Community ukulele production II

Update:thank you for the videos — they turned out really well . Over the next few days I will edit and cut the recordings, and I will be back soon with the finished production.

It is always a great pleasure to announce another community play-along project. I hope you will take part in creating the new song with the same enthusiasm as before. Most of the time I reveal in advance what we are going to play together, but on this occasion — for only the second time — I am not going to do that, which is why the blog post has such a deliberately vague title. For now, let it remain a surprise. One thing is certain: anyone who takes part will not regret it. We are arranging a very lovely song.

If you would like to participate, you need to know the following chords:

Time signature: 2/4. The section between two vertical lines represents one bar. In one place we play two chords within a single bar — a change from G major to D7. The whole sequence must be played three times, with four bars of rest between the repetitions. I demonstrate all of this in the video, and you will be able to make your recording while playing along with it.

[C] | [C] | [G] | [G] |

[C] | [C] | [G][D7] | [G] |

[G7]| [C] | [G7]| [C] |

[F] | [C] | [G7]| [C] |

[F] | [C] | [G7]| [C] |
4 bars of rest, then repeat

You need to play these 16 bars plus 4 bars of rest, meaning 20 × 3 = 60 bars in total. In the video I show exactly how I would like you to play the accompaniment. I call out the next chord in advance, so the easiest approach may simply be to listen to the video while making your own recording.

Finally, here is a summary of the most important points about making and submitting your video. The “official” part is that anyone who sends me a video consents to my processing and publishing that video without any time limit. So here is what you need to know:

• Please record a HORIZONTAL, front-facing video that shows both your face and your ukulele while you play. This matters for editing: it would not look good if one person showed only their face while another showed only the instrument, and so on.
• If possible, keep background noise to a minimum and record in a well-lit place.
• My video must not be audible in your recording, because it would be impossible to remove it from the background during editing.
• Once again, please record horizontally, preferably in HD — or even better, Full HD. I cannot guarantee that videos with an unsuitable aspect ratio can be included, because positioning and resizing them is very time-consuming.
• Do not stop the recording immediately at the end. Wait about 10 seconds after the final chord before stopping it — or before introducing yourself, see below — and do not immediately reach toward the camera or phone. This is very important.

Please do not send the recording via Facebook, because that significantly reduces the quality. I would like the original file, shared for example via Google Drive, WeTransfer, Mammutmail, Toldacuccot, etc.; please use info@ukulele.hu as the recipient. If you need a Gmail address for sharing, you can send material to ukuleleblog@gmail.com. If you have any questions before recording or about sending the file, write to the same address or leave a comment below the post.

Deadline: Sunday, 24 April 2022, 10:00 p.m. That is how long I will be waiting for your recordings. Then comes several hours — or days — of editing; the actual time will of course depend on how many videos arrive, hopefully as many as possible. With previous projects I started editing literally one minute after the deadline , and I expect the same will happen this time, so please do not submit your video late.

If you have not yet sent a video for one of our previous play-along projects, please introduce yourself briefly either by email or at the end of your video and tell me how long you have been playing. These introductions will not appear in the finished production; I will keep them for myself . I would be happy to get to know at least this much about those of you who will appear in the video. Have fun practising and good luck! I look forward to your videos. Thank you .