Month: September 2017

Broadjam Artist: Marc S. Pate
Song: Rollin’ In Your Arms

Reviewer: Wayne Ammons

Positive Comments: Great feel to this track, like the guitar solo, love the change @ 1:20 (reminds me of Little Feat) & great sax ride following with a great sound, love the change @ 2:50

Constructive Comments: Maybe put some more drive in the vocals?

Broadjam Artist: Wayne Ammons
Song: I Ain’t Blind

Reviewer: Jeff Roberts

Positive Comments: Very good vocalist, production, and playing here. Great organ part.

Constructive Comments: The acoustic would be better with a mic rather than pickp–it’s a really brittle sound with a pickup. The electric guitar sounds pretty pinched–a lot of compression on it. Overall there’s a lot of really high end “chirp” and bass but not as much mid as I think you wanna hear.It’s a clever tempo change but I don’t think those things work after “Green Grass and High Tides”.You know this just isn’t reaching me. A lot of is the overall sound–it’s really so squashed and top/bottom-y.I’d rather hear it with a single acoustic guitar I think. The bones are there but it needs more organic heart.Hope that’s helpful!

Broadjam Artist: Jeff Ashbaker
Song: Maybe There’s A Miracle

Reviewer: Jeff Roberts

Positive Comments: Nice vocal and good lyrics with a meaningful theme. Good sound and playing all around.

Constructive Comments: The mix is a bit bass heavy–EQ that is. The tune is a bit plodding for me. I think it’d work better at 6-8 bpm faster so that there isn’t so much space between the phrases.

Broadjam Artist: Josh Walker
Song: Bump The Bump 30 sec

Reviewer: Jeff Roberts

Positive Comments: There’s a groove here. Very very short snippet. I don’t put effort into reviews of incomplete pieces.

Constructive Comments: The lead synth is too loud and for me, at least, it’s kind of an annoying sound.

Broadjam Artist: Ronald Arduini
Song: WHEN I FALL IN LOVE

Reviewer: Josh Walker

Positive Comments: Is this your arrangement? Is it recorded with a band-in-the-box type program? If so, it’s a great big band sound. It’s a nice arrangement and instrumentation of a classic jazz tune.

Constructive Comments: I know talking about vocals can be very sensitive since it’s a very personal thing, but I think you’re trying to explore a little too high a vocal range in places and it doesn’t fit the style of the arrangement. Your baritone is definitely a better fit, and I would experiment with Frank Sinatra-style phrasing for musical interest instead of varying your range. You can certainly play around with the melody, but be careful about going too high. This is of course my opinion, so take from it what you will.

Broadjam Artist: Brenda Craven
Song: Turn Out The Lights

Reviewer: Josh Walker

Positive Comments: I like the writing and the arranging for this song, and I love the melody and harmony writing too. I like the choice of instruments, but I talk further in the constructive comments below about that as well. Very mellow and nice smooth jazz feel!

Constructive Comments: I suspect this could be you just jotting ideas down on recording, but the instrument sounds definitely need a serious upgrade if you want to record this for commercial use, from the drums to the vibes to the pad. The piano probably needs one too, although it does sound better than the rest of the instrumentation around it.

Broadjam Artist: Charlie Shock
Song: BEE STING (performed by CAMERON DOBB)

Reviewer: Josh Walker

Positive Comments: I love the tone of the singer and the rough delivery, and the arrangement in general supports him very well. I also like the instrumentation led by piano but including creative use of keyboards and guitar. It’s also panned very well in the mix creating a nice balance of sound.

Constructive Comments: The one thing I hear that sounds funny is the electric drums in the verses. It sounds like an intentional sound choice, but I don’t really hear it working. I like the rhythm triangle in both verses and the brush sound in the second verse, but the electric bass drum/snare drum doesn’t really fit to my ears. With a raw, bluesy instrumentation such as this, I want to hear real drums (or at least a real-sounding patch). Maybe real brushes on an acoustic kit would work better.

Broadjam Artist: Laura Adamowsky
Song: Remembering You

Reviewer: Josh Walker

Positive Comments: Really nice song! I like the emotional appeal of the vocal melody, and the arrangement is really well done. It’s a good sign that the piano and vocals alone capture my attention without any other instrumentation.

Constructive Comments: The only thing that bugs me is the piano sound. It’s really musical piano playing, but whatever piano patch it is doesn’t sound right. I know it’s impractical to have a grand piano sitting around, but maybe either doctor up the piano sound somehow in the mix, or find a different, more real-sounding piano sound. Or maybe go for an intentional electric piano sound, I don’t know. Just throwing out ideas.

Broadjam Artist: Margie & Art Corey, S. & A. Corey
Song: Now You’re Free Instrumental

Reviewer: Josh Walker

Positive Comments: Nice atmospheric smooth jazz tune! I like the sax and the vocal drone-type lead. The drums and bass seem appropriate for this as well.

Constructive Comments: It seems like it could probably use another element of some kind, although I can’t really put my finger on it. The mid range sounds kind of hollow through the tune mix-wise, and maybe that’s what I’m missing. I understand the ambient sound you’re going for, but maybe add another instrument or sound somewhere in the to add another layer perhaps.