An Orillia native has taken the frustration he faced while learning to play the ukulele and turned it into a business opportunity.
Devyn Slocum bought a ukulele last summer so he could learn how to play it. He took notes while watching online tutorials, but there was a problem.
“I kept losing those notes,” he said, “so I started engraving the notes on my ukulele.”
The 28-year-old, who now lives in Barrie, bought a laser engraver to get the job done, and he realized it could be helpful for others, too.
“It’ll help teach a lot of people and bring music into a lot of people’s lives,” he said, referring to it as a good intro for those who want to learn to play guitar. “This is a great way to get into it.”
Slocum said it would work for all ages, but he’s most excited about the prospect of getting the engraved instruments into elementary schools, as many of them use ukuleles in their music programming.
“I’d love to get this into the schools. The kids would learn so much faster with these ukuleles,” he said.
He has been engraving some of them from home, but he wants to see the project get bigger, to the point they can be produced on a larger scale.
That’s why he has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise money. If he reaches his $40,000 goal by Dec. 18, he’ll be able to have the ukuleles ready for delivery next August. If he doesn’t reach the goal, he might have to renew the campaign.
He gave a shout-out to Tim Kehoe, of Gilbert Guitars, who helped with the design. A prototype is on display at the downtown Orillia store.
Slocum’s Kickstarter page can be found here.
Anyone who wants more information can email him at [email protected].