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    "Southern" by Johan Eckman & Per Gustavsson
    Merrill Crissey
    • Oct 17, 2020
    • 2 min

    "Southern" by Johan Eckman & Per Gustavsson

    Johan Eckman aka "Sleepy Songs" is a composer based out of Malmö, Sweden. As the moniker suggests, he specializes in relaxing and hypnoti...
    10 views0 comments
    "Consolation"
    Merrill Crissey
    • Oct 16, 2020
    • 1 min

    "Consolation"

    Consolation is a word we use after someone has experienced a loss. We can console one another with comforting words. We can console other...
    18 views0 comments
    5 Composition Tips You Can Use Now
    Merrill Crissey
    • Aug 12, 2020
    • 2 min

    5 Composition Tips You Can Use Now

    1 - Don't try to sound like someone else. It's inevitable that everyone's music will resemble someone else's. We are all influenced by wh...
    25 views0 comments
    Three Causes of Writer's Block and How to Beat Them
    Merrill Crissey
    • Jun 19, 2020
    • 4 min

    Three Causes of Writer's Block and How to Beat Them

    I've written before about overcoming writer's block. My favorite piece of advice on the subject is to "just keep writing." But what happe...
    8 views0 comments
    A Composer's Quest for the Sublime
    Merrill Crissey
    • May 27, 2020
    • 3 min

    A Composer's Quest for the Sublime

    In my last post, I mentioned the author C.S. Lewis. In his autobiographical work Surprised by Joy he talks about an experience he had sev...
    27 views0 comments
    Somewhere Over the Rainbow
    Merrill Crissey
    • May 6, 2020
    • 3 min

    Somewhere Over the Rainbow

    When I was growing up there were a couple of movies that would air on TV about once every year. One was The Sound of Music and the other w...
    77 views0 comments
    Crafting the Perfect Song
    Merrill Crissey
    • Feb 11, 2020
    • 4 min

    Crafting the Perfect Song

    There are nearly as many ways to compose as there are composers. Sometimes I write by just noodling around the piano until something stic...
    20 views0 comments
    Japonica: the Liner Notes
    Merrill Crissey
    • Jan 6, 2020
    • 3 min

    Japonica: the Liner Notes

    I remember wading through a sea of people in Namba train station still dazed from the ridiculously long flight across the Pacific. I met ...
    31 views0 comments
    10 Things You Can Do in 2020 to Level Up as a Musician
    Merrill Crissey
    • Dec 2, 2019
    • 4 min

    10 Things You Can Do in 2020 to Level Up as a Musician

    With a new year coming up soon I figured I would get a head start on my resolutions. These are ideas that I have either benefited from my...
    29 views0 comments
    Arashiyama
    Merrill Crissey
    • Nov 7, 2019
    • 2 min

    Arashiyama

    One of the most popular tourist spots in Kyoto, Japan is Arashiyama. It means "storm mountain" in Japanese, but whenever I've gone there ...
    26 views0 comments
    Sunrise on a New World
    Merrill Crissey
    • Oct 21, 2019
    • 1 min

    Sunrise on a New World

    If you've ever started a new venture, if you've ever moved to the big city, if you've ever begun a new life you'll understand how I felt....
    10 views0 comments
    How Much Money Can You Make on Spotify?
    Merrill Crissey
    • Sep 24, 2019
    • 4 min

    How Much Money Can You Make on Spotify?

    I sometimes wonder if I will ever get to the point where I can do music full time? If I only ever made money on Spotify the answer is... ...
    31 views0 comments
    One Weird Trick to Break Through Writer's Block
    Merrill Crissey
    • Aug 21, 2019
    • 3 min

    One Weird Trick to Break Through Writer's Block

    You've probably seen the hashtags or reddit threads where people post their "shower thoughts." Many of them are quite funny, but there ar...
    11 views0 comments
    Try Classical Music Again (Now with 70% Less Mozart!)
    Merrill Crissey
    • Aug 14, 2019
    • 4 min

    Try Classical Music Again (Now with 70% Less Mozart!)

    When it comes to most-listened-to musical genres pop music is still king. But the music we now refer to as "classical" was actually sort ...
    31 views0 comments
    Will It Be Awesome?
    Merrill Crissey
    • Aug 8, 2019
    • 3 min

    Will It Be Awesome?

    Several years ago, I had a very humorous boss who used to always ask us the same few questions. This would come at times when you were tr...
    12 views0 comments
    Japan and Music: Two of the Finest Things I've Ever found
    Merrill Crissey
    • Aug 1, 2019
    • 3 min

    Japan and Music: Two of the Finest Things I've Ever found

    In the fall of 2001, just a month after the attacks of 9/11, I boarded a plane bound for Osaka, Japan. It would be the first of many trip...
    24 views0 comments
    First Rain of Summer by Ben Crosland
    Merrill Crissey
    • Jun 10, 2019
    • 1 min

    First Rain of Summer by Ben Crosland

    It's almost officially summer and I'd like to begin it with a review of a wonderfully appropriate piece by Ben Crosland called "First Rain o
    51 views0 comments
    Writing for Fans not Phantoms
    Merrill Crissey
    • Jun 6, 2019
    • 2 min

    Writing for Fans not Phantoms

    Modern classical music has become a respected genre in the last ten years or so thanks to the likes of Nils Frahm and Ólafur Arnalds. The...
    28 views0 comments
    Planning for Inspiration
    Merrill Crissey
    • May 30, 2019
    • 2 min

    Planning for Inspiration

    Many composers and artists speak of the ideas or experiences that inspire them to create. But often when I sit down to the piano I find n...
    61 views0 comments
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