5 EASY TIPS FOR A KILLER INTRO
You've got one chance to grab your listener's attention, and surprise... It's the intro. There's a lot of different ways to craft your introduction, and no "right or wrong" way in songwriting. As a jazz fan, I love long extended beautiful instrumental intros that set the scene for the song just as much as I appreciate truncated instantly recognizable hooks (Bruno Mars anyone?), and these 5 tips can help you explore the best intro ideas to incorporate into your style of songwriting...
RIANA'S CORNER: MY BROTHER IS A SONGWRITER'S DREAM MENTOR
Heyyyy! Riana here, and today on Derik's blog I'm sharing my older sister perspective about our songwriting incubator we taught in Kyiv, Ukraine in January 2020.
Our trip to Ukraine was organized by the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv and Arts Envoy (a U.S. State Department program) and the curriculum we designed was original and completely unique for this incubator session in Kyiv...
MUSIC OUT OF VOICE MEMOS
Want to hear what an organ made out of a car horn sounds like? What about a drum beat made from a crosswalk signal? Or a piano made from a doorbell? During my travels to Ukraine, I recorded a voice memo on the street one night in Kyiv and created an entire song out of it. It's my deep dive into sampling, and you can listen to it now!