Tahitian Ukulele

Tahitian Ukulele aka Tahitian Banjo
This is not really a Ukulele but a later instrument that is derived from it, and the first thing one should be aware of when thinking about them is they are not traditional Polynesian instruments! There is no great history to them and they are not a part of any of the Polynesian cultures.

Like most instruments, (the Ukulele is a rarity being able to trace its inception back so accurately to 1878 and the Ravenscraig), it is difficult to pin down the year of its inception, but it was certainly well after WWII and probably as late as the 1990's. Prior to it's invention, the Ukulele was the widely played westernised Chordophone throughout the Pacific, (and usually only as a sop for Tourists whom they thought expected it; it didn't feature in any real local culture apart from Hawaii). It probably evolved in Tahiti, though its inception could have come from any of the other islands and been brought to Tahiti as the Hub island for that part of the Pacific. It certainly came to prominence first in Tahiti after its 1995 use in a music video by Tahitian band Te Ava Piti. Part of its popularity too, is due to the rise in long haul tourism opening travel to this area up. The instrument is simple to make, different, and is usually made to look like it is part of the local culture, (even when it isn't), so its an ideal souvenir to sell to the new Tourists.

It is usually made from a single piece of plank about 2 or 3 cm, (an inch), thick, 75 cm, (29½ in), long and 20cm, (8 in), wide; though really for decoration purposes the wider the better. From this plank the basic shape of the instrument - body, neck and headstock, all together in one - is cut out and then a 15cm (6 in) diameter bowl is routed out of the middle of the body area. This bowl goes all the way through the body and makes a 5-8cm, (2-3 in), hole in the back. If made nicely it should include a small 5mm, (¼ in), recessed lip around the edge of the bowl at the front. Once the bowl is carved the rest of the body and the headstock can be decoratively carved too and sometimes extra bits of wood are fitted to the sides to increase the size of the decoration. Also the neck can be shaped, this doesn't always happen and even when it does, it is often quite rudimentary so you get a very square neck. 8 holes for the tuners are drilled out and usually a set of Mandolin geared tuners - 4 each side on a bar - are used. Because it is a recent invention they don't come with wooden pegs, (unless they are real cheap tourist tat), and pretty much never with friction tuners. The frets are added, though sometimes the frets are just lines drawn on the neck, and it is essentially fretless. The nut used is often a Mandolin nut as they are easily available, but this leads to the neck being narrower than a standard Ukulele neck. In the past, and sometimes still today, the nut was manufactured in wood as a separate piece to the rest of the instrument, and so it and the neck could be any width you wanted. Whichever kind of nut you use, it is particularly important as there isn't much throw even if the headstock has been cut down. At the other end some kind of attaching point for the strings is also added; this can range from a proper tailpiece, through small holes drilled through the body, to 4 screws that aren't quite flush so the strings can be tied under the screw head. I have even seen all of the string be tied off to only one screw. A thin, (but not too thin as there is no bracing; and usually laminate to add to the strength), disc of wood is cut to fit neatly into the top of the bowl, put in and then usually glued tight to prevent any possible buzzing. A floating bridge is then placed in the centre of the wood disk and the instrument is strung using nylon fishing line. Often the same gauge of fishing line is used for all 8 strings giving the player a very uneven string tension, but for the more serious instruments different gauges are used to improve the tone and tensioning; and you have your Tahitian Ukulele or Banjo With the sound hole at the back of the instrument the playing technique is similar to that of an open backed Banjolele.

The Tahitian Ukulele doesn't have any official scales or string lengths but it's usually around the Concert to Tenor size. It has 8 strings in 4 courses and all of the strings are tuned in unison. The tuning is reentrant but g~c~e~A so basically the same as a Ukulele but with a low A rather than a high G. This means the C and the E strings are tuned an octave higher than is usual for a Ukulele and gives it a high, trebly tone.

While the tourist industry and what little tradition there is says it should look like a very Polynesian object, it of course doesn't have to and I have see luthiers from outside of Polynesia make them in a number of other, usually electric Guitar homage, shapes.