Ukulele band of 2 girls, 3 guys, 5 different ukes, 5 voices + standup drummer.
Leading a journey of musical genres, laced with sweet harmonies & percussion surprise.
http://www.savoirplunk.com/
Worth Ukulele Strings Importer, Purveyors of Fine New & Pre Loved Ukuleles. Private Lessons & Group Workshops.
Tuesday, 6 December 2016
Wednesday, 9 November 2016
Why wont my headstock tuner Tune my Ukulele? OR Headstock Tuners 440 Hz and Calibration Explained
Headstock tuners are really popular thesedays, but some have a Calibration mode and people accidentally alter the calibration away from 440Hz and end up with ukes out of Tune.
So todays post is all about International Standards, Hertz (Hz), Tuners and Calibration, Lets dive in.
HISTORY TIME
Our Modern Tuners are often fitted with a Calibration Mode (at least the better quality tuners are anyways).
Since WW2 the worldwide standard for an A note is 440Hz, or Concert Pitch.
Before WW2 different countries had different standards for Concert Pitch, some countries were 338 Hz some were 442 Hz etc etc.
The Germans took over Europe and said this will not do, So all the European orchestras adopted the German standard of A = 440Hz.
Post WW2 it stayed that way, the International Standards Organisation was based in Germany post WW2.
WHY THE ABILITY TO CALIBRATE OUR TUNER REMAINS
Standard Modern concert pitch is an A note vibrates at 440 Hz.
We have Ukuleles, Guitars, Bass Piano etc, these stringed instruments are instruments that can be tuned.
But when we play with Brass players they cant tune like we can,
Brass have a fixed Pitch instruments, sometimes they can move their mouth pieces in and out a little to get it a little sharper of flatter, but not by much.
So if you play with a Brass player who has an instrument where the A note is Sharp or Flat of the standard A 440 Hz we can alter our tuners calibration to match the pitch of the Brass players A note.
We then tune our instrument to match their A and all our strings are then either a little flat (or Sharp) but at least we match the Brass player.
OK that is why we have the ability to calibrate our tuners.
HOW TO GET IT BACK TO 440Hz.
The On / Off button is on the rear,
A long press turns it on and a long press turns it off.
But quick presses alters the calibration of the Tuner in 1Hz increments.
So lets re-calibrate
STEPS TO RECALIBRATE YOUR TUNER
Turn the tuner On
Look at the Front face,
Watch the number on the front,
Start quickly pressing the button repeatedly and the numbers will change,
Keep pressing till it cycles back to the number 440.
And bobs yer uncle you are back at standard Concert Pitch of 440 Hz
Sunday, 9 October 2016
Come And Try Ukulele Sat 15th October 2pm – 3:30pm
Sat 15th October
2pm – 3:30pm
Ukuleles Supplied
Ink Pot Arts Arts Hub
Upstairs Mount Barker Town Hall
38 Gawler Street
Booking: P: 0429 673 327
quill@inkpot.com.au
http://www.inkpot.com.au
facebook inkpotarts
Sunday, 25 September 2016
Ohana VK-70 Ukulele. Ohana have been playing in their Time Machine again
Ohana VK-70 Concert/Soprano Ukulele.Solid Spruce Top and mahogany Back and Sides.
$250
Including Postage In Australia.
FREE Headstock Tuner
FREE Lesson via Skype with Jeffrey Thomas.
With the Ohana VK-70 you get a modern well built Ukulele with modern ease of playability AND the Cool 1920's Art Deco looks. An original Roy Smeck Vita Uke from the 1920s will set you back a heap of coin, and finding one in good playing condition is hard.
Luckily for us the good people at Ohana have been playing with their Time Machine again.
This time they have transported us back to 1927 and The Wizard Of the Strings Roy Smecks ukulele of choice, the Vita Style Uke. Complete with its 1920's Deco body and "Seal' Soundholes.
The VK-70 RRP in the USA is $299 USD (Before Shipping) in Australia this ukulele is VERY KEENLY priced at $250 Aussie Dollars Including Shipping.
A Classic Pear-shaped "Vita" style body with solid spruce top is ordained with the equally classic the "Seal Shaped" soundholes.
I always thought the Roy Smeck Vita ukes had such an interesting design, and the 'Seal' shaped soundholes were "Radical and Futuristic' for the 1920's.
