The Asymmetrical Ukulele--Why Not?

 Here's a couple of ukuleles I'm working on now, after a hiatus of several months caused first by my place of work (2nd Chance Wood Co.) moving over the holiday season last year, and then by the Lockdown, when the place was closed.

Both these are concert size ukes.  The Michi-lele I have made over a dozen times before, but the other one is new.  I call it the Aetherea, and it's a departure for me because it's asymmetrical.  Of course the Michi-lele is asymmetrical too, but that's because the whole idea is it's shaped like Michigan, which is itself asymmetrical.

The Aetherea isn't meant to look like anything else--it's an abstract shape. I designed the Aetherea to be asymmetrical just because.

I have touted my ukuleles as "alternative," meaning they are not shaped like standard, normal ukuleles, i.e., miniature guitars.  But all my ukes to this point (except the Michi-lele and Texalele) have been symmetrical along their length--an important aspect of conventionality they share with normal ukes, in spite of them being "alternative" otherwise.

So I guess I thought it was time to make an instrument even more alternative ( or out of whack--?) compared to the normal.

There's no musical reason, as far as I know, to make a ukulele or a guitar or any stringed instrument symmetrical--or at least no reason not to give it a shot, and see for myself what happens musically.

Going asymmetrical to me is just another move in the direction of pursuing creative freedom in the designing and making of ukuleles.

Creative expression in uke building usually--more than nine times out of ten--takes the form of making the conventional guitar-shaped item fancier and fancier with flashy details and rich materials (inlays, intricate bindings and rosettes, exotic woods, and so on).  Decoration is fine, it can be really wonderful, but it is limited because it doesn't touch the basic shape of the thing, which is treated pretty much as a given, a canvas to be painted on. 

I like fooling around with shape--it's the kind of "alternative" I like to explore.  And symmetry/asymmetry is pretty basic to shape, so I think I'll be exploring that some more in the immediate future.

For anyone interested, I have another blog that goes into some of these issues having to do with traditional and non-traditional ukuleles, normal ones and alternative ones: https://altuke.blogspot.com/

Cat's Eye Ukulele

 This is the first ukulele I ever made--the type, not this particular one, and it is still one of my personal favorites.

I like it because it is kind of goofy, the body shaped liked a cat's eye, the headstock like a cat's head.  It's goofy, it's whimsical, it's "fun," whatever you want to call it, but at the same time has a simplicity to it that you could also call graceful or elegant.  I could call that, anyhow.  Am I flattering myself?  You be the judge.

Goofy or graceful or both, this ukulele probably has a limited audience:  Ukulele players who also like cats--cat lovers who also play the ukulele.  Or maybe a grandma like that who wants to give her grand daughter a whimsical gift made by someone with a childish sense of humor.

The top and back are made of Birdseye Maple, a fancy wood that I chose the Cat's Eye uke because I fancy it looks like the texture you see in a cat's eye.  Perhaps sometime I'll take the next step and stain the wood transparent green.  I really think I should do that.
I can make you one like that, if you want.  Just ask.

The Fabulous Texalele

"Here's looking at you, kid."

I guess I was was first attracted to making ukuleles because: 1) I enjoy the process of design--thinking up creative ways of  making things, and then making them:  getting an idea, developing it, bringing it into reality; 2) I like music, and I enjoy playing the ukulele (although I am a rank amateur), and I noticed that ukuleles over time had been made in a quite a variety of alternative shapes beyond the conventional guitar-like form--so designing ukuleles offered the potential of a wide scope for creative design; 3) I decided to jump into that tradition with a vengeance.

But a person can be creative making a variety of things, from pottery to furniture to any sort of art object.  The thing about a musical instrument is:  after you make it, there is music!  There is a special magic to that which is almost as magical as composing music itself.  that's how I feel about it, anyhow.

The Texalele is one of the first ukulele types I made.  Why Texas is a story I won't get into right now.  Just like the Michi-lele, which came a little later, the Texalele was an exercise is pushing the creative possibilities of ukulele design to a limit--you could say, to the point of absurdity, or at least to the point of whimsy.  (I'm not the first person to do this sort of thing:  Google "Aero Uke," for example.)

Anyhow, this is the Texalele.  I made four and have this one left.  It is the special "eyes of Texas" version.  I cut the top from a chunk of cedar, and it just so happened that two knots, looking like a pair of eyes, were there on the piece.  "Eyes of Texas"--it was like fate.

This one still has the original cheap black nylon strings I first put on it.  And it sounds pretty good for a weirdly shaped uke that was among my first efforts.

This is the kind of thing I would sort of like to keep for myself, but I will sell it if a buyer comes along and just has to have an "Eyes of Texas" ukulele, because I do make them to go out into the world.

Chunky Pineapple Ukulele

I make all my ukuleles from reclaimed woods, but this one probably looks like it more than the others because the top and back are made from barn wood pine that has some small bug holes in it (filled with epoxy before finishing).  It's made on the pattern of the famous Pineapple Ukulele introduced by the Kamaka company in the 1920s.  I call this one "chunky" because the body is somewhat larger than usual.

When I found this "buggy" pine, I wanted to use it for a top because of its funky look, plus I wanted to see how the very old and well-seasoned wood would perform as a "tonewood."  I found it works just fine--the uke has good volume and tone.