The question: What instrumentation is used for the studio recording of Jason Mraz’s I’m Yours? If you don’t know the song, you can listen to it online.
The “I’m Yours” bet was created last Thursday between Adam, Eddie, and I. Each of us is betting three dollars that one of the following premises is true. Depending on which is true, one of us wins the nine dollars offered for the pot.
- There is no acoustic guitar. Only a hollow body electric was used.
- There are only acoustic guitars used in the song.
- A ukulele is used in the song
Google searches have been a dead end. We simply cannot find out for sure what instrumentation is used.
Video evidence supporting various theories:
- Ukulele cover on YouTube
- Acoustic only performance by Jason Mraz and band
Thoughts? We’re only interested in the studio version listed at the beginning of this message.
[Update: After David Drummond's comment, I've decided there is, in fact, a uke so I've paid up and given Adam his winnings.]
Interesting challenge…The first hint shows up in the 1st 25 seconds. Thoughts: #1 is possible because of some of the chord changes. Hmm…the modulation at seconds 5,6 and 7. On #3, what is missing from the song is the metal twangyness. Time to listen again…
Hmm…..well, whatever it is, it sounds like it’s something with Nylon strings. I think premise 3 is likely (maybe the intstrument that is very muted throughout the song), but I also think that an amplified (solid? hollow?) guitar with nylon strings is being used (Lindsey Buckingham uses one of these a lot). My reasoning behind that thought is that it’s very easy to hear the little slides that are thrown in here and there, and I think that might not be picked up on a recording if the instrument wasn’t amplified. Then again, maybe it’s something like this: http://www.renaissanceguitars.com/renopener.html
I polled a friend and they thought it was #3. Most likely a baritone ukulele. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukulele)
I think #3 is true. I don’t hear a hollow body electric, and I don’t think I hear an acoustic guitar either — I think that there are two ukuleles, or one overtracked, more likely, just as he is overtracking his vocals. The instrument(s) sound like they have a pickup in them, rather than simply miked, especially the “lead” instrument, simple sliding notes that sound like they could certainly be produced from a uke.
J, if you learn the guitar version of this, I’ve got the doumbek, we can try this at home!
I’m really becoming a big fan of Jason Mraz. ‘Bout time I started getting some of his CDs, I’ve liked just about everything of his you’ve ever played for me!
Here’s my opinion, and I’m sticking to it. The ‘muted’ instrument sounds very ukulele-like, but produces tones too deep for a standard uke. So I agree with Chris M, its probably a baritone uke, mostly ka-chung chords played pretty far up the neck, with occasional single-string downward slides; and in one instance, the chords go down to the deeper, lower part of the neck. The second instrument is a lightly amplified electric guitar, very likely hollow body, sliding chords up and down. Too much sustain for a purely acoustic guitar.
Thanks for the comment, Dave! I’ve been waiting to hear from you on this for quite a while. Looks like Adam won the bet as almost everyone who has weighed in has agreed on a uke. Although, I must say that I feel somewhat vindicated because everyone seems to agree there are no acoustic guitars (which was my primary argument and what actually started this bet).
I know you closed this but I would like to say, every video we could possibly find it was acoustic guitars. I figured I would throw that out there.