transcript: [PLAYING MUSIC] [APPLAUSE] JAKE SHIMABUKURO: Thank you. Thank you. This next song that I'd like
to perform for you is-- you know, one of the cool things
about playing the ukulele is that you have a very
limited range. And you have just basically
four strings to work with. And I kind of talked about this
the last time I was here. I said that you only
have four strings. And sometimes, it can appear
to be very limiting. Because you think, oh,
on the ukulele, I only have four strings. But on the guitar, a guitar has
six strings and you can get a much fuller sound
and a bigger sound. And you always want more and
more and more and more. So I wrote this song recently. Because I've been trying
to compose more. And I always try to come up
with a concept or an idea, whenever I'm writing
a new piece. So this idea, though, came
about by accident. See, I was changing my ukulele
strings one day. And I put the first string on. [PLUCKS STRING] And then I put the
second string on. [PLUCKS STRING] And then, I was going to put
the third string on, but I couldn't find that string. So I was like, where did
I put my third string? So I grabbed the
fourth string. I put the fourth string on. [PLUCKS STRING] And instead of rushing off to
look for another third string, I thought to myself, wouldn't
it be cool to write a song with just three strings? So this is a song called
"Missing Three." And it's a piece that just
uses three strings. That's it. And I thought it was
kind of cool. Because on the ukulele,
you always want more. You always think you
need more strings. You need a greater range. So this is a song called
"Missing Three" that kind of proves that you don't
always need more. Sometimes less truly is more. And if you know what you're
going for, if you know what you want to say or what you're
trying to communicate, then sometimes you can just
do it with three strings, rather than four. So here's a song called
"Missing Three." [MUSIC - JAKE SHIMABUKURO,
"MISSING THREE"] [APPLAUSE] JAKE SHIMABUKURO: Thank
you very much. Thank you. A song entitled "Missing
Three." A couple other things happened
to me since the last time I was here. Shortly after I was here at
Google, I got married. So that was pretty cool. And seven weeks ago, my wife
and I had our first baby. I know, I'm a dad. That's kind of a scary
thought, right? But it's the most
amazing thing. Because I'm kind of at that age
where a lot of my friends have children. And a lot of them, they're on
their second child already. But I remember when they first
had their baby, they would always send me photos. Or they on their phones, they'd
show me pictures. And then I'm just like,
oh yeah, cute. But on the inside I'm like,
I don't want to see this. Why are you showing me this? But it's amazing. It's so different when
it's your own child. When it's your own child, you're
just like, oh my god. Every little thing that they
do, it's the cutest, most adorable thing. And it's so funny because
now, I'll send pictures to everyone. But it's really the most
amazing thing. And so this next song,
I wrote it actually-- maybe when my wife was about
six months pregnant. I wrote this song
for the baby. And it's a song I call
"Gentlemandolin." And like I was explaining before, that when
I write a piece, I always like to have some concept,
something that is different from anything else that I've
done before in the past. And the way this song came about
was, I love the sound of the mandolin. The mandolin is actually
tuned like a violin. So it has a wide range. It has over a three-octave
range, whereas the ukulele only has a two-octave range. So you can get these beautiful,
lush chords on the mandolin that are
very difficult to get on the ukulele. So I came across this chord
voicing that to me, in my mind, kind of mimics the voicing
of a mandolin player. And it sounds like this. It's a really far stretch
like this, but you get this kind of sound. [STRUMMING CHORDS] JAKE SHIMABUKURO: It doesn't
sound like a ukulele. It sounds more like
a mandolin. So I wrote this song. And I used that idea for
this tune for my son. And I call it "Gentlemandolin."
And the title came about because I was
thinking that I hope one day when my son grows up, he'll
grow up to be a fine gentleman-- dolin. [LAUGHTER] JAKE SHIMABUKURO: Here we go. All right, it's cheesy. I know. All right. Here we go. [MUSIC - JAKE SHIMABUKURO,
"GENTLEMANDOLIN"] [APPLAUSE] JAKE SHIMABUKURO: Thank
you very much. Man. I get my inspiration from
a lot of things. I'm sure it's the same
for all of you. All of you here, you're
all artists. And you're always trying to
think of the next thing and what's going to be that
next big idea. And it's funny because sometimes
I get a lot of my inspiration from the most
unusual things. I just did a short interview
out here for that video. I think it's called
"My Favorite Things." What's it's called? AUDIENCE: Yes. JAKE SHIMABUKURO: "My Favorite
Things." So one of the things that I talked about was one of
my favorite performances ever was a performance
of Bill Cosby. Bill Cosby, a long time ago, he
did this HBO special, this stand-up comedy special, called
"Bill Cosby, Himself." And it was the most-- I think till this day, of all
the comedians out there, this performance is still like the
bible of stand-up comedy. And if you haven't seen
it, you really should check it out. You guys have it in
your archive. So you should definitely
check it out. But if you can get the actual
DVD of the entire performance, it is truly amazing. It's almost two hours long. And Bill Cosby sits
in a chair. Not even a high chair,
a regular-- like a chair that you're
sitting in. And he's just sitting in that
chair, holding a microphone, and telling these stories. And everyone is just at the
edge of their seats, just dying, laughing,
so entertained. And I realized-- because see,
for me, that was very significant. Because when I first started out
playing the ukulele, I was always playing with a singer. There was always a singer. And then I would be in
the back playing-- [PLAYING CHORDS] [LAUGHTER] JAKE SHIMABUKURO: I would
be the backing guy. So I'd be in the back,
just kind of playing. And then when they're done
singing, then I'd take a little solo. [PLAYING MELODY] JAKE SHIMABUKURO: And
then back to-- [STRUMMING CHORDS] JAKE SHIMABUKURO: --and then
they're singing again. So that was kind of my job. And the reason for
that is because I am a terrible singer. I can't sing to save my life. So after a while, when I stopped
working with singers, I thought-- I had this little band
in high school. And when we broke up, I thought,
oh, no, that's the end for me. Because what am I going to do? I can't sing. I'm just going to
play my ukulele? I remember being so intimidated
by standing up in front of an audience just with
my ukulele and playing. In fact, some of my early
performances, I would go on stage and just be like,
(MUMBLING) uh, oh, this song is called "Sunshine
of Your Love." [MUSIC - "SUNSHINE
OF YOUR LOVE"] JAKE SHIMABUKURO: And I
would start playing. But I was so afraid. Because I just thought, oh, the
ukulele by itself, it just sounds so empty. And it doesn't have that full
sound that I'm used to hearing when I go and listen
to a concert. I want that big, big
sound, right? But I couldn't get that
with this instrument. But when I saw "Bill Cosby,
Himself," when I saw him-- and I saw a man just come up on
stage in front of thousands of people, sit in a chair
with a microphone. And he could just connect
with every single person in the room. And I was watching this
on television. And I still felt like
I was there. I felt like every story he was
telling, he was looking right at me and telling this. Like I was sitting down in his
living room and he was just sharing this amazing
story with me. And I was so inspired by that. Because then I realized,
you know what? The instrument that we hold
is just an illusion. Guitar players-- like if you
watch Jimi Hendrix, yeah, he's playing the guitar. But the guitar is just
an illusion. His artistry, his music,
he's communicating-- it's his whole-- before you even hear
his guitar, you're hearing his spirit. He's communicating this thing. Like one of the things that I
believe is all the music that you play and you hear happens. It's created and happens before
it even gets to your instrument. Before I play that chord,
I need to create it inside of me. I need to feel it and just
create it first. And then, then I can
play that chord. Or before I bend that note-- [PLAYING MUSIC, GUITAR-SOLO
STYLE] JAKE SHIMABUKURO: --I need to
create it inside of me, before it even gets to the
instrument. So I used to watch him. And I used to watch
him all the time. I watched that performance
over and over. And he's just so natural. And the title of that tour was
"Bill Cosby, Himself." And I realized that that's
all you got to be. It doesn't matter if you're
talking to one person or 1,000 people. The more you're comfortable with
who you are, if you can just get up in front of--
and not be afraid to make fun of yourself. And not to have expectations
of the audience, I think, is a big key. And that's the cool thing about
being a ukulele player, is that audiences have such low
expectations of me anyway. So if I don't have any
expectations of my audience, I can simply get up on stage
and just do my thing. And I don't have to worry
about anything. If someone laughs, if they stay,
then that's all a bonus. So I was telling that story
because I was trying to relate that to a song. Yeah, yeah, so. What song was I going
to play now? I don't remember. But anyway, that's kind
of where a lot of my inspiration came from. It's not so much about
playing the ukulele. But it's just about
communicating with people. And that's what all of you do. Through Google, through YouTube,
you're providing a vehicle for people to
communicate from one side of our planet all the way
to the other side. And it makes the planet
seem so much smaller. It makes our world seem
so much smaller. And I think that's
a great thing. Because I grew up in
Hawaii, where we live on a small island. And everyone's so
community-minded. We're always thinking about
the other person. And we all see how we're related
and what I do affects this other person. What that person does affects
the other person. And I think it's such a great
way to look at the world now, is that we are all connected. We're all connected. And I think through music and
through what you do, I think it's the perfect example. Because to me, music is not just
a universal language, but it's the language
of the universe. And you're helping to
spread that language all across the world. And it's a beautiful thing. So I'm going to play
one more song here. And they've asked me to try to
play more original stuff just because of copyright issues
and all of that. But I did want to play this one
piece because this is the reason I'm here. And this is what started
it all for me. And it was a simple four-minute
video clip that happened to show up on
the internet one day. And it was for a television show
that I had done in New York called "Ukulele Disco." And I think I told this
story the last time. But since then, I've made some
changes to the song. So I thought I'd
play it again. But this is George Harrison's
"While My Guitar Gently Weeps." [APPLAUSE] JAKE SHIMABUKURO: And it's
probably my favorite song to play on the ukulele. And I can't play this enough. This is just so much fun. But it's amazing, talking about
how to express yourself through the instrument. It's not just about the notes
that you're playing or the chords that you're playing. But it's everything. It's just all the sounds
that you can create. [PLAYING MUSIC] [MUSIC - "WHILE MY GUITAR
GENTLY WEEPS"] [APPLAUSE] JAKE SHIMABUKURO: Thank
you very much. Thank you. Whew, thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you very much. MALE SPEAKER: That
was awesome. And I just wanted you to
know that was just such a famous version. That was how I was introduced
to your music. And I just wanted to know if
you wanted to talk a little bit about George Harrison. I know that he was an ambassador
of the ukulele. George was famous for riding
around in a car full of them and passing them out and wanting
to literally get together and play with
everyone he went. If you want to talk a little
bit about that? JAKE SHIMABUKURO: Yeah, George
Harrison was one of my heroes. He just adored this
instrument. He had 100 times more ukuleles
than I have. But the cool thing-- though I never got
to meet him. I wish I did. I met his wife, Olivia Harrison,
a few times. She actually came to a
couple of my shows. And that was pretty amazing,
being able to speak with her and talk with her. And she kept telling me, oh, I
wish George was still alive today because he just loved
this instrument so much. And he really believed that this
