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August 5, 2008
Last night, I started two brand new songs. One a children’s song which will be called “Balloon Boy,” the other a bluesy rock song.
It’s a great sign when I wake up in the morning and can still sing the tunes I wrote last night.
Starting a song is a bit like catching butterflies, or any other wild bug/animal. You just don’t know when it strikes you. I start more songs doing something other than playing my guitar. It usually comes to me when I’m humming while doing dishes or cleaning the house, which was exactly what I was doing last night when the phrase “balloon boy, balloon boy” popped into my head.
I stopped what I was doing and grabbed my guitar and my Macbook. It was a melody that came to me, so I tried to figure out the chords to it — which is a bit of a dangerous step. If it’s a melody I’m humming, I should just capture that first, and then figure out chords to it. Last night I didn’t do that, and I lost part of the melody. It’s as if my memory function gets turned off when I’m in the song-receiving mode. When the antenna is up and receiving signal, it just doesn’t have enough resources to also remember it. As soon as my thought drifts off somewhere, it’s gone.
Usually what I capture is not the initial inspiration, but a “patternized” version of it. I remember bits and pieces and structure them into phrases. They never seem as good as the original improvisation I hummed, but nevertheless most of my songs were born that way and most of them turn out to be very good, so I guess I’ve learned to accept that compromise. The original usually has more variations, though, not as repetitive.
Now that I’m heavier into blogging, I can’t help but see parallels between writing songs and writing words (which I do as a part of songwriting, too). The initial inspiration plants the seed. What I started last night were drafts. My songs usually come to me in the form of verse and chorus — so later I add intros and outros and bridge, then figure out what the songs have to say lyrically. That part is harder, just as structuring and finishing a cohesive piece of writing is more “work” than fun — though it’s a necessary part of seeing the final product, finished and presentable pieces that I can finally feel proud of.
I must say, I’m very excited about my business plan, which allows me to freely express the entire range of my writing. Aries9 is my first love, but Aries9 is also the most ambitious and has very rigorous standards attached to it, in terms of originality and excellence. I would reject most common chord progressions when it comes to an Aries9 song.
But my other “projects” are more relaxed, and I let myself write more conventional songs — titles after a line in a chorus, standard verse-chorus structures, and chords you may have heard before. They are still great songs, mind you. But they don’t need to push the envelopes, at least not as hard.
I can’t wait to share more of my songs with you!
Filed under: Ari |
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July 27, 2008
I submitted this blog to an event called Blog-To-Show. Well, I made a silly mistake of omitting some required information in my submission, so I don’t know if this blog will even get listed.
Anyway, the organizer of this blog advised to put up a little post to guide the new visitors from that event to welcome them and point them to the best stuff.
So here I am. Welcome new visitors!
This blog is, I must admit, a bit of a mess. Not executed very well, because I started without a clear vision. Well, it’s an artist/musician blog. My primary purpose of this web site is sell my music and sign people up to my email list. But I didn’t have a slightest idea how to use this blog for that purpose. So I put up a lot of unfocused, meandering content, with a simple aim to just let readers get to know me.
But recently, things have been changing. I’m starting to put together a new vision. One that combines what I have to offer to the world much better than any previous plans. One I believe in so strongly, that I can smell, taste and see the fruition of that vision. The only thing missing, is that it hasn’t happened in reality yet.
A portion of that vision is outlined here: I Have Grand Visions and I Am Boldly Proclaiming Them
Right now I am focused on preparing myself for the start of the pursuit. So this blog is going to remain a bit random. Like this last week, I wrote a music review, to see how that feels and works. I’ve commented on the state of the music industry. Or discussed what went behind my music.
New visitors, if you read this far, the only thing I ask of you is to check back. Not too soon — probably not tomorrow or the next day. But do keep in mind, that you came across this rock musician who seemed uncharacteristically verbose, talking about his ambitions. And look me up again, to see where I am with that.
Oh, and I almost forgot — do listen to the music. If you like it, download some songs, buy a CD or sign up to the newsletter.
Thank you.
Filed under: Ari |
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July 21, 2008
I just discovered a new mp3 search site — Mix Turtle.
It uses Ajax to find songs you’re looking for, load it and play it for you. You can make play lists of the songs you found.
I just did a search on Tool — I could find the entire Latelarus album, create a play list with the same song sequence as the album. Amazing album. I’ve been meaning to spend more time with Tool — I heard their earlier material but never got them. Now I do.
The challenge with Tool is that they don’t distribute their music with any digital services, at least the last time I checked. I used to be a Napster and Rhapsody user, but they were nowhere to be found there. They’re not on iTunes, either. The same thing with King Crimson.
The challenge with these bands (that make challenging music 
) is that a 30-second excerpt really doesn’t give me enough of a glimpse of their extended and complex music so that I can gauge whether I like their music.
I don’t know where MixTurtle finds music. I don’t know whether the sources are legal or not. But somewhere on the web, somebody is posting playable full-song file of these music. And now it can be found and played.
Think about it. This web site, a mobile broadband internet, and a mobile internet device like iPhone — and you now have access to any music out there, for free.
It’s been said before, but here’s another sign that those of us in the music industry have to think of a new business model. If you make and release recorded music, it will find a way to get distributed. To fight this tide of time is to miss out on new opportunities that are coming up.
Change is neither good nor bad by itself. You can make it either. If you’re used to the old way of doing things, then this change is uncomfortable, to say the least. If you are refusing to change, then that may mean your activity becomes unsustainable.
