High D baritone strings

iamesperambient

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Finally put on my mya-moe high D baritone strings today.
I really dig the sound a lot it feels like a totally different instrument the sound is so much different from a standard bari uke yet so different still from a tenor or concert or soprano. I'm thinking though this is a really unique tuning although low G is also great, i think ill have to get another cheap rogue baritone to play in low G as well.
 
Sweet! I'd like to hear from anyone who knows their history on baritones, as to when/how/why the switch to a high D over a wound low took place? Also OP can you elaborate on "the sound is so much different from a standard bari uke yet so different still from a tenor or concert or soprano"? My brain's like "...wat?" :confused:
 
Sweet! I'd like to hear from anyone who knows their history on baritones, as to when/how/why the switch to a high D over a wound low took place? Also OP can you elaborate on "the sound is so much different from a standard bari uke yet so different still from a tenor or concert or soprano"? My brain's like "...wat?" :confused:

sure.....not much to be confused about.
Basically the reentrant gives it that close harmony sound
which has that true uke sound, yet being its still tuned in a lower tuning it still remains deep and warm and resonate like you would expect from a baritone. Its interesting sounding thats for sure. I switched over because i wanted to keep my baritone low i love the warm mellow sound but i also like the uke close harmony sound as well.
 
Is it a fluorocarbon high D, then a wound G, then fluorocarbon B & E strings?
 
Sweet! I'd like to hear from anyone who knows their history on baritones, as to when/how/why the switch to a high D over a wound low took place? Also OP can you elaborate on "the sound is so much different from a standard bari uke yet so different still from a tenor or concert or soprano"? My brain's like "...wat?" :confused:

oh and you dont need a history lesson as to why people switched its just to try a new sound, to get a different voice
and change up your playing style a bit.
 
Glad to hear you're enjoying that tuning, iames. A great sound for the Baritone!

Sweet! I'd like to hear from anyone who knows their history on baritones, as to when/how/why the switch to a high D over a wound low took place?...

Be happy to oblige on that one, David. I think the fellow who deserves credit for first presenting the tuning to the Ukulele community at large was a fellow named Axel Richter, from Germany.

He wrote a classic chord book called "The Ukulele Handbook". I can't remember its original date of publishing, but I want to say perhaps the early 90's in Europe. Mel Bay picked it up for publication in the states around 10 years later.

"The Handbook" is a wonderful source on Ukulele tunings in general. Axel presents tunings all the way from D on the Soprano to G on the Baritone. Along the way he showed old forgotten tunings like E flat, A tuning for the Tenor (also works for Baritone), and the reentrant G tuning that's the subject of this thread.

Some of those tunings were coming into fairly widespread use in Europe - the A tuning for Tenors is still seen there - but by the time the book was published here in the states, chord books were on the way out. Online sources would give you chords for free - the only catch being that they were usually formatted so that only a few standard tunings would function.

I think if Mel Bay had picked up Axel's book a bit earlier, Ukulele players would use a wider range of tunings than you see today. Of course now, there are programs available that will give you chords for any tuning, but Axels book correlated those tunings to the proper sized Ukuleles. It's still in print! (I think)
 
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I have an unbranded tenor banjo that might have been built in the 30's. It is strung as dGBE with fluorocarbons. This makes it a baritone banjo uke. (I think they are all Worth strings that I had left over.) It sounds good in clawhammer style and playing banjo rolls.
I'm considering changing my Kamaka baritone to reentrant.
 
Love the reentrant baritone in A, love Southcoast strings, and love the ukulele handbook. The book helps me choose where to put my capo to get easier fingering/ different sound when playing in different keys. baritone is great for a capo, although Dirk has said that many times around here. capos work on the tenor very well too.

:)
 
Love the reentrant baritone in A, love Southcoast strings, and love the ukulele handbook. The book helps me choose where to put my capo to get easier fingering/ different sound when playing in different keys. baritone is great for a capo, although Dirk has said that many times around here. capos work on the tenor very well too.

:)

im not a big fan of capos or super crazy alt tunings.
What i like about reentrant g is that its the standard for baritone
but set up in the traditional reentrant fashion so it doesn't totally abandon the standard baritone tuning, yet adds a slight flavor of the 'classic' smaller uke sound with out going higher or change its over all pitch.
 