instrument had so much potential to reach beyond. To me-- and I can't say exactly-- but
I think George Harrison probably felt the same way. I think that the ukulele
is very special. It's different from other
instruments because people aren't afraid of this
instrument. They're not intimidated by it. Because a lot of people don't
even think of it as a real instrument. They think it's a toy, right? And I embrace that. I love that. Because I think every
instrument should-- people should feel like that
about every instrument. The piano-- oh, the
piano, I can do-- oh, yeah, yeah-- or the violin
or whatever it is. Because if you're afraid of an
instrument, then you're never going to want to pick it up. You'll be too intimidated. Or in your mind, you think
it's too hard. But with the ukulele-- I mean, my grandmother just
started playing the ukulele. And now, she's jamming
with her girlfriends. And they're singing, you are
my sunshine, my only sun-- they're singing songs
like that. But like I said earlier, I
believe that music is not just the universal language,
but it's the language of the universe. And there's something amazing
that happens when you have the ability to speak
that language. When you can pick up an
instrument and just do this-- [STRUMS CHORDS] and you know that I can
do this, it just makes you feel so good. I tell you, it's like
an entire yoga session in one strum. I mean, you can play one chord
over and over and over. And there's just something
about that. It just brings you
back to center. It zeroes you out. And George Harrison loved that
about this instrument. He loved turning
people onto it. And loved showing people
how easy it is to play. Because you get that instant
gratification. The moment you pick it up, you
can just take one finger and just put it right there,
and be like, wow. [STRUMMING CHORDS - "MARY
HAD A LITTLE LAMB"] [LAUGHTER] JAKE SHIMABUKURO: Like,
oh my gosh. If I had to do that on a
trumpet, it would take me like two months before I could
even get a decent sound. Or a violin, it takes you two
months before you can even hold the bow without cramping. So it's that instant
gratification. And I think that when people
pick it up for the first time and they play it, they're like,
wow, I can do this. I can make music. And to me, that's the joy
that music should bring. That joy, everyone should feel
that joy when they're playing the piano for the first time,
when they're playing the violin for the first time. When they're playing the
saxophone for the first time, when they're playing the guitar
for the first time. If everyone could feel that joy,
I think there would be a lot more people playing
instruments. AUDIENCE: Well, I had a question
for you, Jake. I was at the screening
of the documentary. Congratulations on that. JAKE SHIMABUKURO: Oh,
thank you very much. AUDIENCE: That was
pretty amazing. One thing that really came
through in the documentary is how much of a family affair
your music is. And so I wanted to see if you
could tell us a little bit more about that. And maybe let us know if that
Shimabukuro family concert at that screening is going
to be available later. JAKE SHIMABUKURO: Oh, well, the
documentary that Cliff's talking about is, I just
recently did my first full-length documentary
with PBS. And we've been shooting it for
a little over two years now. And we just wrapped it up
last week Wednesday. And it's going to
be premiering at some of the film festivals. And it's also going to broadcast
on PBS national TV sometime early next year. So I'm very excited
about this. Because it was pretty amazing
just for me to kind of sit-- and I don't like to see myself
on television or anything. But just being able to sit there
and see the last like 30 years of my life just
kind of go by. And it really took me back to
why I fell in love with this instrument, how I got into it. I started playing at
the age of four. And I got into it because
my mom played. She played. And the first thing she taught
me was my C chord. And I would just do
this all day. And I loved it. I did that every day. I'd come home from school,
pick up my ukulele, and just play. And my mom loved it. My family, they love music. And I also have a younger
brother who plays, too. And when we were kids, that's
what we'd do together. We'd always play the
ukulele together. My brother was really
good at sports. And I mean, he was very
well rounded. Like for me, the only thing I
could do was play the ukulele. Like till this day, I can't
dribble and do a layup. I mean, I'm horrible. But there was something about
music that I could just sit down for hours at a time and
just play and discover new chords and new sounds. So that really kept our
family together. My dad played a little
bit of guitar. But they weren't professional
musicians or anything. But there was always music
playing in the house. So I think in the documentary,
it kind of talks about my parents. They divorced and all that. And so music kind
of became my-- because my mom was
my first teacher. And she would spend a lot of
time, when I was a kid, teaching me. So I think once my parents got
the divorce and my mom had to work all the time-- my brother and I, we're
five years apart. So I would always stay home. And I would always have
to watch him. I always felt like he was more
like my son than my brother. And so I think playing the
ukulele for me was-- in my mind, now looking
back at everything-- was kind of like that was me
trying to make up for those lost times of spending with
my mom or my family. It kind of took me back. So I guess that's where my
passion, I guess, comes from for this instrument. And even though I'm away from
home a lot of times, having the ukulele with me and being
able to play and share all of these things, I think I
always feel like I'm right back with them. Thank you. AUDIENCE: I was just wondering
if you had any plans or expectations on teaching
your baby the ukulele. And if so, at what age you're
planning on introducing it? JAKE SHIMABUKURO: Well, I have
no expectations right now. I mean, I want him to do
whatever he wants to do. But I definitely want
him to have music. And it's funny because on my
new album, the song that I wrote for him is called
"Gentlemandolin." And it's the third song on the album. And it's funny because recently,
while I was on tour, my wife discovered that when
he's crying, if she puts the CD on, he immediately stops. And she says, it's amazing. So she said, she
puts the CD on. And as soon as she puts it on,
the first song starts. And she said he just kind
of stops and he just kind of listens. And he becomes super mellow. Then the second song comes on. And it's actually a cover of
Adele's "Rolling in the Deep," and he listens through that. And then she said the third song
comes on, which is the song I wrote for him. As soon as that song starts,
he starts, [WAILING] like starts crying. She says it's unbelievable-- every single time. She said, he just doesn't
like that song. So I don't know. But anyways, so I probably
won't be teaching him that song. Yeah, but I definitely want
to get him into music. Yeah, for sure. Thank you. Thank you very much. MALE SPEAKER: You were talking
a little earlier about just kind of growing up with
a ukulele and playing it for so long. But it's an instrument I've
heard my entire life. And I've never heard it
played the way you do, until you came along. So what happened in your life
when you were playing? When did it start transpiring,
you started learning new things and started bringing
things out of the instrument that other people didn't see? JAKE SHIMABUKURO: I think for
me I started out playing all traditional Hawaiian music. But then I think there came a
time, I think when I was just in my early teenage years,
when I saw my first Van Halen concert. And it wasn't so much that I
wanted to play all those fancy guitar riffs or anything
like that. But it was more about
the energy. When I see rock bands play,
I admire their energy. It's not necessarily I want to
play that kind of music or I want to play that song
or anything. But I want to play with
that kind of energy. And so whether I'm playing
a Hawaiian tune or a jazz standard or a classical piece or
a pop tune, or even if I'm covering a rock song, I
want to play with that energy all the time. And it's not always the physical
kind of energy or the kind of energy that you can see
visually, like just the running and jumping on stage,
jumping around and all that. I mean, that's great too. I like that, when I'm like-- [PLAYING MUSIC] JAKE SHIMABUKURO: I like to kind
of move with the music. But it's also the other kind
of energy, the energy that comes from within, that focus,
that mental focus. I'm always talking about like
when I would do workshops. And I would talk with kids and
performers about when you're playing your instrument, it
doesn't matter what instrument you're playing. Like when I'm playing the
ukulele and I'm going to play a chord, it's not just
the mechanics. It's not just about my finger
and my hand, my fingers holding down the right strings
and my hand just doing this. It's not about that. But there's so much that
happens before and after the stroke. So there's a lot
of preparation. And I always kind of compare
it to a pitcher. You know, when you watch a
really good baseball pitcher, the windup-- I mean everything, the follow
through, the focus, the visualizing of how the ball
is going to curve or drop. All of that is so important. Like even when you're
playing the ukulele, that's what I'm thinking. Before even I even
hit the strings-- you can't really tell, but my
toes curl up in my shoes. And I can feel all that energy
in my ankles and the balls of my feet, to my knees,
to my hips. Everything that comes down, up
my back, through my shoulders. And when I make contact with
the string, it's all that energy directed this way. And it's not just the
physical energy. But it's all my mental
focus, my thoughts. Everything is going in that
direction, going with the music, playing with that kind
of conviction, my spirit. Everything that I have, that
I have control of, I try to bring that into every stroke,
into every strum. And it's not just the
hard-hitting stuff. It's the soft stuff, too. It's like when you play-- [PLAYING MUSIC, DELICATELY] JAKE SHIMABUKURO: I want
to just bring that-- bring every note out. And it's still that
follow-through, that same conviction, that same energy
that I would if I were playing like a rock tune and a classical
piece or a ballad. It's a different
kind of energy. But it's still that same
intensity, with that same conviction, that you want to
put into every little note, every little movement. Everything that you do needs to
be somehow connected to the music, whether it's just a
simple tapping of the foot or tapping of the toes. Or if it's a little twitch
in the face. Like you watch guitar players
sometimes and they do these uncontrollable facial
expressions. They're just like-- and it's because all of that
movement, everything that's happening, is somehow connected
with the sound or an idea or a concept that they're
trying to convey emotionally. And I don't remember what the
question was anymore. But I hope I answered it. MALE SPEAKER: Yeah. You did answer it. JAKE SHIMABUKURO: Oh, OK. MALE SPEAKER: Right here. AUDIENCE: Thank you so much
for playing for us today. I have a question about if
there's anything particular about your instrument that
you'd like to talk about. How did you end up
choosing this particular ukulele to play? JAKE SHIMABUKURO: Oh, yeah. Well, this is an instrument,
a ukulele made by a family called the Kamaka family. And they're made right
in Hawaii. And they were the first family
to start manufacturing ukuleles in the world. I think they're going on four
generations of ukulele makers right now. And it's just a family
business. And they were the first
Hawaiians to learn how to build these instruments from the
Portuguese immigrants that came over to the Islands to work
in the plantation fields. So they were the ones who really
started to build the first ukuleles. And it's quite extraordinary. Because they've been building
ukuleles for almost 100 years now. And when I was a kid-- in Hawaii, everybody knows
Kamaka Ukulele. When I was growing
up, my dream was to have this ukulele. They call this a tenor-size
instrument. It's a tenor, four-string
Kamaka. And it was my dream to have the
instrument because in my eyes, it was like the Excalibur
of instruments. But they're very expensive. So when I was a kid, there
was no way I could afford something like this. And so now that I get to play
this instrument every day, I just feel so honored. Because there's just so much
history and so much experience and knowledge that goes into
every single one of their instruments. So to actually be able to play
and to use one, to travel with, and to create music with,
to write music with, I just feel like all of that
