LOCKDOWN CINEMA

 

This is where GBU hosts all our ideas for making video productions of songs that we play.  This is a novelty of the 2020 pandemic, but it has proven to be quite a lot of fun.  It’s open for anyone to get involved, so check out the current project and contact Harry if you’d like to be a part of the project. 🙂

October KLUB MUK project:

MAKE YOU FEEL MY LOVE

PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR ‘LITTLE BIT EXTRA’ FILES HERE!

DEADLINE = Thursday 1st October midnight   

WORLD PREMIER @ KLUB MUK = Tuesday 6th October

Watch Mike perform the song for 100 Days of Uke (YouTube unlisted).

Get your music sheets & find your guide tracks here:

Make-you-feel-my-love for GBU LEAD v.2  (final version!)

SOPRANO Make-you-feel-my-love for GBU v.1 & the SOPRANO part on Soundcloud

TENOR.ALTO Make-you-feel-my-love for GBU v.2 & the ALTO part on SoundCloud & watch my rough n ready guide to the ALTO part 🙂  OR

Use the TENOR/ALTO sheet but sing an octave down from the notes indicated.  You can find a tenor guide track on SoundCloud

BASS Make-you-feel-my-love for GBU v.4 &  bass harmony guide track on Soundcloud

If you are keen to contribute, you could…

1. RECORD your harmony singing as an .mp3 so that will come across in good quality.  To do this you need to listen to the guide track with one earbud or a headphone on one ear and sing in time and tune with the guide track.  You can record on to your smart phone or use an app like Audacity and submit the .mp3 to the dropbox link above.  AND…

1.5  You might also like to RECORD your ukulele playing as a separate track.  That way you get to concentrate on one thing at a time!  THEN…

2. VIDEO yourself playing the song and singing the harmonies.  The virtue of doing the video separate from the harmony & uke audio recordings is that you can listen to the guide track openly when you do your video, not even worry about background noise, and play along with it.  In the editing process, I’ll strip out the sound and just use the vision.  If you muck up a little, don’t worry, just forge on!  I can probably edit around any mistake and, anyway, folks are forgiving of video errors but simply won’t tolerate bad sound.

3. All you have to do then is drop the three tracks with your name on them eg. ‘Grace.soprano.mp3’ + ‘Grace.uke.mp3’ + ‘Grace.video.mp4’ into the dropbox link above by the deadline so Harry can receive them to video edit. 🙂   Thanks.

VIDEO CONCEPT will be to reflect some of our COVID life.  The first few lines speak about all of us, don’t they?  And our love is our shared music making.  I expect to mix a sketchy story in with lots of harmonies happening down each side of the screen (a la the UOGB videos).  So videos of you playing uke and singing harmonies will be really useful.  Ideally get a LANDSCAPE-orientated medium shot (ie. yourself from the thighs/waist up).  This means I can zoom in a little to try and get everyone about equal sized.  If you just send me a close up, I can’t zoom out you see.

Contact me (Harry) on 0400 579 192 if you have any questions.

 
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Notes from earlier GBU video productions

I have kept these notes posted as an archive both for myself and anyone else starting out making videos for you music group.
 
Thank you to all the members of the Yarra YUkers ukulele group for all the help pulling these videos together, all of which have premiered at
Virtual  KLUB MUK during the 2020 Isolation & Lockdown periods. 
 
You can see the results @ GreatBig Ukes YouTube channel.
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September KLUB MUK project:

AS TEARS GO BY

Get involved with our video production of this classic, originally arranged for MUK by Rose Ertler. Over the next week (<10 August) we’ll post instructions on how to make a video and/or submit audio that we can incorporate into the finished product.

