la-yinn's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Daydream (V1)]

Hey there,

Swell tune you've got here. Like, really, I quite dig the mood you go with and you execute it quite well!

And considering it's chillstep (aint it just dub?) the minimal touches just make it even better, in my opinion. At some points in your track, I do wish you would do something with that arp to keep the listener intrigued. Like at the bridge / buildup around 1:15, why don't you use a high-pass + resonance modulation of some sorts? Maybe even an lfo, so it provides 'more' buildup, and thus, more satisfaction when it hits. Just a little idea. :3

Much like how you introduce the breakbeat part (oh god, that was win btw) with pitching up the arp - it provides a solid, *recognizable* buildup - you expect something to happen, and it does.

Solid tune mate, I'ma check out some more of your work. ;-)

~ La_Yinn, --'

STEPHEN4705 responds:

Wow, I really like this review. I'll definatly work towards the effects on the arp, thats something that had slipped my mind but I know for sure will work.

I was actually tempted to cut the break part, maybe I'll just work on a better build to it (something to accompany the arp/pad etc)

Cheers for such helpful advice, definatley going to take that into consideration :D

[cKs - Revolt]

Howdo,

So, basically, I'm wondering.. is it a yukyuk, or a yaiyai? ;o

I really dig your intro. It sets a nice mood and your stuff is EQed properly. Very nice use of the pads to lead into the song, but the drop hit a lot harder than I anticipated. ;o Your wobble is kind of overpowering the rest of your melodic work. For example, when you have that highly reverbed 'sonar' one-shot hit - it sounds weak, because it is so much lower volume than your bassline. Those one-shots usually have that 'wow' effect, when it's the other way around.

Other than that, I really enjoyed this tune. Keep it up. :-)

~ La_Yinn, --'

coMpLekS responds:

Thanks la-yinn, mixing tracks has always been a time killer for me. At least I'm passed what I used to do (stacking a ton of compressors on and hope everything sounds good in the end lol). preciate the review.

-Compleks

[Timmy Cahzmana - Clueless]

Smooth sounds!

Yeah man, I'm normally not really into house but I find this really appealing either way. I do think your intro is really, eh.. unnecessarily long, for what you pulled off with it. Just get on going with it. :p
That counts for after the first chorus aswell, although the buildup of tension was worked out a lot better there. I suppose it's just that at some times it's *entirely* silent (with the piano part) and I just wonder if you couldn't have thrown in some pads to keep it going, at those points.

But besides that, it's quite calm, deep. I'm a fan of deep house melodic work and I think you pulled it off very nicely! Got my head bumping aswell.. so all around, I think you made some propah music. ;)

Keep up!
~ La_Yinn, --'

D-Chain responds:

Bedankt la-yinn :)
ik zal inderdaad moeten werken aan de intro, same as the piano part.

[Random Dance Loop]

Hey there,

To me it sounds like a pretty catchy and simple tune - fitting for a cartoon! :-)

I'm not really sure of the context of the scene. If it's an actual dance scene, maybe boost up your kick and snare a bit. Add some compression to make them 'dmph' more, if you get what I mean. :3

What I'd really like to hear is some more melodic variation. The synth sounds good, your melody sounds good.. just rather repetitive for the whole thing. Spice it up, throw in like a fitting addition on the 3rd and 4th bar. Then like a counter melody on the 7th and 8th. It doesn't have to be much, really, but I'm sure it would do wonders - also for your friend's cartoon. ;)

Catchy loop nonetheless, good job!

~ La_Yinn, --'

Halcyon13 responds:

It is a dance scene, actually. I might have to do that, I've just started playing around with compression and things of that nature. I'll definitely consider your advice, If I decide to expand this I'm definitely going to try to make it more epic. Thanks for your review!

[Gesh - Shut The Fuckstep]

Pretty good. :3

I think that although the intro was very minimal, I did think it worked out well! It kept my attention and, in general, you've pulled off a nice atmosphere in this track all around as a result.

However, the drop itself it a bit.. eh? I mean sure, it has some filthy bass and it wobbles.. but it simply doesn't compliment the feeling you had going at the start. Blatantly putting a "Shut the fuck up" and diving into a drop with overcompressed snares and whaauuuww sounds .. doesn't do it for me, I'm afraid. Not to say that I didn't enjoy it, but I was looking forward to a different experience, if you will.

