Music Center of Hawaii is very small but the amount of instruments and service far exceeds their…read moreshop size. They are one of the only shops that repairs saxophones, violins, and standup bass's. They have a huge selection of violins, flutes, saxophones just to name a few. The staff is absolutely top notch any thing you need for your bowed instrument is there.

They helped us with a short term rental of a violin for my daughter. They sized her up with an…read moreexpert eye, gave us the relevant paperwork, and sent us on our way. Excellent value!

I recently ordered a bass clarinet from Easy Music Center in Honolulu. After a few days without a…read moreshipping update, I emailed them on Monday morning to check on my order. Jake replied almost immediately and explained that a few employees had been sick, which caused a delay in processing. Shortly after, Hadji emailed me to let me know the instrument had been inspected and that they would expedite my order. Within a few hours, I received the shipping confirmation and tracking number for FedEx next day delivery which I really appreciated. Their customer service was excellent, and I really appreciated the quick responses and honest communication. My only suggestion is to send customers a quick email if an order is delayed. A simple update would go a long way and save customers from wondering about their order. So far, I'm very happy with the experience. I'll update my review once the bass clarinet arrives.

I've been following Easy Music Center on Instagram for a while now and last week was our first time…read moreto the area. Obviously, I had to swing by and check it out for myself. When I walked in I was immediately greeted by Conner who was very friendly and welcoming. I pulled a few guitars off the wall and was surprised at how perfectly everything was setup. I ended up playing a telecaster that ultimately made it back home to Cali with me. Christian Pratt worked with me to acquire the tele after already flying home. He was very responsive over email and made my experience with Easy Music Center a memorable one. Can't thank these guys enough! We plan on heading back to Oahu in April of next year and I'm afraid I'll just have to pick up another guitar. Thank you guys! Awesome experience!

Bought a new guitar recently and wanted it to be set up perfectly for me. I refer myself to be an…read moreamateur guitar repair guy. Been playing the guitar for years so I know how to set up guitars and do minor repairs. Since I bought a brand new guitar, I wanted to see if taking it to a pro would make a difference. One of my Musician friends referred me to Peter Bond. My first impression of Peter, super nice, cool, and very knowledgeable. I told him to dress the frets and to lower the action a bit. I also gave him a new set of strings so he could restring it when he was done. When I went to pick it up, the frets were nice and shiny and seem to play well. Took it home that evening and noticed that the intonation on the higher frets were off pitch. Call him about the problem, said he wanted to see it again. To make a long story short, the strings that I had given him to restring my guitar were bad. He put a fresh set of new strings from his stash and it played perfect. He made me a bone saddle, which I think made a huge difference in sound. He's an amazing Luthier, but I think a better human being. Mahalo Peter!!

So great to have Peter round to help me create my crazy ideas for guitars, or to take on the work I…read moredon't or am unable to do. Thank you Peter for all you do, and have done over the decades! Call him, share what you want done and make a new friend!

Go on their FREE tour if you want to learn about their 100 years of history and expertise in the…read moreukulele making world. Still family owned and ran, this gem is worth checking out. You can see in every piece they make that they have a true love for the craft! Mohala!

Purchased the wrong size tenor hard case and the Kamaka crew exchanged it no problems. That's what…read moreyou want, no drama no issues. Mahalo

I've had 3 voice teachers in the past, and none have made such an impact to my singing as Craig…read morehas. ngl, I wasn't impressed at first, but we found our rhythm after 3 lessons, and my level improved by leaps and bounds within a couple of months. I never even knew what a mixed voice was before him, but him helping find it was so transformative. I came to him an amateur, and within months, I am singing professionally with a band! I get excited when it's time to come see him (twice per week) bc I know we're going to hit another milestone, or another new vocal ability! And the huge smile on his face when I get that "aha" moment, you can just tell her takes personal joy, pride and gratification in the knowledge that he has a hand in that (in my progression). I also love that he can help with any genre, I dip my toes in theater, rock, pop, Spanish/mariachi music, he can help all of it!

