AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |
Back to Blog
Bass ukelele8/4/2023 Legend attributes it to the nickname of Englishman Edward William Purvis, one of King Kalākaua's officers, because of his small size, fidgety manner, and playing expertise. In the Hawaiian language the word ukulele roughly translates as "jumping flea", perhaps because of the movement of the player's fingers. A patron of the arts, he incorporated it into performances at royal gatherings. One of the most important factors in establishing the ukulele in Hawaiian music and culture was the ardent support and promotion of the instrument by King Kalākaua. Two weeks after they disembarked from the SS Ravenscrag in late August 1879, the Hawaiian Gazette reported that "Madeira Islanders recently arrived here, have been delighting the people with nightly street concerts." Three immigrants in particular, Madeiran cabinet makers Manuel Nunes, José do Espírito Santo, and Augusto Dias, are generally credited as the first ukulele makers. Ukuleles commonly come in four sizes: soprano, concert, tenor, and baritone.ĭeveloped in the 1880s, the ukulele is based on several small, guitar-like instruments of Portuguese origin, the machete, cavaquinho, timple, and rajão, introduced to the Hawaiian Islands by Portuguese immigrants from Madeira, the Azores and Cape Verde. The tone and volume of the instrument vary with size and construction. You can hear/watch us (and thus the bass ukulele) preferably live, but also on our YouTube channel.The ukulele ( / ˌ juː k ə ˈ l eɪ l i/ YOO-kə- LAY-lee from Hawaiian: ʻukulele, approximately OO-koo- LEH-leh), also called a uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. We play mainly swing standards adapted for our band configuration (drums, bass ukulele, guitar, sax/clarinet, two vocals + occasionally a trumpet). We will be glad to play also for you so don’t hesitate to contact us on Facebook. Playing mostly for dancers… and for the joy of course. Swing band from Prague, founded by Lindy hop dancers. Get your shit out of the way and just serve the song. So bass suits my “team role” more than the classical ukulele.Įventually, I’d like to share one quote that inspired me – what should we also keep in mind when playing bass: The main focus of the bass is to support everybody else in the band. I just didn’t realize it’s a completely different instrument so it was quite challenging, but in 2016 I switched to a bass ukulele. I knew something like a bass ukulele existed so I wanted to try it. It was a long process and originally I joined with a classic ukulele, but as it happens, the bass was missing… An opportunity came with swing dancing – a band (Swing Mustard) was forming from the members of the Swing Busters dance school. I somehow felt playing ukulele just for myself wasn’t that fulfilling anymore and I wanted to try playing in a band. An ideal complement to a small instrument. It is light, and powerful enough for playing swing. I use Phil Jones Bass BG 100 (yeah, the red one) which was recommended to me by a double-bass player. I’ll finish a gear section with the combo. It helped me a lot with the technique and to correct some mistakes which weren’t that noticeable on the uke, but they just were there. I have to admit I practise also on a bass guitar, though short-scale ( Allen Woody Rumblekat). Later I replaced it with KALA UBASS-EBY-FL – the differences aren’t that big, but the intonation is a little better and I think it’s prettier □. I’m aiming for a more double-bassy tone so I chose a fretless ukulele Ortega Lizzy-BSFL-GB. I think they have better intonation, the tone is more clear and playing is more comfortable (they feel less “rubbery”). I’m aiming for more double-base-like tone so for me the Thunder Reds are the best choice – copper powder is added to these so they are less “rubbery” compared to other silicone-based strings: they are thinner, stiffer, and have a little more tension (they are not so loose). I tried Gali UXB810 Blacknylon (flatwounds), “croaking” Pahoehoe and of course Aquila – Thundergut, Thunderblack and finally Thunder Reds. Now, there is a wide variety of “rubbery” strings you can get and also flatwounds and roundwounds (unfortunately, I don’t have much experience with these yet). In order to create a bass instrument with such a small scale length, a set of new silicone-based “rubbery” strings had to be developed. It’s basically a small bass guitar with a standard E, A, D, G tuning. The bass ukulele is a wonderful instrument yet with the ukulele it shares only the size – barytone ukulele, i.e.
0 Comments
Read More
Leave a Reply. |