history comes with everything that I do. So yeah, that's what it is. It's a Kamaka. Yes? AUDIENCE: Hi. JAKE SHIMABUKURO: Hi. AUDIENCE: It's always such an inspiration to see you perform. And two years ago, when I last
saw you, I was so inspired that I went and I brought
an ukulele. Because I used to play the
Venezuelan four-string cautro. JAKE SHIMABUKURO:
Oh, yes, yes. AUDIENCE: It's pretty much
the same thing, right? So I took it and I went
to the guitar store. I just went right from-- where you were, I went right
to the guitar store. I bought this little
four-string thing, took it home. And there I am with my little
three chords, you know, chinka, chinka, chinka, chinka,
chinka, chinka, chinka, chinka. Anyway, my then 13-year-old
wanders up, like, hey, Mom, what's that? I never saw it again. JAKE SHIMABUKURO: Wow. AUDIENCE: She goes off to
school every day with a fiberglass ukulele slung
across her back. JAKE SHIMABUKURO: Nice. AUDIENCE: So I just wanted to
let you know that you had that kind of impact. JAKE SHIMABUKURO: Aw,
thank you very much. AUDIENCE: Thank you. JAKE SHIMABUKURO: That's
beautiful. One of the coolest things
for me is seeing-- like when I tour now and do
shows, we see a lot of kids, young kids, come to
the show now. And they don't look like
ukulele players. They come with the
ukulele players. But they have their fingernails
all painted black. They have spiky hair,
piercings. And they just think the ukulele
is the coolest thing. They'll come up and they'll be
like, oh, yeah, I used to play heavy metal guitar. And then I saw you play
"Why My Guitar Gently Weeps" on YouTube. And I threw my guitar away
and I bought a ukulele. And this is all I play now. And It's just the most
incredible thing. Because 10 years ago, or
even I don't know-- maybe not even 10 years ago,
it was always the opposite. People would start
on the ukulele. And then after that, once they
can play it pretty good, then they want to put it away and
move on to a guitar. Because their goal is to play
the guitar and to use a ukulele as a stepping stool
to get to the guitar. But now it's really cool that
people that have been playing the guitar want to put
their guitars away and pick up the ukulele. So it's great. [? AUDIENCE: Guitar players ?]
are [INAUDIBLE]. JAKE SHIMABUKURO: Yes? AUDIENCE: Thanks for the
amazing performance. So I just have a question-- have you ever thought about
giving up becoming a musician like that then? When you were frustrated, and
how you get over that. JAKE SHIMABUKURO: Oh, no. The thought never crossed my
mind that I would ever want to give up playing. But to be honest, when
I was a kid-- or even up until 10 years ago,
15 years ago, I had no idea that I was going to be a touring
musician or even or I could do this all the time. I knew that I would always play
this instrument for the rest of my life because
it's my passion. But I thought it would just
be like coffee shops. When l was just out of high
school, I used to play at a lot of weddings and graduation
parties and birthday parties and family functions. But never in my wildest dreams
did I ever think I'd be doing what I'm doing today. So it never crossed my mind
that I'm going to ever give this up. But as things started to evolve
and a career started to shape up for me, through the
internet and all that, and now I'm touring. Like now, in this next
two months, we're touring through 40 cities. And we got a whole tour bus now
and a seven-man crew, with a sound and lighting guy. And I never imagined
any of that. It's just incredible. When I was growing up, I thought
I was going to be a school teacher. I thought I was going to go into
education because I love working with kids. And then I thought, the ukulele
is the perfect way to connect with kids. So I thought in my classes,
in the lessons, I could always use this. So I would always have it. But it's been real
challenging. There have been times, like when
I first started touring, there were a lot
of challenges. But you kind of get
through them. You work through them. Like I say, when I first started
performing, I couldn't look at everyone and play. I was so nervous. I'd be so afraid to talk. And it's hard. But you love it. You love it so much. And you always want to
figure out, how can I improve on this? How can I make this better? Because I realized that I can
practice all I want in my room, just by myself. But it doesn't give me that
same satisfaction. Because to me, again, music is
all about communicating. It's about making a connection
with people. And once I started learning
how to connect with people through this instrument, oh, my
gosh, it was just a rush. Now when I perform at a venue
and there are moments where I'd be playing. And you'd get to a real
sensitive part and you play that one chord. [STRUMS CHORD] And you can just almost feel
the entire audience just breathing with you and just
taking it all in and just waiting for that last
note to fade away. And then even after you can't
hear it anymore, it's just silence, silence, silence,
silence. And then everyone
starts clapping. And it's those moments that
it's such a rush. Because you just feel like
everyone is experiencing the same thing. And I guess the only way I can
think about it's like for surfers when they catch
that perfect wave. And they're just on that wave
and just nothing else matters. You're just on that wave. Or when I'm on stage and I'm
playing, it's like nothing else matters. I'm just having, really
literally, having the time of my life. And so for me, it's-- yeah, there are challenges. But a lot of it is just pressure
that I put on myself. I'm a bit of a perfectionist
in some ways. And I want to keep
learning and keep discovering new things. So sometimes you go through
these periods where you're just at a plateau. And you're like, when's that
next idea going to come? Or when's that next concept
going to come? But yeah, you find ways to-- but then when you find
it, then it's like, oh, my gosh, yes. That's amazing. And it carries you. That inspiration, that
excitement carries you through the next one. Thank you. Yes? AUDIENCE: Hi. I guess I can't get enough of
hearing about "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," which
was always one of my favorite songs. And it's the reason I
know who you are. Because a close friend of mine
said, oh, you've got to listen to this guy. Here he is on YouTube. His name's Jake something. And your version of it
just blew me away. It was absolutely-- JAKE SHIMABUKURO: Thank you. AUDIENCE: --gorgeous. And especially a song that I
care so much about, to hear someone else do it. It was so beautiful it
moved me to tears. And I actually made
it my ringtone-- JAKE SHIMABUKURO: Oh, no way. AUDIENCE: --like a week
before you came to Google the first time. And then I saw you the first
time and had a chance to talk to you and ask you if you'd
ever met George Harrison. And I forgot to tell you that
I'd actually just made it my ringtone, even before you'd even
come to Google, copyright issues not withstanding. But I just wanted to ask you,
what made you put that song up on YouTube? Was that also one of your
favorite songs? Or was it just by chance? JAKE SHIMABUKURO: Well, you
know, to be honest, till this day, I don't know who put
it up on YouTube. And I said this the
last time to you. I'm just being totally honest
and sincere because this was seven years ago. So I didn't know what YouTube
was back then. I'm not very internet savvy. But I think YouTube just
kind of started around that time, too. So it wasn't that famous yet. Not too many people
knew about it. I was doing some email. But I wasn't really active
on the websites and internet and all that. So what happened was I
just did this thing for a local TV show. And that's what they did
the interview for. They videotaped me doing that
and then it aired on TV. And it was just a small
little local network, and that was it. And then I went back
home to Hawaii. And about two months later,
I had a lot of friends that were here-- in Hawaii, we call this
the mainland-- so I had a lot of friends on the
mainland going to school. And they started calling me
or sending me emails. And they were like hey, there's
this video clip that's going around our campus
of you playing. And I was like, what are
you talking about? So they sent me the link. And at that time, it was still
that concept of emailing a video or a video link
to somebody was kind of like, what? You're going to email
me a video? What are you talking about? Because it was just kind
of starting out. So they emailed me this link. And I clicked on it. And it took me right to
the YouTube video. And there it was. And I just was like,
I don't understand. What am I looking at? And already it had almost
2 million views already. And I couldn't believe it. And there wasn't a term
for it back then. There wasn't even such thing
as a viral video yet. We didn't even know
what to call it. It was just happening. And it was shortly after that
the numbers just started growing and growing
and growing. And there were multiple
videos. So there was one that didn't
even have my name. It just said "While My Guitar
Gently Weeps" and it was that same video. Then there was one that
was like, Crazy Asian Ukulele Player. [LAUGHTER] JAKE SHIMABUKURO: So
there were eight or nine different videos. And all of them had like
over a million views. But none of them had
my name yet. So it wasn't until, I think, a
few months after that, that finally there was a video
that had my name on it. It was Jake Shimabukuro,
whatever. And then that video just started
growing and growing and growing. And so all the other ones
just slowly disappeared. I think there's still a couple
other ones out there. But the main one right
now that was left-- I know when it first just had
my name on it, it was like something like 30,000 views. And that was maybe four years
ago or something. But then that one, even from
four years ago, that one grew to over 10 million now. And it's amazing how it's
still just growing. And so people are still
discovering this video for the first time. So it's been quite
extraordinary. And that video changed
my life. I wish I knew who the first
person was that put it on, because, yeah-- AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE]. JAKE SHIMABUKURO: Yeah, yeah,
that's what I tell people. I think George Harrison up there
had something to do it. But yeah, really, it
changed my life. And from that, I started getting
calls from other artists to come and open for
them-- oh, take care-- to tour with them and open for
them or record with them. And it's been totally
extraordinary. So, thank you. AUDIENCE: So now, Jake--
hey, Jake. So now you know why it took so
long for them to attach your name to the video. Because it took them that
long to learn how to spell your last name. JAKE SHIMABUKURO:
Yeah, I know. No, it's so true, so true. AUDIENCE: All right, so I
have a quick question. I'll give you a heads
up, a little bit of a set-up question. But tell me a little bit about
the work that you did with Alan Parsons. So obviously, he's a very
well-known, Grammy-nominated producer and engineer. But you yourself, as a musician
for a long time, have worked with a lot of producers
and engineers. What made him different? What did he do differently, like
radically different than the masses of audio engineers
that are out there? JAKE SHIMABUKURO: Well, one of
the coolest things about Alan, I mean, from day one, just being
in the recording studio with him, was-- the first thing I noticed was
the way he miked my ukulele, the way he recorded
my ukulele. Every recording engineer I've
ever worked with, there was always at least one microphone
in front of my instrument. A lot of times if they record in
stereo, they would have one here and then one here. Because that's how they record
guitars, in stereo like that. I've done mid-side miking where
you have one mic in the middle, like kind of
a stereo spread. And then you have one
across the top. I've been in situations where
they would surround me with microphones, put microphones
all over me, or put two microphones right here and then
put two in the back of the room or behind me. But this was the first time that
someone told me, OK, just stand right here. He got one microphone. He put it here under the
neck of my ukulele. And he put another one right
here, above my right shoulder. And I was like, are you sure
this is going to work? And so he's like, yeah, yeah,
just play, and I'll make some adjustments. So I started playing. And he just kind of tweaked it
a little bit, just moved, but kept it right there. And then he kind of tweaked
this one like that. And then he's like, all right,
yeah, just play something. So I just started-- I punched into a song. And I played it. And then he said, OK, come
in and tell me if you like the sound. So I walked into the
control room. He played it back. And I couldn't believe
