Okay, here's what I'm doing. I'm going
to go through everyone, and give my comments to their entry, and then
I'll put my overall winner(s) at the bottom. And before you all say
"hey that's a lot of work to do that!", no, I don't expect
anyone else to do the same! :) I've just been stuck down in my
dungeon-like lab in the basement of the Anthropology Building here at
ASU, running some very long computer simulations, and crunching the
hundreds of thousands of output summary statistics that come pouring
out of it. For hours. And hours. And hours... So trust me, listening
to each of the entries has kept me from poking a sharpened pencil
through my eye and into my frontal lobe in an attempt to
self-lobotomize. :)

And just so we're clear about my
comments/critiques: My goal with these comments is to sharpen my own
ears, so I can better hear what I'M doing wrong in my OWN playing.
Along the way, I hope I can pass on my thoughts about each entry. My
opinion is just that, my opinion, so please take it with a grain of
salt. If you have any further questions about what I've said about
your or anyone else videos, I ask that you get a hold of me via the
YouTube mail function on my YouTube account! I sincerely believe
everyone did a phenomenal job, so if it seems like I'm picking on
you, I'm not! It's probably because you are one of the ones I think
did a very good job, and I just really wanted to see you take it one notch further!

Okay, enough chit chat, on to the nitty
gritty:

jodanchudan: Understated and
tasteful. Great tone and most of all, great feel. Well done.

Ant138: GREAT acoustic tone and
use of hands (best of the group for hand technique). Just a very nice
rendition of a classic song.

Upstate: Good amped tone! Good
use of chords mixed with single notes. As a whole, the piece tended
to sound a bit like a harp solo, and not "solo harp". I
think that's because it was hard to hear any chord changes? Maybe a
bit more structure could have help lead the listener through it more?
Anyway, you displayed very good technique and tone, but I guess
hearing your technical ability made me want just a little more of the
piece in terms of it being more of a complete song. It's clear to me
that you can swing and that you can really blow some harp. I just
wanted something a bit more cohesive outta ya!

LumpyWaffleSquirt: VAST
improvements from last time!!!! To me it sounded very much in the
vein of Old Timey Country and Western music: Thin reedy tone, tongue
chops galore, and very staccato. I think you nailed that style pretty
darn well! Good job!

BronzeWailer: Very solid job! My
one critique is that it seemed (to me) that you were listening to an
imaginary backing track in your head, and as such, the harp seemed
like it was playing counterpoint to music that we, the listeners,
could not hear. Maybe I'm imagining this myself, but that's what my
first impressions were. Like my comments to Upstate above, your
technical proficiency made me want to hear this as more of a complete
piece for "solo harmonica" rather than just a harmonica
playing solo... Does it make sense? I dunno, maybe I'm just hearing
things! :) You've clearly got the talent, I just think you can
execute it to a more complete effect!

IsaacUllah:
Man, what are you thinking even trying to enter into a competition
with the likes of these fellas? Seriously man! Get back in that
woodshed!!!

GermanHarpist: That girl rocks!
As for you: you have great technique and superb tone (really nice
tone!), but in this track I would have LOVED to see you use your
hands more (like Ant does). I know what you were doing with this
track too, so I'll leave it there. Great tune. I would definitely
chuck a buck in your tips bucket if I heard you two on the street!

KingoBad: Great groove! This was
DEFINATELY a piece for SOLO harmonica. Complete unto itself. You
could make some serious change playing on the street by yourself with
this style. Very well done!

gaukur: Gaukur comes out of
nowhere and scores a touchdown!!! It swung, it was modern, it was
subtle yet bold, it was.... GOOD! Well done!

clamsharplayer: Man, that was
some serious 77 style punkrock harmonica! Kudos for mixing up the
genre's! You are clearly a man after my own heart! Very entertaining
video and great punk song!

toddlgreen: I have the same
response to you as I did to Upstate and to BronzeWailer. I really
wanted to hear you play a real complete piece for solo harp. I really
like your playing in your vids with your band, and it's clear you
have the chops. This piece lacked cohesion on it's own. It's clear
from your comments above that you recognize this, so I won't go on.
You're the man though!

