As I have been exploring what can be done on the ukulele, I have become more and more enamored with the sound of jazz chords on the ukulele. Listening to Lyle Ritz’ remarkable recordings with just ukulele and bass have inspired me. This is an arrangement of my own devising of a song that I have loved for a very long time.
Please excuse the synthesized drum and bass, they are the best I can do. For now…
Here is an audio only mp3 for you to listen to or download:
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I head an old NPR interview with Lyle Ritz about his album “No Frills” where he recorded several jazz standards in Garage Band over synthesized bass lines he entered himself. It was so clean, approachable, and free of pretension that it inspired me to fire up Garage Band and record this song I have been playing with for a while now.
“Love Is a Song” from: Walt Disney’s Bambi:
Words by: Larry Morey Music by: Frank Churchill Ukulele: Kala Curly Mango Soprano (Christmas present) Drum loop: Garage Band Bass: Recorded in Garage Band using a midi keyboard
Audio only mp3:
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On New Years Day my brother, Nate, and I spent the day relaxing with my girlfriend, Chelsea, and her room mate Joel. It was a lovely day and in the evening we decided to record a song. We decided to record (and film) The Beach Boys’ song “In My Room” by Brian Wilson and Gary Usher. We were quite lucky to find a transcription of the voice parts here.
The results:
Also available as a free mp3:
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While I was home for Christmas, I was watching lots of ukulele videos on Youtube. Somewhere in my wanderings I came across the Risa Uke Solid and my mind was blown. It’s a small electric ukulele made out of a single solid piece of wood and some hardware. The simplicity of the design made me think: “Hey, I could do that” and so I began thinking about how I could make a simple electric ukulele myself. Two days later, with lots of help from my dad and his tools, I have a working electric ukulele made from stuff I found around my parent’s house and a set of $4 ukulele strings. It’s currently fret-less and the pickup leaves a lot to be desired but my goal was really to create a mock-up so that I would know what I was doing when I built the actual thing.
Inspired on my previous experimentation with parallel fifth harmonies, and my new ukulele (more on that soon), my dad and I recorded this version of Mary Had a Little Lamb where I sang and played the same song a fifth above. He was playing his guitar and singing in the key of C, and I was playing my ukulele and and singing in the key of G.
I would like to introduce you all to my new creation UkeChord. UkeChord is an automated Twitter robot who will send you ukulele fingerings for any chord you request. Please share your thoughts or improvements in the comments below.
Goal: To offer Ukulele chord fingerings via text message.
As well as turning 28, last month my brother graduated from UCSD with is PhD(!) in mathematics. So, as a combined gift, I got the family and Chelsea together to record a math themed song for him. We recorded “That’s Mathematics” by Tom Lehrer.
Happy birthday and congratulation Nathaniel. You are the best source of pride and inspiration a little brother cold ask for.
Tom Lehrer’s “That’s Mathematics” for Nathaniel:
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Inspired by the recording I made with my friends, I decided to record a non-barbershop song. I decided on “Were Going To Be Friends” by the White Stripes. I recorded in four passes, each of which required several takes. First the ukulele track, which almost gave me carpel tunnel, then the melody, and then two different harmony tracks. The harmonies were based on a harmony I remember my friend Rosie Steffy singing when she first introduced me to this song many years ago.
Have a listen to this cover of the White Stripe’s “Were Going To Be Friends”:
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In my previous post I sang the ABCs backwards with solffeg hand signs. Now, out of curiosity and my eternal pursuit of the way of the nerd, I added a different challenge into the mix:
Thanks to Brandon for reversing the video, so that you can hear the actual melody.
What’s all this then?
My name is Jordan Eldredge. I am a musician, a programmer and a geek.
This blog is contains: the results of my various personal projects.
This blog does not contain: rants, ramblings, philosophies, observations, journal entries or personal drama.
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