Kazoo Maker at The Great Aswego Kazoo Factory. Home of Doc Kazoo specializing in quality handmade wooden folk kazoos. The worlds largest selection of folk kazoo styles! Handmade by Doc Kazoo since 1961, "Carolina Style"!
Well it's almost time for N'UKEFEST 2013!!! Since a lot of us won't be able to make the trip to the United Kingdom I thought I might do something so that everyone can join in the N'UKEFEST 2013 celebration.
As most people know I sent Barry of the N'Ukes a UkeZoo Kazoo for the Macmillian Cancer Support Raffle. Today I heard that the Southern Ukulele Store, who donated a beautiful ukulele, also sent Barry some brochures that contained a special N'UKEFEST 2013 10% Discount Code.
This gave me an idea! I set up a 10% N'UKEFEST 2013 Discount Code in my ArtFire Shop for everyone that attends the festival. The code is valid from July 20th to December 31st one use per customer. This discount is for any of my kazoos and cannot be used in conjunction with any other discounts.
In celebration the first N'UKEFEST everyone from anywhere can use the N'UKEFEST 2013! 10% Discount Code for any kazoo in my ArtFire Studio Shop.
All you have to do is enter the Code "NUKE" at check out. That's all caps and no quotation marks. Cheers, Doc Kazoo
I am very happy to announce that the Kazoo Factory has joined Homestead Music with a Christmas in July 2013 Sale.
Through the month of July you can take advantage of a 10% discount on all of my kazoos! This includes special custom made kazoos and ready made kazoos.
All you have to do is enter the Discount Code "santa" (minus the quotation marks) at check out in my ArtFire Shop.
What a beautiful Sunday! Despite the heat and rain! LOL Great day to just mess around in the air conditioning. First thing this morning just before sunrise it was perfect for some Pickin' On The Porch. Lots of the time I am just messing around with different chord progressions and pickin' patterns. Nothing like waiting on the sunrise with a hot cup of coffee and a guitar or ukulele. For me it's like a time of meditation or prayer where the outside world stops and my focus is making music to please myself.
Here's a little tune that appeared this morning. I kinda like this and will mess around with it more seriously later. Already got some lyrics running around in my head. Right now I just call it "Can't Get There".
I shot this video today with the camera sitting on the work table outside the workshop facing west. The original video ran right at four minutes. I compressed that video to play in one minute to match the length of the soundtrack.
Way back when I was a kid one of my favorite things to read was the Readers Digest. They had a monthly article titled something like "The Most Unforgettable Person I Have Ever Met". Readers sent in submissions for this article. Though I have never met Barry Barmcake in person I still consider him one of the most unforgettable "UkeZooist" it has been my great pleasure to cross paths with.
Since most ukulele players that I know also incorporate a kazoo of some sort in their performance from time to time. I came up with the term "UkeZooist" to best describe these talented musicians. Though Barry doesn't use one of my kazoos he does use a commercially made kazoo occasionally. So he is in fact by the Doc Kazoo Dictionary of Kazoology a full flegged UkeZooist.
Unforgettable is the one word that comes to mind when I introduce Barry Barmcake to whom ever will read this blog. I love his style, humor and music. There are so many things that make his performance unforgettable. Personally I love what I call the Barry Barmcake Road Trip music videos live from his motor car! Occasionally accompanied by one of his friends.
As a new ukulele player myself I love his Facebook Page "Learn To Play The Barmcake Way". I always learn something new when I visit that has really helped me learning to play my ukulele. You can visit at this link:
Last but not least there is one thing that you have to remember is that Barry Barmcake is from Wigan, UK. His native tongue is Wiganese. But fear not, Barry has taken care of that as well on his other FaceBook Page "You Too Can Learn To Speak Wiganese"!
