My bizarre uke tone theory*

I'm not sure if playing shirtless would improve the tone of my uke, but I guarantee you it would reduce the size of my audience.
 
RichM said:
I'm not sure if playing shirtless would improve the tone of my uke, but I guarantee you it would reduce the size of my audience.
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That's a good one, made me chuckle (which is not easy for me on a full stomach).

And I have confirmed that my theory, based on Cheeso's theory below, is pure hogwash: my wife reassured me that my belly is like a pooh bear both before and after I eat lunch.

Back to the drawing board.
 
For me, the most significant change in the sound is when I hold the back of the uke pressed hard against my forehead --

I get this deep, throaty, cavernous sound...

I guess there's just nothing in there to resonate but the walls of an anechoic chamber.

In the words of Johnny Rotten - the sound is 'pretty vacant'.

:)
 
bearbike137 said:
I'm not sure about any of the fabric theories being espoused here, but I do know that I slightly angle my ukes when playing them to minimize the amount of back that is in contact with my body.
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I play seated whenever I can and hold the uke away from me. Some say I hold it like a classical guitar. But I don't know how one is held, so I'll just take their word for it. I rest the bottom of the uke, or side of the lower bout depending on the uke size, on my right thigh and the neck is angled upward. The back never touches me this way. I started this after too much trouble with clothes being slippery, having buttons, or just annoying. + my uke at the time was a Flea, a slippery critter to begin with. so this works for me.

+ I wanted to hear it but didn't want to be the one to say what Mainland Mike said in post #2 or so. :D
 
I guess a rounder belly would decrease the amount of body in direct contact with the uke.
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Perhaps, but only with a lot of exercise. I think those with "six pack abs" would generally have less contact than my "twelve pack abs".

May Iz rest in peace and smile down on all of us.

-Vinnie in Juneau
 
hoosierhiver said:
What about the foods you ate that day? Surely an empty stomach would make you more resonant.
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BWAAA-HAAAA...or maybe eating some foods could even give you a "kazoo" accompaniment...

Rick Turner said:
Check out the "Tone Gard" for mandolins. http://www.tone-gard.com/

I may get him to make some for our ukes.
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From my brief fling with mandos a few years ago I can testify those really do work - especially for folks with ample soft tissue up front...

Lopsidedtiger said:
I thought they were supposed to sound best when wearing loud Hawaiian prints?
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:rofl:
Hippie Guy said:
You guys laugh. Rick is on it with those tone guards. There's definitely something to it, but the question is: is it worth the effort?
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Depends on if you really need to project every bit of acoustic volume that you can. In the case of a mandolin in a bluegrass band attempting to be heard over a Martin dreadnought or three and a banjo, yeah, it's probably worth it. In the case of a solo act or a friendly jam, probably not.

Ukejenny said:
Now wondering if I will tell a difference if I try playing "topless"..... hmmmm, probably won't give that one a whirl at our next uke jam. :stop:
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Darn, here I was ready to move to Alabamy... LOL

ukantor said:
I find my ukulele sounds better if someone else is playing it.
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Yeah...this is my sad, sad, truth as well. I used to design and build custom tube guitar amps. They always sounded so much better when someone else was playing through them...

John
 
Cheeso said:
I find the clothes I'm wearing strongly affect the tone and sustain of a uke.

Best of all is a silk shirt. It's the perfect material for chimey, shimmering tone.
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Some slippery shirts are problematic for keeping the uke in position while playing. I have one silk shirt but never played the uke while wearing it yet! :cool:

Petey
 
Uke tone is not difficult to understand. The key is learning to think like a piece of wood, and I mastered that shortly after retirement.
 
Cheeso said:
I find the clothes I'm wearing strongly affect the tone and sustain of a uke.
Click to expand...
They laughed when I sat down with my ukulele to play...

Well, I actually tried a couple of experiments on how holding the uke against the body affected sound. Strictly subjective, mind you, but I tried all sorts of different positions: close, away, held up and lower... wearing a sweater versus a shirt...

Sadly, the best projection came when I held it against a non-stick cookie sheet ...

Susan had words for me when she found me standing in the kitchen, shirtless, cookie sheet taped to my body, playing the ukulele.

Shortly after that, my experiments were terminated and funding for future tests were funnelled into buying new cookie sheets instead.

Ian
(PS: Put the used cookie sheet behind your wireless router, if it's against an outside wall. so the signal bounces back inside. Makes for better reception. You learn these things when instructed to "find a good use" for the cookie sheet you've scratched up.)
 
This theory just may have some merit. I have a Koa tenor that sounds amazing when I wear a grass skirt. I haven't tried pairing that with a seashell bra top just yet, but hey, if it will improve my sound.
 
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