Canadian ukulele player James Hill has been wowing YouTube viewers with his unique way of playing the diminutive string instruments.
Using a pair of wooden chopsticks, some tape and a comb, Hill is able to create textures and sounds usually reserved for the sound worlds of Techno, Hip Hop and Electronica.
Check out the video below:
With just a few touches of the ukulele’s on-board EQ and volume control, the usually dulcet miniature guitar-shaped instrument is transformed into a mulch-instrumental sound deck capable of producing fully rounded covers of The White Stripe’s Seven Nation Army, Usher’s Yeah and some old style, hard faced Detroit techno.
At the end of his performance, Hill returns to strumming the ukulele as usual, proving that, in his words, “no ukuleles were harmed in this show”, and that it was just his extended techniques creating the incredible noises.
It’s hard to imagine the original Hawaiian creators of the ukulele, inspired by the small-guitar shaped Machete played by Portuguese settlers, ever believing their instrument would be capable of such sounds. Then again, it’s unlikely they would have imagined the ukulele‘s huge global success in recent years, conquering both the classroom and the pop charts.
Inspired by James Hill’s performance? Think you can do better?
Send in a video of you playing your instrument using an usual or impressive technique and the three best clips will each WIN a £20 Musicroom gift voucher, and special exposure on the front page of Musicroom.com!
Record yourself playing, upload your video to YouTube, Vimeo or another video hosting site, and send a link to:
competition@musicroom.com
Terms and conditions: Multiple entries allowed, but only one prize per entrant. Closing date is September 1 2013. Winner will be decided by Musicroom.com staff. By entering the competition you give permission for your video entry to be used by Musicroom on their website, social media channels, blog and other promotional channels. Winners will be announced September 4 2013. For more information, contact competition@musicroom.com Musicroom reserve the right to change prize and their decision on winner is final.