what I was hearing. It was the sound of my
instrument the way that I always hear it, the way
that I hear it. Because I've always just
accepted that every time I record, my studio sound, what I
can get on a record, is just different from my live sound
or what I hear when I'm practicing. But it was the first time I
walked into that room and he played it back. And I was stunned because
I was like, oh, my gosh. I feel like I'm playing my
instrument right now. That's how it felt. And so I asked him about that. I said, Alan, what made you
decide to record the ukulele this way? And he said he wanted to
record it in stereo. So he wanted it at least two
microphones, so he could get a right and a left channel. But what he said was when he
records guitars that way, you usually put one here and
then one up here, because a guitar is longer. So you can get a wider stereo
spread that way. But he thought that because the
ukulele is shorter, if you were to put one mic here at the
body and one mic here at the neck, because the ukulele is
so tiny, the mics are going to pick up pretty much
the same sound. So you're not going to get
that much of a stereo difference. The right and the left are going
to sound very similar. So he thought he could get a
wider stereo spread if he put one mic down here to pick up
closer to the first string, and one mic up here, which would
pick up closer to the fourth string. And that way he can keep the
mics further apart, yet they'd be the same distance
to the instrument. It sounds simple, but it was
just the most brilliant thing that I had ever heard. And I was like, wow, so when
you listen to the album, you're thinking-- this great stereo spread that
you're hearing, I mean, it's like you're in the middle
of the instrument. But it's not so much
right and left, but it's more up and down. So it's like he took that up
and down sound and just flipped it over so you get
your right and your left. And so that, for me,
was like, wow. That was amazing. And then other things-- like
because Alan comes from that old school way of recording,
he wanted to do everything live. So we have a 29-piece
orchestra on a few of these tracks. And everything was
recorded live. There are absolutely
no overdubs. So we went into this
huge studio. We had the 29-piece
orchestra there. And then I was in the same
room with the orchestra. The only thing that divided
me from the orchestra was a glass door. And we all watched the same
conductor up there. And we all played. And there's something amazing
that happens when you do that, when you play live. Because all the musicians are
listening to each other and playing off of each other. So there are a lot of
spontaneous things that just happen, that wouldn't have
happened if we just played all our parts separately. Because we would have just been
reading the music and just played our parts. But because we were playing it
together, it's that whole synergy effect. We're all creating something
together. We're all in the room together,
making this. And it was really beautiful. That song "Missing Three" that
I played for you, it's a three-string song. I was so proud of it because I
was like, oh, you only play it with three strings. And I sent that. That was the first demo
that I'd sent to Alan. And he listened to it. I didn't tell him
the story yet. I just sent him the song. And he listened to it. And he was like, oh, gosh,
that's beautiful. And he told me, I can just hear
an entire string section playing with you on that. And so it was ironic. Because it's a song that I
wrote it with just three strings, but now there's
a 29-piece orchestra. So there's over 100 strings
on the song now. But still, he was very careful
about making sure that the ukulele was here and
everything else played around it. He didn't want anything
to bury the ukulele. And it was just amazing
working with him. He mixed the entire record
in two days. He would just get up there. And you know, all the faders,
and he just-- whst, whst, whst. And in like 20 seconds, he'd
have a perfect mix of a 29-piece orchestra with me. And he would just sit
back and listen. He would go, maybe the horns
need to come down a little bit right here. And then he would turn
around and be like, what do you think? I was just like, it
all sounds great. Yeah, let's go. It was really inspiring
working with him. MALE SPEAKER: I think this
is our last question. AUDIENCE: It is. And so I was wondering-- in
each of your albums, your style changes, your
style evolves. So what about "Grand Ukulele"
are you most proud of in the evolution of your style? And where do you see it
going in the future? JAKE SHIMABUKURO: There were a
lot of things on this record, like just really
subtle things. Like I was talking about, always
just looking for that one thing to make
it different. There were songs on this album
where I utilized techniques that I never used before. For example, there's this one
song called "Music Box," where I do this thing where I keep my
thumb alternating between the third and fourth string. And then I play the entire song
or entire melody on the first string. [MUSIC - JAKE SHIMABUKURO,
"MUSIC BOX"] JAKE SHIMABUKURO: But there's
this one section in the song where I play that melody
harmonically. So while I'm keeping this going,
[ALTERNATING NOTES] I play this melody. [PLAYING MELODY] I'm going to play
it for you here. Just listen. [MUSIC - "MUSIC BOX"] JAKE SHIMABUKURO: That section
right there for me was like, I had never done anything
like that before. So I thought that was cool. There's another place-- and
you'll never notice it unless I talk about it. But I did a version of "Fields
of Gold." And there's this one section in there where
I take the melody-- [MUSIC - "FIELDS OF GOLD"] JAKE SHIMABUKURO: (SINGING
ALONG) Da, da, da, dah, dah. So there's this one section
where I play that harmonically as well, again. But what I do is I utilize this
technique where instead just playing the harmonics by
itself, I would fret a string to almost mimic a bass note. So I have this over
the F chord. What I'm doing is I'm
holding the F root. But as I play that F root, I'm
also going to use my other fingers to play the harmonics
of the other strings together, like this. So I can get this kind of
harmony, which is something you don't hear. Like ukulele players wouldn't
know, how do you get that F Major 7 sound with harmonics? So when I play that
part, it's like-- [MUSIC - "FIELDS OF GOLD"] JAKE SHIMABUKURO: See. So for me that was another-- I'd never done anything,
this kind of stuff. [PLAYING MUSIC] JAKE SHIMABUKURO: That kind
of sound, it's very-- Jaco Pastorius, one of my
favorite bass players, would do things like that where
he would kind of roll the bass around. And he would fret these amazing
harmonics and just get these incredible-- [PLAYING MUSIC] JAKE SHIMABUKURO: I don't
if you can hear that. [PLAYING MUSIC] JAKE SHIMABUKURO:
So hear that? [PLAYING MUSIC] JAKE SHIMABUKURO: So the flat
7 there, you would never usually hear that
on the ukulele. But you are able to-- [PLAYING MUSIC] JAKE SHIMABUKURO: Yeah,
yeah, so, yeah. So those kinds of things, that's
the kind of stuff that really keeps me going. And most people won't hear
it or won't notice it. But for me it's like, oh yeah,
that makes the entire arrangement for me, or
the entire song. I had a great time working
on this record. I really feel like Alan really
pushed me in the studio. And so it was great. Because that's what you want
from a producer, who knows how to push, but not overpush, where
you get discouraged. And it was such a great
experience. He brought in just some amazing
musicians, like Kip Winger, from the band Winger. He did some of the orchestral
arrangements. We had Simon Phillips,
one of my favorite drummers, from Toto. He played on the record. Randy Tico, a phenomenal
bass player. It was just really
inspiring for me. Because Alan-- he's worked with everyone
from the Beatles to-- even with his Alan Parsons
Project and all that, Pink Floyd, his vision is so grand. He has so much experience. For me, a lot of times,
my vision only comes with what I can-- I only see what I can
do with the ukulele. But I don't think beyond that. Whereas Alan Parsons comes from
that school where he's worked with so many
orchestras. He's worked with so
many arrangers. He's worked with so many
rhythm sections. And he's recorded so many
different kinds of instruments. And he knows all about
microphones and preamps. And he knows how to get
this kind of sound. Or if I'm trying to express
something, he knows the best way to capture that so that it
translates when you listen to it on a record. If I'm going for that real
sensitive touch, he knows how to pick it up with a mic and
using the right microphone with the right preamp and
placing it in the right spot, so that we can get that sound. Or even if I'm playing with the
orchestra, how to EQ the strings or how to EQ the horns
or the woodwinds so that the frequencies don't overpower the
ukulele and the ukulele can still be over. Because a lot of times, it's
not just a volume issue. But it's a panning issue, like
where you place it in the mix, in the stereo mix. And then also how you EQ it,
so that you EQ it just in a way so that it-- I don't really understand
all this kind of stuff. But I have very limited
understanding. I mean, it's a whole science. And it's amazing. His ears are just incredible. We'd be mixing the song. We'd be recording something. And he'd be in the room. And then we'll be listening
on the playback. And we'd be just listening. And like, oh, yeah, OK, that
sounded all right. And we're listening. And then the phone would ring. And Alan would be like,
oh, OK, well, I got to get the phone. And so he'll kind of step out. And he'll be on the phone
outside of the studio. All of a sudden, he'll
come running back in. What was that? What was that? Go back, go back, go back
like 20 seconds. It's amazing. He just hears everything. And it was just extraordinary
to work with him and to see someone-- because when he's in the studio,
he's just like a little kid. He loves it. He's so passionate
about recording. And so to work with
someone like that was really inspiring. Because for me, I'm passionate
about this. And then to work with him, who's
passionate about doing all the other stuff, I think it
was a great collaboration. And it was one of the
greatest recording experiences of my life. MALE SPEAKER: Well, great. Thanks so much for
coming here. And we look forward to picking
up the conversation when you come back here. JAKE SHIMABUKURO: Yeah,
oh, thanks. Great. Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you. [MUSIC - JAKE SHIMABUKURO,
"WHILE MY GUITAR GENTLY WEEPS"]
auto_transcript: %uh the matter do her people the No good the the the the the the theme they didn't the p pin this next song I like people perform for you is a you know what one
other in one of the cool things about arm playing
ukulele is that you know you have a bomb you have a very
limited range in you and you you have just
basically four strings to work with who I kinda talked about this the last time
I was here I i said that you only have four strings and sometimes you know it can appear to be very limiting right because you think
all on the ukulele only a for sure and click on the guitar you know guitar at
six strings and you can get a much fuller sound in a bigger sound and you always want more and more more
MORE writes i IA arm I wrote this song a recently let me try to compose more and I always
try to come up with like a concept or an idea you know whenever I'm writing a new
piece so this idea though came about by
accident see I was changing my Google the strings one day and I put the first ring on and I put
the second string on the net and then I was gonna put the third string on but
a I couldn't find that string like people make their Ching cell so I
grabbed the fourth string I put the fourth string of and it said a rushing up to look for
another third string I thought to myself wouldn't be cool to write a song which S
three strings so this is the this is a song called
missing 3 and up and it's a piece in chess uses three strains that's that's it and
I and I thought there was it was kinda cool because on the ukulele
you always want more you always think you need more strings you need a greater
range so this is a a song called missing three
that kinda proves that you don't always need more you know sometimes less truly
is more in a few and if you know what you're going for a
fee know what you wanna see what you try to communicate you know then sometimes you know you can
just do it with three strings rather than for sell here is the here's a song
called missing three a bit the move the new the the the summit I'm missing three I'll the couple are things happen that
to me while since the last time I was here all a shortly after I I was your Google I got married so that was pretty cool
