stalls and attractions around the edge. We were asked to set up in the centre of the arena, so it was literally like performing in the middle of a field. There were about 35 ukulele players in our group and I was playing my bass ukulele. In the photo I’ve on the back row fourth from the left sitting on my music stool. As there was no electric power available I took my battery powered amp. The gig went well but playing outdoors does have a number of issues. The sound produced by the acoustic ukuleles can tend to get lost in the open air and not travel as far. However the most useful accessory when playing outdoors is to take a couple of clothes pegs to clip onto the sheet music to stop it blowing about in the breeze. It was a most enjoyable afternoon and after the performance there was time to visit the beer tent for some refreshment.
Yesterday I joined The Ukunauts and we played at the Stone Carnival. There was some rain early on and, as seen in the above photo, I took my umbrella. Fortunately we were playing in the Music Tent which not only kept us dry but also means I can say that I was playing within tent.
Apologies for not adding any new posts for a while but I’ve had other commitments recently. However, I’m now able to return to my music project.
As you may already know I’ve written a song and with the help of some friends I’ve recorded it. The next stage is to film a video to go along with the song. With the video being filmed outdoors, for continuity reasons, I’ve had to wait until early summer for the leaves to come out on the trees. So I’ve started doing the filming at various locations in the north Midlands. I wanted to have a shot of Paul (cajon), Jason (guitar) and myself (tenor ukulele) playing the instrumental verse. Here’s a photo of us playing alongside the road which features in the song.
There’s more filming to be done, dependant on the weather and fitting it in between my work commitments this might take another three/four weeks. Then it’s the task of editing the video to fit alongside the audio track. So it’ll probably be August before the video is finally able to be released on to YouTube,
The Ukulele Society of Great Britain (USGB) is launching a search to find the best local ukulele group in the UK. Local amateur ukulele bands are invited to submit a video of their best performance which will be judged by a panel of judges who are prominent in the UK ukulele community. Bands can register their intention to participate by the end of July 2019 and upload their video to YouTube by the end of September 2019.
As you may be aware, I’m a member of “All About Uke” which is based in Stafford and we’ve decided to enter the competition. There’s plenty of time to practice and make a video, however the first issue is to decide which song to perform. The USGB Guidelines mention that bands will be judged on their choice of song, their arrangement and the general sound that they produce, including intro and outros. It suggests that up-tempo songs will earn more points than slow songs and that the song needs to grab the attention of the judges. I think that the choice of song will be a critical decision, have you any suggestions?
Whilst I’ve had quite a few work commitments lately, I’ve been able to do some more work on recording my song. My friend, PB, who is a drummer visited me with his cajon to record the percussion track. It’s interesting to look at the wave form produced by the cajon which is so different from that produced by the ukuleles or the vocals. You might be able to spot the four bar intro before the cajon starts and the breaks during the choruses.
Recording the song is still a work in progress as another friend, JR, is visiting next weekend to add the lead track. Then I’ll be spending time twiddling with the faders to get the various levels right.
My sons suggested that I also record a video to go along with the song. However we’re delaying filming until the Spring when the leaves are on the trees, flowers are in bloom and it’ll look so much better. Eventually we might put the final result on YouTube so you’ll have to wait until then for the full story.
I’m currently recording the vocal track for a song I’ve just written. I’ve already recorded the rhythm track and the bass track and I’ve got some friends to help with recording the lead track and the precision track.
It’s a parody of a well-known song and it was also suggested that I film a video to go along with the song. However the video would probably look better if it were to be filmed in the Spring or early Summer when there are leaves on the trees. So – be prepared for more details in a couple of months’ time.
I’m really enjoying recording songs on the computer and have just recorded “Tickle My Heart” which is a song written by Joe Brown and Roger Cook. They wanted to write an old-fashioned type of song especially for the ukulele. Please find a pdf file of the music below and I’d recommend you having a go.
On the recording I used my Magic Fluke tenor ukulele (as seen in the above photo) together with my 8-string ukulele for the rhythm track. Then I added the vocal track, followed by the bass track and the percussion track for which I used my stomp box. It’s great fun building up the various tracks and here’s a wav file of the song which I hope you enjoy.
Just for fun I recorded a message to put onto my answerphone. It’s a parody of Abba’s “Dancing Queen” and is called “Answer Machine”. I’ve double tracked the vocals so that it sounds like there’s a whole group of me singing.