Month: February 2017

Broadjam Artist: Bill Dake
Song: Short Story (Folk-Contemporary)

Reviewer: Chet Nichols

Positive Comments: Very nice story song. Like the guitar work. Has an easy-going smooth recording and lush, spacey arrangement. Very unique melody that draws the listener in and captures my attention and keeps it. A very nice song for a movie or TV show with it’s free-form, free-flowing atmosphere. Nice job, thanks for sharing……

Constructive Comments: I get where you are going with this song, but there are a few places were it needs some tweaking and it will be perfect. First the vocal needs to be re-done in spots where it is clearly pitchy. Try to be very critical of your own vocals and make sure the pitch doesn’t draw people away from the content of the song. I think the mix needs some tweaking and slight readjustments as it is a wee bit unbalanced. The instrumentation is excellent and the arrangement is very, very nice, so just balance out the left-to-right mix levels. The vocal has a very nice quality and is mixed very nicely in the track. it is warm and tender and helps to paint the pictures. There is a string PAD that comes in later in the track and I think that can be incorporated and weaved in and out of the track more. Lifting the volume 1-to-2-to-3 ticks would be interesting to play with just keep it subtle. Finally, a simple chorus/hook or retain will they the song up nicely and there doesn’t seem to be on in the song. Could be as simple as a repeated line at the end of each verse….but the song needs one. Hope this give you some ideas to chew on…it is a very nice tune and worth the effort.Best to you…..

Broadjam Artist: Bill Dake
Song: Baby Said Bye, Bye

Reviewer: Randal Dunkle

Positive Comments: I really like the lead vocals and the way the drums and the rest of the instruments blend together – I really like the piano – sounds a little like Steely Dan.

Constructive Comments: Great sounding tune, the only thing I would do differently is add a saxophone solo – best wishes!

Broadjam Artist: Rachel Joy
Song: I Can Always Count On You

Reviewer: Osea Codega

Positive Comments: Nice intro, unexpected vocal beginning at 00:32, it really captured me. Singer has a very nice voice and the track has a marked touch of originality.

Constructive Comments: Keep up the good work.

Broadjam Artist: Simon Finn
Song: Always and Forever

Reviewer: Osea Codega

Positive Comments: Nice intro, positive mood, involving rhythm, I liked very much the chorus and the back vocals, well placed in the songs, great Song.

Constructive Comments: Keep up the good work.

Broadjam Artist: Bob Higgs
Song: Nicolette

Reviewer: Jason Montero

Positive Comments: Great feel and mood, very organic sound with an excellent balance between the acoustic and the vocal. The Dylan influence is undeniable but it’s natural enough not to feel like an imitation. The arrangement flows very nicely and the refrain is simple and memorable. I could hear this track being used in a television show or a movie.

Constructive Comments: The track runs a bit long at over 5 minutes and I believe it could be tightened up. This may just be an acoustic version of this song but it would be nice to hear it with some arrangement elements, even if just some simple piano and strings to counter the melody. I also wish I knew what the lyric was in the chorus which goes ‘i hate the deeds of the ?????’ – it sounds like Nicolaton, which I don’t understand or may be overly crafty.

Broadjam Artist: Tristyn Leach
Song: Forever Road

Reviewer: Jason Montero

Positive Comments: Solid arrangement and good instrumentation for the feel and genre. I like the acoustic being the centerpiece of the music bed. The harmonica is a nice flavor in this mix. The background vocal parts are an especially nice addition and help to carry the melody. I like the sparse ending and fade out with the humming.

Constructive Comments: The singer’s vocal timbre is shaky and his annunciation makes it difficult to understand what he’s saying. I think the hook is ‘down forever road’ which I like but it is difficult to tell if that is actually what is being said. There are other parts of the vocal which are also somewhat unintelligible. I feel like the track runs long and the outro could be cut down to make the track weigh in at under 4 minutes without any detriment to the song whatsoever.

Broadjam Artist: Patrick E. Muth
Song: Help Me Get My Ships Back to the Water (Live@Ft. Lauderdale)

Reviewer: Jason Montero

Positive Comments: Song has a good feel and an endearing emotional quality.

Constructive Comments: The live recording isn’t terrible, but some of the instruments sound a little out of tune and the tempo wavers and drags at times. The lap steel player doesn’t always hit the notes he is shooting for and it feels like some of the band is not confident in the changes. From a songwriting perspective, the song could use a stronger hook and/or chorus.

Broadjam Artist: Chet Nichols
Song: The Beetles Are Coming #3 BJ:Earth, #1 Folk, Folk-Rock)

Reviewer: Jeff Maguire

Positive Comments: Very nice sounding guitar in an acoustic instrumental, oh wait, there’s lyrics. Well played overall, nice voice.

Constructive Comments: This could probably work pretty well in a live coffee house type setting as is, but for most commercial settings it’s too long and takes too long to get to the point. Singer has a very appealing voice and as accompaniment the guitar is solid. While the playing is ok, isn’t enough to hold my attention for almost 8 minutes, it’s pretty much just jamming in an open tuning. I hear a good song in this but I’d prune it down to essentials, as you say, the beetles are coming.

Broadjam Artist: Tom Reardon
Song: Changed My Life

Reviewer: HarryBudini

Positive Comments: A a guitar based pop number, the catchy refrain works, the harmonies are nice. Reminds me of The Bangles mixed with The Cranberries.

Constructive Comments: I don’t think the syntheziser fits in perfectly well. But this is just like, you know, my opinion.

Broadjam Artist: Floyd Kelly
Song: Sepia’s Waltz

Reviewer: HarryBudini

Positive Comments: It’s a strange instrumental composition, a bit jazzy, a bit lounge, a bit like a romantic soundtrack – with some bizarre sound choice too. Feels soemthing out of the eighties, only totally arranged through midi.

Constructive Comments: The sounds are often rather ugly. I hear strange little notes here and there that feel a bit wrong to my ears. My ears are not particularly reliable.