Banjolele too loud for uke Clubs?

Our local group found more members were owning
B/U's (but not bringing them to the Ukulele club),
so we made a decision,and here is now a seperate
B/U club where (we) members can be as loud as we
want to be!
 
1st, we banned them from our sessions, they blasted everybody else out. I also banned accordions, electric guitars, acoustic guitars, and such, but we accepted harmonicas and tinwhistles.
How we got around it was a couple of times a year we all brought our banjoukes and tore up the airwaves. We got it out of our systems after a few songs.
 
I play bass uke and a mandolele, should I be banned because they're not a ukulele, should concert, tenor or baritone ukes be banned because they're not a soprano ukulele? Our group has two banjolele players, one is good, the other not so much. Both are definitely heard over the other ukes, but no one complains, especially since our leader is always amped playing and singing, plus another member and I both play amped bass ukes.

I say just ask the banjolele players to control their volume, I mean the general consensus is ukulele groups are an ohana, so be inclusive rather than exclusive. I just joined a Meetup group that meets in a park and encourages any acoustic instrument; guitar, ukulele, mandolin, harmonica, cajon.

Mike, a UBass was a MUST at our jams. That's what kept us together.
 
A banjo ukulele is a tool/instrument with a specific purpose. I use one to busk un-amplified.

Yes its too loud for a group get together. I used to take an 8 string ukulele to a group session and in hindsight it was probably too loud as well considering I play loud as a matter of course due to how much busking I do.
 
On the rare occasions I take my Firefly to uke groups I always have at least one "real" ukulele available as well - simply because I don't like the banjolele sound for each and every song we play (esp. now with Christmas songs coming up again). There's a niche for every instrument we own...
 
Agree with DPO. It's a banjo ukulele, not a banjo. Try telling a banjo player that your soprano is a banjo, see how that goes over. Or for that matter try taking a banjolele to a bluegrass jam and see how that goes.

I have, it was great fun.
 
I started a uke club at the small church we attend with this philosophy. The only rule is we have no rules except for "No Negative Spoken Here". I bring my Firefly sometimes and a lot of people give it a try and have fun. I do stick a sock in the back. I am not a control person so it appears to be a good thing to me.
 
I don't go to a uke group now, but I used to go to one quite frequently. I often brought a banjo uke along with a "regular" uke. I started out playing the banjo uke quietly on songs it was appropriate for, not wanting to overpower other players. I was actually asked by the leader of the group to play louder. The group had many beginners who had trouble staying on the beat, and he liked that the banjo uke cut through and provided an audible beat for people to follow (much as bass players do for other groups-- we didn't have a bass player at the time). A good example of how the banjo uke can be used to enhance music, and not just dominate it.

Any instrument played badly, too loudly, or without regard to other players is going to be disruptive. It needn't even be particularly loud. A discourteous player should be addressed; there really are no discourteous instruments. The instruments don't play themselves (okay, player pianos, but that's it!).

I play in a regular acoustic jam that is heavily guitar-based. I am often asked to bring out my banjo uke because it adds texture and flavor to all those guitars. Again, an instrument used to flavor music, rather than dominate it.

The old joke goes: "A gentleman is one who knows how to play the banjo, but doesn't." I'll amend that to "knows how to play the banjo uke, but plays with the other players, not against them."
 
I don't go to a uke group now, but I used to go to one quite frequently. I often brought a banjo uke along with a "regular" uke. I started out playing the banjo uke quietly on songs it was appropriate for, not wanting to overpower other players. I was actually asked by the leader of the group to play louder. The group had many beginners who had trouble staying on the beat, and he liked that the banjo uke cut through and provided an audible beat for people to follow (much as bass players do for other groups-- we didn't have a bass player at the time). A good example of how the banjo uke can be used to enhance music, and not just dominate it.

Any instrument played badly, too loudly, or without regard to other players is going to be disruptive. It needn't even be particularly loud. A discourteous player should be addressed; there really are no discourteous instruments. The instruments don't play themselves (okay, player pianos, but that's it!).