WOULD YOU LIKE BITE WITH THAT LOUD TONE
The Ohana VK-70 has a wide broad top and no waist, this makes a much bigger sound than a traditional figure 8 ukulele. Like the Originals the Size of the VK-70 is somewhere between a Soprano and a Concert.
The Spruce top adds a loud bit of Bite to the Ukulele, its NOT in any way a harsh tone, just voiced perfectly to "Cut Through' a mix.
With the Ohana VK-70 you get a modern well built Ukulele with modern ease of playability AND the Cool 1920's Art Deco looks.
Art Deco took its name, short for Arts Décoratifs, from the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes held in Paris in 1925. The
between the wars period was all about the new and futuristic and Art Deco design cues touched seemingly everything, even ukuleles
SPECIFCATIONS OHANA VK-70
Vintage re-issue
Vintage "Vita-Uke" Pear Shape
Solid Spruce Top
Mahogany Back & Sides
Rosewood Fingerboard and Bridge
Aquila Strings, Geared Tuners
Top and Back Binding
Bone Saddle and Nut
HISTORY
Roy Smeck, born Leroy Smeck, 6 February 1900 was an American musician. His skill on the banjo, guitar, steel guitar, and especially the ukulele earned him the Nickname "Wizard of the Strings.
The Vita ukuleles were first made by Harmony in 1927 and Roy Smeck, Mr uke wizard himself endorsed them and hence the vita name, you see the "Vita" part came from the Vitaphone Movie recordings that often featured Roy. The original style Roy Smeck Vita from the Harmony Company was from the fancier end of their Ukulele range. IMHO were the equal of any Martin or Lyon & Healy product from the era.
The Vita had a futuristic body shape that is approximately concert uke wide and with a 14" scale so the Vita is somewhere between a concert uke and a soprano uke.
ABOUT OHANA UKULELES
"Welcome to Ohana, where you will find the many hand-crafted ukulele models we offer. Our selection ranges from: soprano to baritone, mahogany to selected
koa from the islands of Hawaii, conventional to vintage models, and also unique models for those who are looking for something different.
At Ohana, our goal is to provide the highest quality product at a reasonable price.Every ukulele that leaves our warehouse is carefully inspected and set up for maximum playability. Yes that's right — EVERY UKULELE, regardless of model
and price. Should musicians compromise on quality just because they need an entry-level ukulele? We don't think they should.
At Ohana, we believe in the basic concepts of QUALITY, PLAYABILITY, and VALUE. As a player you deserve each of these when you purchase a musical instrument.
Ohana Music markets its products primarily through a network of excellent dealers around the world. However, we are here to answer any questions you may have. So go ahead, send Ohana an email or call; we will be happy to inform you about the products Ohana offers.
Meanwhile, have fun, share the Aloha spirit with your loved ones, and Happy Strumming!"
Ohana VK-70 Concert/Soprano Ukulele.
Solid Spruce Top and mahogany Back and Sides.
$250
Including Postage In Australia.
FREE Headstock Tuner
FREE Lesson with Jeffrey Thomas.
Sunday, 31 July 2016
Aquila Red Ukulele Strings AQ-86U Concert Low wound g string
CONCERT LOW G SET
RED SERIES®
A unique feeling and a strong, consistent sound. Until now, it was necessary to increase the gauge of a string for it to produce a lower-pitched note. But increasing the string’s diameter also increases internal dampening. That makes the string less bright, less responsive and more muffled; the thicker the string, the duller the sound.
Aquila's revolutionary new approach — unique to Aquila — changes the specific weight of the material, increasing it progressively to leave the gauge almost unchanged.
RED SERIES® sets provide superior performance over traditional strings for musicians who love bright sounds and powerful voicing across the full scale of the instrument.
You never heard a sound like this before, simply because before it did not exist.
WHY ARE THERE DIFFERENT SHADES OF RED?
In the manufacturing process of our Red Series strings we use different percentages of metal powder to optimise each string’s performance within the set. Because of this, the colour varies slightly with each string in a set of Reds.
Density is in fact the secret of quality sound in a low string and Aquila are happy to announce that they managed to overcome this difficult technological challenge (tried by many others but without success).
Now, with Aquilas RED SERIES® strings you can finally tune your ukulele to Low G with the certainty of powerful sound quality and a superior intonation across the frets that is fully integrated with that of the upper treble strings.