pat down and seven weeks ago my wife and I had
our first baby you know I'm a dad that kinda scary
thought Ryan but it's the most amazing thing I like I
cuz I i'm had about that age where you know a lot of my my friends you know have have children
at a lot upon are you know they they're on their second
child already but i member when they first had their baby you know they would always
send me photos are they went out you know the icon on their on their
phone they show me pictures and you know honey and then i'm just like all your
cute but on the inside I'm like wanna see this one showing right but its
it's amazing like it so different when it's your own child it all when it's your own child to dislike oh
my god every little thing that that they do it's like the most it's the cutest most adorable thing and
it's so funny because like you know now I like Aleve send pictures to everyone
and i'd but it's the but it's it's really the
most amazing thing and and so this this next song was I wrote it actually maybe when my wife
was about six months pregnant you know I I wrote this song for for the
baby and and it's a song I call gentlemen the
land and you like a I was explaining before that when I'm when I
write it when I read a piece I was like to have some concept you know something that is different from anything else that I
that I've done before the pass and and the way the Sun came about was it
was a i I love the sound that the mandolin you
know the mandolin is actually tuned like like a violin so it has a very from it has a wide
range it has over 30 octave range where the Google I the only has a two
octave range so you can get these beautiful lush chords on on the mandolin
that that are very difficult to get on the
ukulele so I came across this chord voicing that you know that that to me in in in
my mind you know kinda mimics the voicing a mandolin player and it sounds like this it's a it's a
really far stretch like this but when you get this kinda cell you know doesn't sound like a new pillow it
sounds more like a mandolin I wrote this song and I i use that that
idea for this tune from my son and I call it
gentle mandolin and the title came about because I was
thinking that I hope one day when my son goes up he'll be a he'll grow up to be a fine
gentlemen darlin yet here we go dude I it's cheesy 80 I in the the theme the the No it then and the new the mall and do home that a theme the new at a KY arm you know I get my inspiration from a from a a lot
of things I mean I'm sure like it's the same for all India mean I love
you hear your you're all artists and you always like you know trying to think up the and the
next thing and the you know what's going to be that that
that next the big idea and it's funny because sometimes you know like I'll get
my I get a lot of my inspiration from like
the most unusual thingy that the most unusual things are I just did that all oh i'd I did a short
interview you for your that that video I think it's called out Mike
my favorite things called my favorite my favorite things and so what I think that I talked about
was was the one of my favorite performances ever was a performance bill cosby you know bill
cosby a long time ago he did this HBO special the stand-up comedy special
call Bill Cosby himself and it was the most I think till this
day in ab like all the comedians up there this performance is still like be the Bible love stand-up comedy you know
and if you haven't seen it you really should check it out you guys have it in your archives cell
you should definitely check it out on but if you can get the
actual DVD up the entire performance it's it is truly amazing it's it's almost two hours long and Bill
Cosby sits in a chair not even a Hi Chile a
regular like a chair that you're sitting Asia
sitting in that chair holding a microphone and telling the stories and you got just I mean everyone just happened at
the edge of their seats just dying laughing so entertain and I realize because see the for me
that was very significant because when I first started out playing ukulele
I was always um I was always playing with the singer
there was always the thinker and that I would be in the back unit you
know I would always be I would be that I would be the backing
guy in Oside be in a bag just got a plane and then and then when it
when they're done thing and then I take a little soul all the you know and then back to you you
know that their thing yet fell so that was kinda my job because
and the reason for that because I am a terrible singer I can't sing to
save my life soul so ap after a while you know I on
when I stopped working with fingers I thought all when my I had to so bad in
high school we did and when we broke up I thought all know that the end for me
because you know what am I gonna do I can't sing
you know I'm just gonna play Michael and I remember being so intimidated by standing up in front of an audience
just with my Google LA and plain in fact some of my early
performances I would like one stated like are all this song
is a called sunshine your love in yell and now it's our play but I I Jess I was so of for ATL because I just
thought the hookah led by itself sounds soul you know it just sounds so empty
and it doesn't have that for found that I'm used to hearing what
I go and listen to a concert I want that Bingbing fell right but I
couldn't get that with this instrument but when I saw bill cosby himself when I
saw him and II just I saw a man just come up on
stage in front o you know thousands of people sit in a
chair with a microphone and he was just he could just connect
with every single person in the room and I'll and I was watching this on television
and I still felt like I was there I felt like he every story he was yeah he was telling he was
like looking right at me and telling this like I was sitting down in his living
room and he was sharing this amazing story with me you know I was so
inspired by that because then I realize you know what the instrument that we hold is just an
illusion you know get our players like if you
watch Jimi Hendrix yeah he's playing the guitar but the guitar is just an illusion you
know his artistry his music he's communicating I mean he's he's just it's his whole before before you even here is get our you're hearing his spirit you know it's
it's like a its he says he's communicating this this
thing you know that I like I like like a 10 things that I believe is all
the music that you play and you hear happens it's created it happens before
it even hit gets your instrument you know before I play that cord I need
to create it inside of me you know like I need you feel it and
just like creative person that then I can play that core you know or or
before I i Ben that no yup the you know I need to like created inside of me
before it even gets to the instrument so that
so I used to watch him and I i swatch all the time I watch that that
performance over and over and just you know he's just so natural and its
and its the the the title that that to our was
bill cosby himself and I realized that that's all
that's all you gotta be as you just you know it doesn't matter if you're
talking to one person or or thousand people you know you just the
more you keep the more you're comfortable with who you are you just get up in for a just not be
afraid to make fun of yourself or you know and not not to have
expectations up the audience i think is a big key and
that's the cool thing about being Google other players that audiences have such
low expectations help me anyway right fell if I i don't
have any expectations that my audience hiking simply get up on stage in just do
my thing and I don't have to worry about anything someone laughs if they stay then that's
all a bonus you know so but I'd like to um I'll but II was I was telling that story cuz
I was gonna go and I was try to relate that to a song a yeah I S L I'll what's wrong with a gonna play now in I
remember but but anyway then anyway so that's
that's kinda bomb that's kinda where we're a lot of my
inspiration came from you know it's it's it's not so much like about plane that
local LA but its it's just it's just about
communicating with people you know and and and that's that's what
I love you do you know i mean through Google to YouTube you know your providing a
vehicle you know for people to communicate from
one side of our planet all the way to the other side and it makes the planet seem so much
smaller makes our world seem so much smaller and
you know and I think that's a great thing you know because because I i grew up in Hawaii you know
where we're very we live on a small island and everyone
so community-minded you know we're always thinking about the other person and we
all see how were related and what I do affect this
other person you know what what that person does affect affect the other person I think I think
it's such a great way you know to look at the world now that
you know we are all connected were all connected and and I i think i to music and true to what what you do I
think it's the perfect example because to me music is not just
the universal language but it's the language of the universe
you know and you're helping to spread that language all across the the world and it's and
it's a beautiful thing so I'm gonna I'm gonna play our one more song here and this is the and
they they asked me to tonight you know to to try to play more original
stuff just because a bomb at a copyright issues and all that but
you know but I I did wanna play this one piece because this is the this is the word the
reason I'm here and this is the what started it all for me and I'll it
was a simple four-minute video clip you know that that happen to show up on the Internet one day and it was for television show
that I'd done in New York called Google a disco and I think I told
the story the last time but since then I've made some changes to
the song so i thought i i'd plant again but this is a George
Harrison's while My Guitar Gently Weeps n by my favorite on the player allied and
I A the new I i cant play the thing up with
a little but its it's amazing you know talking
about how to like express yourself to the
insurer and you know it's not just about it's not just about the note that your
Plano the cords that you're playing you know but it's its everything you know it's the like
just like to all this sounds that you can create you
know good up in up up up in what there there the the the the the the the the theme the the the it up well than well well well well in was when when what the up up huh in her the %ah %ah %ah %ah %ah %ah you the here 0 thank you ok that was awesome 22 doubles just have such a famous
virgins how I was introduced to your music I'll and she want to know if you guys if
you want to talk a little bit about George Harrison I know thats he was an ambassador a
ukulele he's george was famous for writing
rent-a-car Fulham in passing out a warning to get
literally get together and play with everyone he went if you want to talk about that
yeah you know George Harrison now is was one of my heroes I mean he he just adored the system and I mean he
had he had a hundred times more localized
and I have me how headed up but he some that the court thing though
i you know I never got to meet him I i
wish i did. on I met the you know his his his wife Olivia
Harrison a few times she actually came to a couple my
shoulder and salad that with the pretty amazing game but at
to speak with her and and talk with her and she just she she kept telling me like all I
wish you know george was still alive today you know because he just love this
instrument so much and he he really believe that this issue has so
much potential you know to reach beyond you know our arm you know I mean to me and I i think and I you know I can say
exactly but I think George Harrison probably felt
the same way you know I think that the Google is very
special because it's different from other insurance
because people aren't afraid of this instrument they're not intimidated by your you know at because the a lot of people don't
even think of it as a real ensure anything at the toy right but you know and and I embrace
that I love that because I think every instrument should she people should feel like that about
every inch MID the piano all the piano I can do are you you know or the violent or whatever it
is because because if if you're free to finish reading your you're never gonna
wanna pick it up you'll be too intimidated you know or in
your mind you think it's too hard but with the ukulele I mean my
grandmother just started playing ukulele you know and now she's like jamming with her girlfriend you know and
they're like the you are my sunshine I and my only thing you know they're
singing songs like that but but like I said earlier you know I believe that music is not just the
universal language with the language love the universe and there's something
