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"There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke." --Bob Dylan

Welcome to MusicWords!

Welcome to MusicWords -- glad you stopped by. MusicWords is more than a personal website, as it describes products I've created and services I offer ("I" being music technology writer, cellist, and teacher Jim Aikin), but it's also a lot more personal than a corporate website. The site has five main objectives:

To provide information on my teaching of cello lessons in the Livermore/Pleasanton area.

To provide access to an assortment of stuff for anyone who happens to be interested. Recent uploads (see the menu at right) include a text-based computer game (Lydia's Heart). The "Music & Essays" page contains some mp3s of my own music.

To provide a grab bag of information on music technology (including occasional excerpts from things I've written for various publications).

To provide occasional bulletins about my current professional activities.

To advise prospective clients on various writing and editing services that I offer.

To answer your next question ... yes, that's me. And that's my five-string electric cello, built by Eric Jensen of Seattle. Woohoo! The photo was taken by Christine Thompson at a recent gig in Livermore.

I write regularly for Electronic Musician, Keyboard, Mix, and Virtual Instruments magazines, and occasionally for Drum. In order to read most of those features you'll need to subscribe or buy the issues on the newsstand. Electronic Musician posts many articles on their website, and they have now begun including the graphics, which is gratifying. They even have an index of my contributions.

Hungry for more articles about music technology? One of the publishers I've written for is the O'Reilly Digital Media website. They have recently (as of August 2007) updated their web layout with lists of articles arranged by author. If you want to check out these articles, here's the link.

Questions? Comments? Advice I'd be wise to heed? Email me at: editor at-sign musicwords dot net.