Month: October 2018

Broadjam Artist: MGB
Song: ANSWER MAN

Reviewer: Dave Haddad (CenterPeace)

Positive Comments: Right away I think of Neil Young. Vocal reminds me of Joe Walsh. Two of my favorites. Melody is very familiar in parts which is good. Catchy hook. Song has all the elements for a great song. Good live tracks, sounds like an actual band and that is amazing! I like the vibe, tempo and arrangement. The mix sounds pretty good in the verse sections.

Constructive Comments: Vocal is a little too out front of the mix. Also the vocal eq is a little too boosted in the hi-mids 900hz to 3.5k is too hot for me. Then the chorus vocals are too low by comparison (verse vocals are just too loud). Guitars get buried behind the vocal. I don’t say this too often but I think the bass is too loud. The drums are a little lower that the guitarist in the instrumental break and in the chorus as well… the drums are buried. Drums and bass are the foundation and shouldn’t ever be buried. Can not understand some of the vocals in the chorus… Sounds like you are saying “Amsterdam”. For me, the mix is your only problem… maybe some tracking wasn’t very clean either or record levels may be low. Get good full signal on your tracking that way you don’t add hiss to your mixing having to turn a low track way up to be heard.

Broadjam Artist: MGB
Song: ANSWER MAN

Reviewer: Dave Haddad (CenterPeace)

Positive Comments: Right away I think of Neil Young. Vocal reminds me of Joe Walsh. Two of my favorites. Melody is very familiar in parts which is good. Catchy hook. Song has all the elements for a great song. Good live tracks, sounds like an actual band and that is amazing! I like the vibe, tempo and arrangement. The mix sounds pretty good in the verse sections.

Constructive Comments: Vocal is a little too out front of the mix. Also the vocal eq is a little too boosted in the hi-mids 900hz to 3.5k is too hot for me. Then the chorus vocals are too low by comparison (verse vocals are just too loud). Guitars get buried behind the vocal. I don’t say this too often but I think the bass is too loud. The drums are a little lower that the guitarist in the instrumental break and in the chorus as well… the drums are buried. Drums and bass are the foundation and shouldn’t ever be buried. Can not understand some of the vocals in the chorus… Sounds like you are saying “Amsterdam”. For me, the mix is your only problem… maybe some tracking wasn’t very clean either or record levels may be low. Get good full signal on your tracking that way you don’t add hiss to your mixing having to turn a low track way up to be heard.

Broadjam Artist: Greg Lambert
Song: I Will Stand (Male Vocal)

Reviewer: Kate Carpenter

Positive Comments: Hooray! Another great patriotic song. And the message of this one is so needed today. We need a bridge to help close the chasm that divides us as a nation. If only we could have a leader that would bring us together as this song describes. The lyrics are absolutely FANTASTIC, very well-written, with a great tribute to our armed forces who defend our freedom. Chorus is singable and “I will Stand” is a great line. (Tell that to the NFL players, although they have the right to kneel or stand, right?!) Nice instrumentation. Great song structure and presentation.

Constructive Comments: Is it just me, or is there a problem with the chord changes in the chorus? It bugged me every time I heard it. Has anyone else commented on that? Something seems off in the timing or something. If you want this song to soar, you need to get a little more passionate in your vocal at the end, and go UP on I will stand. I wanted you to sing it up higher at the end. I could just hear it happening…and saying to myself: why didn’t he do it to make a real statement at the end and ramp up the impact of that great phrase?

Broadjam Artist: Greg Lambert
Song: I Will Stand (Male Vocal)

Reviewer: Kate Carpenter

Positive Comments: Hooray! Another great patriotic song. And the message of this one is so needed today. We need a bridge to help close the chasm that divides us as a nation. If only we could have a leader that would bring us together as this song describes. The lyrics are absolutely FANTASTIC, very well-written, with a great tribute to our armed forces who defend our freedom. Chorus is singable and “I will Stand” is a great line. (Tell that to the NFL players, although they have the right to kneel or stand, right?!) Nice instrumentation. Great song structure and presentation.

Constructive Comments: Is it just me, or is there a problem with the chord changes in the chorus? It bugged me every time I heard it. Has anyone else commented on that? Something seems off in the timing or something. If you want this song to soar, you need to get a little more passionate in your vocal at the end, and go UP on I will stand. I wanted you to sing it up higher at the end. I could just hear it happening…and saying to myself: why didn’t he do it to make a real statement at the end and ramp up the impact of that great phrase?

