Broadjam Artist: Chet Nichols
Song: Twenty Years Ago (Instrumental)
Reviewer: Jeff Roberts
Positive Comments: Whoah there is so much I’m already loving in this tune. I’m hearing some of my absolute favorite chord/voicing tricks, and 12 string is always instant mood. I am just loving this tune–it’s such a heart lifting tune with a lot of simple grace and inspired playing. The syncopated answering sequence after the first main sequence is great, and the first hard V I resolution at :12 – :13 is so sweet with the slight delay in the rhythm. Jeez I’ve played this a bunch of times, and just loving every one. Wonderful work–what a great start to Monday.
Constructive Comments: Keep in mind I love this tune–I’m reviewing with a producer’s ear here…At :19 you’re playing a bridge instead of a verse part. With a spare instrumental like this you’ve got to have something that really bangs a theme–and it doesn’t have to be busy–you’re already killing it in the intro. And again at 1:32 the same part–the major to major 7 chord isn’t fitting with the rest of the vibe to my ears, and there’s always the cheese danger with M7. And then going to dom7 is just too much of a turnaround feel before its time. Also the chord chopping loses the graceful flow you had. This is a pretty serious flaw IMOThe intro is a little awkward–mainly because it’s so obvious that the slide and the opening chords are different takes.I think the snare is too hard and the gated reverb on it is too much for the vibe–this is the strongest negative I’d offer. A nice wire snap with only room ambience would be better I think.A tambourine part would add a lot of groove to this.The recording of the 12 string is a bit bass heavy–if you could get a bit more 5-7K boost in the tone and roll off the <200K I think it would have a sweeter and more present sound but it's already very good.Does it want a relative minor middle section? There's no real tension yet.