Not a big fan of "standard", but glad you have found what works for you.

:)

i think standard is nice, coming from guitar first, the uke size, design and nylon strings give it a more bight tone than a guitar
but still a much more mellow deeper tone than smaller ukes, and with the reentrant G still has the mellow sound but it really brightens
it up for a unique sound. Not sure why you would be against the standard tuning, being its the standard if this is a purist thing because
"A" seems a far cry of from anything 'pure' in terms of sticking with the rules. I'm not personally against someone using
super alt tunings, i just prefer not to use them if i wanted a TOTALLY different sound, i would buy a different stringed instrument
and learn some new chords (which i'm able to pick up anythign that has strings to some degree). I think thats why i like reentrant g
you can get a fresh new sound with out leaving the entire voice of the standard baritone keeping it traditional yet unique at the same time.
 
the G is a wound string the rest is all nylon.
i ordered a living water full flurocarbon set for high D
which im waiting for as well.

I play these on my Lanikai Bari - fantastic. You won't be disappointed.
 
Not against standard tuning per se, but against the concept of "standard" being somehow official, or better, or proper.

I like the A tuning because it sounds better on my Baritone, and i can play D, A, G, and E minor shapes to get E, B, A and F#m chords in that tuning. These are chords I use a lot. I can use the capo to change keys, and still use the same shapes. I often sing while playing, and sometimes hit a kick drum too, so simple is better for me. Also, sometimes capoing to raise the pitches lets my Uke stand out better against the guitar in our ensemble.

Not saying my way is better, or proper, ( nor will I say it is improper!) but i find it useful to make music the way i need to right now. I'm really a drummer, but the Uke has been a new instrument for me for 5 years now. being different is part of the Uke's charm for me, and using other tunings is an extension of that for me.

as many folks say, YMMV!
 
I have an unbranded tenor banjo that might have been built in the 30's. It is strung as dGBE with fluorocarbons. This makes it a baritone banjo uke. (I think they are all Worth strings that I had left over.) It sounds good in clawhammer style and playing banjo rolls.
I'm considering changing my Kamaka baritone to reentrant.

Hello John,

It’s not talked about that often, but actually Banjo players have done reentrant tunings for quite some time. On the Tenor Banjo, which is usually tuned c g d’ a’, they’ll sometimes use the same sort of reentrant form that’s typical on Ukuleles – the 4th string goes up an octave. A lot of those players use the term “high C”. (We just introduced that reentrant style, along with another reentrant form in 5ths sets for Ukuleles.)

As the linear G (“guitar” tuning) was the most popular banjo tuning in 4ths, a reentrant version is actually still in the “Banjo Tradition”. I’ve got a Tenor Banjo myself, and have always liked the sound of reentrant tunings.
 
Hello Tom,

Glad to hear you’ve found the A tuning to your liking – it’s probably the least appreciated of Axels’ presentations – probably because you have to transpose it in group situations. The sound is wonderful, both on the Tenor and the Baritone – just a slightly cleaner, crisper, higher sound than the reentrant G tuning. Personal preference, of course, as to sound, but better tensions than a G tuning if you’re using it on a Tenor.

I thought you might like to hear how Axel came up with this one – some of the other readers might want to look into it as well. Axel and I had some correspondence for awhile after Mel Bay’s 1st U.S. edition, and here’s what he said. First, while all the other tunings he presented had some history with the Ukulele (very slight with reentrant G), the A tuning was all his own invention. It likely was, though it has also been rumored that Cliff Edwards sometimes "tuned down" to reentrant A from the reentrant B flat tuning he commonly used on Tenors.

Turns out, transposing it is one of the A tunings' great strengths. He played regularly with guitar players, and wanted a tuning that would give him a relatively deep sound for solo work (his personal preference), but at the same time stand out with a brighter tone when playing with his guitar buddies. The Key of A reentrant tuning gave him just what he wanted in that situation when it came to sound (G tuning, even reentrant, would blend in too much). He might not have wanted to stand out as much as you do with the capo, Tom. At any rate, you can see looking at the circle of 5ths that this is an ideal tuning for ease of play when transposing with guitar sheet music.
 
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