Month: November 2019

Broadjam Artist: Denis K & Ata
Song: Opa Atlantis

Reviewer: Dave Haddad (CenterPeace)

Positive Comments: Yeah! Nice Arabic rhythm. All the elements are hear… The hypnotic rhythm, nice accompaniment and the guitars have the heavy delay and reverb… I get it! The lead guitar carries the song and it never gets boring or redundant. The backing tracks fit the genre perfectly. Great vibe, very sweet to listen to. Mad talent!!

Constructive Comments: Some times the on the stringed instrument is not completely tight with the synth. The synth sound is not my favorite, it makes the track sound a little dated. Guitars and leads sounded a little too loud in the mix to me especially the synth in the beginning but it is very slight, not bad. Also I know the melodies should be featured but for me the hand drums were a touch under mixed (again a very fine detail) I think a stronger drum presence in the mix would make the song more interesting and balanced… give it a more solid foundation. The tambourine level is nice, Give me a little more drums.

Broadjam Artist: Delta Burnett Reed
Song: The Hare’s Lament

Reviewer: Dave Haddad (CenterPeace)

Positive Comments: Very professional sounding right away. Love the instrumentation.. the track sounds very full and recorded extremely well. If you are using samples they are very good. The string sound and placement in the mix is amazing. This piece captured not only the essence of a culture and maybe a period in time, a pride… it also captured my attention and respect. Song is very well constructed with a ton of great ideas and performances. Amazing 3/4 rhythm with some tricky phrasing… you’re singin my tune! I loved it!

Constructive Comments: Some of the vocals get lost… especially around 1:40… okay on second listen I see this is an intentional mix move, the answer is supposed to sound farther away, maybe like ghosts or a memory.

Broadjam Artist: MCarollShaw
Song: Christmas Card

Reviewer: Dave Haddad (CenterPeace)

Positive Comments: Right away I thought it was a Christmas song then boom!! it is! fantastic coincidence or serendipitous? Very good arrangement, love the stops, accents and ensemble figures. Even the breakdown (2:10ish) kind of ‘stop time’ is killin it!! And this is all programmed?? Are you kidding me??? All the sections are great, very supportive. You have a magical gift for hearing lines and sections on ALL instruments… sounds like a bunch of different players

Constructive Comments: The last vocal line was a bit, ok way too loud. Too bad because until that point, the production was good. Some of the vocal melodies maybe somewhere in the chorus to me, were not real smooth and felt slightly forced.

Broadjam Artist: Toni Fournier
Song: My Own Person

Reviewer: Dave Haddad (CenterPeace)

Positive Comments: I can hear all the instruments well, nice sound. Vocalist has a passion and presence that shines on this track… very original but familiar sound. Enjoying the progression and development of the song very much. Vocal harmony is spot on. The vocal doubling at 2:15 is perfectly balanced, wow! A very good production I can hear lots of love in this artist.

Constructive Comments: Guitar is a little out of tune and gets worse nearer the end. The The vocal doubling at the end of the first verse distracted me, were not smooth. Vocal harmony although very beautiful sticks out too much toward the end. When it first started (2:40) I thought it was mixed well, perfectly actually! Then it seemed to get louder either from the singer getting into it more and singing out louder toward the end (in which case try to adjust the fader down accordingly when needed) or from someone loving the part so much they kept turning it up. Personally I love it when you can hear the bgv parts blending a little bit back from the lead vocal… if you can hear it nicely, they’re good. I don’t like to feature background vocals too much or hear a strong vocal double presence on a single singer. FOr me, doubling a vocal needs to be felt but not necessarily heard… it’s supposed to ‘fatten’ a track. It’s a tricky and personal thing. Overall I totally dig the song and artist

Broadjam Artist: Greg Johnson
Song: Winter Leaves

Reviewer: Dave Haddad (CenterPeace)

Positive Comments: Right away the sounds are incredible. Love the subtle reverb. Upright and drums are superb!! Love the cornet or trumpet. Everything is just beautiful. The arrangement is smooth and changes up when needed… nothing is forced on this track. Love the bpm, so relaxed and steady. Serious groove here. Great stuff!!

Constructive Comments: The string part leading into the bridge (I felt took) away from the authenticity of the track. The string sound is not get and everything else sounds great. The vocal eq feels a little… heavy? Maybe too much lo end, cut a very little (more still) somewhere 100hz (assuming you have a ‘lo cut’ already) to 315hz and the vocal with have more ‘presence’. I don’t hear adding any high end.

Broadjam Artist: Delta Burnett Reed
Song: Erie Canal

Reviewer: Barry Osbourn

Positive Comments: Is this a cover? seems like I’ve heard this song before. Its well done either way, great job. liked it>

Constructive Comments: nothing to add here its done quite well.

Broadjam Artist: Greg Johnson
Song: Stars

Reviewer: Barry Osbourn

Positive Comments: nice song, well done, in all respects.

Constructive Comments: I’m not sure what qualifies it as alternative folk, I assume that category is the same as INDIE FOLK which is a kind of modern retro Americana / country style folk. This seems much more like Pop easy listening or adult contemporary. or even traditional folk.

Broadjam Artist: HAWC
Song: Special You

Reviewer: Barry Osbourn

Positive Comments: just great all around, smooth and oozing love. well played , great singer. nice composition with some tasty dynamics. well done.

Constructive Comments: nothing here, like it just like it is.

Broadjam Artist: Brion James
Song: Thunder

Reviewer: Barry Osbourn

Positive Comments: well done, plenty of dynamics and emotion. Not too crowded or over played. should work well as background music. intro is a little more intense than music of this style typically is. adds a little originality to it

Constructive Comments: from a mood setting point of view it may be a little eclectic but not drastically. feels more original that way at least. does have a fairly typical chord progression for anthemic heroic music but thats often what they want. It’s hard to fit a common mood request and be original at the same time.

Broadjam Artist: Jeana Potthoff
Song: Frenzied

Reviewer: Barry Osbourn

Positive Comments: well done, plenty of dynamics and emotion. Not too crowded or over played. should work well as background music. I don’t know if you played the piano or not but is very well done. the composition has a little more energy and intensity than something typical of this style.

Constructive Comments: Nothing to add here its well done like it is.