But there are opportunities, too.
One thing is for sure. Consumers always want to win. So having access to music freely is a win for consumers. I am a listener and appreciator of fine music myself. I like having the free access.
But if the consumer wins so completely that it makes producing of fine music unsustainable, then consumer loses, too. And consumers know this. They are not dumb.
As always, you start with making unique music. And you go find your audience — they are out there, the world is big enough for any well-executed music. And the artist and fans together find the way to make the producing of that music that they love sustainable.
Filed under: Ari |
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July 17, 2008
Underoath: Define the Great Line
I saw this CD in a local library. I had heard their name before, but I had no idea who they were, what genre of music they play.
But you know what? I could guess. I could guess from that cover, that they were artsy metal or heavy rock band with darkness in their music.
And sure enough — first listen, and I loved it.
Presentation well done, guys. Way to communicate the music visually.
Filed under: Critique/Review |
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July 15, 2008
This morning I was listening to System of a Down — and was tapping into the feelings of music. It was a great outlet. Serj Tankian has such an articulate voice. It’s so sharply focused — it’s like a heavy hammer, but it’s engineered and balanced so perfectly, that anyone can use it to hit the nail on the head, deliver a deadly blow.
On the other hand — I really long to discover an act that personifies the same brutal anger that SOAD does, without being cartoony. This is also a problem with most other metal bands, including In Flames, who, along with SOAD, are so brilliant I can’t begin to describe their genius.
Metal bands with their chainsaw voices and cookie-monster gravel, can sound so caricaturized. It’s one thing if they mix it with clean vocals and reserve the hoarse stuff for the key points — but most of bands, that’s all they do. It may have an impact at first, but soon you get numb to their anger. And to me, this compromises the weight of their emotion. It can sound juvenile, shallow, though SOAD and In Flames are the ones that escape that trap most of the time. Most other metal bands don’t. (more…)
Filed under: Reflections |
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July 13, 2008
This week, I had a chance to reconnect with one of my close friends from high school, Fred, on the phone.
Since graduation, we had spoken once over the phone during college. Considering that, we enjoyed a great conversation — it was amazing how we still related to each other after all these years. It appeared that although we don’t live close to one another and have had totally different life experiences for the last 16 years, the core of our personalities, the part where we connected, remained.
He and I were discussing how we have changed, and he was commenting on how it appeared as though I hadn’t changed much. (I had sent him a photo of my family via e-mail earlier.) I agreed with him that I probably don’t look all that different — if it weren’t for my increasing grey hair, I can still pass for a college student. I went on to explain to him that I really haven’t changed that much. I’m still a teeanger who loves rock guitar. If you see me driving, I’m singing along to some CD loudly. If you leave me alone in a room, I’d turn up music loud and start mimicing Steve Taylor-esque mic stand antics. (I’m not into air guitar, since I’m a real guitar player. It feels silly to me to air guitar when I can really play it) (more…)
Filed under: Reflections |
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July 8, 2008
It’s one of my pet peeves. It used to be worse in the 80’s but it still happens often enough in pop music.
Fading out a song at the end.
There are millions of ways to begin a song. The most common way is to play a riff or the main chord progression — sometimes with just a guitar, sometimes full band. The Beatles turned listeners’ heads when they wrote a song that started with a chorus, right off the bat. Now it doesn’t seem so surprising.
Similarly, there are millions of creative ways to end a song. Repeating the chorus and fading out is pure laziness. The only time where fading out is called for is when that effect actually has a significance. It creates a sense of the continuity, the song doesn’t end, it just trails off…. And yes, I can see that in some places. I would probably do that with some of my songs.
But probably very few.
The other problem of fading out is playing the song live. A lot of times, musicians have help fro producers in stage to arrange the songs — but not for playing live. So a lot of the faded-out songs have really dumb endings live. It just destroys the feeling of the song. You just can’t repeat the chorus 3 times and hit the root chord at the end. You have to properly write endings to make them work.
Like my previous rant on song titles, I just think it’s a missed opportunity. A song creates only a finite space for creativity. You owe it to the song to work it to its maximum capacity (without overdoing it).
We can write brilliant melodies and riffs in a flash. But songwriting is a hard work. Laziness is our enemy.
Filed under: Reflections |
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July 7, 2008
I don’t know if I call it a hit, but I knew that Half Step was a special song.
All the songs on my album are special, but Half Step goes one “step” (ha ha!) further in its “specialness” in my mind.
Why? I’m not quite sure if I can put a finger on it. Maybe it just has all the qualities I like to have in my music: aggressive and catchy riff, dramatic shifts, memorable chorus, unexpected turns, poetic and emotional lyrics. (more…)
Filed under: About a song, Aries9, Music |
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July 6, 2008
I was on a vacation this last week, and had an occasion for a 3-hour drive by myself. Now that I’m a family man, a road trip by myself is quite a treat — driving being one of the favorite way for me to listen to music. There’s something about road trips that make them the perfect situation for music listening. I’m sure many of you can relate.
What did I listen to? King’s X’s “Tape Head,” Midnight Oil’s “Capricornia,” Patty Griffin’s “1000 Kisses,” Will Harrison’s “A Place Called Home.”
In that order.
Why? (more…)
Filed under: Ari |
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June 30, 2008
Yesterday, I had a peer mentoring session with a good friend of mine who’s looking for a job.
And in the conversation, I realized that there’s a huge common ground between job hunting and promoting a band.
It’s all about identity. (more…)
Filed under: Ari, Lessons of Life |
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