Steinberg HALion - 1.0 Owner's Guide
English
FREEFILTER
- 1
Operation Manual by Ludvig Carlson, Anders Nordmark, Roger Wiklander.
The information in this document is subject to change without notice and does
not represent a commitment on the part of Steinberg Media Technologies AG.
The software described by this document is subject to a License Agreement and
may not be copied to other media. No part of this publication may be copied,
reproduced or otherwise transmitted or recorded, for any purpose, without
prior written permission by Steinberg Media Technologies AG. All product and
company names are ™ or ® trademarks of their respective owners. Windows 98,
Windows ME, Windows 2000 and Windows NT are trademarks of Microsoft
Corporation. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, and Power Macintosh are
trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc.
Steinberg Media Technologies AG, 2001.
All rights reserved.
FREEFILTER
- 2
HALion – Table of Contents
6 Introduction
7 Register your software!
8 System Requirements
and Installation
9 System Requirements
(PC version)
9 Installation (PC version)
10 System Requirements
(Mac version)
10 Installation (Mac version)
11 Preparations
12 Setting up HALion as a VST
Instrument in Cubase
14 HALion Overview
15 How HALion Plays Samples
16 About Program Banks and
Programs
22 The HALion Page Views
27 Common window sections
44 Editing in the Channel/
Program Page View
46 Selecting a Program for a
Channel
47 Selecting the Output for a
Channel
48 Editing in the Keyzone
Page View
50 Window Overview
51 Selecting Samples
54 About the “ALL/SELECT”
Status Button
57 Setting Keyzone and Velocity
Range
59 Moving Samples
59 Deleting Samples
60 Setting the Root Key
61 Importing Samples
63 Overlapping Keyzones
66 Context Menu Items in the
Keyzone Window
35 Editing in the Macro
Page View
37 The Filter Section (DCF)
40 The Envelope Section
41 The Amplifier Section (DCA)
42 Tune Section
42 Glide
42 The LFOs
43 The Options pop-up menu
CUBASE VST
4 Table of Contents
72 Editing in the
Waveloop Page View
74 Setting the Start and End
Points for a Sample
75 Setting the Velocity Start
Point
75 Zooming the Waveform
77 Setting a Sustain Loop
79 Setting the Release Loop
79 Loop Tuning
80 Waveloop Context Menu
Items
81 Editing in the Enve-
lope/Filter Page View
82 The Envelope Section
86 The Filter Section (DCF)
87 The Amplifier Section (DCA)
89 Editing in the Modula-
tion/Tune Page View
91 The Modulation Section
95 MegaTrigg
99 LFO Section
100 Tune Section
101 Glide
101 Grouping
102 Play Raw/Drum Mode
103 Settings in the Options
Page View
105 Import Options
111 Master Settings
111 Preload and Memory Options
113 Key/Control Options
113 Quality
114 Automation, MIDI
Controllers and Key
Commands
115 Recording Dynamic Control
Settings
116 Using MIDI Controllers
117 HALion Keyboard
Commands
118 Index
Table of Contents 5
CUBASE VST
1
Introduction
English
Congratulations and thank you for your decision to purchase HALion.
This professional VST Instrument software is a complete 32-bit Sample
Player, providing extensive modulation and editing features.
You can load and use a VST Instrument within the framework of any
VST 2.0 compatible host application. Cubase VST, for instance, offers
facilities for loading up to eight VST Instruments.
Each HALion module that you load adds a high-quality instrument with
up to 256 voices and 16 channel Multi mode to your VST 2.0 compatible host application! You can separately make different settings for
each of the 16 simultaneously playable channels of a HALion unit.
These are HALion’s most prominent features:
• 8-/16-/24-/32-bit file support
• HALion supports Akai S1000/S2000/S3000, EMU 3/3X/ESI/4/4K/E64/E6400/
ESynth/Ultra, SoundFonts 2.x, Giga, LM4/LM9 and REX file formats (in addition
to all standard audio file formats)
• 12 virtual outputs (4x stereo/ 4x mono) per HALion unit
• Drag and Drop support
• 16 Part multi-timbrality and 128 Programs per HALion unit
• Settings can be applied individually for selected sample(s) – or globally for the
Program
• Notch/Hi-Pass/Lo-Pass/Band-Pass Filter with selectable 12 dB or 24 dB slopes
• Extensive, chainable modulation features
• Complete Automation from within Cubase VST or Nuendo
• Includes several professional sample collections
We hope you will have a lot of fun with your new VST Instrument!