Heart2Harp: Mathieu, I've made
my thought about you known in the past. You have an extraordinary
talent, both for singing as well as for harp. You are a cut above the
rest. I must admit, I have a little bit of a "harmonica-man"-crush
on you. Is that weird? ;)

geordiebluesman: I really liked
your song there! The lyrics were really clever and well delivered! I
would have liked to have heard more harp content for this particular
contest (it's hard to compare you to some of the other entries on the
harp content alone), but if I was judging just songs as songs, you
would have ranked very high! Well done man!

MrSo&So: I hereby
nominate you as “Best accompaniment to a backing track”! I loved
it. Very well done, and tasteful. I also liked how you switched up
into the high register towards the end. Very nice indeed. Well done
sir!

JimRumbaugh: Kudos for mixing up
the genres! It's clear that you know that song well, and that you can
play it, but I thought the tone was a little too “tight” for this
particular style of music. I felt like you playing a little
constricted, and that if you opened up more, the tone would have
become more expansive, and really would have blown us away. It could
be because the mix was a little off (I could barely hear the backing
track), so I will put a caveat on my comments until I can hear you
play in a more evenly recorded track!

CamiloHarper: Great funky harp
playing! And suddenly, I feel like going out for some wings... I'm
craving them! I wonder why? ;) But seriously, you harp part fit very
well with that backing track!

Harpdude61: Like Jim Rumbaugh
above, the mix was a little too low for me to really hear the backing
track under your harp. This could be the reason why I feel that maybe
you needed a little LESS crunch on your amp settings for this
particular track? I don't know exactly why I feel that, but for some
reason, I think that a cleaner setting may have suited the backing
track a bit more... But good playing though!

Dabluesnut: I want you playing
slide reso with me on the street! The guitar was hot! The singing was
killer! The harp... well, I think to be honest that the harp could
use a bit of work still. It seemed that you are not quite yet
comfortable playing in a rack, so I will reserve any more comments on
your harp skills until I've heard you playing just harp alone. I've
just started using a rack with my CBG, and man it's hard! Not just
negotiating the harp while it's held in a rack, but playing another
instrument at the same time! So I give you extra points for pulling
the rack out! BTW, your harp playing in the middle is much better
than in the beginning. I think the rack is causing some difficulty,
so I feel sure that once you get used to the rack, it's gonna vastly
improve your ability to play harp and guitar at the same time!

MichaelAndrewLo: MAL, you got a
lot of comments about this track in your other thread, so I think you
know what I would have said. I'll just reiterate that you are a
really good example for all of us. The level of dedication that you
exhibit is amazing, and inspires me to work harder at this little
instrument of ours!

Sorin: How badass is it that you
threw down in a car! I think that that is just awesome! Not to
mention that you blew some badass harp too! I was really grooving to
it! For a “last minute” submission, this is superb!

Nacoran: Nate, this was very
very cool. The concept is really awesome. It reminds me of the sound
track from the X-files for some reason, which one of my favorite
albums of all times. One thing I think you could do is to pan the
harp to the left, and the vocals to the right. That would help
distinguish the two as separate identities that are just happening to
be playing the same melodic theme, and would keep the vocals from
dominating the harp. And then get some foot tapping in there too.
Yeah. I've got a fever, and the only prescription is MORE FOOT
TAPPING! :)

earlounge: This is a complete
track. Cut it to disc, upload it to I-tunes, go out an perform it on
the road. It's ready to go. I want to dance to this track and play it
in my car on the way to work! It's clear that you are an accomplished
musician, so I'm not surprised to see that you have achieve the level
of proficiency on harp that you have in as a little time as you've
done. Kudos and well done sir!

And the winner(s) is(are):

Heart2Harp and Earlounge!

Kudos and huzzah! You two have done an
amazing job, each of you, and I'm proud to have shared this virtual
stage with the likes of you! Well done!