Ukulele At Its Best

“Step 2: Ukuleles in Paradise 2″ is an album that deserves recognition for ukulele accomplishment. Herb Ohta, Jr. and Daniel Ho create a musical soundscape that I can listen to over and over. The palette of sounds on this album is completely beautiful. There’s nothing fancy on this album, and I love it. But, the simplicity is deceiving. The level of composition, arranging, timing and musicianship is as good as it gets. These guys remind me of classical guitarists on ukuleles.

Herb’s website:
http://www.herbohtajr.com/eng/e_top.html

Daniel’s Website:
www.danielho.com

Step 2: Ukuleles in Paradise 2 available at:
www.mele.com

Slack Key, Ukulele, and a Shaker: Album 2

I’ve begun work on my second album, which is due out in early 2007. The new album features ukulele, guitar, bass (and a shaker. . .) so far. Hopefully, I’ll be adding some trumpet and a steel guitar with the help of some friends. The expanded instrumentation is very exciting, especially since the first album was exclusively guitar.

The recording process has been challenging at times. I’m recording in my New York apartment, which comes complete with car horns, slamming doors, people talking in the hallways, refrigerator noise and every other possible city sound. But, I’m reminded that it’s the music that counts, and the creative process has been very fun thus far.

I’ve recorded a few slack key songs, some ukulele music, and some guitar-centered pieces. I hope this project adds some joy to people’s lives.

Slack Key Guitar Gear

The search is over. For 12 years I’ve been looking for a stompbox that keeps the natural tone of the acoustic guitar, offers great EQ (equalization), delay and reverb. There is such a stompbox, and it’s the Yamaha MagicStomp Acoustic. Mark Nelson, a fine Hawaiian slack key guitar player, first introduced me to the MagicStomp. Then, Herb Ohta, Jr. and Daniel Ho, top flight ukulele players, both attested to its greatness. I had to try one.

Pros:
-The mic modeling is excellent, and improves the pickup (often piezo) sound of an acoustic guitar
-The parametric EQ is great, and provides very deep and clear bass
-The delays and reverbs are transparent

Cons:
-The MagicStomp is very difficult to program, which probably explains its lack of popularity. You can edit patches on a software program, but the software only works on PC’s or older Macs.

Conclusion:
If you’re willing to spend a significant amount of time learning how to use the MagicStomp, it’s the best stompbox for acoustic guitar on the market. Street price for a MagicStomp Acoustic is about $150.

http://www.magicstomp.com/acoustic/

SoundExchange

To all you slack key (ki ho`alu), independent, fingerstyle, Hawaiian, singer-songwriter folks:

ASCAP and BMI have traditionally collected public performance royalties on behalf of publishing companies and songwriters. With the emergence of a relatively new copyright revenue stream from digital music service providers (e.g. Sirius and XM), an additional performing rights organization called SoundExchange was born. However, unlike ASCAP and BMI, SoundExchange still remains relatively unnoticed.

Here’s the short story, if you are a featured performer or sound recording owner of a recording that has been bouncing around the airwaves, there may be royalty money waiting for you at SoundExchange. Here’s a link to the list of artists who are owed royalties:

http://63.236.111.137/jsp/unpaidArtistList.jsp

SoundExchange’s website:
www.soundexchange.com