Well, "Papa Hawg" ended up number 6 in instrumental after a crazy last day semi-final bounce from 1 to 8 and back several times. Right now "Graduation" is number 1 in New Age/World, but I expect it will be gone from that spot before long. Again, it's a piece that begins with a melodic hook. Another piece which I think is musically better, "Through the Gates," is way back in instrumental. "Through the Gates" starts with a laid-back groove and doesn't get into the melodic hook until 14 seconds into the song. Andrew Aversa's brilliant tune, "Drum Bossa," which took first in instrumental in June, also takes time to get to the melody, but the cooking drum and piano rhythm track is a real grabber and gets attention from the first measure.

The OurStage judges have a minimum of 15 seconds that they can listen per song. I'm sure the judges who listen to the most songs will listen to less than 20 seconds, and if the song doesn't catch them by then, they'll move on to the next piece.

Make them cook from the start.

All the Best,
Mike

You've got to know your limitations. I don't know what your limitations are. I found out what mine were when I was twelve. I found out that there weren't too many limitations, if I did it my way. -Johnny Cash

It's only music.
-niteshift

Mike Dunbar Music