I play in a regular acoustic jam that is heavily guitar-based. I am often asked to bring out my banjo uke because it adds texture and flavor to all those guitars. Again, an instrument used to flavor music, rather than dominate it.

The old joke goes: "A gentleman is one who knows how to play the banjo, but doesn't." I'll amend that to "knows how to play the banjo uke, but plays with the other players, not against them."

There have been, what I think to be, several really good replies to the OP on this thread. To my mind the above pretty much exemplifies what should go one, human nature being what it is means that something else sometimes happens. I’m fortunate in being in a Club were the banjolele players act in a similar way to RichM - maybe someone has a quiet word with the occasional one that doesn’t yet ‘understand’.
 
I find this a rather sad thread as I believe the ukulele banjo has a meaningful place in the ukulele world. In no way are they lesser instruments. Certainly I find any kind of purist prejudice difficult to entertain.

Having said that they can be loud and may need to be muted. Much depends on the size of the pot - early ones have pots of about six inches, now they have exploded with the Deering probably being one of the largest. I have found that the closed back ones are much more muted than open back or, even louder, having a resonator. I play an old Maybell by Slingerland and these have a very modest sound - 6 inch pot and closed back with no side holes. I also play regular banjo and as with most players am sensitive to the sound volume that can be produced.

All in all I hope that the ukulele banjo players can be sensitive and that regular ukulele players can be open minded. Maybe the latter are going to set up separate groups for sopranos, concerts and tenors, let alone the baritones - heaven forbid.
 
I go to a jam where the leader adds a few banjo friendly songs to the list each night. A lot of people bring a banjo along with their regular uke to play during those songs. They sound great! There’s no reason not to love a banjo Uke.
 
I go to a jam where the leader adds a few banjo friendly songs to the list each night. A lot of people bring a banjo along with their regular uke to play during those songs. They sound great! There’s no reason not to love a banjo Uke.

Thank you. This is meant to be a fun instrument and fun to play in groups.
 
I don't think the thread is sad at all if you work out the difference between a BU as an instrument and a poorly played BU disrupting other players. I don't think many people have a problem with a BU played by a person who knows what they are doing and who joins in. The thread is full of examples of post where the BU player has been able to take a BU along and play it in the group setting. One thread even says that the BU owner was good enough to get asked by the leader to set the beat for the beginners and play louder. No-one wants to argue with a group member who does not understand the difference, which is why some groups just say no to BUs.
For all the BU owners and players and leaders out there, a good BU player can be the rhythm setter instead of a bass player or a drummer, its just a matter of finding them or training them. Maybe the playing parts of the forum could have a BU themed video episode and explore some different ways to get BU players included in a way that is useful to others and enjoyable for them.
Excellent contribution - when I lived in New Orleans the banjo player (tenor) was the rhythm setter when no piano was available, especially when part of a marching band. My sadness is the attitude that the banjo ukulele is somehow inferior, not a form of ukulele. Thanks
 
Excellent contribution - when I lived in New Orleans the banjo player (tenor) was the rhythm setter when no piano was available, especially when part of a marching band. My sadness is the attitude that the banjo ukulele is somehow inferior, not a form of ukulele. Thanks

I too thought Bill1’s contribution to be excellent, to me it seemed to really pull together the best of the thread and ‘talk’ some sense.

If anyone has said that the banjo ukulele is inferior then I don’t recall reading that and would question it too, to my mind it’s neither inferior or superior to a traditional or standard Uke. I don’t tend to think of a banjo uke as a form of uke at all and had regarded it as more a form of banjo than anything else. Perhaps I’m wrong there but to my eyes it’s built like a banjo but with four strings and uke tuning. Is a banjo uke near enough the same as a traditional uke be be considered the same? Well that’s a question that has different answers depending upon who you ask and what the situation is. On balance I believe that the answer is no, but also believe (as Bill1 so ably pointed out) that there can be a place for them together with ukes.
 
