Broadjam Artist: COSTA / Costa Ioannides
Song: Don't be Cruel ( Aphrodite & I )
Broadjam Pro Reviewer:
Malik Williams (Producer, Artist, Engineer, Composer)
Pro General Comments: Costa,I can appreciate the diversity in your songwriting and composition. Don't be Cruel is a really cool mixture of electronic/pop production with a flair of Spanish flamenco style guitars creating a very exotic sound. Although the overall production sound is more modern, the only other popular pop song that comes to mind is Madonna's "La Isla Bonita". Super popular globally!Constructively There's a lot going on... in a good way. I listened on my studio monitors as well as with headphones. I really like your drum and percussion programming along with the bass guitar parts. They compliment each other and fill up the bottom well. The acoustic piano is layered with the synth pads nicely. The other delayed synth parts are very tastefully done as well. Those aren't too overbearing and they don't overtake the acoustic "island" feel of the song that the rhythm and lead guitars are creating.The overall mix of the instrumentation is done well. The verse vocals at a good level and the reverb and delay effects are good. In the chorus, I'd like to hear a fuller vocal sound and the backgrounds / ad-libs could come up in the mix slightly.Your guitar parts and arrangement could be spread out a little more to better define the different tones you're using... even consider some auto-panning techniques just for fun. Mind you, these comments are just creative mix and engineering ideas to try... hopefully to inspire future compositions. Don't be afraid to experiment with your post-production. You really do have a good ear and great feel for unitizing acoustic and electronic instruments in your music.. very cool man!
Quote From Pro: Don't be Cruel is a really cool mixture of electronic/pop production with a flair of Spanish flamenco style guitars creating a very exotic sound.