amazing that happens when you have the ability to speak that language
you know when you can pick up an instrument and just do this the new and you know that I can do that it just makes you feel soul good you know it's it I tell you it's
like an entire yoga session in one should drop by me use Ian play
one court over and over and over and there's just something about at and just like brings you back to
center you know it zeroes you out and a and
George Harrison love that about this injury he loved turning people on to it
and love showing people how easy it is to play because you get
that instant gratification the moment you pick it up you know you can just get one finger and
just put it right there the me like Wow theme the lay a oh my gosh if I to do that on a
trumpet it would take me like two months before I could even get a defense sound right or a violin like it
takes you two months before you can even hold the ball without cramping right cell it's that instant
gratification and I think that P when people pick it up for the
first time and it played like wow I can do this I can make music and
to me that's the joy that music should bring I
enjoy that joy everyone should feel that joy when
they're playing the piano for the first time when they're playing the violin for
the first time when you're playing the saxophone for the first time when you're
playing the guitar for the first time everyone could feel that joy you know I think there be a lot more
people playing instruments yeah I by at a question for you JK as at the screening of the documentary
congratulate all that remains in on one thing that really came through in
the documentary is how much a family affair your music it since I
want to see if you could tell us a little bit more about that and maybe let us know if they're dumb
Shimabukuro family concert at that screening that happy hour later I all-weather be a the documentary that that clips
talking about is a I just recently did a a its my first full-length documentary
with PBS and we've been shooting at for a little over two years now and we just I mean we just a wrapped it
up last week Wednesday and and it's gonna
be premiering at some other the film
festivals and and it's also gonna broadcasts on on PBS
special TV sometime early next year I'm very excited about this because a
while in in the in the it was pretty amazing just for me to kinda said and I i don't
like to see myself on on television are you know anything but
but just being a wooded to sit there and and see the last you know like 30 years
above my life just kinda go by and and really took me back
to wife Ellen up with this instrument how I
got into it you know all my started playing at the age of
four and I got into it because my my mom played you know she played and no
like the first thing she taught me was my secord and I would just do this all day 1 you know at I I just I love that I i did
that you know I to better every day I'd come home from
school pick up my local and just and just play and and might my mom loved
that you know my family they they love music and and I think I'll I also have a younger
brother who plays to you know and when we were
kids that's all we do together you know we always play they look a lot like to get my brother
was really good at sports and I mean he was very well-rounded like for me I the only thing I could do
was play too a lot alike to this day I can dribble into a layup
you know I mean I'm like a horrible but but there is
something about music that I I could chess I could just you know we
just sat down for hours at a time and just play and and discover new
chords a new cell phones so you know that that really kept our
family you know together my dad played a little bit I get our and over I mean that you know they they
were profession re: they want professional musicians are
anything but there was always music playing and I'll in the house all I think I'll in the documentary kinda
talks about you know my parents you know they divorced in all that in
you know some music kinda became my arm because my mom was
my first teacher should spend a lotta time you know when I was a kid teaching me citing once
my parents got a divorce and my mom had to work all the time you know my my brother and I were five
years apart so I would always stay home and how does have to watch meio I was felt
like it was more like my son then my brother and and citing plane that local LA for
me was in my mind you know now looking back at
everything was kinda like that was me try to make
up for those lost time you know spending with my mom and my
family and all kinda to be back sell so the some you know so that's why I
guess that's where my passion I guess comes from you know for this
instrument and I and it really is even though I'm away
from home a lot of times having their local other with me and
being able to play and share all these things are I think always I always feel like you
know I'm I'm right back with them you i was just wondering if you had any
plans or expectations on teaching your baby the israeli and also at what age your plan and introduce yeah
well i I have no expectations right now I mean I just you know I I wanted to do whatever
whatever you want to do but I definitely want him to have music and it's funny because up you know I'm I my new album a the the song that I wrote
for him you know it's called gentlemen 11 and it's the third song on
it on the on the album as funny because recently my my a wife discovered a lot while I was
on tour my wife discovered that when he's crying if she
puts the CD on he immediately stop she said that's
amazing so so she's head she put the CD on and as soon as you put it on you know
that the first song start and he just like she said he just like kinda stops and he
just kinda lists and then he just he's just he become super mellow the
second song comes on you don't actually a cover of Adele's
rolling in the deep and he listened through that and then she said the third song comes
out which is the song I wrote for him as should add that song start he start
or a I like card Friday I mean she actually it's it's like it's unbelievable
everything but I keygen she say he just doesn't like that
so I car gotta know so you know I but anyway type I will be teaching and
that song but I'll yeah but I definitely want to get him
into music at for sure thank you thank you very much you're
talking a little earlier about just kinda
growing up with ukulele into plan for so long but it's an instrument
I've heard my entire life in its I've never heard it played a the way you do until you came on so what happen in your life when you were
playing what was when did it start transpire you
start learning new things and you started bringing things out a bit at the instrument that other people
didn't see alright I think you know for me I like I started
out playing our traditional Hawaiian music and arm but then I I think there there came
a time label I think when I was a %uh Justin
you know in my early teenage years arm when I saw my first a Van Halen concert you know because and and it wasn't so much that I wanted
to play all those fancy guitar riffs or anything like that but
it was more about the energy when I see rock bands play I admire
their energy you know it's not not necessarily
I wanna play that kinda music or I wanna play that song writing but I wanna play with that kinda energy and
so whether I'm playing a of wine to or a jazz standard or like a classical
piece or a a pop tune or even if it if I'm
covering a rock song you know I wanna play with that energy
all the time and it's not always the physical kinda
energy or the kinda %uh the kinda energy that
that that you can see visually like just the
running and jumping on stage you know jumping around and all that I mean that's great too I like that you don't
like what I but the you know I like you I like to cuddle
mood you know what with the music but its its also the
other kinda energy that the energy that comes from within you know that that that focus that that
mental focus like I'm always talking about like when I mom
like when I'm surely like what I would do workshops and I would I would talk with kids and
performers about you know when you're playing you're in
shred doesn't matter what insuring your plane you know like 10 when I'm playing the
ukulele and and I'm gonna and I'm gonna play a chord you know it's not just the mechanics
it's not just about my my AR my finger in my hand you know why
fingers holding down the right strings and my hand is doing this it's not it's not about that but there's
so much that happens before and after you know the the stroke so there there's a lot of lot of
preparation and I always arm I always kinda compared to like a
picture you know when you watch a really good baseball pitcher you know the wind up i mean everything
that the follow through the the focus you know the the visualizing a how the the ball is going to curb or you
know or drop although that is so important that you
know when you're playing the ukulele you know like that that's that's what
I'm thinking I'm you know be before I even I even hit the strings like you know arm you can't really tell but like my Mike
tolls like curl up you know a Mike issues and you
know and I i can. its its I can feel like all that energy
you know in in Mike in my ankles in a bother my feet again
to my knees to my hips I me everything that comes down up up my
back to my shoulders and and when I make contact with the string
you know it's just its all that energy you know directed
this when it's not just the physical energy but its thats all my my mental focus my thoughts everything is going in that direction
going with the with the music you know the plane with
that kinda conviction way my spirit everything that I have that I
have controller I try to bring that into every stroke into every strong and it's not just the
hard hitting stuff you know it's it's the soft stuff too it's like when you
play you know the new you know I wanna just
bring that theme in bring every no doubt you know and it's
and it's still that follow through that that same conviction that same energy
that I would if I were playing like a rock tune you know in a classical piece or ballad
it's a different kind of energy you know but it's still that same intensity with that
same conviction you know that you wanna like put into
every little know every little movement you know
everything that you do needs to be somehow connected to the
movement I mean to the music you know whether it's like the whether
it's a just a simple tapping up the foot by tapping up the tolls or if it's a little like twitch in the
in in the face you know like you watch the top there sometimes Andy they do these uncontrollable like a
shaker you know they're just like you know and and its it's because it's
because they're all that all of that movement everything
that's happening is somehow connected with the sound or
an idea or concept that they're trying to convey you know he motion only now and I i
remember what the question was it anymore a but all I hope I answered at to you did answer are you hurting right
here thank you so much for your for playing for us today on I'm I have a
question about if there's anything particular about your instrument at you like to talk about I'm how did
you end up choosing this particular you can learn to play it all yeah what
this is mom this is an instrument and ukulele made
by a family called the comarca family and they're made right in Hawaii and
they were the first family to start manufacturing Google is in the
world there there I think they're going on they're going on for generations a
vocal a makers right now and it's it's just a family business and and they were the first alliance to learn how to build the bench
mens from the Portuguese immigrants that came over to the islands
you know to work in the plantation fields solo you know so they were the ones who
really started to build the first Google LA's and and its quite extraordinary you know
because they've they've been building will close for
almost a hundred years now and and when I was a kid you know in Hawaii everybody knows come oxo local
LA it's like it's kinda like the I me when I was when
I was growing up my dream was to have this Google alley
this if this is a they call this a tener size and Schmitz
a tener forced wrinkle mocca and it was my dream to have this entry
because in be in my eyes it was like the Excalibur
UHV instruments and I A arm and you know but they're
they're very expensive so you know at you know when I was a kid
there was no way I could afford something like this and you know so now that I I get to play
this instrument every day on my I just feel souls so honored you know
because I'm you know there's just so much history
and so much experience and knowledge that goes into every single one other insurance so to
