Ukulabu Meeting in Singapore Confirmation
11
Nov

Hi all,

It is confirmed that we are meeting in Peninsular Plaza on Friday, 14th of November 2008, 7pm. Kenny has booked the studio at 7pm. Dinner will be quite rushed, due to the time accommodation. After dinner, we’ll jam and have fun till 9pm. The studio is only available till that time.

On behalf of everyone, I’d like to really thank Kenny for booking the studio and for his generosity of letting us use his ukuleles. I myself didn’t bring back my ukulele due to too much luggage load from KL. Kenny has offered to bring 3 of his ukuleles. So once again, thank you very much!

So far it’s Kenny, Shermin and me, who has confirmed the meeting. I am still awaiting Ralph’s email. Any of you who wish to join in, can do so as well! Just drop a comment in here~

See you all soon!

Annoucement: Travel back to Singapore (10th – 14th November)
4
Nov

Hi everyone,

I presume that everyone is coincidentially busy, like what Kenny said. It so happens that I am required to work from the 10th till 14th of November in Singapore. I’d like to take this rare chance to meet up with the guys and gals from Singapore, who have supported this site so far.

Let us discuss and try to agree on a good day and time (preferably after 7pm, unless its the weekend of that week)..

The itenary? Dinner, chit chat, photo-taking sessions and ukulele playing. I don’t know if there’s a place whereby we can have food and play around there at the same time (won’t wanna disturb others)… I’m up for suggestions~!

Appreciate everyone’s response.

Take care~

Busy Times
1
Nov

Hi all,

I apologize for the lack of updates recently in the site.
Been kinda busy recently…

We’ve got a new visitor named Ralph from East Coast, Singapore…

Once again, thank you all for your understanding and support in this site!

– Alan Soo

Saboten No Hana (サボテ ンの花) Recording
18
Oct

My goodness, its been 10 days since I last updated anything here.
Time certainly flies, as I’ve been rather busy with work itself.

Anyway, for those of you who have checked out the Ichigo Ichie Live 2007 post earlier, there is this song entitled サボテ ンの花, which translates to ‘Saboten No Hana‘. I first came across this song in this particular YouTube video. It cause my attention and I started figuring out how to play it, by watching the video over and over again. The song is actually off a Japanese Dorama Under The Same Roof. The artist is named TULIP.

So here it is, my recording of the song. This time, I tried using back my normal mic used for MSN video call chats. Distance wise, I was about half a meter away from the mic. Mixed it with SONAR’s reverb, without any compression this time. The recording is much softer, but I kinda liked it.

I appreciate any feedback from anyone~

 

Amazing Ukulele Percussions
8
Oct

Hi everyone,

So far, when it comes to ukulele playing, James Hill has been absolutely amazing with getting different sounds out from an amplified ukulele. Check out his percussion-ukulele piece below:

PS: It does not sound ukulele at all, its either you like it, or you don’t!

As for Jake, less fancy, but amazing as well. Check out the mid interval of Me and Shirley T.

I so MUST get my ukulele amplified.

Transcribed Project: Wo Bu Pei
5
Oct

This time, my latest transcribed tab is another Jay Chou song, by the name of Wo Bu Pei (我不配). The song is in A#/Bb Major. I have left the ending outro of the tab with just chords. I personally would play around with some improvised strumming / picking.

Will try to get a nice recorded version out soon, so then everyone can have a look and we can further improve the tab together.

As usual, if you have problems with any part of the song, drop me a comment/email. You may download the tab and MIDI at the Tabs Section.

Enjoy the tab.

=)

Lessons anyone?
29
Sep

Hi all,

If any of you want to ask any questions / request for beginner lessons etc etc, just feel free to drop a comment in this post. I am thinking of adding a ‘Uke Lessons’ page in this site, to teach beginners, as well as cater to questions related to playing. I can record some videos and post it on YouTube, and showcase in here.

Of course, you can also ask about any other questions, like ‘what strings to use/recommend’ etc etc etc….

Thanks.

Hope to hear from you all soon.

– Alan Soo

Blue Roses Falling~
28
Sep

Here is a beautiful song written by Jake Shimabukuro, and it’s entitled Blue Roses Falling. I tried recording this in the living room of my apartment, and it sounds slightly different from recording within my small bedroom.

 

 

For those of you who have done recording before, I have a questions for you all. Somehow I feel that when I use my finger nail to strum the strings, it gives this very hard attack sound, which gets recorded into the mic as well, and it is very obvious in all my recordings. Anyone knows how to get around this? Regardless of whether its a playing technique/recording equipment/sound engineering issue, I’m all ears!

Thanks in advanced~

Dominator’s Spruce Top Tenor Ukulele
28
Sep

Hi folks,

Been rather busy with other activities recently. So I apologize for not posting up any playing/listening/tabbed material on ukulabu.com. However, I did do my usual YouTube surfing, and I found out that Mr Dominator has completed his Spruce Top Tenor ukulele, for his coming stage performance for 7th Annual Ukulele Festival in Southern California! Well done Dominator! Let’s give him a round of applause~

Check out his video below:

It sounds really great. Dominator has been making many quite a number of ukuleles for others and himself. I’d love to meet him to look at those ukuleles! For those of you who don’t know who Dominator is, check him out by looking through his tabs library here.

Jake Shimabukuro and Tommy Emmanuel Jam
24
Sep

Good evening folks!

I’d like to introduce under an Ukulabu shoutout, an amazing guitar player, whom I’ve only got to know who he is today…. His name is Tommy Emmanuel from Australia. I was doing the usual surfing around YouTube, and I came across this great jam involving Jake Shimabukuro and Tommy Emmanuel. They were playing While My Guitar Gently Weeps. Jake was awesome, and Tommy totally matched his awesome-ness!

This is the first time I saw Tommy play, and I have to say, that when I was still playing guitar back in the past, I liked to play songs to which you can be like a “one man show” kinda thing. The ability to play the melody, backup and percussion, (while using only one instrument) always facinates me.

To better explain what I mean, check out Tommy’s video on the song Angelina:

Amazing isn’t it?
Do check out Tommy’s official website here.