The Mya-Moe adventure began in early 2008, when Moe Dixon, an owner of one of Gordon Mayer’s early guitars, asked Gordon if he’d build a resonator ukulele. Since then, Gordon & Char (along with Aaron Keim) have hand-built over 500 ukuleles, combining their expertise in design, engineering, music, and lutherie to create instruments of unparallelled beauty and sound. Collaboration is the name of their game, and Peter Luongo, director of the Langley Ukulele Ensemble, his son, Paul, and Craig Chee all contributed to the large, broad voice of the Mya-Moe Classic. Kate Power collaborated on the Mya-Moe Six-String Tenor and, with the input of Brook Adams and Marianne Brogan, Mya-Moe came out with their first sopranos. Shortly afterward Ralph Shaw helped develop the Mya-Moe baritone. One of the biggest engineering challenges, however, came from James Hill who asked Gordon to build a build a lap steel tenor ukulele with a wood body and the first publicly-available lap steel was offered shortly afterward. In 2011, Aaron Keim, maker of the highly respected Bean Sprout (banjo) ukuleles, officially joined the team. Gordon & Char Mayer are also self-proclaimed “string freaks.” They have tested and gathered data on virtually everytype of string made and have developed a set of exhaustive spreadsheets that allows them to specify strings for any individual musician, given the size of the ‘ukulele, the diameter of the string, and its tension profile. Not only that, Char & Gordon have jumped in to the fray with all four feet, organizing the highly-acclaimed Gorge Ukulele Festival held each year in early March in Hood River, Oregon. They join us at the Wine Country ‘Ukulele Festival for the third year in a row in a huge capacity: as workshop leaders, vendors, sponsors, performers, and friends.
Workshop
Your Ukulele—Make It Sing (All Levels)
Whether or not you’re planning on buying (or building) an ‘ukulele in the near future, you owe it to yourself to know what makes them sing. In this workshop, Gordon & Char Mayer, who design and build Mya-Moe ‘ukuleles, will cover ‘ukulele construction, focusing on how design choices such as wood, bracing, and wall thickness affect the acoustics of the finished instrument. They will also discuss how the musician can vary acoustics and playability simply by which strings they put on their instrument. Various tuning options, string tensions, and custom string sets will also be examined. At the end, you’ll know what you’re looking for and be able to carry on an intelligent conversation about ‘ukuleles with…just about anyone. With thanks to Char & Gordon and Mya-Moe, this workshop is free and open to the public. (All Levels)