It is now 2021 and Kennedy Taylor has been with Craig Shimizu for nearly 5 years now and it has…read morebeen an amazing journey. Craig continues to challenge and mentor Kennedy with her singing, articulation and performance. He especially was pivotal in preparing Kennedy with her vocals before she went into the recording studio. Kennedy Taylor and The Electric Pancakes will be releasing their original music this summer 2021. So if your wanting to learn how to sing or take your singing to next levels? There is non better on Island thank Shimizu Voice. Contact him and you won't regret it! Let him know that Kennedy Taylor sent you! https://youtu.be/em05Ev6vygM

Gary deserves 10 stars!!…read more This review is long overdue. I was recommended by a friend to see Gary and my voice has improved tremendously since. I first came to Sen Music Studios for talent training for the Miss Chinatown pageant. I've never seen a singing coach and Gary was very accommodating and helped me develop my style and brought confidence to my voice when singing. He is a musical wizard and has some of the best equipment I've seen. Long story short, I trained and developed my voice with Gary for approximately 3-4 months and received the title of Miss Hawaii Chinese Princess in 2014. In case you were wondering, I sang Frank Sinatra's "Fly Me to the Moon." I've also seen him for two other competitions afterwards. Prior to seeing Gary, I had extreme stage fright and my vocal chords always froze up in front of an audience. If you are looking for a professional to help you improve your voice, I recommend you give him a call. Thanks for reading my reviews! Let me know what I should try next!!

I just booked a lesson on October 3rd and we showed up for our appointment today, October 16, the…read moreplace is completely empty and the phone number (808) 845-7751 is disconnected. No one is responding to our text messages. No signs are posted, nothing. No notice, no phone call, nothing to let us know they went out of business.

It has been a dream of mine since I was a kid to take voice lessons. The closest training I ever…read moregot was high school chorus and a couple music classes while in college. But even after taking these classes, I've always wanted to do more. But when life got busy, I ended up putting this passion on hold. As I got older (and hopefully wiser lol), I realized there will never be a right time to do the things we love until we make time for them. So I did a quick Google search and found Grammy award winning soprano, Audrey Luna. And this is where I started my beautiful musical journey. To be honest, I really was a bit scared and anxious to reach out to her knowing I had no real musical background. But I took a leap of faith and sent her an email to let her know I was interested in private voice lessons. She responded promptly and inquired about the reason for wanting voice lessons. And I told her for personal development. She quoted me a reasonable price for a trial session. And before I knew it, I was attending my 1st private voice lesson :) Although she is a world renowned singer AND Grammy award winning soprano, she truly is a humble and kind person. During my lesson, she taught me how to do some vocal-warm ups and improvements with my singing technique. I was able to immediately notice a difference in my singing ability, which really surprised me. She helped me to determine what my range was. All my life I thought I was an alto because I was told this in my high school chorus class. But with Audrey's guidance doing vocal-warm ups and help with technique, she was able to reveal the soprano in me to my great delight :) If you are looking for a friendly, supportive, patient, kind, knowledgeable, vocal coach who has solid technique and the voice like an angel, look no further. Audrey is everything stated above and so much more! For one whole hour, you will have access to a vocal coach with over 15 years of experience who teaches any level (including beginners like me), who is able to sing and teach in all genres and multiple languages. For all the years of experience and knowledge Audrey has, you would think her voice lessons would cost an arm and a leg. But her prices are so affordable, she has students ranging from young to old and even internationally. Audrey has helped me achieve a personal goal, and this has meant so much to me. I feel so lucky and privileged to have a vocal coach of this magnitude guide and support me in this wonderful musical journey. I highly recommend her. You won't be disappointed.

First of all: Audrey is a wonderful colleague and a great teacher!…read more I am an opera and concert singer (working mainly in Germany and Europe) and have worked with many teachers and coaches. When I had the opportunity to sing the extremely difficult coloratura part of "Ariel" from Thomas Adès' "The Tempest," I became aware of Audrey. She has successfully sung this supernatural part at the world's greatest opera houses (MET, La Scala, Vienna, etc.)! I felt very honored when she immediately agreed to help me. And all of this online (due to the great distance between us). Her singing technique is so experienced and stable that she can master the most demanding parts with a healthy voice, and she can also teach this technique. Not many teachers are able to listen to or see their students online and correct them so precisely and effectively. Audrey does this very well, and I firmly believe that live lessons with her would be even more brilliant! She also attaches particular importance to the development of musical colors, dynamics, phrasing, and expression/acting. I was able to successfully perform "Ariel" with her and haven't wanted to stop working with her since. Now she advises and helps me with classical repertoire such as Queen of the Night, Olympia, Blonde, etc. I would also like to emphasize that Audrey supports me with repertoire questions, career planning, and mental training, which is essential in this business. I can recommend her to every singer (whether beginner, advanced or professional)!

