Month: September 2018

Broadjam Artist: Jeff Ashbaker
Song: Eleven To One

Reviewer: DENNIS MAKEPEACE

Positive Comments: pleasant song ,melodic solo,harmonies, easy listening

Constructive Comments: no problems

Broadjam Artist: Fred Kimmel
Song: Always Beautiful

Reviewer: MGB

Positive Comments: Really good sound with top-notch arrangement and great harmonies. Both instrumentation and vocals are great. Very good production and melodies.

Constructive Comments: Really good sound.

Broadjam Artist: Fred Kimmel
Song: Always Beautiful

Reviewer: MGB

Positive Comments: Really good sound with top-notch arrangement and great harmonies. Both instrumentation and vocals are great. Very good production and melodies.

Constructive Comments: Really good sound.

Broadjam Artist: Uncle Spider & The Electric Dirt Clods
Song: Hall the Oats to Van / Pop

Reviewer: Johnny Schaefer

Positive Comments: Soothing, laid-back feel. Nice guitar work. The main hook is nice. The length is good and I like the abrupt ending. Could be nice to drive around to. A positive vibe and feel-good quality. The bridge works well and adds contrast. Nice tension at the end before bringing back the main hook. A good base line at times (see below).

Constructive Comments: While the guitar is nice, some of the instrument choices coupled with the recording and mix make it sound very homemade. When you use a chimey piano the pad has to be fat and the bass strong to keep it from sounding hollow. Reverb and a better pad could help, as well as some counter-melodies and fills. The drum sound could be better and is mixed a little too dry, especially since you lead with it. The occasional discordant notes and tunings don’t work for me, but some people might enjoy them. I think they distract. I wanted to hear some rich strings.

Broadjam Artist: Uncle Spider & The Electric Dirt Clods
Song: Hall the Oats to Van / Pop

Reviewer: Johnny Schaefer

Positive Comments: Soothing, laid-back feel. Nice guitar work. The main hook is nice. The length is good and I like the abrupt ending. Could be nice to drive around to. A positive vibe and feel-good quality. The bridge works well and adds contrast. Nice tension at the end before bringing back the main hook. A good base line at times (see below).

Constructive Comments: While the guitar is nice, some of the instrument choices coupled with the recording and mix make it sound very homemade. When you use a chimey piano the pad has to be fat and the bass strong to keep it from sounding hollow. Reverb and a better pad could help, as well as some counter-melodies and fills. The drum sound could be better and is mixed a little too dry, especially since you lead with it. The occasional discordant notes and tunings don’t work for me, but some people might enjoy them. I think they distract. I wanted to hear some rich strings.

Broadjam Artist: Uncle Spider & The Electric Dirt Clods
Song: This Time I Choose Love / Pop Alt

Reviewer: MGB

Positive Comments: Very kicky tune with a nice and steady beat. Great instrumentation and nice chord changes.

Constructive Comments: Cool tune.

Broadjam Artist: Uncle Spider & The Electric Dirt Clods
Song: This Time I Choose Love / Pop Alt

Reviewer: MGB

Positive Comments: Very kicky tune with a nice and steady beat. Great instrumentation and nice chord changes.

Constructive Comments: Cool tune.

Broadjam Artist: Chet Nichols
Song: We Have Never Let Go Of Our Dreams (#1 Dream Pop)

Reviewer: Johnny Schaefer

Positive Comments: I like the guitars and keyboard. The chimey sound in the keyboard is a nice accent and contributes to the dreamy quality, appropriate for “Never letting go of dreams.” It’s heartfelt and sweet. I like the running eighth patterns. They give it a nice energy. There are some good lyric moments. The background vocals are well-thought out. The little angelic choir sound in the chorus is nice and could come up more like it is at the very end. Some nice chord changes.

Constructive Comments: The synth pad could be better. I think it brings the track down. The vocals feel a little weighted down in the beginning and get better, but the first impression is important. The recording almost has a mono presence to it. If it’s intentional, I think it distances the listener from the track a bit. Thicker, more prominent bass would help fatten the sound and contribute to the dream-like quality. Some of the lyrics are uneven.

Broadjam Artist: Chet Nichols
Song: We Have Never Let Go Of Our Dreams (#1 Dream Pop)

Reviewer: Johnny Schaefer

Positive Comments: I like the guitars and keyboard. The chimey sound in the keyboard is a nice accent and contributes to the dreamy quality, appropriate for “Never letting go of dreams.” It’s heartfelt and sweet. I like the running eighth patterns. They give it a nice energy. There are some good lyric moments. The background vocals are well-thought out. The little angelic choir sound in the chorus is nice and could come up more like it is at the very end. Some nice chord changes.

Constructive Comments: The synth pad could be better. I think it brings the track down. The vocals feel a little weighted down in the beginning and get better, but the first impression is important. The recording almost has a mono presence to it. If it’s intentional, I think it distances the listener from the track a bit. Thicker, more prominent bass would help fatten the sound and contribute to the dream-like quality. Some of the lyrics are uneven.

Broadjam Artist: DeDe WedeKind
Song: When I Fall In Love by DeDe Instrumental

Reviewer: Jeff Maguire

Positive Comments: Nice melodic smooth jazz sort of ballad, well done.

Constructive Comments: Piano comping is very nice, strings sound kind of stock in terms of lines and voicing’s but not bad, patches sound a little cheesy sticking out front like that …. it really needs a melody, so much so that I’m pretty certain this is just an instrumental version of a tune with vocals muted. Guitar player is getting nice tone but really not doing much, so I’d probably either have the guitar do a light percussive strike accented around 2, just brushing the chords, maybe ad the occasional slight alteration or flourish , or just take it out. It’s basically a piano tune, you could probably just guitar out without any loss of energy. But making the comping a little more percussive would not necessarily be a bad thing … IMO.