http://aries9.com/blog The life and music of Ari Koinuma, a Japanese rock musician in USA. Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:01:07 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I took down the post about moving this blog b/c now I am not sure.  There were some recent developments that is making me go back to the drawing board as far as my online strategy is concerned. But one thing's for sure.  I've been racking my brain as to how ... http://aries9.com/blog/2009/07/things-are-changing/ Wow, I didn't mean to neglect this blog for so long.  But that said, I am focusing on my other blog for right now, as that is easier to promote and has a momentum at the moment. What I'm learning is that it's hard to maintain momentum with my music, when ... http://aries9.com/blog/2008/10/the-other-blog-and-mentoring/ I haven't been posting as often to this blog lately. I am sorry about that. But let me make it up to you. I've been posting elsewhere. Some of you may remember that back in June, I shared my vision for my future? Well, I've been testing and refining it -- ... http://aries9.com/blog/2008/09/going-public/ is the best advise I've read so far for any aspiring musicians. It is directed toward new students of the Berklee School of Music, but it's really applicable to just about any musicians or arts-oriented people. Here's the post, and here's the video. http://aries9.com/blog/2008/09/derek-sivers-6-things-i-wish-i-knew-the-day-i-started-berklee/ For the last 3 weeks, I've made myself sit down at night and work on songwriting. Thanks to my MacBook and its built-in camera/mic, I can just focus on writing and not remembering -- I'm capturing everything as I go, and I don't have to worry about what the ... http://aries9.com/blog/2008/08/turning-it-on-2/ I was deeply saddened to hear that Leroi Moore, the saxophonist of Dave Matthews Band passed away on August 19, 2008. I don't consider myself a huge fan of DMB -- at least not any more.  That said, two early albums, Under the Table and Dreaming and Crash, are among my ... http://aries9.com/blog/2008/08/rip-leroi-moore-1961-2008/ I'm half way through reading a book called "Song Man" by Will Hodgkinson. This is a sequel to a book called "Guitar Man" by I haven't read the first novel. It's Will's own chronicle of his journey to discover the secret of songwriting, and in the course of his exploration, ... http://aries9.com/blog/2008/08/song-man/ Well, I'm making diligent progress on my big business vision.  Here are some stuff I'm working on: Have you checked out my "life" blog, OurBestVersion.com?  Now in the 4th month of existence, I'm refining more and more of its branding and focus.  Right now it's branded as "Big Picture of Healing ... http://aries9.com/blog/2008/08/what-im-working-on/ I'd like to say, the answer is yes. But I'm not sure. I'm not sure how I would go about teaching someone to write a killer melody. I just did a quick search on the topic of songwriting on Amazon's book section.  For a craft that's been done so unversally, there doesn't seem ... http://aries9.com/blog/2008/08/can-songwriting-be-taught/ How good of a songwriter are you? Are your songs as good as the Beatles?  Led Zeppelin?  Elvis Costello?  Townes Van Zandt?  John Hiatt? No, I'm not asking the opinions of your mom/girlfriend/boyfriend/friends/record label. I'm asking you.  Alone. Even the best songwriters can't write hits all the time.  We all have garbage bags full ... http://aries9.com/blog/2008/08/to-songwriters-how-good-are-you/