Broadjam Artist: Randal Dunkle
Song: Dial Tune (Pilgrim/Dunkle)

Reviewer: Kate Carpenter

Positive Comments: This song has an interesting subject matter. It’s a son or grandson reminiscing on memories of a beloved grandparent, specifically shooting off of 2 things, the phone and the piano. Creative subject matter. Nice harmonies at end. Great use of phone sound effects!

Constructive Comments: This song seems more folk than pop to me. When I heard the intro, I expected one thing to happen, but the vocal presentation seemed a bit heavy and incongruent with the instrumental. The song just seemed a little over-produced to me. I had to consult the lyrics to make sure I was understanding what was going on. I understood better with the second listen. Limit the use of phone sound effects (too much of a good thing). I think you could possibly shorten this song. That may not be necessary because I don’t think your goal was to make this a commercial success, which is totally okay.

Broadjam Artist: Randal Dunkle
Song: Dial Tune (Pilgrim/Dunkle)

Reviewer: Kate Carpenter

Positive Comments: This song has an interesting subject matter. It’s a son or grandson reminiscing on memories of a beloved grandparent, specifically shooting off of 2 things, the phone and the piano. Creative subject matter. Nice harmonies at end. Great use of phone sound effects!

Constructive Comments: This song seems more folk than pop to me. When I heard the intro, I expected one thing to happen, but the vocal presentation seemed a bit heavy and incongruent with the instrumental. The song just seemed a little over-produced to me. I had to consult the lyrics to make sure I was understanding what was going on. I understood better with the second listen. Limit the use of phone sound effects (too much of a good thing). I think you could possibly shorten this song. That may not be necessary because I don’t think your goal was to make this a commercial success, which is totally okay.

Broadjam Artist: Matt Mereu
Song: Rise Above the Blues

Reviewer: Kate Carpenter

Positive Comments: Introduction creates a tension, which is a good lead in to this song about a couple seeking some kind of rebirth in their relationship. The singer admits his failure in the first verse and then declares that there’s a second chance, a hope, which he describes, using several metaphors. He uses oceans, a dam, sunset, eagle, diamonds. Lead guitar nicely done. Vocal is very clear and performance is passionate. The outro is really super cool. Someone put a lot of thought into this production. Most original lyric in song: I’ve been treating you like a second class citizen. Very honest and creative. Nicely done.

Constructive Comments: Drums sounded kind of loopy and boring to me. Maybe if I listened again, I’d have another opinion of them. The metaphors are nice, but go all over the place subject-wise. Sometimes sticking to one metaphor helps. I’d go with the water (oceans/dam/waves) if I were re-writing the song. Question: Smokin’…..smokin’ what? I didn’t get that line.

Broadjam Artist: Matt Mereu
Song: Rise Above the Blues

Reviewer: Kate Carpenter

Positive Comments: Introduction creates a tension, which is a good lead in to this song about a couple seeking some kind of rebirth in their relationship. The singer admits his failure in the first verse and then declares that there’s a second chance, a hope, which he describes, using several metaphors. He uses oceans, a dam, sunset, eagle, diamonds. Lead guitar nicely done. Vocal is very clear and performance is passionate. The outro is really super cool. Someone put a lot of thought into this production. Most original lyric in song: I’ve been treating you like a second class citizen. Very honest and creative. Nicely done.

Constructive Comments: Drums sounded kind of loopy and boring to me. Maybe if I listened again, I’d have another opinion of them. The metaphors are nice, but go all over the place subject-wise. Sometimes sticking to one metaphor helps. I’d go with the water (oceans/dam/waves) if I were re-writing the song. Question: Smokin’…..smokin’ what? I didn’t get that line.

Broadjam Artist: Fred Kimmel
Song: I Will Be Here (Duet with Sali Oguri)

Reviewer: Randal Dunkle

Positive Comments: I really like the way the song starts out, I also really like the lead vocals and the female backing vocals. At first the song sounds a little like Duran Duran afterwards reminds me of ABBA – great drum solo!!!

Constructive Comments: I really like this one, the only problem that I see with the song is that the song starts with a male singer and you feel like he is going to telling a story however, the female vocals come in and take over the whole song. So I would start the song with the female vocals not the male vocals and use the male vocals as the backing vocals – best wishes!

Broadjam Artist: Fred Kimmel
Song: I Will Be Here (Duet with Sali Oguri)

Reviewer: Randal Dunkle

Positive Comments: I really like the way the song starts out, I also really like the lead vocals and the female backing vocals. At first the song sounds a little like Duran Duran afterwards reminds me of ABBA – great drum solo!!!

Constructive Comments: I really like this one, the only problem that I see with the song is that the song starts with a male singer and you feel like he is going to telling a story however, the female vocals come in and take over the whole song. So I would start the song with the female vocals not the male vocals and use the male vocals as the backing vocals – best wishes!