From TikTok Fame to Tiny Desk, Tiny Habits Is a 2022 Breakout Band The student trio unpacks its approach to creating striking vocal arrangements and shares its first studio track, hemenway.
By
John Mirisola
December 1, 2022
Tiny Habits, left to right: Judah Mayowa '21, Maya Rae, and Cinya Khan
Image courtesy of the artist
Tiny Habits first made a name for itself singing in stairways and dorm rooms. The trio, composed of Judah Mayowa '21 and current Berklee students Cinya Khan and Maya Rae, gained a massive audience on TikTok and Instagram over the past year by performing bite-sized acoustic covers of nearly forgotten popular songs in their trademark shape-shifting three-part harmony. Then everybodys like, Oh my God, I forgot about that song! says Judah, adding with a smile: And then they like ours better, 'cause we, you know, add a little harmony to it.
Its been a rapid ascent for a band that started as nothing more than a few new friends singing together in Mayas dorm room and sharing their experiments online. (Itll be cute, Maya remembers them thinking about posting their first cover, Carly Rae Jepsens Call Me Maybe.) But it didnt take long for them to realize they had something special. Every single time we would post a video together, it would be like the most viewed video any of us had gotten, says Cinya. So they created official Tiny Habits accounts on Instagram and TikTok and started posting there.
Soon, these throwback covers began to rack up hundreds of thousands of views, sometimes millions. At one point, they even caught the eye of folk luminary David Crosby, who tweeted about them back in March, I think they are the best new singing group Ive heard.
It was really cool, 'cause hes obviously a part of a trio thats very well-known, says Judah. So I think its cool to get recognition from someone who has kind of done the same thing that weve been doing.
Watch: Tiny Habits performs for Berklees Two Track video series:
A Recipe for Harmony Its hard to describe exactly what makes Tiny Habits sound so compelling. While some of it comes down to the good fortune of three voices that sound nice together, mastering that blend and achieving the kinds of creative harmonic twists featured in all of their arrangements is anything but luck.
Its definitely a lot of trial and error, but I think because weve been doing it for kind of a while now, we know where each of our own voices will sit, and where the other members will kind of take over, says Cinya, describing their arranging process. We start with a pretty standard three-part harmony, and then one of us will figure out some sauce that makes it Tiny Habits.
And whats the secret to that sauce? We love dissonance and crunch, like when notes rub together, says Judah. I think we use that very often.
On top of that, Maya adds, we discovered that our unison is something thats pretty cool. I think its hard for people to achieve a really smooth blend. So the fact that we have that is kind of also part of the Tiny Habits sauce, you could call it.
A smooth three-part unison, balanced with surprising flashes of dissonance and harmonic complexity, all in the space of a verse and a chorus-for these singers, that formula is the result of both instinct and time spent in the classroom.
Those harmony classes... Judah muses. Cinya agrees. A lot of it is just so intuitive that were not really thinking about it, she says, but just knowing about tensions is something I utilize most. Because Judah [will be] like, Oh, add the nine. 13? Try the 11. And so I feel like, as a communication tool, thats pretty helpful.
The View from the Desk Lizzy McAlpine Taps Student Band for Tiny Desk Harmonies
Read more about McAlpines Tiny Desk concert and watch the full set here.
The recognition and opportunities the bands received havent been limited to social media, either. Earlier this year they began collaborating with indie-folk artist Lizzie McAlpine '20 on a few videos, which led to McAlpine asking them to serve as her backing band and create new vocal arrangements for her NPR Tiny Desk concert in November.
It was a surreal experience for the group, playing what was likely their highest-profile gig yet in a Washington, D.C., office building.
It was crazy, because when we were doing it, were facing the other way. So were looking at all these NPR workers and just singing. But then after, there was a picture taken of us behind the desk, and we looked at the picture and thats when it really sank in for us, says Maya. Were like, Oh my God. Thats the background. Thats Tiny Desk.
From the Stairwell to the Studio Of course, theres more to this band than what new forms it manages to make from other peoples songs. All three are songwriters in their own right-Maya and Cinya are both professional music majors with songwriting concentrations (Maya is also concentrating in music business; Cinya in music production). Since the beginning theyve also been working on original material, and when they play live, thats the well theyre drawing from primarily.
The original stuff has definitely been well received, which is really validating, says Cinya. People are just so kind to us.
Now, with the release of its first studio single, hemenway, Tiny Habits are proving to its online following that the bands collective voice doesnt lose its soul on the walk from the stairwell to the vocal booth, and it endures far beyond a 30-second video.
The song began as a project for one of Cinyas classes. She sent it, and she was like, I wrote this for my songwriting class. And then I think that day we just arranged harmonies and decided we loved it and added it to our set, Maya recalls, saying that it wound up being the first track they decided to record in the studio. Its a fully produced track, and we feel really strongly about it. Were really excited for people t
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
13/05/2026
New Adobe Premiere Color Grading Mode Accelerated on NVIDIA GPUs
Joel Pennington May 13, 2026
0 Comments
New NVIDIA RTX-accelerated features streamlin...
13/05/2026
Grass Valley announced that dB Broadcast has delivered new IP-based outside broadcast (OB) trucks for Cloudbass, featuring Grass Valley LDX 100 Series cameras a...
