Point Blank Tutorial: Breaking down Halsey’s Without Me in Ableton Live
Resident deconstructor Ski Oakenfull dives deep into this break-up tune.
Point Blank has released its latest Deconstruction video, this time focusing on Halsey’s 2018 break-up hit, Without Me.
Before getting into the deconstruction proper, instructor Ski Oakenfull picks out a few fun facts about the track, the most interesting being that Justin Timberlake, Timbaland and Scott Storch are all named under ‘additional credits’. The trio collaborated back in 2002 on Timberlake’s Cry Me A River, which is referenced in Without Me.
Oakenfull then proceeds to methodically break down the Halsey tune. First up, he processes the notoriously inauthentic Roland JV-1080 jazz guitar patch to recreate the tune’s vibey guitar riff. He then demonstrates how to recreate Without Me’s skipping hi-hat pattern before filling out the composition with bass parts, a flute melody and a cappella.
Watch the deconstruction process above.
Find out more about Point Blank’s online production courses here.
