Season 394 - The Electric Version

uke4ia

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SEASON 394 — The Electric Version



A few years ago, I learned I could run my uke through my synthesizer to get sounds like you would get with an electric guitar. It’s a huge amount of fun. Most kids with guitars get to have this fun at 15. I had it in my mid-50s. Maybe I’m still recovering from playing only sopranos for my first 20 years of uking, but being able to get a different sound out of my uke still brings me joy.

This week I want you to bring the electricity! Option 1: Play anything you want on an electrified ukulele, or add effects to your music after you’ve recorded it, with Garage Band, Audacity, or any other software that will do the job. Or do both. Add some reverb, some distortion, chorus, wah-wah pedal, whatever you want. Find a weird but cool sound. Let your inner 15-year-old go nuts.

I’d really like you to try the first option if you have the equipment available to do so.

If not, Option 2: Sing the body electric. Bring me a song about electricity. Go old school and rock down to Electric Avenue. Go with this year’s model and play Methyl Ethel’s “Trip the Mains” (I’ve got a voltage that’s running high…). Go reaaaaally old school and play Raymond Scott’s “Powerhouse”. Or play an Electric Light Orchestra song that you didn’t get around to in Season 390, or a song by Power Station, Tesla, Edison Lighthouse, Sparks, or AC/DC.


Rules:

• The video must be a new video recorded for this Season.
• The video must say that it is for the 394th Season of the Ukulele.
• Multitracking is okay, overdubs are okay. But I'm most interested in hearing you perform a song on the ukulele.
• Original songs are always welcome.
• Collaborations are always welcome.
• Collaborations on original songs? Hell, yeah!
• Videos must be posted to this thread. But not before midnight tonight, Hawaiian time. (And remember, Season 393 still has a day to go.)
• The Season lasts for 8 days, and ends at midnight Hawaiian time on Sunday night, September 8.
NO MORE THAN THREE VIDEOS! I’ve found that’s as many as I can get through and still remain a useful member of society.
• My plan at the moment is to give prizes to three winners who will be chosen randomly. I usually give t-shirts as prizes.


PLAYLIST
 
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cool idea. I have felt like I haven't had my voice with having just an acoustic uke(I sold off my Risa a long while back.) have to see if the local guitar center has a contact mic for me to use.

I recently downloaded Guitar Rig 5 for free as a bundle from the Native Instruments people. Might help some people out with getting an electric sound.
 
what a super theme! :rock:

it's great you have option 2 as well as option 1

for anyone who isn't electric and wants to give it a go, you can get a clip-on pickup for a few quid, you can just pop it on your headstock like you would a clip-on tuner, and micro and mini guitar amps start at about 20 to 25 quid, so it is possible to get everything you need to start playing any uke through an amp, for about the price of a cheap and cheerful little starter uke
 
Oooooh this makes me happy. My family? Probably less so.
 
Great idea, Jim! The dogs should enjoy this, too. Accompaniment!!
 
Wow, this will be fun...I can feel my inner Jimi calling!

Just don't play a Jimi song, because he's one of the few artists whose covers will get you a copyright strike against you from YouTube. But feel free to play the uke with your teeth, or behind your head. That would be awesome.
 
Didn't know that Hendrix' estate were blockers. I did All Along the Watchtower, but I guess that's a Dylan song :) This week should be a lot of fun ~
 
cool idea. I have felt like I haven't had my voice with having just an acoustic uke(I sold off my Risa a long while back.) have to see if the local guitar center has a contact mic for me to use.

I recently downloaded Guitar Rig 5 for free as a bundle from the Native Instruments people. Might help some people out with getting an electric sound.

The shareware Audacity that a lot of people use to record has several effects in it.
 
This is a very scary prospect, Jim ... for me and anyone who has the misfortune to listen to me!
 
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Wow! I had no idea you could get Audacity for free. If anyone is audacious enough to learn how to play the aforementioned "Powerhouse" by Raymond Scott, I'd be truly amazed! Fun season ahead!
 
Early shift arrives.Using my Yamaha Thr5a amp.Size of a tissue box but capable of lush reverb, chorus and delay.Here's one by one of my favourite Australian artists Ed Kuepper.I know the other Aussies here like Ed too_On baritone with a little bit bit of guitar(just the 2 fat strings) and some glockenspeil.
If anyone likes the sound the amp costs about $150 US.
Fun idea Mr Jim!
 
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I haven't got any electric instruments, so I just recorded a song with 'electric' in the title …
 
Perhaps songs by AC/DC would also be in theme...
 
Could this be a Sufi dream or a meditation on May Sarton
“Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything
that sets us back into the slow cycles of nature, is a help.
Gardening is an instrument of grace.”
 
Wow! I had no idea you could get Audacity for free. If anyone is audacious enough to learn how to play the aforementioned "Powerhouse" by Raymond Scott, I'd be truly amazed! Fun season ahead!

As Keith says, Audacity is open source. It's what I use to edit my recordings. I record on a stand alone multi track recorder then export to PC and edit using Audacity. There's more sophisticated DAWs available, imcluding open source ones but Audacity does very nicely for me.
 
The first opportunity I've taken to use my Roland mini-cube amp in a Season. (I think.) I set the effects on Classic Stack. It's really cool when you boost the volume and gain, but forget recording vocals unless you have a much more sophisticated gear than the Blue Snowball and iPad in my possession.

Thought I'd do this one from Chuck, because it has that nice little turnaround.

I've also noticed that a lot of ambient noise got through the Snowball as well, even though the overall volume is pretty low. Amateurs ... :rolleyes:

And thanks for a great season and for both t-shirts Eisley sent my way!

 
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