Instead, if you had just let the drums come in, have a light (sort of) plucked arp follow the melody you had going and add a deeper bass without the grime? Just like, say, Rusko's 'tru powwa' track. It's not super dirty, it doesn't make your mind explode - but it's all the better because of it. It upholds the atmosphere throughout the track and adds a *groove*. Don't ever kid yourself and think a dirty bass is what it's about. You need to bring a groove, not a bulldozer. ;)

Anyways, I enjoyed most parts of it. Keep the music flowing!

~ La_Yinn, --'

biggab responds:

Thanks! very useful comment :)

[Shake Down]

What it is, is a nice try.

I'll start off with saying that it's obvious to me that you've got a good grasp of modulation. In dubstep, that alone can take you a long way. But only so far.

Your intro was waaaaay too long - or too bland. That doesn't go for your intro, but most parts of your track. When you get to the drums, they sound off-key because your melody is an off key melody. It sounds weird if you don't add any FX to add tension, buildup and release.

I think that your drum patterns are slightly conflicting with your basslines. You have this breakbeat thing going on at first, while you'd expect 2-step percussion. What if you tried a "kick kick snare kick kick kick kick snare" approach, with each hit on a measure - and added some reverb on that snare? It's not a bad snare at all, really, but it sounds more like a house snare than one for dubstep.

When you get to the later parts of your track, you have a tendency to make certain synths go on for too long. If they are leading your track, then let them shine and mix it up a little with other percussion or backing sounds. You could even try layering a soft / medium volume subbass to accompany your leading synths, so that it has more rawr. ;)

I'm confident you'll learn how to make your stuff shine, in time. :3 I'll say it again, you've got some modulation skills - and that's a huge step.

Keep at it!
~ La_Yinn, --'

The-Cockenator responds:

Thanks man and i like comments like these cus then i know what i can fix and yea it still is a bit off at parts but still i like it in a way but Thank you so much for the tips :D

[Blunt Trauma (Neurofunk)]

Pulled off the ambience, where's the sub?

Well for starters, I love the ambient intro. You get sucked into the vibe of the track immediately and that's a great thing.

What disappointed me ever so slightly was the lack of bass in this track. I'd say your kickdrum would sound a bit better with some added lower frequencies but it's ok the way it is aslong as it is accompanied with a badass reece.

I found the drop a bit lighter than what I was expecting. But it wasn't disappointing. It had more of a groove going on than the overkill of reece automation you hear in a lot of neurofunk. What did disappoint me was the lack of high end on the drums. I'm missing the background hats! Just some hats every 2 steps with a bit of reverb and velocity control to fill up the space more, cause the amazing ambience from the intro doesn't pull through to the drop and that may be your style, I couldn't for the life of me understand it haha.

Also perhaps some techy clicks and what not panned in all directions to give the drop a continuing flow of energy.

8.7/10
5/5

Overall this definately was worth the ten listens while I was typing this review. :P Layer that drop, more, more!

~ La_Yinn, --'

MA3HbO responds:

Thanks for the nice review !
The bass indeed is a bit weak.I'll surely beef it up.
As for the drop, i think i'll add quite alot to it in future versions.I was thinking of some sort of white noise sweeps to sound like everything gets sucked in :D.
And yeah the drums need alot more percussion and stuff.For now its only 1 loop other than the kick and snare.Again thanks for the support.I'll let you know when a newer version comes out.
Cheers !

[Go Fu#k Yourself (dubstepdemo)]

Basic, has potential.

Well for starters that intro sound. It sounds cool, melody captures so that's all good, but the volume is WAY to high man. I had to turn down my volume quite a bit cause of your intro, so you need to fix that. As far as the intro goes, it's nice, but you could make it more interesting with some pitch bending or panning. Perhaps one or two FX samples.

Next point you need to improve on is your snare. I've heard dubstep with claps, like this track, but you need the punch man. Layer your clap with a nice mid-freq snare so that it has some more power. Something I do to make my snare extra powerful is loading up my snare in another channel and reversing it on half volume so the full hit sounds like it destroys.

Your selection of synths sound a little cheesy. That doesn't necessarily have to be bad, but the entire track lacks in bass. Where is the bass man?! I feel that if you had an accompanying bassline with this track it would make the synths easier to listen to and it would make the overall track a lot more full.

6.5/10
5/5

I think it was pretty good, but it had some mixing issues and you need to throw in the filthy bass! Keep this stuff up though.

~ La_Yinn, --'

superuberinsaneausm responds:

thanks for the advice!