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There are lots of people out there playing all sorts of instruments who are looking for an opportunity to play with others. And big group get togethers are pretty appealing to them. And a lot of them are going to be inexperienced players looking for a safe environment to play, and group sessions are less intimidating then a lot of other outlets for their music. I read about banjo uke players who play with large groups and get along just fine. I would suspect that they are experienced banjo uke players who have enough experience to know how to play well with others. It has always been my experience with large groups, that in order to be inclusive everyone is going to have to play to the lowest common denominator, and I think one needs to adjust their expectations to take that into consideration, and that included banjo uke players who don't know how to modulate themselves.

As an organizer, I don't know what advise to give. I tried a few years ago to get something started here. My first attempt, I showed up with my ukulele, and a dozen or so people showed up just to watch. The second time, another ukulele player misunderstood what I was trying to do, and set up for a gig in the corner of the coffee shop before I got there, with amps, microphones, lighting, and the whole shebang. He also invited thirty or so of his friends to come and be the audience. That was actually my first gig, and it went surprising well considering that he and I had only had a phone conversation with the guy before. Anyway, I'm going off on a tangent now. My third attempt netted me one other ukulele player, a guitar player, a guy with a djembe, and a fellow who hadn't played his trumpet since high school. So I applaud anyone who can get a group of ukulele players together like that. Right now I have three or four of us, and not all ukulele players, who get together and jam a little, but we are a bit exclusive in our approach for the reasons that I addressed above. We are all about equal in ability and we can play off of each other pretty well. No one can really dominate over the others. I really like that sort of experience best.
 
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A banjo uke is a ukulele, and I play it as such.

Some songs lend themselves to a louder sound, some softer - but I can use the same instrument, regardless of the song. I can get a "twangier" sound from the banjo uke if I try, or a warmer sound.

I have two - a 1920s Stella, and a Fluke Firefly. Both are open back, 8" pots, and fun to play. And never have I been asked not to play them at a uke gathering because they are too loud.

-Kurt​
 
A banjo uses a skin (or similar diaphragm) stretched over a hoop. It is, in essence, a drum on a stick. The ukulele is very different. If there were no problem in accepting small banjos at ukulele gatherings then the OP would not have needed to ask the question. Quite clearly there is a problem, and my suggestion that a club should keep a couple of "loaners", for anybody who turns up with a banjo, is reasonable and not unfriendly.

Any banjo player who objects to playing a ukulele at a ukulele club is not being reasonable. Whether or not small banjos are accepted where other banjos are played is not relevant.

And yet again they are NOT banjos they are ukulele banjos and are a totally different instrument. Try playing a ukulele banjo alongside a five string 12 inch head banjo and see if you can hear the small one.

Whether or not a "banjo ukulele" or a "ukulele banjo" or whatever you want to call it is a ukulele or a banjo is beside the point. It seems apparent to me based on opinions in this thread that it is a bastard stepchild of sorts--accepted neither as banjo by banjoers nor as ukulele by ukuleleers.


The real problem OP is asking about is more like "how to deal with a knob." This is a life skill that is not unique to ukulele group. Some people will never be happy and will cause problems wherever they go.

If someone is playing any instrument too loudly or obnoxiously at your meetup: "everyone, lets take it from the top and concentrate on blending our sounds together nicely." If they still don't get the hint, "Mr. X, can you play a little more softly and sweetly to better blend your sound into the music?" And if that doesn't work, take them aside after the meetup and tell them in no uncertain terms: what they are doing is obnoxious and auditorially offensive. Either they make an attempt to play nice with the group or they will be asked to leave.

Any reasonable person will respond appropriately to this. If the person you are dealing with is an entitled knob, simply ask them not to return. If they make a stink, others in the group will recognize the person as acting childish and and will support you in your decision to enforce a ban.
 
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