SUBMIT YOUR ‘ATGB’ FILES HERE

 
Watch the guide video about the concept and how to create a video or audio recording for this project
Guide track for the SOPRANO harmony (starts on G note)

Guide track for the ALTO harmony (starts on E note)

Guide track for the MELODY (starts on the C note)

Guide track for the BASS harmony (starts on the LOW G note)

 
1. VIDEO BIG IDEA
 
For this video, we are aiming for one continuous zoom from beginning to end.  We can do this by zooming in on a face and, as the person’s glasses frame or eye fills the screen, we can fade in the next view of another face or a close up of a ukulele being played… and when we zoom into the soundhole of the ukulele we can fade in the next scene, and so on.
 
This concept also answers to our lockdown circumstances as it means you can video yourself with your webcam or with a smartphone mounted at eye height.
 
This slow zoom is a technique that creates a sense of intensity.  The fade-transition trick resolves that tension and yet maintains it throughout the video.  I hope that by featuring mostly faces we will also reflect the humanity in this song.
 
You can see the idea in the guide video @ 0:20 and 12:00
 
2.  The DEADLINE for submissions is???      Thursday August 20th 2020.
 
3.  THEME?   Some connection to SPRING (which is the September KLUB MUK theme).  Wear
green? Flowers in the frame?
 
3.  HOW MANY VIDEO PARTS and WHO is doing each part?
 
Who is doing what is listed below.
 
In addition to the PORTRAITS (staring into the camera singing lead or backing vocals), we need at least 6 videos of strummers and pickers.  You can be a portrait AND do strumming/picking,
 
The strummers will appear in the INTRO down the sides of the screen.  They’ll be back at the 3rd instrumental where the picking meets strumming.  And they’ll be in the OUTRO and CRESCENDO finish flying around the screen!
 
What do the strummers do?  Strummers/pickers will need to appear from waist to top of their heads such that I can crop their clips into squares.  You’ll see what I mean if you watch the guide video @ 5:53+   
 
Here is a running list listing the PARTS, whose PORTRAIT will feature and their action.  I’ll change names to GREEN to indicate when we have received a good version that we can put in the video.
 
    PART                                PORTRAIT FACE+  their action, etc.
1.   INTRO                                             VANESSA: no action bar stare at camera
while the zoom begins…
+ 3 ukuleles in squares on each side UKULELES:
                                                                 Start with 1 uke doing strum #1
                                                                 on the C chord, add a ukulele
                                                                 at each click
 
2a. FIRST INSTRUMENTAL                 JANET: start singing ‘oo’ melody
 
2b.      ”                 ”                                 MARJAN: continue ‘oo’ melody
 
3a. VERSE ONE                                     KATHERINE – Lead singer – sings:
“It is the evening of the day
I sit and watch the children play…”       
 
3b.     ”          ”                                         HELEN sings:
“..Smiling faces I can see
But not for me
I sit and watch
As tears go by”
 
4a. SECOND  INSTRUMENTAL           DAVID
 
4b.      ”                 ”                                 HOLLIS: continue ‘oo’ melody
 
5a. VERSE TWO                                    KATHERINE (2)– Lead singer
“My riches can’t buy everything
I want to hear the children sing…”
 
5b.     ”          ”                                         MELANIE
“..All I hear is the sound
Of rain falling on the ground
I sit and watch 
As tears go by”
 
6a. THIRD INSTRUMENTAL               Wall of 9 UKULELES, zooming into
the centre one.  Repeat as for the INTRO but with the 3rd strum.
 
6b.      ”                 ”                                 MELISSA: continue ‘ah’ melody
 
7a. VERSE THREE                                 MIKE
“It is the evening of the day
I sit and watch the children play…”
 
7b.     ”          ”                                         KATE
“..Doing things I used to do
They thing are new
I sit and watch
As tears go by”
 
8a. FIRST OUTRO                                  ROSE: Staring at camera (and miming
to Katherine’s ‘whoa’s?)

 

 
 
8b. SECOND    ”                                     STEVE: following Katherine’s lead and
improvising ‘Whoa’s etc.
+ side UKULELES; left side doing 4th strum
right side doing picking.
                                                                 
As the song shifts into the ‘crescendo’
the separate uke videos will break up and start flying around the screen, joined by faces of the various people featured in parts 2-8.
 
