Department of Accounting and General Services

HONOLULU — How are ʻukulele built? What are the best materials to use? What would it sound like if the sound hole was in the back of the instrument?

Those questions and more will be answered at an event the Hawaiʻi State Archives, a division of the Department of Accounting and General Services (DAGS), is hosting. “Builder’s Spotlight” will feature a local instrument maker who will talk about the instruments they make, then perform live music on those instruments.

The first in this occasional series will be on Saturday, March 15 from 2 to 4 p.m. It will be livestreamed on the Archives’ Facebook page (Hawaiʻi State Archives) then posted to the Archives’ YouTube page when it’s done. The event is free to watch. The public may submit questions on the Facebook page in real time and a moderator will relay the questions to the host during the two-hour event.

Well-known local musician Kimo Hussey will be the host. The first guest will be luthier Manny Halican of Pahu Kani. Halican will bring in six ʻukulele he built. Halican is also a musician and singer, so the demonstrations will include both Halican and Hussey performing intermittently while discussing design philosophy.

“This is an excellent educational series highlighting the local artisans who bring cultural and historical value through Hawaiian music and song. It’s wonderful that we will record and save the lectures so that generations to come can learn from these masters,” said DAGS Director and Comptroller Keith Regan.

This is a component of the Hawaiian Music Archives Initiative, which centralizes all the State Archives’ musical resources for people to explore Hawaiian music history. “The Hawaiian Music Archives Initiative includes 28,000 phonographic recordings, 15 cubic feet of Hawaiian sheet music and instruction guides, and over 1,000 vintage ʻukulele dating back to the 1890s. In September 2024, it also became the home of the ʻUkulele Hall of Fame.”

State Archivist Adam Jansen, Ph.D., said, “In 2015, the Legislature designated the ʻukulele the official modern musical instrument of Hawaiʻi. We needed a repository to understand this instrument and to help create a deeper understanding of how Hawaiian music brought Hawaiʻi to the world, and by extension the concept of aloha.”

“I love the ʻukulele. The rewards I get from playing it are wonderful and infinite,” explained Hussey, 80, who started playing the ʻukulele when he was five years old. The Līhuʻe resident will fly in from Kauaʻi to host the event. “I hope by teaching our viewers more about Hawaiʻi’s favorite instrument, it will increase their appreciation the next time they listen to music played on an ʻukulele.”