MAIN FEATURES
The technical solution adopted was firstly to make the Nylgut elastic and then add red copper powder in order to increase the density to about twice that of standard white Nylgut.
- Color: red-brown
- Surface: slightly rough; this texture has eliminated the squeak that sometime occurs with the Nylgut strings.
- Elasticity/Elongation: consistent with white Nylgut!
- Performances: better than the first elastic version! They do not break under tension providing rapid, stable tuning!
- Intonation: accurate past the 12th fret
- Pressing the string firmly down on the frets does not cause the note to sharpen.
- It is not necessary to file the nut slot wider to accommodate our RED SERIES® string.
- Density: about twice than standard white Nylgut.
Katie Kitchen Sponsored Artist Uses Kala Traveller Series and Padauk Series ukulele
Katie Kitchen is a Singer, Songwriter, Artist, Radio Personality, Writer, Publisher and Ukulele Player, a real Renaissance woman.
And Now Ukulele Trading Co Australia's First Sponsored Artist. Katie K currently uses a Kala Traveller Series and a Kala Padauk Series ukulele.
Unlike Phil Spector we would never shout at Katie Kitchen on the phone.
"regardless of what I have done in my life,
from living in other countries to drawing a lot to having kids to working various interesting jobs –
when I meet new people (which happens often because of the lots of different things I like to do), my introduction almost inevitably includes the phrase “She plays the ukulele”.
Except for one friend, who always introduces me with the phrase ...
“She got shouted at on the phone by Phil Spector!”
Which is true, but another post."
Katie Kitchen
Thursday, 21 July 2016
CK-28 Concert Size "Vintage Nunes' Style Solid Mahogany Ukulele with FREE Hardcase Tuner, Setup and Postage
Solid Mahogany Ukulele.
Retail is $495.
Includes
FREE Hardcase,
FREE Tuner,
FREE Set-up*
FREE Postage in Australia.
*Plus as per normal I bundle ukes with
a full set-up with your choice of
either Low or High G
The CK-28 Limited Edition Concert Ukulele is a crackingly good instrument and a
Star Seller of mine.
A sweet tone and great Playability with those Ultra Hip Retro Looks.
This Ukulele is really Rocking the look of that centre racing stripe and rope binding.
And it is made fully of Solid Mahogany too boot.
The Concert sized Nunes style ukulele now joins the little brother the Soprano SK-28. And it is a Seriously Good Quality Concert Ukulele because it's an Ohana Ukulele.
"I play lots of different ukuleles every week,
what with Personal Shoppers getting Demos
and doing Ukulele Setups everyday.
the Ohana CK-28 is becoming a favourite of mine,
they are so damn sweet sounding, and they play great." CHEERS CC
ABOUT
The 'Figure 8' or 'Peanut' body shape is a true classic, it is the closest relative of the
Portuguese instruments brought to the Hawaiian islands.
Dias and Manuel Nunes the earliest ukulele makers and crafted ukuleles for more than 40 years
and are legend amongst ukulele enthusiasts.
History tells that Samuel Kamaka and Nunes own son, Leonardo,
were apprentices and continued making quality ukuleles.
In 1998, the Ukulele Hall of Fame inducted Manuel Nunes into their honorees.
WELL DONE CREATING THIS UKULELE
Louis Wu of Ohana Music has come up with a fantastic homage to the 'original' ukulele,
Louis Wu of Ohana Music has come up with a fantastic homage to the 'original' ukulele,
made in the traditional Portuguese / Hawaiian style.
SUMMARY
If you are serious about your ukulele playing and uke collecting then a 'Peanut' body style Concert is a must have for you.
The fretboard is completely flush with the body, another vintage style feature - this leaves more of the top to vibrate, helping to shape the tone of the instrument.
This Concert has such a pleasing warm tone and easy playability that you soon realise that the old master Luthiers really were onto something good!
SPECS
Premium Solid Mahogany top, back and sides
Friction tuning heads
Rosewood fingerboard and bridge
Vintage Nunes/Dias Style Rope Binding
Bone nut and saddle
14 frets Aquila Nylgut strings (or Worth)
Limited edition
Vintage re-issue
Nunes/Dias style body shape
Solid Premium Mahogany top, back & sides
Rope binding
Vintage finish
Gotoh tuners
Solid Mahogany Ukulele.
Retail is $495.
Includes
FREE Hardcase,
FREE Tuner,
FREE Set-up*
FREE Postage in Australia.
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