13/05/2026
Ikegami will exhibit the latest additions to its wide range of broadcast production cameras, control units, viewfinders and monitors on stand 5D3-1 at Broadcast...
13/05/2026
FISE, working with the founding members of the XR Sports Alliance (XRSA), Accedo, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and HBS, have collaborated to develop an immersive...
13/05/2026
Canon Unveils New EOS R6 V Full-Frame EOS Camera and RF20-50mm F4 L IS USM PZ Bu...
13/05/2026
Boston Conservatory at Berklee Honors Beth Morrison and Moses Pendleton at Comme...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Creative software developer Foundry today announced the latest developments on Nuke Stage. A purpose-built application for end-to-end virtual production and in-...
13/05/2026
A definitive portrait of one of Ireland's most influential musicians
New TV documentary airs Monday 18 May on RT One and RT Player at 9.35pm
Watch the...
13/05/2026
Agentic AI is changing the way users get work done. Following the success of OpenClaw, the community is embracing new open source agentic frameworks. The latest...
13/05/2026
Reinforcement-learning agents - AI systems that learn by trial and error - can c...
12/05/2026
Beyond the Hype: A Strategic Post-Hoc Analysis of NAB 2026 If NAB Show 2026 had an underlying theme, it was a quiet, industry-wide pivot from the high-energy sp...
12/05/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D), a Panoptec Technologies Group company, and CT Square, led by Chandresh Shah, have announced a joint venture to distribute G&D and V...
12/05/2026
With 30 days until the start of the FIFA World Cup 2026, Telemundo, the exclusive Spanish-language home of the tournament in the United States, has announced th...
12/05/2026
The NHL has announced the return of Stanley Pup for its third consecutive year, a 90-minute special featuring adoptable rescue dogs competing on a miniature rin...
12/05/2026
NBCUniversal presented its 2026 Upfront to advertisers at Radio City Music Hall, detailing upcoming programming across NBC, Peacock, Bravo, and Versant properti...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced funding for the Fandom and Social Connection Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Publ...
12/05/2026
TNDV and Live Media, both divisions of Live Media Group, supported live broadcast coverage around NCAA Final Four weekend in Indianapolis, including the March M...
12/05/2026
The European Football Alliance (EFA) has announced a content distribution agreement with Fubo Sports Network, the free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel ...
12/05/2026
For the first time, Spanish-speaking fans in the U.S. will have two separate tel...
12/05/2026
CP Communications led a comprehensive spectrum management initiative on behalf of Churchill Downs during Kentucky Derby week, coordinating RF assets across the ...
12/05/2026
LiveU has announced a strategic partnership with DRONERESPONDERS, a 501(c)3 non-...
12/05/2026
Open Broadcast Systems has announced that BMC TV, a specialist in IP transport of broadcast content, has selected the Open Broadcast Systems 5G Flyaway solution...
12/05/2026
NEP Europe, part of NEP Group, has announced it will deliver broadcast solutions...
12/05/2026
Grass Valley has announced continued collaboration with Ravensbourne University ...
12/05/2026
Stats Perform has announced the launch of Opta Pulse, an AI-assisted video creation and distribution platform for leagues, rights holders, and broadcasters. The...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced a collaboration with Sesame Workshop to integrate Sesame Street characters into FOX Sports' FIFA World Cup 2026 programming. Conten...
12/05/2026
To date, NHL Productions has produced 19 broadcasts with commentary in American Sign Language
NHL in ASL (American Sign Language) may be just one show, but the...
12/05/2026
Google's Brian Albert: creators, athletes, highlights, nostalgia, second-scr...
12/05/2026
A still from Past Lives by Celine Song, an official selection of the Premieres program at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. (Courtesy of Sundance Institute | p...
12/05/2026
Spotify is where fans and artists come together, turning discovery into somethin...
12/05/2026
Features patented Marco-MMC clocking technology
Black Lion Audio's latest release combines the company's expertise in clocking with their renowned p...
12/05/2026
New Track Panel, sequencer upgrades & more
Following their recent public beta release, Reason Studios have announced the full release of Reason 14. With the...
12/05/2026
One month to go! SBS reveals expansive FIFA World Cup 2026 lineup beyond the pi...
12/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz presents its advanced solutions for power electronics testing at...
12/05/2026
aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, has developed a modified fund raising p...
12/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/05/2026
Tyrell Corporation, specialists in high-end live sports and entertainment broadcasts, was tasked with delivering compelling broadcast coverage of premier equest...
12/05/2026
Registration is now open for IBC2026 as the global media, entertainment and technology community prepares to converge on the RAI Amsterdam from 11 14 September ...
12/05/2026
Ross Video, a global leader in live video production technology, will present its latest innovations and integrated production workflows at BroadcastAsia 2026, ...
12/05/2026
500 selected leaders from around the world across start-ups, corporates, and venture capital. Over 50bn in assets under management among attending investors, a...
From TikTok Fame to Tiny Desk, Tiny Habits Is a 2022 Breakout Band The student trio unpacks its approach to creating striking vocal arrangements and shares its first studio track, hemenway.
