I was introduced to the ukulele in 2013, when I was researching a Christmas gift for my wife, who was born and raised on Oahu. The instrument intrigued me so much that I bought two: a concert for my wife and a soprano for me.
I had very little musical training in school and never owned a musical instrument of my own. I consider myself musically illiterate and without a musical bone in my body.
Despite those limitations, I have had an absolute blast getting to know these little instruments. My biggest regret is that I never picked one of these up when I was a teenager or young adult.
Around Christmas of 2017, with free time on my hands, I decided to try building my own ukulele. There are plenty of ukulele kits on the market, and that probably would have been the most sensible way of dipping my toes into building. However, I decided to dive right in by building one entirely from scratch. At the same time both humbling and rewarding, I was sucked into the process of taking scraps of wood and turning them into something that makes music. After experimenting with shapes and construction techniques, I’ve settled on a basic design that I’m trying to refine, all while improving my rudimentary wood-working skills. When showing a coworker one of my products and bemoaning the flaws, he responded by saying “but those are cool; they show the hands of the maker!” Still, fewer visible “hands” is something I’m striving for. Several of my ukuleles have found homes with friends and relatives. At some point, I may consider building on commission.
When trying to come up with a name for my ukuleles (there’s a reason why people pay others lots of money for branding ideas!), I settled on something simple that connects to the origin of my first home-built ukuleles. They’re called “Backyard ‘Ukuleles” because one of the key steps in building an ukulele, bending the sides, is done outside in my backyard. For more on the bending process, visit the story of my first project, a pineapple ukulele.
PS. I’m the tall one on the left. You might recognize the other guy. A certain Jake Shimabukuro.