CONCH FRITTERS 4TH OF JULY RESTAURANT KEY WEST, FLORIDA
Hard to believe that picture was taken just hours ago and those beautiful Conch Fritters have been consumed by a couple of ukulele/kazoo friends who are either on vacation or spending the weekend in Key West, Florida. I told them about this place and the fritters and they went there today!!! Sure wish I had a dozen and a cold beer! Man does this picture take me back to 1971 and my first solo road trip in my first "car lot" car that I had to make payments on. LOL A 69 Malibu. It was November and getting cold in Carolina and I had a week vacation from work to celebrate my 20th birthday. Normally the destination would have been to Myrtle Beach but it was as cold there as it was where I was. So the warmest place within my budget was way down south in Key West!!!! I don't know which was the better, Key West or getting the ride getting there. No interstate back then and mostly two lane. Just the 301 South to US 1, keep heading south and stop at the water. LOL That's when I first discovered the 4th of July and their conch fritters! I was so happy to find out that the restaurant and the conch fritters are both still there. If you get to Key West you gotta visit and have a dozen! A big old Doc Kazoo Thank You! for sharing this picture and the memories! :-) Happy Kazooing, Doc
Now I have heard that said a time or two over the years when speaking of kazoo making. LOL I bet if Stradivarius were alive today he would hear the same thing about his fiddles. Without a doubt the science of instrument making does exist. But equally the art of instrument making coexist with the science.
I know that different type woods will to some degree provide a different sound and can add or reduce the degree of warmth. I also believe there is a difference in sound resulting from the type of final finish applied to the instrument. These factors are certainly more subjective to the individual listener.
A few years ago I shipped a 6" Custom Performer to a kazooist in Nazareth, Pa who shared with me an interesting theory that he had with regards to kazoo making he called the "natural key". It is a theory that I have tinkered around with making my 6" FatBoy Kazoos . My theory is that when I follow the formula for a Fatboy Kazoo, each one I make will have the same dynamic range, power and control and overall performance. By the way, each 6" FatBoy Kazoo has a natural key of E. Well at least this is my part of the theory. LOL It seems to work. My FatBoys are consistently praised by musicians around the world in 21 countries! I now use this formula on each of my made to order kazoo models.
The final sound of the kazoo is also based on the design of the resonator membrane and the specs for the paper and membrane used to make the resonator. Since I designed and make my resonator membranes this factor is always consistent.
I believe in many ways our humble instrument, the Kazoo, has been sadly under estimated as a "true musical instrument" and relinquished to the world of toy shops and first grade school bands. To really appreciate the Kazoo as a musicial instrument one only has to take a look back to Delta music of the late 1800's around Memphis and New Orleans as well as the Ukulele music of the Roaring 20's. Thank goodness there is a revival of Ukulele Music around the world and the humble kazoo is also enjoying it's own revival. There is no better combination for a busker than the kazoo and ukulele!!
So as I look back on what I just wrote I be danged if there ain' been a little Rocket Science involved all the time! LOL If you get some time drop by the Yahoo Kazooz Group and take a look at some of the old patent pictures and specs for kazoos. I think you will agree that there has been some science in kazoo making for a long time. LOL
What a great day off at the homestead. Had a great morning in the studio mixing some guitar and ukulele tracks that I recorded last week. Still trying to find something good enough to share with the ukulele. One thing for sure is that I am having a great time learning to play that little thing.
One thing I like the most about the ukulele is the size. It is small enough to pick just about anywhere. Lots of times I am editing video and running a process on the computer that may take a couple minutes to a half hour for the computer to complete the task. I keep the ukulele within reach for such times. LOL I can sit here at the computer and pick while I wait very comfortably.
This afternoon we had a terrible storm move through and I grabbed the camera and shot some video and thought I would make a kazoo music video of my old song "Don't Be Kazooless".
No ukulele in this tune. This recording includes my Dean acoustic/electric guitar, FatBoy Kazoo, Carolina Finger Tappers, and vocal tracks mixed and mastered by this old kazoo maker. It ain't perfect but I sure had a lot of fun making it!
This time of year afternoon storms are a daily thing. Usually they start building mid afternoon when the breezes from the Atlantic meet those from the Gulf of Mexico. They can be very severe and are always accompanied with lots of lightning. Frequently even tornado activity. This video will give you a good example of when I will be closing the workshop due to weather. Be that weather afternoon storms or extreme heat. It will be like this for the next couple months.
It reminds me of Monsoon Season that I experienced years ago in the Philippines when the daily rains arrived and everything turned from brown brush to lush green foliage. The heat and humidity remind me of there as well. Without air conditioning the population of Florida would certainly decrease dramatically. LOL
Well tomorrow and am going to head down to the workshop and hold a good field day! That an old navy term for "clean the place up"! LOL I gotta make some resonator membranes and a few other maintenance things. Hope everyone has a great weekend!
