Tag Archives: slack key ukulele

LIVE 161 • Glass Ball Slack Key (Kamaka HF-3D)

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Glass Ball Slack Key is a favorite chestnut (or perhaps kukui nut) of uke players in Hawai’i; it’s a fun little ditty that is sure to please aunty or uncle.  I learned this song watching and listening to the great Led Ka’apana over the years.  A recorded version can be found on the classic Led Live album.  Many other ukulele players have covered the song over the years as well.  Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Kamaka Koa Deluxe Tenor ukulele (Kamaka HF-3D, high G with either Uke Logic Soft Tension or Ko’olau Aho strings, and a Thomastik-Infeld CF-27 flat wound third string) and a Telefunken M60 small diaphragm condenser microphone.

LIVE 070 • Sunny Afternoon In My Ohana (Koaloha Pineapple Soprano)

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Today’s song from the vaults is an ukulele improvisation dubbed “Sunny Afternoon in My Ohana,” after the ohana unit where I recorded it. The unit centered on a large tile floored room with great acoustics that I kept mostly empty of furniture for recording purposes. People think of tile as producing a bright, harsh sound, but I never found the room to be that way at all. At any rate, it complemented the sound of ukulele nicely and though I only have a handful of uke recordings from that time, I recall playing uke a lot while living there. Anyway, this is one of those recordings; I hope you enjoy this music.

Recorded with a Koaloha pineapple soprano ukulele and a matched stereo pair of Shure KSM141 microphones in Holualoa, Hawai’i, 3/1/08.