actually be able to to play and and to to use one you know
to travel with and to you create music what to write music with I
am you know I just feel like I call it that that that history you
know comes with everything that I that I do yeah at that's what it is that
the comarca yeah yes film hey it I always such an inspiration to see
you perform and I am last two years ago when I last
saw you I was so inspired that I went my bot in ukulele yeah I used to play the soda
venezuela imports drink water it's Paul yet yet thing right so I took it I went to the guitar store
just with right from where you are right to the toy store
brought a lot of boys drinking ticket home in there I am with my little
three Kortina yeah to cheaper anyway my my thirteen-year-old my then 13-year-old
wonders ap like hey mom what's that I never saw it again I law yeah he goes up to school every day
with the fiberglass ukulele strong span across your back and I i just you know she says so I just
wanted to let you know that you know you kinda you know had that
kinda impact all I don't like you you thank
you very much thinking to that's beautiful you know all what are
the coolest things for me is seeing you know like when i when i tour
now and do shows we see a lot of kids you know young kids um come to the show now and A&A and they don't look like Google Apps
Thursday they come with the club there's but the app their fingernails all painted black they
had like spiky hair piercings you know and they just think
like that localize the coolest thing they'll come up in a bit like oh yeah I used to play like you know
heavy metal guitar and then I saw you know you play like
what my guitar gently weeps on YouTube and ought I to my guitar when I bought a
hookah like a this is all I play now at its chest the most incredible being right because
because ten years ago or even I don't know like
yeah maybe not even 10 years ago it was always the opposite you know
people would start on ukulele and then after that what they want they can play pretty good
anyone up put away a move on to a guitar you know cuz their goal is to play the
guitar and the use a Google as a stepping stool to get to the guitar but now it's it's really cool that
people that have been playing the guitar wanna put their guitars away and pick up
the local LA now so much greater are people yeah haha
pop-up you yes 0 thanks for it anything
government soldiers Herman questions at have you ever thought about
like giving up becoming the musicians like that then
when you were first written in how you get that all arm no I mean it's its I've never arm II never the thought never crossed my mind that
that I would ever want to give and give up playing you know all but to be honest when I was a kid or I mean even up until ten years ago or fifteen years ago I had
no idea that I was going to be a touring
musician and or or even up you know I could do this all the time I
mean I knew that I would always play this instrument for the rest of my
life because it's it's my passion you know but I thought it would just be like coffee
shops are you know I we went out with Alyssa just thought I school I used to play at
a lot of weddings and graduation parties and birthday parties and family functions but never in my wildest
dreams did I ever think I'd be doing what I'm doing today you know cell arm so it does that it
never crossed my mind that I'm gonna ever give this up you know but
as as a as things started to evolve and at
a career started to shape up for me you know throughout through the
internet and all that and now I'm touring I mean you know I me now we like now weird data on on this justice in
this next two months you know we're touring 240 cities and you know we got a whole tour bus now in
like you know 7 as a seven-man crew let me with a sound
and lighting guy in I never imagined any attack you know i
mean it's Jess incredible I mean when I was growing up
I I thought I was going to be like a schoolteacher it I thought I was gonna go into
education because I love working with kids and then I thought the local LA is the perfect way to
connect with kids you know site but in my classes in the lessons I could
always use this I would always have it but it's been it's been really
challenging and I mean there have been times like when I first started touring you know arm you know it was it was a yeah I mean there there were a lot of
challenges you know but you can I get through them you know you
work through them I mean like I said when I first started
performing I couldn't look at everyone and play I mean I was so nervous I would just you know I'd be
so afraid to talk and and and you know and and it's hard you
know but but you Jess you love that you love it
so much in you wanna you always want to arm figure out all
how can I how can I improve on this how can I make
this better because I realize that as you know I can practice all I want in
my room you know just by myself but it it doesn't it it doesn't give me that same satisfaction you know because to me again music is is all about
communicating its about making a connection with people and once
I started learning how to connect with people through this
instrument all my gosh it was like just rush you
know like now when I perform you know tonight at a venue in its and there are moments where like you
know i i'd be I'd be playing then you get to a real
sense it apart and like you know you play that one Cory and you can just almost feel the entire audience just breathing with you and
just taking it all then just waiting for that last note to till to fade away and then even after
you can you can't hear it anymore it's just side
and silence silence silence and that everyone like you know kind of site clapping or like
you know and and it's those moments that you know it's such a rush because um you just feel like everyone is
experiencing the same thing and its II guess only way I can think
about is like when you are like for surfers you know when they catch that
that perfect wave and they're just on that way then just nothing else
matters you know you just on that wave or like you know when I'm
on stage and I plane it's like nothing else matters I'm just just having really literally having the
time of my life and I'll and so for me I know it's our you know I
mean yeah there there are challenges but but a lot of it is just you know it's
just pressure that I put on myself you know just because I want our you
have a bit of a perfectionist in some ways and you know and I 10 keep learning and keep discovering
new things you know so sometimes you go through these periods
where you just at a plateau on you like when that next idea you know that a
calmer winds that you know that next concept you know gonna come but but yet you you find ways
to you know when there but then when when
you when you find it and it's like oh my gosh guess that's that's amazing
and you know and it just instead it carries you that inspiration
that that that excitement carries you through the
next one in our hands out thank you yes hi yeah I guess I can't get enough of
hearing about why my guitar gently weeps which was always one of my favorite all and it's the reason I know who you are
because a close friend of mine said are you gonna listen to the sky you know
he is on YouTube his name state something and yeah and and they eat your vers an avid is blew me away is as a
link you gorgeous an especially song and I care so much about to hear someone else
do it in it was so beautiful it moved me to tears
I actually made it my ringtone and Leone are you came to google the
first time here and then I cite the first time and had a chance to talk to
you and ask if he'd ever met george harrison and I forgot to tell you that I'd
actually just made it my ringtone even for yeah I'm day going on have yet copyright issues
notwithstanding the heart I but I just wanted to ask you I'll what made you put doubts on up on
YouTube was that also and your favorite songs or weather just by chance yeah well you
know to be honest like till this day I don't know who put it up
on YouTube you know I'm because all you know what I said this
last time to you know I I mean you know you know I'm not not you
know just I'm just being like totally honest and
sincere like you know but because this was like seven years ago so I i I didn't know what you to place
back then you know I mean I'm not very internet
savvy but I think newt you just kinda started around that time to write so was
it you with that famous yet right I me not
to make people knew about it but I mean I was I was doing some email
but you know I wasn't really active on on
the on the web sites and internet and all that you
know but arm but when so what happened was I will I just did this thing for local
TV show and that's what they did the interview for the the videotape in doing
that and it aired on on TV you know it was
just a small local network and and I was it and then I went back home
to Hawaii and about two months later I had a lot of friends that were that
were here on the and why week we call this the mainland Europe so where I had a lot of friends on email
and going to school and and they started calling me or sending you know that
you're like a you know like there's this a this video clip that's kinda you know that that's going are on our
campus have you playing like what he talking about so they they
sent me the link at this time it you know and at that
time it was still like you know that concept the emailing a
video or video link to some but was kinda like let you email me a video what
he talking about you know but it was a because it was
just kinda starting out so arm so he day they emailed me this this link and I clicked on it and it
took me right to that YouTube video and I then there was that
I just was like I don't understand what happened and
what am I looking at you know and then and it and already it had it had or
almost 2 million views already and I I couldn't believe it
right and i was just and there was and that was in a term for back that we weed
and even there was an even such thing as a viral
video yet we would even know what to call it was it happening and and it was a shortly after
that you know the numbers just started growing and growing and growing and there were multiple videos so there
was one that that didn't even have my name is just
said while my guitar gently weeps and it was that same d/o then there was one that was like Creevy
Asian ukulele player yeah call for I I saw about you know there by
eight or nine different videos and all of them had like over a million views right and
there but not about had my name he had perhaps a so it wasn't until I think like a few
months after that that finally there was a video that had
my name on it was cigs you look for all you know whatever and that all and then that that
video to start growing and growing growing and and so and all the other one just slowly
disappeared I think now there's I think there's there's still a couple
couple other ones out there but the main one right now are that that was
laughed at I know when when it first just had my
name on it it with you know like something like
thirty thousand you know views and that was like maybe four years ago or something you know but
then doubt when even from four years ago that one grew
to over 10 million now and it's amazing how it's still just
growing and so people are still discovering this video for the first time in itself and says
been quite extraordinary and and you know that that video changed my
life I mean I wish I knew who the first person was that put it
online because the yeah I only or yeah I yeah that that's what I that's why tell
people I think George Harrison up there had something to do it that you now by yeah it really it did changed my life
and up and from that I started getting calls
from other artists to come and open for them all to care you know to tour with them into an open
for them or record with them and spend told the
extraordinary so thank you yeah San at jkjk said I know
why it took so long for them to attach a name to the video because it took them
that long to learn how to spell your last name yeah I I died so true so true alright so I have a
quick question how to give a heads up a little bit of a setup
question but data me know about the the work that you did with Alan Parsons
are so obvious he's a very well-known you grammy-nominated producer and
engineer but you know yourself as a musician for a long time have work with
a lot of producers and engineers what made him different what did he do
differently like radically different then you know the
masses a a pretty audio engineers are out there
okay arm while the the one of the coolest things
about out i mean from from day one just like
being in a request to deal with him was that the first thing I noticed was
