Broadjam Artist: J Edna Mae Thomas
Song: Luminous
Broadjam Pro Reviewer:
J Chris Griffin (Producer, Engineer)
Pro General Comments: Thanks for asking me to be a part of your record! I hope this review will be a positive and helpful experience for you.This is very well done. The lyric is completely engaging, melody is fantastic, the production is good and the vocals are super-pro. Awesome work! I particularly like the airy background vocals The mix is superb, your vocals are perfectly balanced and the playing is appropriate and professional.Form is so important in popular music your arrangement is spot-on. I could distinguish and follow each part of the story as it unfolds. I love the sparse instrumentation! It allows the story to be featured and it leaves space for your amazing background vox arrangement. Great job for showing restraint and not overloading the song with instruments and percussion! Your background vocals are really tight and polished. Attacks and releases are together, theres nothing sticking out and drawing my attention away from your lead vocal. The texture and timbre enhances the song and the production.There isnt much to comment on, but two things come to mind. Take these suggestions with a grain of salt. If they are useful go with it. If not, discard and know that I like your work.First, I appreciate when artists fully represent a certain style without blurring boundaries between disciplines. For example, if you use Broadway technique on a Mozart aria, theres a chance that legitimate classical artists might not take you seriously. Similarly, if someone shows up in the Pop world with classical technique, they get brushed aside. The vibe of the music isnt being adequately representedLuminous is right on the edge of Pop, almost touching pop classical or accessible theater styles. Nevertheless, its still Pop. Leave extra-precise t and d consonants out of this style. It pushes the story away from me as a listener. In other words, stay as conversational and present as possible. Otherwise your listeners might be distracted by the formality of your delivery. In Pop, all t consonants get turned into d.You are my high note - dont over pronounce the t here. Its too formal. Same thing on leitmotif. No need to harden the t at all. If you were in a 40-piece choir, theres another story, but conversational pronunciations rule in this style. If theres a doubt, say it out loud without hard consonants and see if it sounds normal. Again, in Broadway or Legitimate-Classical styles, this isnt done, but we are Pop (ish) with this song.You may counter with it IS theatre-based! I still think its too hard. J Dont listen to well-meaning musicians insisting that all consonants must be pronounced with full value. Thats only true in two styles. No one making commercial records would fault you for being more conversational with your lyric. Heres a rule if the story suffers at all from a technical requirement, leave technique out and tell the story.The other suggestion concerns the mix in your bridge. Your luminous luminous vocal sits in the center (of the mix) while the new vocal your light is drawing me is panned hard left then hard right on the second phrase. With this panning it becomes difficult to hear the new vocal because there is now only one ear available to hear new information. I found it hard to pull all of my attention over to the left (then right) to hear the new lyric. I suggest closing the pan width to about 10 and 2 oclock. Also instead of turning up this new vocal, turn the existing vocal in the center down significantly. The point of adding new lyrics over old is artful and valid, but dont pull attention away from other elements (harmony, timbre, stereo lushness) to get it done.This is a wonderful track! Best wishes to you in the future let me hear new songs as they come!Chris
Quote From Pro: Luminous is completely engaging. The melody is fantastic and the vocals are perfectly balanced in a timeless, lush arrangement that perfectly captures beauty and light.