It all started with the strings…
00.25 The germ of Born On Your Own was a staccato string part that Maxsta programmed in Native Instruments’ Maschine, using sounds sourced from IK Multimedia’s Miroslav Philharmonik orchestral ROMpler. “I started off with just the Philharmonik plugin – it’s my go-to for strings and stuff,” he remembers. “Cello Staccato is the sound that I went for, just because I like the choppy string thing. In grime, I love that effect: not lasting too long and cutting in and out. So I put a little riff in that, note-wise, had that kind of icy feel of grime.
“I slapped on [iZotope] Neutron and gave myself a little guide of how to mix the strings, then tweaked it a little bit, just to boost the bits I wanted. And then there’s this cool little thing that comes with Maschine, called Ice, which literally adds that kind of…” He demonstrates the reverb-y, modulated effect of Maschine’s Ice effect module. “I didn’t want too much of it – I didn’t want it to sound too robotic, so I just gave it a little bit.
“So yeah, I started with the strings, and then there’s another sound. It’s just a pad that goes underneath to support the strings and give it an ambience and make it wing through.
“Other than the pads, all I did in terms of the strings was really add that note there at the top of everything, and give it a harsher kind of coldness on that one moment. I was just adding to the feel – I wasn’t focusing on anything other than the feel of it. Hopefully that came through as a vibe.”