Month: September 2016

Broadjam Artist: Charlie Shock
Song: CALIFORNIA COOL

Reviewer: He-Nis-Ra

Positive Comments: This was a pleasant surprise to hear. It has a good foot tapping beat and is composed well. Not too repetitive or all over the place. It just has a good balance of interesting vocal style, good recording quality and unique riffs. The vocal style is kind of “I don’t care I’m just out here singing having fun” It fits the tune perfectly and doesn’t feel overdone. I definitely enjoyed it.

Constructive Comments: The composition of the song was very good. Overall nothing really to suggest, maybe a few simple lead riffs filling in over the rhythm guitar would have been cool to hear, or maybe if they were there they didn’t stand out too much. I could definitely see this as a song in my playlist and will search for you on media platforms to check out some more music.Nice work 🙂 This song has potential for a lot of different applications – I could see it in a movie scene where someone is driving and the camera is panning across the land etc etc. Think dumb and dumber where they are driving in the dog mobile. It just has that movie sound track feel to me. I enjoyed it a lot!

Broadjam Artist: Tristyn Leach
Song: Rich Enough To Lose

Reviewer: He-Nis-Ra

Positive Comments: The guitar recording is pretty high quality. The tone of the instrument is on par with recording of similar characteristics. The vocals are easy to understand and the melody matches what you’d expect for this type of song. The finger snaps are original and tasteful. Instrumental breakdown lead in sort of carries you to the part of the song where you wouldn’t expect to hear any lyrics.

Constructive Comments: The overall melody of the song is pretty repetitive. The chord progression could use a little bit of improvement or change. To me the song is pretty stale as far as the dynamic changes in energy are concerned. I didn’t feel any different throughout the song while it was being performed and I think it has the potential to carry the listener up and down if the chord progression and intensity of the instruments were changed throughout the song. The breakdown before the instrumental part is short and the instrumental feels the same as the chorus and verses. You could also add some solo harmony guitar notes played through matching scales to bring up the dynamics and make for a more intricate listening experience. It is a solid start to a good song though. Nice work!

Broadjam Artist: FRED GROSS
Song: Everybody Needs Somebody

Reviewer: He-Nis-Ra

Positive Comments: The blues riffs are genuine and the tone of the guitar is very authentic. I noticed immediately that I was able to appreciate the musicianship that went into the creation of the song. It reminds me a lot of the blues they play on WPR after hours. The vocals reminded me of a mixture between Johnny Lang and Journey (two very good artists) The guitars had a slight Santana feel which is also excellent.

Constructive Comments: The recording quality or effect of the vocals through me off a bit. It sounded almost as if the vocals were recorded in a large concert hall. The vocalist has good control of pitch and tone, however I think either the quality of the microphone or settings/effect on the vocals detracted from the song a bit. I think that a more driving tone on the guitar solo would have made it stand out from some of the other riffs in the song as well. Perhaps a bit more overdrive during that section.

Broadjam Artist: FRED GROSS
Song: Jitter Bug Rock

Reviewer: Thomas E. McCue

Positive Comments: This song kind of takes me back to the days of Bill Haley and the Comets. I’m a big fan of rockabilly music and this is a good example of it. Great guitar work complemented by the walking bass. It makes me want to get up and “kick up my heels”, although I’m somewhat limited in that capacity (see reference to Bill Haley and the Comets above). Great job.

Constructive Comments: Good production with clear mix and good separation of instrumentation. All stand out without stepping on each other.

Broadjam Artist: Uncle Spider & The Electric Dirt Clods
Song: Zipper Heart / Hard Rock

Reviewer: He-Nis-Ra

Positive Comments: I like the tone of the guitar and some of the riffing is catchy. It has sort of a Lenny Kravitz feel to it and anytime a guitar melody can remind me of someone famous that’s always a good sign. I don’t have much feedback for anything else because this was a heavily guitar dominated track. Other than that is is a solid start.

Constructive Comments: Obviously the mix was dominated by guitar, so it’s hard to get an overall feel for the emotion of the song. I didn’t feel that I flowed with the song but rather that it was just one big long guitar riff. Adding in a full mix of instruments would give this song more dynamics that I think would be helpful to its overall appeal. Some consistent rhythm guitar behind the lead notes would really brighten up the ability for each section of the song to stand out.

Broadjam Artist: Warren Hein
Song: Cookie Cutter Blonde instrumental

Reviewer: He-Nis-Ra

Positive Comments: This song has a good vibe for a movie or commercial scene where there is some sort of action but I could really only see it in a comedy film. It has a lighthearted feel to it so I wouldn’t really consider it “hard rock”The bass line is very repetitive so the songs doesn’t have very diverse dynamics. I think overall it could be good in a short clip for film but not in front of a mainstream audience on its own.

Constructive Comments: The feel of the song is very one dimensional. The bass line only has 3-4 notes in it that alternate in the same pattern over and over which makes the song feel repetitive, however depending on what you were going for with the track it might be a perfect fit for your purpose. I’m not too sure how they want me to rate songs, it would be helpful to know the motivation behind writing the song.

Broadjam Artist: Dave Haddad (CenterPeace)
Song: Beautiful Sound

Reviewer: Josh Walker

Positive Comments: Really nice song with a Spanish flavor using the classical-sounding guitar. Great arrangement and great vocalist as well. There’s a really nice variety of sounds to keep the listener drawn in. Great job on this song! If it’s band in a box, I need to find out that box that is!

Constructive Comments: Nothing I can really offer…great job!

Broadjam Artist: Brenda Craven
Song: J Groove

Reviewer: Josh Walker

Positive Comments: This is a pretty good arrangement with a nice range of instrumentation. I like the building momentum through the more active bass line as the song progresses.

Constructive Comments: The very first notes I heard told me it needs better electronic sounds, and that will continue to hamper the song’s appeal. Maybe more variety of sounds as well as the song progresses to keep the listener’s interest.

Broadjam Artist: Margie & Art Corey, S. & A. Corey
Song: Secret Sex Appeal

Reviewer: Josh Walker

Positive Comments: Really cool song with really sexual overtones, and appropriate instrumentation to match. I like the percussion groove underneath and tight guitar and killer sax on top of it all. It’s also well recorded and well mixed.

Constructive Comments: I can’t put my finger on it, but there’s something that sounds a little artificial about it, maybe the drums. Maybe because it needs more bass. But it sounds great otherwise!

Broadjam Artist: Uncle Spider & The Electric Dirt Clods
Song: Sophia Smiles / Smooth Jazz

Reviewer: Josh Walker

Positive Comments: The guitar solo idea is nice and simply carried out.

Constructive Comments: The guitar sounds very pitchy, and I would get a better recording of it.