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Jerryc41
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Where is that?
Sopranissimo, Anyone?
- Thread starter Jerryc41
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Where is that?
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Jerryc41
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Jerryc41
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I received my Ohana pineapple sopranissimo, and I'm surprised how easy it is to play.
Bill Sheehan
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I recently got the Ohana O'Nino sopranissimo. A beautiful instrument to look at, with a very deep and rich mahogany. After tinkering with it for a couple of days in
"A D F# B" and feeling maybe just a little underwhelmed, I tried boosting it another full step higher this morning, to "B E G# C#", and wow, that really seems to be the sweet spot for this uke! The string tension feels just about equivalent to a soprano tuned in "G C E A", or a sopranino tuned in "A D F# B", and the tone is really sweet and tight and pretty, like a little music box. Granted, it creates a little bit of a dilemma in the sense that, if I want to do my vocal numbers with this tuning, using the same chord shapes I'm accustomed to, I'm now forced to sing up there in a higher range, but I'm hoping I can work around that by finding ways to improvise the higher passages using alternate (lower) singing notes, thus "making them my own", as we say...
"A D F# B" and feeling maybe just a little underwhelmed, I tried boosting it another full step higher this morning, to "B E G# C#", and wow, that really seems to be the sweet spot for this uke! The string tension feels just about equivalent to a soprano tuned in "G C E A", or a sopranino tuned in "A D F# B", and the tone is really sweet and tight and pretty, like a little music box. Granted, it creates a little bit of a dilemma in the sense that, if I want to do my vocal numbers with this tuning, using the same chord shapes I'm accustomed to, I'm now forced to sing up there in a higher range, but I'm hoping I can work around that by finding ways to improvise the higher passages using alternate (lower) singing notes, thus "making them my own", as we say...
glennerd
Well-known member
Yeah, I found a similar situation with tuning my sopranino GCEA. It's happy enough being tuned that way, but it's not really playing the way it was designed to. Now I'm starting to wonder if concerts and tenors want to be tuned down.
Jim Hanks
Well-known member
E tuning makes sense for this scale. I think I mentioned on this thread or a similar one that I have the last 3 Southcoast XLL sets that would go even higher - F or even G. You could use this to sing in a *lower* register by going "down octave" relative to the uke
Jim Hanks
Well-known member
Yes, tenors definitely want to be tuned down to Bb at least. Concerts are best at C.Now I'm starting to wonder if concerts and tenors want to be tuned down.
And there's no disputing these facts.
Takes me some getting used to becayse it is hard for me to keep in place. Same for my daughter who is borrowing it. Since I mostly fingerpick, I don't hold it high up like many strummers do.
Bill Sheehan
Well-known member
Yeah, I found a similar situation with tuning my sopranino GCEA. It's happy enough being tuned that way, but it's not really playing the way it was designed to. Now I'm starting to wonder if concerts and tenors want to be tuned down.
Thanks, Glenn. I too have felt that the sopranino scale seems to like the ADF#B tuning, while sopranissimo seems well-suited for BEG#C#. I tend to put regular sopranos a half-step higher than the customary GCEA tuning, just to give them a little tighter feel. And concert scale does nicely with GCEA. I agree that many tenors have a great feel and tone when tuned downward a full step to F Bb D G. By the way, all of these expressions of personal preference are with Martin M-600 strings (for concert, soprano, sopranino, and sopranissimo) and Martin M-620's (for tenor).
Bill Sheehan
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Interesting thoughts, Jim. For this week, at least, I think I've found my dream combination. Of course, we all know how THAT goes...
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Jerryc41
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This thread is mind-boggling (obviously, not to everybody!)
To me. it's like imagining grown adults buying 1/8 and 1/10 size Suzuki violins - to actually play, themselves! Not to start their toddlers on, or even just to look at. Yes - they are "cute"! And yes, they will fit in your suitcase for travel!
But to play one? Yikes...:biglaugh::biglaugh:
bratsche
To me. it's like imagining grown adults buying 1/8 and 1/10 size Suzuki violins - to actually play, themselves! Not to start their toddlers on, or even just to look at. Yes - they are "cute"! And yes, they will fit in your suitcase for travel!
But to play one? Yikes...:biglaugh::biglaugh:
bratsche
Down Up Dick
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Yeah, I agree. I guess with ukes, anything goes. Everyone seems to have unlimited uke funds. Times are good . . .
ld:
Bill Sheehan
Well-known member
Hahahahahaha! Well, I have to admit, Bratsche, you may have a pretty fair point there! I love my little O'Nino, it's so darn cool, but I find that I have to tune it up pretty darn high to obtain a solid non-floppy string tension (two full steps higher than "standard"), and although it does sound very sweet up there, it presents a practical dilemma for those who sing when they play-- do we use the same chord shapes we've always used for our songs, and struggle to reach a lot of the vocal notes, or do we re-tool our songs with new chords that will effectively land us in the vocal range we're used to?
glennerd
Well-known member
Haha, you must be a tenor player!
While I find the sopranino relatively easy to play and actually pretty fun, I wouldn't want to go smaller and I think I'll just stick to soprano going forward.
Worth noting that plenty of guitarists have a similarly incredulous response to grown adults being serious about playing ukulele in general.
I think I will try a Uke Leash when I get it back. I presume the sticky pads have adhesive.
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Jerryc41
Well-known member
Sticky, yes, but not like Scotch tape. Put it on - peal it off. I wouldn't leave it on a wooden instrument indefinitely, but for a composite, it should be fine.
My Sopranissimo has a solid Mahogany back. I miss it and hope for its safe return.
Here's a video of a pineapple sopranino from a batch I made a while back. They were very well recieved and everyone commented on the amount of volume. 12" scale standard tuning with Martin soprano strings on this one but other configurations may work even better.
https://youtu.be/qai_uh-_mZo
I'm making a new batch and, if anyone is interested, was wondering what kind of inlay people would like to see on them.
https://youtu.be/qai_uh-_mZo
I'm making a new batch and, if anyone is interested, was wondering what kind of inlay people would like to see on them.
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