As we celebrate our sixth anniversary this month, the Broadjam team is really grateful for the fabulous music on our site. We’re all passionate musicians and music lovers who are constantly amazed by the wealth of talent coming to us from all over the world. We very much appreciate the opportunity to serve the members of Broadjam. We consider it a privilege and we love what we do.

Speaking of great music, I plan to use this space to focus on songs on the site that catch my attention. We all hear music differently, so I’ll share my “ears” with you and I’d love to hear your opinions as well.

Here are my thoughts on a tune by rock artist Tarsha:

Tarsha is one of the best rockers on Broadjam and anywhere else for that matter. If I were an A & R person, he would be signed to my label before the end of this sentence. His voice is classic and his songwriting is perfect for his genre.

Some notes about Tarsha’s song “You Are Everything” play: A strong vocal performance delivered with passion. Song seems to be written and performed from the heart and that’s probably why it’s so good… Lots of dynamic change and power in this song. Classic song structure A/A/B/A/B/C/BB.

The song opens with tasteful fingerpicking and a soft vocal in the first verse… Love the quiet, rough voice… In the phrase “By my side” at the end of the first verse, the “B” in by seems to drop a little. Competing with the volume of the plucked guitar string or maybe an edit with a slower attack… Cello sound in the second verse is very classy. Great accent, doesn’t get in the way… In the first chorus, at 1:18 on “thing” in the word “everything” there is metallic sound slightly behind the “th” in “thing.” It is there throughout the song. I thought it was a glitch at first, but it is clearly intended to be there. I would lower it in the mix… Drum accents in setup number 2 don’t work for me. Rather than randomly accenting the singer, maybe a more rhythmic build into the chorus… Great chorus, well produced. Powerful guitars supporting a powerful voice and vocal performance… Love the tag “I try to be.” Good hook and tag… Great guitar part in the second half of the third verse, simple and strong. This guitarist clearly knows what to play and “what not to play.” A very good player… The note at 1:34 sounds like it was punched in. Needs to be lower in the mix… The Tag makes a great intro into the bridge… Bridge doesn’t seem to be as strong musically as the verses and chorus, but is still very good… Chorus is powerful at the end.

Pros:
Strong artist, song, singer and a good production… This song is perfect for radio. Note that he is in the third verse at 1:30 into the song, this is perfect for radio… As I said in the opening, he should be signed. I have listened to a lot of Tarsha’s material and most of his songs are of this quality or better.

Cons:
Drum sounds are weak. Drum replacements are needed. Good drummer, just need to replace the sounds with an editor… Drum hit at 3:01 is starting to get closer. Sounds like that one was punched in compared to the other sounds. The snare could use some more high end to remove the “cardboard” like sound… Also, I would add about 200 ms of verb and let it ring a little. It’s a little dry… On a small set of speakers, the kick is almost inaudible as well.

So, those are my thoughts for now. Please let me know what you think about Tarsha’s song or any other subject relating to Broadjam or the music industry.

Warmly,
Roy

Posted by Broadjam on Sep 12, 2005 in Broadjam Blog