turtledrum
Well-known member
Would love to hear your ideas about what ukuleles will break into the market down the line. Anyone hear anything about instruments soon to come? New materials, shapes, sizes? Thanks!
The "Hololele". A fully playable hologram of any uke you chose with the sound modeling to boot. Enter a number and, poof, you're playing a vintage Martin soprano or solid koa KoAloha tenor with Aquila reds. Press another number and you're jamming with Daniel HoloHo. Complete with a Holohula girls for your viewing pleasure.
They won't change fundamentally. Part of the appeal of the ukulele is its simplicity and the fact it's made of natural materials.
Touch screen fretboards and frickin laser beams for strings.
My prediction would be more eco-friendly, renewable material types just like how cars (hybrid, etc.), and "green" buildings are emerging more and more now.
Wood is about as "green" as you can get. It literally grows on trees...
But I think you have a point, and I'll take it one step further:
I think the future of ukulele is hemp. I predict that hemp-friendly states will start manufacturing "Weedulele's". Soprano and concert ukulele's will be known as "nickle" and "dime" ukes among the more trendy players. None of the nicknames for tenors and baritones will ever catch on, but the Ubass will be know as the "Maui Wowie". However, about a week after it goes public, Weedulele will start tracking a high level of return merchandise with the sound holes burned out to such an enlarged state that the ukes are no longer playable. Some genius in R&D will notice that they appear to have been smoked, and in the second week after Weedulele goes public they will introduce the first commercially made, playable ukulele bong.
The most popular song themes for Weedulele song writers will be odes to Mr. Hand, and emotional ballads about ill-fated trips to 7-11 for munchies. Players will no longer make references about intonation or sustain, and people will simply begin to refer to the quality of a ukulele at "righteous" or "harsh". President Obama's high school choom gang will reunite and put out an album, but Michelle will not let Barack to play because Weeduleles encourage people to eat junk food. MSNBC will not carry the story, and Fox News will begin referring to all ukuleles as gateway instruments.
In the not too distant future, wooden ukuleles will be a thing of the past. Like ivory piano keytops, they will become more and more rare, due to high cost and regulation. Eventually it will be unreasonable. This is why I think Blackbird is on the cutting edge. The future holds more development of alternate materials.
I think Guitars will eventually see the same fate.
It will have six strings, it will be tuned linear, will be made of plastic or composite, and it will be shaped something like a mandolin.
I think we will see more ukes ... made of a combination of synthetic materials and wood...