Month: February 2021

Broadjam Artist: Dave Haddad (CenterPeace)
Song: The Silver Box

Reviewer: Margie & Art Corey

Positive Comments: Man………..is this composition Breath Taking, it’s so Beautiful!! I could listen to music like this all day long! It just takes you away! Wish as a musician, I had musical visions like this composer, this is brilliant! Guess I need to sit and listen to this individual and get some really creative ideas!! Again……..this is absolutely Over-the-Moon Great!!!

Constructive Comments: Not a thing……this is perfect as it is!!! Great Job!!

Broadjam Artist: Fred Kimmel
Song: Sleep

Reviewer: Lawrence K. Bodien

Positive Comments: You need 7 stars for originality and arrangement.You took a very mundane and common problem and turned it into a work of art by getting us in touch with very deep feelings, not by telling us something but putting us there.

Constructive Comments: I believe this song is off the charts because of the prodigious work that had to go on to produce this 3+ minute piece of music. So you ended up with a work of art. Thanks for the listen.

Broadjam Artist: Thierry Coupey
Song: Allez Viens (Orchestral)

Reviewer: Randy Calligan

Positive Comments: Excellent piano sound, and performance. At first when the other sounds came in I said… what’a hell is that? And yet in all candor I like weird things that draw the listeners attention. I ended the piece feeling VERY different than when I started listening. In the end I wanted to actually hear even more weird things… I like it, its different and refreshing

Constructive Comments: Overall my opinion of this would change a lot depending on the application. For example if this were used in a strange movie, or a movie with a strange part in it I would have a vastly different opinion of it than if it were used as a feature melody to the movie. The weird sounds that come and go add a whole different dimension that I like. I didn’t care much for the techno type percussion, or at least would’ve liked to hear less of it.

Broadjam Artist: Randall Mark
Song: Wonder Boy (KaytLynn, percussion)

Reviewer: David James

Positive Comments: I love the muted acoustic guitar on the intro the way the vocal comes in and the instruments build and then pull back at certain points. Strong lyrical theme. Lovely vocal and I like the introduction of a second vocalist at 2.30 Nice instrumentation all round. Catchy in a low key way. Slightly retro in a good way that might work for fil and TV opportunities.

Constructive Comments: Nothing much to add other than it would be easier to review the lyrics if they were uploaded.

Broadjam Artist: Steve Dafoe – Songwriter
Song: Tell Me (Piano Instrumental)

Reviewer: Randy Calligan

Positive Comments: Piano sound was very good… part of the melody were very7 nice and comfortable to listen to

Constructive Comments: I wanted something to come in, to add dynamics to this piece. The piano was pleasant and the melody in parts was able to carry the song, but in other parts I thought it needed something more. Overall it struck me as a sketch rather than a finished piece of music. That’s not to say it was bad, that is not the case, but for my ears it needed interesting changes added to some parts to break of the feel of it being dynamically the same from beginning to end.

Broadjam Artist: Bob Bentley
Song: New Empire

Reviewer: Randy Calligan

Positive Comments: I can see this being a very usable piece of music for a lot of different projects in movies and television. You’ve overall done a nice job or performing and recording the parts. For some reason I especially liked the low thump of the bass drum, I thought it added a nice element of drive to the overall performance. That said I wanted to hear a longer reverb trail on the snare.

Constructive Comments: You did a good job on this overall. I seem to be saying a very similar thing to a lot of music Ive heard today, so perhaps its just my ears, but I like it when a piece has dynamics. When instruments come in and go out during certain passages so the sound gets bigger in some areas and softer in others. Your drums are nice, they can handle being the only constant…

Broadjam Artist: John Evans
Song: Ghost Dancing

Reviewer: David James

Positive Comments: Great percussive intro. I love it when the guitar chords enter. The chords are beautiful (I wish I knew what they were). Super growling guitar solo at 2.08. Strong vocal. Very catchy and memorable song – it lodges in my head. A very atmospheric track. Nicely recorded and mixed. A lovely piece all round.

Constructive Comments: I’ve marked down the lyrics a notch, because there are references there that I don’t understand and by extension other listeners won’t either. I’ve also marked down the arrangement by one because I thought the chorus would benefit from a (female) backing vocal – the ‘ghost’ in the ghost dancing, just to give that chorus an extra push.

Broadjam Artist: Paul Pierce Project
Song: Piano In The Chapel

Reviewer: Randy Calligan

Positive Comments: Nice piece…. it has a really nice feel. I very much enjoyed just sitting back and listening to it.

Constructive Comments: My opinion only … but I would use a much closer mic on the virtual piano sound. That would add more intimacy to it and would bring it more to the forefront so the guitar could tuck in nicely behind it. Also the piece is very well performed, except that it sounds like you are afraid of empty space. I would drop instruments out in certain areas, i.e., like when the piano either starts or ends a phrase. I would bring in the string sparingly for short periods of time then take them out altogether in other areas. The space would add a lot more clarity to the sound overall.

Broadjam Artist: bluecountry1976.com
Song: Niamh

Reviewer: Randy Calligan

Positive Comments: Nice job, I can see this as a very usable piece of music for any number of movie or television projects. It has a light mood and good instrumentation.

Constructive Comments: I would’ve mixed the acoustic guitar much higher, and only bring the string melody up when it accompanies the main melody with the guitar. For my ears the guitar is mixed like an accompaniment to the orchestration. I am not saying that is bad, who am I to sit in judgement, but the song for me felt very comfortable as an acoustic guitar piece with orchestration accompaniment (as opposed to the other way around)

Broadjam Artist: Nigel Barrett
Song: Tenderly

Reviewer: Randy Calligan

Positive Comments: The singer has an excellent voice (perhaps a bit pitchy in places), but overall a very nice tone and sound. Nice vibrato, don’t be afraid to use it. Overall song was good, I liked it.

Constructive Comments: Mix your vocal reverb using the effect on a bus as opposed to an insert on the vocal track. This will enable you to have a much longer reverb tail without losing the intimate quality of the vocal sound. Open your throat when you sing the high notes (as in “tenderly”). This is not out of your range, and yet it sounds a bit like you are struggling to hit the note. Open your throat like you are yawning, this will enable a fuller sound and keep the excellent tone you have. I did not like the sounds you selected for the background music. The drums just didn’t seem right for this type of song.