The Mumpsimus Blog

Relearning the bass and other follies

06 julio 2011

Posted by Ian Chadwick in Personal reminisence, Music and ukuleles, Social values

The past few weeks I've been a bit pre-occupied with several tasks and pursuits, so I haven't been blogging much, although I have been busy. About a month ago, I bought an Epiphone Viola bass from Blue Mountain Music. It was the culmination of several months' exploration and investigation of bass instruments that began with an electric...

Read Full Entry →

Tags: ukulele, guitar, bass, music 0 Comments

Vintage ukulele music site online

31 mayo 2011

Posted by Ian Chadwick in Music and ukuleles, art, culture and reviews

Finally finished my site for vintage ukulele music, a place where I can write a bit about the music, composers and performers from the 1920s and 30s. And it's a place where I can show off (and sell) my collection of song sheets and song books scanned to PDF. I have developed a real passion for the music of this era since I started playing the...

Read Full Entry →

Tags: vintage, ukulele, music 0 Comments

Bass, electric bass and EUB (or EDB)?

25 diciembre 2010

Posted by Ian Chadwick in Personal reminisence, Music and ukuleles

Been thinking a lot about bass lately. Not the fish, but rather the musical instrument. I want to play one, at least a lot better than I can now.

Back in the mid-60s, I was in a garage band. They already had two guitarists, so I sort-of played bass, but I played it on the low strings of my six-string electric guitar (a Kent, as I recall). I went...

Read Full Entry →

Tags: music, bass, ukulele 3 Comments

New baritone uke on its way

05 noviembre 2010

Posted by Ian Chadwick in Music and ukuleles

I just made a deal to buy a used baritone uke from a fellow member of the Ukulele Underground forums, in Nova Scotia.

Posted Image

It's a handmade baritone, all mahogany, made by Aaron Kleim of Beansprout ukuleles. The current owner also had a passive pickup...

Read Full Entry →

Tags: ukulele, baritone 1 Comments

Jupiter Creek solid-body baritone

06 octubre 2010

Posted by Ian Chadwick in Music and ukuleles, Personal reminisence

Haven't had a lot of time this past two weeks to practice music, because of the election, my new part-time job, and working for clients on Websites. But late last week I got my Jupiter Creek baritone in the mail. It's mostly been sitting around waiting for me, but I finally got to take a few photos, yesterday, for my upcoming review.

This...

Read Full Entry →

Tags: ukulele, baritone, Jupiter Creek 0 Comments

Glass saddles and ukuleles, a test

17 agosto 2010

Posted by Ian Chadwick in Personal reminisence, Music and ukuleles

Ever since I started playing the ukulele, I've been delving deeper into the science and mystery of acoustics. For the past two and a half years I've been trying to understand how and why a ukulele - or any stringed instrument - generates sound. What factors influence the sounds we hear, and who can changing one or more element change that...

Read Full Entry →

Tags: glass saddle, acoustics, baritone, ukulele 2 Comments

A call for help, ukulele style

04 julio 2010

Posted by Ian Chadwick in Social values, Music and ukuleles

Most of you know I play the ukulele. For 40-plus years before I discovered the uke, I played the guitar. I was never very good on the guitar: my passion for making music far exceeded my technical skills. But I had a passion for playing music that has sometimes translated itself into a variety of instruments, from flutes to sitar. I've managed...

Read Full Entry →

Tags: music archive, song sheet, song book, vintage music, ukulele 0 Comments

A new uke and a new site

17 mayo 2010

Posted by Ian Chadwick in Collingwood life, Music and ukuleles, technology

Spent most of last week working on Web sites, mine and a couple of contract jobs for friends. Haven't done a lot of Web-related work the last few years and I was rusty. I was struggling with some of the CSS elements, trying to remember...

Read Full Entry →

Tags: ukulele, Risa, Web design, Ian Chadwick 0 Comments

Archiving vintage ukulele music

09 mayo 2010

Posted by Ian Chadwick in Music and ukuleles, Collingwood life, Social values

In the two decades between the end of World War One and the start of World War Two, the ukulele was arguably the most popular musical instrument in the Western world. It was small, relatively inexpensive, and with only four strings it was relatively easy to...

Read Full Entry →