Experimental Acoustics Research Studio (EARS)

Experimentation. Interdisciplinary. Collaboration.

JOY Songwriting Camp

Songwriting Camps

Songwriting camps are used by publishing companies to grow their catalog of songs written by signed writers, in order to ramp up sync opportunities (being paid to synchronize a song with a commercial video - film, advertisement, etc.).

A typical focused songwriting event called a ‘session' involves one to two writers, and possibly an engineer to operate the computer and recording equipment for rough melody idea recording. These recordings are typically not carried over to the final product, as a featured singer/artist will be the one to record the final vocals once the melody, lyrics, and even production elements are yet to be finalized in the songwriting phase.

Virtual  Songwriting Camp

June 5-12, 2020

The June 5th virtual songwriting camp marked the final songwriting camp of the 2020 Spring Quarter and the new EARS executive board for the coming year was officially introduced. This songwriting camp following similar regulation as the May 1st songwriting camp by separating students into three randomized groups via Zoom and alotting a 2-hour time frame for students to finish a rough draft of their work.

 
May 1-8, 2020

EARS at UCR took on a new challenge during the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic by hosting virtual songwriting camps through the video communication platform, Zoom. Participants were separated into three groups and were given exactly two hours to create a body of work. This virtual songwriting camp proved to be extremely successful and may be the key to keeping EARS alive in the coming months while students are social distancing.

 

ASYLUM  Songwriting Camp

January 19-20, 2018

The ASYLUM Camp The camp brought together 32 composers and music creatives from UC Riverside, and the surrounding community for two days of sharing and communal learning at the EARS Studio at UC Riverside. 

 

JOY Songwriting Camp

March 9-11, 2018

For the JOY Camp, we strategized to create specific groups of producers and songwriters to efficiently accomplish the compositional task provided by the sponsor of the opportunity - Joy Ndombeson. We were charged with two (2) half days, and one (1) full day to create at least ten (10) complete song ideas to accompany ten (10) stories written by Ndombeson for a theatrical presentation. We paired two songwriters with two producers in each group (to the best of our ability).

 
JOY Songwriting Camp
UCR undergraduate students Eli Olivares and Christian Rosas work on a track during the Joy songwriting camp.
JOY Songwriting Camp
Returning guest producer from previous ASYLUM camp, Patty BJ shows UCR undergraduate Kevin Leevarinpanich a technique at the Joy songwriting camp.
JOY Songwriting Camp
Organizer and graduate student Ethan Castro addresses teams during the Joy songwriting camp.
JOY Songwriting Camp
Key collaborator Joy Ndombeson addresses teams to share his vision for the project.
JOY Songwriting Camp
Producer team Kaylon Rushing and Luke Shrestha finish last-minute touches on their tracks before submitting for a group showcase at the Joy songwriting camp.
JOY Songwriting Camp
Brother team Ethan and Jarod Svoboda show their track to key collaborator Joy Ndombeson at the Joy songwriting camp.
JOY Songwriting Camp
Graduate student and event organizer Ethan Castro consults with key collaborator Joy Ndombeson and choreographer Staci Jones.
JOY Songwriting Camp
UCR students (from left) Kevin Leevarinpanich, Francisco Rangel, Christiaan Clark, and Elyse Douglas participate shoulder-to-shoulder with teams of professional producers and songwriters.