the way he might my Google Ali the way he recorded my
ukulele every recording engineer I ever worked with
you know always I mean they you know the there
was always at least one microphone in front have
mine Schmidt you know a lot at the record in stereo
they would have one here and one here I could that's how they you know the
record guitars and scary like that i dont need side my king you know where
you have we have 11 mike in the middle like kind
of hysteria spread and did you have one across the top I've you know I'm
been in situations where they would surround me with microphones you know
put microphones all over me or put a microphone you know put two
microphones right here and then but two in the back in the wrong more
behind me but this was the first time that someone tell me to okay yes just
and right here he got one microphone he put it here under the neck up my local LA and he put
another one right here above my right shoulder and I was like in ensure this is kinda work I add up so you'd like a edges just plan I'll
make some adjustments ice type lane and he just kinda tweaked it a little bit just more but
kept it right there and then kinda take this one like that and and
and the like are you I just play some things I i just i just i denied much to
the song and I i played at and and then he said
okay come in and tell me if you like the cell so I walked into the control room he
played it back and I couldn't believe what I was
hearing it was just it was the sound of my in Sherman the
way that I always hear it the way that I hear it
you know like cuz eyeball the I I'm always just
accepted that every time I i record you know my studio sound what I
can get on our record is just different from like my
life's out I like what I hear when I'm practicing but it was the first time I walked into
that room any played it back in it just II I can I was stunned because I
was like oh my gosh I I feel like I am I play my insurance right now you know I
mean that's how it felt and so I asked him about that I i said I
said how did what made you decide to record that will call
in this way he said what he went through he wanted
to recorded you why two recorded in stereo so he wanted at least two microphones
and so we could get a right and a left channel but what he said was when he records
guitars that way usually put one here and one up here
right because the guitars longer so you can get out a wider stereo spread that way but he will but he thought that
because that would allow the shorter if you were to put one mic here at the
body one mic at the neck because the a little tiny the mites are
gonna pick up pretty much the same cells you're not going to get that much of a
stereo difference the right and the left were gonna sound very similar so he thought he could get a wider
stereo spread if he put one mic down here to pick up
closer to the for sharing and one mic up here which
would pick up closer to the fourth string and I we can keep the Mikes further
apart yet baby the same distance to the instrument you know and I mean that was just it sounds simple but it was just the most brilliant thing
you know that I had ever heard I was like wow so when you listen to the album
you're thinking this a great stereo spread that you're
hearing i mean it's like you're in the middle of the instrument by it's not so much right and left but
it's more up and I'll you know so it's like he
took that up and down salinger's that that over so you get you right in your lap and you
know that so that that for me was like while that was amazing and then and then you know other
things like because outing comes from that old school we have recording he y to do everything life I me so we
have a 29 peace orchestra on on a few these tracks and everything was required light there are
absolutely no over dubs so we went we went into this huge studio
we had the 29 peace orchestra there and then I was in the same but with the
orchestra the only thing that divided me from the orchestra was a glass door and we all watch the same conductor up
there and and we all played and and there's something amazing that
happens when you when you do that when you play live because all the instrument I any all the
musicians are listening to each other and playing of love each other you know so there are
a lot of spontaneous things that just happen that wouldn't have happened if we
just played all or parts separately because we would have just been reading
the music and just played guitar parts but because we were playing it together
you know it's that whole synergy affect you know we're all creating
something together we're all in the room together making this you know and and it was just it was
really beautiful you know there's a um that song missing three that I played
for you know it's it so it's a three strengths I was so
proud of it because you know I'd like on you I play with
three strings and I sent that was the first demo that I'd sent to Alan and he listened to it I in telling the
story I just sent in this Aug a disease like all gosh that's beautiful
and he told me I can just hear an entire string section playing here with you on that right that
they love it was ironic because you know the song
that that you know I wrote it was just three shillings but now there's a point
I keys are too shy so there's over over a hundred strings on the song
out but still you know i mean but he was
very very on he was he was very careful about making sure that the local LA was
here and everything else played around it you know he did a 180 thing to bury the
local LAN and it was just amazing working with him
he makes the entire record in two days he would just get up there and it all
the feeders and coach and in like 20 seconds kept like a perfect mix up like a 29
peace orchestra with me and and we just like the and you just sit
back in SA like homie the horns to calm down right here you know and your tear I be
like or what what do you think I say cops
great yeah let go yeah I with really inspiring
orchid up I think this is our last question to
it is and so I was wondering in each year albums you know your style changes
are sour bulbs so wat what about grand grand ukulele
are you most proud of in the pollution your
style and where you see it going in the future are there aren't you know that there
were a lot of things on on this record like just really subtle things that that are you like I was talking about like always
just looking for that one thing you know to make a difference arm that there were songs on this album
where I utilize techniques that I never used before you know for example %uh there's this one song
called music box where where you know the more I do this thing
right he might Tom alternating between the third and
fourth string and that I play the whole entire saw our entire melody on abortion the the the No and but there's this one section
the song where I play that melody arm harmonically so while I'm keeping this
going I play the smell it the and it as out how to play free courtesy
theme go that that section right there for me was
like I'd never done anything like that before
so I thought that was cool there is another in another place and and you know you
never know is that unless I talk about but and I i did a version up arm a a field goal and there's this one
section in there where I take the melody United the mo now %uh so there's this one sec you why play
that harmonically as well again but what I do is II utilize this
technique where in Sturgis is they're just plain
harmonics by itself I would threat a string to almost like to make like a base a base no so I have a so like a so this all over
the over the F court what I'm doing is I'm
holding the F room but as i play that F rude I'm also going to use my the
figures to play the harmonics up the the other
strings together like that so I can get this kind of harmony which
is something you you don't you you can't you don't you're
like a lot of players will when I like your bat F major 7th out you
know with harmonic but so when I play that part is like had had that stay sell for me that was another like
you know I'd never done eating you know this kinda stuff you know that that kinda cell phone it's very arm you know jack up a story
is one of my favorite guitar player I mean favorite bass players you know we
do things like that where he would had a role you know he would kinda roll
that the base around it he would he would fret these amazing harmonics and
just get these in credit you know and if you can hear
that so that so that the flat 7 there you never hear that you
you would never use you hear that on the ukulele but you know but you yeah yeah cell at so those kinda things you know what i
mean that's the kinda stuff that really keeps me going to most people
what won't won't hear it I won't notice that by you know but for me it's like I add
up you know i'd that make the entire arrangement for me
and I learned that and I the entire song fell yes I mean it
was it was I had a great time working on this this
record you know I agree he ate really feel like you know i i out and
really pushed me in the studio and and and so it was great because that's what
you want from a producer will knows how to push but not over push you
know where you get discouraged her you know you just and and it was such a
great experience he brought in just some amazing musicians like it
linger you know for the bed where he did somebody orchestral arrangements we had I'll
Simon Phillips on my favorite drummers hear from told all he he played on the record I ready t
cause phenomenal the bass player arm now it was just it was just really
inspiring you now so for me because Allen you know
I mean he's worked with a ring from the Budos to you know I'm I mean every just you know what this Alan Parsons Project
and all that you know Pink Floyd you know he's a boat his
vision is Seoul Grand its sole he has so much
experience and so is for me a lot of times my vision
only comes with what I can you know it it all I only see what I can do with the
ukulele but I don't think beyond you know beyond that you know
where is alan Alan Parsons comes from that school
where you know he's you know he he's worked with so many
orchestras he's worked with so many readers he's worked with so many rhythm sections and and he's
recorded so many different kinds of instruments and he knows all about microphones and preamps & he
knows how to get this had a salad or fine china if I'm trying
to you know express something he knows the best way to to capture that so that translates you
know when you listen to it on a record I'm going for that real sensitive you
know touch like he knows how to how to pick it up with a mic and you
know using the right microphone with the right pre-ap you know and placing it in the in
the ache in the in the right spot so that we can get that sound or even if I'm playing with the
orchestra how to how to arm how-to geek you the the shootings or how
to EQ the the horns are the woodwind so that so
that it doesn't it does and that the frequencies don't
don't overpower ukulele ukulele can still be over cuz
lot I'm just not just a volume issue but it's a pending issue like where you
place it in the mix in the stereo mix you know and also how unique you it so that
unique you adjust in a way so that it it it on you know which is i eight is I i'm I don't really understand all this
kinda stuff but but you know anybody just thats that you
know I am very limited under say I mean it's a whole science and and it's amazing his years I just
incredible like we'd be mixing would be mixing the song
you know we we like be required something in a heap in the Roman and then the you know will be under this
thing on a playback right every night just nothing like going out at federated where this thing and then and the phone
will ring Alan glycol okay I got I get the phone and so you're
still cast about and he'll be on the phone unite and he'd
like outside the studio also said he'll come right back at what what was that well that let go go
go back go back like it all go back like 20 seconds you know it's amazing like he just
here's everything and and it was just the extraordinary to to work with him in to see somewhere you
know cuz when he's when he's in the studio like you just like a little kid
like he just he loves it he saw passionate about
recording and also to work with someone like that
job was really inspiring you know because for me this is what I
you know I'm passionate about this and then to work with him was passion
about doing all the other stuff is I think it was a great collaboration and
you know is what I the the greatest recording experiences up my
life so yep will great thanks so much for coming
here and we look forward to picking up a conversation when you come back you at
all bank like the her
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