9.  CRESCENDO  (!)                         everyone plus ukes in motion around the screen.
 
 
 
3.  WHAT ABOUT AUDIOPARTS?
 
SINGING
  • Katherine is our lead singer and she sings throughout.
  • We need +3 parts for the 2nd VERSE: a soprano (Vanessa); an Alto (Melissa) & a Bass (?).
  • The 3rd VERSE and OUTRO can have as many additional singers as like to submit .mp3’s.

STRUMMING

PICKING

  • picking (or the 2nd ‘strum’) happens is the 2nd Instrumental, 2nd VERSE and in the 2nd art of the OUTRO.
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BAD GUY (a.k.a. “The Uke Type”)

Well, we got locked-down before we could film the Happy Together project (to be resumed in Spring as soon as we’re let out!).  In the meantime, lets channel a little contemporary electro-pop by adapting Billie Eilish’s Bad Guy and flicking out a new video aimed at the August 4th KLUB MUK.
Submit any recordings HERE!
Here is the sheet for our adaption of ‘Bad Guy’ to ‘The Uke Type’

Click here for a guide track WITH lyrics

Click here to download a guide track WITHOUT lyrics

(just click the three dots at the end of the animation and choose download)

Notes about the music:

1. it belts along at a steady 132 bpm. Boppy but not too fast.  The final bit (just twin Gm chords repeated) is at 60bpm.

2. Follow the ukulele tutorial from Warrenmusic on YouTube

  • NB. Do not be lured by other versions that use a D major instead of the Hawaiian D7.  The D7 sounds much better!
  • I also reckon you can improve on Warren’s riff picking by laying your finger across the bottom two strings on the 3rd fret as it makes changing strings between different parts more accurate.  You’ll understand when you watch the video! 😉

3. We have a sheet with the adapted lyrics, chords and riff.  There’s a minor change in the chorus where we hold the tension of the Cm, but otherwise it’s pretty much what the warrenmusic video teaches.

4. The musical arrangement is very simple. At this point, we can keep it to a bass, some computer generated drum, uke strumming and picking.

Parts for the video:

  • riffers (video yourself playing or even just your fretting hands or uke as you play it; or just an .mp3 audio file)
  • a couple of leads in verse.1 to alternate the lines.  Note that the feel is to more or less murmur the lines rather than sing out loud, so this is easy-peasy.  We just need to make sure the recording quality is clear).
  • 3 people in verse.2 to deliver the 3 part harmony —- OOOOORRRR 1 person cloned into 3!! Ooooo!  If you’re interested in being the clone, contact me and I’ll tell you how to organise it. 😀
  • photos or video of Yarra YUkers playing underneath that tree @ Coburg Market last year
  • Some scowling man/men with guitars dressed up country music / Slim Dusty style for the chorus.  (I’ll be one, but it would be fun to have a few).
  • Videos of clicking hands to go along with the beat (132bpm) that we can cut into the video.
  • Some videos of you 1. playing through the song 2. grooving along anyway you like and/or 3. dancing in crazy ways ( see Eilish’s original video) that we might cutaway to here and there.  You might notice in the original video there is a yellow / blue theme.  If you could reference that in how you dress, that’d be cool. NOTE that you don’t have to record your sound, just the video.  We can build an audio track for the video and just be adding action.
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And our last trick was…  Made My Day by Tim Finn (1983).  We have completed this video project now and expect to enjoy it’s world premier at Virtual KLUB MUK on 7 July.
  1. This is the original video for the song
  2. This is the sheet for Made My Day v.4 (which includes an instrumental chorus)

