While doing my usual surf for ukulele interests on the net. I found a homespun luthier with an adventuristic and artistic eye. He lives in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Now I have a theory, about people from the Northern Snowy Climes, it is hithertoo unpublished and unresearched. But my maternal ancestry is from Northern Sweden, just below the artic circle. My theory is that those trapped by the deep snows in the dead of winter have quite a bit of time to spend with themselves, I think they have a better knowledge of themselves and perhaps create strong interests and hobbies while in forced hibernation. Whereas, in the sunnier climes we spend much times busying about, and finding entertainment.
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The ukulele is giving us, I suspect you the reader are also a player of the beloved uke, a return to the concept of parlour music, friends getting together, singing, and socializing. I have found that the local uke clubs are a great place to meet, socialize, develop friendships, as well as build ukulele/music skills. Over the past few months, I have come to appreciate smaller gatherings with friends of similar interests... oh, another topic for the future.
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Back to the surfing find. Michael Parmenter has built several unusually shaped ukuleles that I think are quite spectacular. Take a look at http://canuke.blogspot.com/ . Michael has also put some ukulele tablature at http://ukeclassicaltabs.blogspot.com/ and used a tablature program that I hadn't seen before, called http://www.tabledit.com/ I opened up the free version and studied it a bit. It looked to have a musical score and tablature combined in a clever way. I'll have to try it more later.
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Michael wrote me, "I'm just a guy working in his basement with minimum equipment and hand tools, no previous woodworking experience and getting all my information from books and the Internet, so I'm sort of re-inventing the wheel with each new instrument. Hence the plain look, but with the benefit of great freedom in design, and the joys of small inventions. Some of the medieval character is also deliberate as I am much inspired by the medieval spirit in instruments and music."
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Isn't that tenor uke a beauty! HU.
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