I needed help with my baby girl, my acoustic guitar. I'm by no means an expert, and honestly,…read moredespite some experience on stage, I'd still barely call myself an intermediate guitarist, so when my acoustic's connections went on the fritz, I was at a loss for what to do. I asked one of my much more experienced and knowledgeable musician friends, and he instantly suggested BR Frets. He was then confirmed by another guitarist friend of ours who was hanging with us, saying they're hands down the most skilled people on island that they both know of, so I went ahead and made an appointment. Both friends said to expect a couple of weeks, maybe 3 depending on how busy they are, as they do get quite a bit of business, and to try and get an appointment when I can, so I did as soon as I could. I was greeted warmly by Chris, who asked me some pertinent questions, took a look at Hayley, and gave me a clear idea of what to expect; either he can fix her, which if he can, he'd try to do so that night. If he can't clean and repair the connections on my pick up, not only would they likely need to send out the pickups for diagnostic and repairs, but the cost to do so would jump up significantly, showing me how much the piece costs broadly and then factoring time and labor. Sure enough, I called the next day, as advised, and Wes said to come back on in to pick her up. I got there and spoke with Wes, who told me Chris stayed up a bit the previous night to make sure Hayley's good and ready to go, and she was back in action! They also only charged for the time and labor, which was more than fair for the quality they provided and all the relief they gave me. Definitely worth coming to them when guitar help is needed.

I've been playing more in open D tuning and got tired of retuning my Taylor every time I wanted to…read moreplay something in open D. So I took my old beloved Takamine F360s out of the closet and decided to leave it in open D. But it was playing rough. The action was very high even after I adjusted the truss rod. Also the intonations were off. I took it to a major guitar store in town and the luthier there said he couldn't help me because the guitar needed much more work than he could do. Then I found Chris at BR Fret shop. OMG what a God send. Talk about someone who cares passionately about guitars and knows the instrument like Wolfgang Puck knows pizza. Chris identified that the problem came from under the bridge where through years of humidity, that area was bulging and pushing the bridge up thus raising the action. He took it apart, sanded under the bridge then put everything back together along with new strings. I was completely blown away at how low he got the action with no buzzing. In fact it made my Taylor seemed hard to play in comparison. So I ended up taking my Taylor in for an adjustment as well. Pro tip : make sure you register your Taylor guitar with Taylor manufacturing and they will pay for the adjustments at certified Taylor shops. I hope Chris and his assistant Wes never decide to leave O'ahu. We are very lucky to have them here in our little corner of the ocean. Happy pickings...or strumming!!

We bought a Pahulele after seeing Reid's booth at Art&Flea. We were amazed by the design (the whole…read morething packs up into itself - the neck, the strings all can fold up into the body) because we like things light and portable. Couple weeks later we picked up a soprano one from Reid at Oahu Makerspace. At first we were surprised how quiet it was compared to a regular uke (his ukes which we also check out are siiiiiiiiick!) but we wanted to support Reid, his innovative design, and local (plus his prices are super reasonable - $125 for a handmade instrument!) so we scooped one up. So glad we did. This is the sweetest little instrument with such a special sound - which we are appreciating more each day (and night - perfect for playing at night and respecting keiki sleeping next door). Mahalo Reid.

From the owner: At Ho'okani Music Company, we build handmade ukuleles, guitars, drums, and more! Everything is made…read morehere in our Honolulu workshop in Kalihi. We also specialize in stringed instrument repair services. Luthier Reid Shigemura has over 15 years experience building and repairing musical instruments. We do everything from basic instrument setups, fretwork, and refinishing, to violin / viola/ cello / upright bass bow rehairing and bridge work.

Chris and Torie are the epitome of customer service. Torie keeps in touch with you, providing the…read moredoor code, instructions, etc after you book the room. Chris is always eager to provide and show you what they have in the studio to make your experience as professional as possible. They have almost everything you can think of or didn't think of in the studio. He helped us to get set up, made sure the equipment was working and gave us an orientation since it was our first time there. Acoustically, it's great. Walking down the hall, the other band was really cranking it and you could hear them playing through the door in Studio A. But once we got into Studio B, we couldn't hear anything else except ourselves. They also keep everything clean and as sterile as possible. I walked in on him wiping things down and vacuuming giving me confidence that I was entering a clean environment. Our very first band practice was a success thanks to West One Studios. We just needed a little more time for practice which I'm sure we will on our next one that will be very soon! Except for the lack of close/cheap parking I would definitely recommend these studios. Mahalo nui loa Chris and Torie for a great experience! We will see you again soon!

The studio is always fresh, clean, on time with the quick setup makes working with the timer…read morecount!! Comfortable spot to get it handled. Mahalo