In August of 2009, my family rented a beach
house for a week on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan at Sturgeon Bay. I packed
my Talsma tenor ukulele and my portable Zoom digital recorder.
My plan was to record solo ukulele songs using traditional 1920-1950's recording techniques. I've always admired the musicians of that era and their ability to go into the studio and play a song from start to finish flawlessly, starting over if they made a mistake. Here's what I did...
My "studio" was an upstairs bedroom with a panoramic view of Lake Michigan - not bad, eh? At 7am, Monday - Friday. I recorded the following twelve songs in sequence. I recorded each song once (and only once) during that day's session. If wasn't happy with my performance or made a mistake during the cut, I would not record a retake until the next day's session.
Here are the best of the five takes...
Patricia |
|
Cuban bandleader Perez Prado "The Mambo
King" had a #1 hit with this in 1958. |
Bei Mir Bist Du Shon |
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The Andrews Sisters chart
topping song of 1938. |
I Got You! |
|
1965 hit for James Brown - The King of Soul. |
Ashokan Farewell |
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The theme from the the 1990 PBS mini-series
'The Civil War'. |
Hangman's Reel |
|
A traditional three part French Canadian
fiddle tune - played clawhammer uke style. |
Estrellita |
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"My Little Star" Manuel Ponce's classic
Latin number. |
Pig Ankle Strut |
|
1928 hit for Cannon's Jug Stompers. |
I Dream of Jeannie - TV Theme |
|
Oh Master... |
Cheek To Cheek |
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An Irving Berlin tune and a 1935 hit for
Fred Astaire. From the movie 'Top Hat'. |
Black And White Rag |
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George Botsford's 1908 Ragtime composition. |
Happy Together |
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The Turtle's #1 song from 1967. |
Maria Elena |
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A love song composed in 1932 by Mexican President
Emilo Portes Gil for his wife. We need more musicial presidents. |
| DISCLAIMER: All music
is the property of the Gerald Ross. All music is intended for educational
purposes only, it is to be used in a "listen only" format and may not
be reproduced in any form or used for profit. |
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