  3. This are some ‘how to’ make your video notes.

    1. We agreed to dress in colours according to part.
      • Sopranos will wear white or orange
      • Altos in BLUE
      • Tenors in BLACK
      • Basses in BLACK with a HAT
    2. Practice playing along with the sheet and your downloaded video to get the song under your skin, some idea of the BRIDGE/INSTRUMENTAL turns (just turn the direction the screen indicates!), and practice smiling for the camera.
      • Downloading your guide video ensures your timing will not be affected by internet lag (which is an issue currently).
    3. PLEASE NOTE: You don’t sing the verses.  Our lead singer will do those.  You strum along and sing the PRECHORUS “oooo” as the videos guide you and the CHORUS lyrics of “Made My Day” (with gusto!) as you’ll see on the sheet.
    4. Aim to video your head and bust (including ukulele, so we can see it being played).
      • HELPFUL HIT:   Do not lay your camera device on a table below your head and film upwards.  You’ll be giving us a video of chin and/or nostrils! 😉  Aim to have the camera at eye level.

      • PLEASE VIDEO IN LANDSCAPE ORIENATION.

    5. You MUST use earbuds or headphones so you do not record the guide video in your video.  That gets very messy.  We should only hear your voice and ukulele on your video.
    6. External mics are the ideal.  Beware making my early mistake.  I played a ukulele right in front of a laptop’s mic (at the front of the laptop near the touch pad) while I sang to the camera.  You couldn’t hear my voice over the fanging of the uke.  So, do a test of your set up and adjust before recording.  Playing ukulele softly is not a sin, either. 😉
    7. When you start, please help the editor by CLAPPING, as the beginning of the video indicates: 1 2 3 4   CLAP 2 3 4   1 2 . .  start playing.   The waveform spike from the clap helps me quickly do a initial rough alignment of the videos
    8. The idea is for you to sing and strum (or at least fake strumming!).  The guide videos feature me picking notes and singing your part just as a guide to help you sing your part in tune while you strum.
    9. Be patient with mistakes.  I really recommend keeping a log to help you for the next project. Mistakes are easy to remember that way and become valuable learning.  You will find they are much more forgivable. 🙂
    10. Have fun.
    11. Please feed back any tips gleaned from #8 to help others for next time.
  4. This is the YouTube video for SOPRANO voices
  5. This is the YouTube video for ALTO voices
  6. This is the Youtube video for TENOR singers
  7. This is the YouTube video for BASS voices

ALL VIDEOS CAN BE DOWNLOADED FROM HERE

(Downloaded videos are more reliable timing-wise for when you record your clips)

Upload your videos to this Dropbox folder

DEADLINE:  By midnight THURSDAY 28th May, so I have a few days to edit the video.  Thanks!

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Sheets, videos and soundcloud links for Yarra YUkers’ MAD WORLD (due 1 May)

*Remember, this is a choral piece.

There is no need to play ukulele except to pick the notes you sing, if you wish. :)*  

  1. TENORS (melody) simple sheet is @ Mad World in Gm v.2
  2.  BASS sheet Mad World BASS v.2
    1.  use the annotated clip for the Bass part to guide you along.
    2.  listen to the bass part on soundcloud
  3. ALTOs soon to be finished & posted. In the meantime, you can use the Tenor sheet as a guide.
      1. There is a privately linked video, so Yarra YUkers please email me at greatbigukes@gmail.com or message 0400 579192 for the link.
      2. Listen to the Alto part on soundcloud
  4. SOPRANO sheet:  Mad World in Gm SOPRANO v.4
    1. See the sopranos’ part video on youtube
    2. listen to the soprano part on soundcloud
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Awaiting production (when lockdown is finished)…

HAPPY TOGETHER

by The Turtles.    Sheets arranged by Melissa (with thanks!)

This is our next collaborative video project.  See the homepage/blog page for instructions.  We are aiming for this song to be submitted as a music video to July’s Virtual KLUB MUK, screening on 7 July @ 8pm on the facebook ‘Virtual KLUB MUK’ page.

Happy-Together-1 the basic chord sheet

Happy-Together-backup-and-harmony-singing

Happy-Together-picking-under-verse

 
 
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