The Steinberg Team
Register your software!
Please fill out and send in the registration card that you have received
with your software package. By doing so you are entitled to technical
support and kept aware of updates and other news regarding HALion.
Introduction 1 - 7
HALion
2
System Requirements and
Installation
System Requirements (PC version)
To be able to use HALion you will need at least:
• Pentium 266 MHz (400 MHz recommended).
• Cubase VST 5.0 or higher, Nuendo 1.5 or higher or other VST compatible host
software.
• 128 MB RAM (512 MB recommended).
• Windows 95, 98, ME or 2000.
• Approved MME or ASIO compliant Sound Card.
❐
Please also observe the system requirements of your host application!
Installation (PC version)
Proceed as follows to install HALion:
1. Insert the HALion CD-ROM into your CD-ROM drive, launch the Explorer or
open the “My Computer” window and double click on the symbol for the
CD-ROM drive that holds the HALion-CD-ROM.
If Autostart is activated the CD contents will open in a new window automatically.
English
2. Double click on the HALion Installer symbol to launch a special installation
program and follow the instructions on the screen.
HALion
System Requirements and Installation 2 - 9
System Requirements (Mac version)
To be able to use HALion you will need at least:
• Power Macintosh or compatible system.
• 604e/250 MHz (G3 or better recommended).
• 128 MB RAM (512 MB recommended).
• Mac OS 9.0 or higher.
• Cubase VST 5.0 or higher, Nuendo 1.5 or higher or other Virtual Instrument
compatible host software.
❐
Please also observe the system requirements of your host application!
Installation (Mac version)
Proceed as follows to install HALion:
1. Quit all other applications so that you return to the Finder. Disable any
system activity monitoring software or extension, in particular anti-virus
software. Then insert the HALion CD into your computer’s CD-ROM drive.
2. If needed, double click on the HALion icon to open the CD window.
3. Double click on the HALion Installer symbol to load the installation software. Follow the instructions on the screen.
HALion
2 - 10 System Requirements and Installation
3
Preparations
Setting up HALion as a VST Instrument in Cubase
❐
The information in this chapter refers to using HALion within Cubase VST.
We assume that you have correctly set up both Cubase VST and your available MIDI and audio hardware.
Should you wish to use HALion within another host application such as
Nuendo, then please read its documentation.
Proceed as follows to activate HALion:
1. Make sure that Cubase VST receives MIDI data that you generate with your
external MIDI Master keyboard.
2. In Cubase VST, open the “VST Instruments” window.
3. Select “Halion” from the pop-up menu in the VST Instruments window.
4. Clicking the “Power” switch in the Rack will deactivate/activate HALion.
By default this is automatically activated when VST Instruments are loaded.
HALion
3 - 12 Preparations
English
5. Click on the “Edit” button to open the HALion window.
By default, the “Macro” Page View (“Page Views” are user interface panels containing parameters) is shown. In this Page View, the parameters affect all the
samples in a Program. In addition to this, there are six other Page Views. See the
next chapter, “HALion Overview”, for a brief description of all the Page Views.
The HALion “Macro” Page View.
6. In Cubase VST, select a MIDI Track and set its Output setting to “Halion”.
This way, HALion will receive MIDI data from the selected Track.
• HALion receives MIDI data in16 channel multi-mode. It is therefore not
necessary to assign a specific MIDI receive channel in HALion.
However, you should make sure that the MIDI channel of the currently selected
Cubase VST track is set to the channel on which HALion is to receive MIDI data.
When set, you are ready to load some samples and start using HALion!
In the next chapter you will learn how to load programs.
HALion
Preparations 3 - 13
4
HALion Overview
This chapter contains an overview of the basic concepts and operational procedures, including brief descriptions of the different HALion
Page Views.
How HALion Plays Samples
Unlike other samplers that have to load the entire samples into RAM,
HALion can play back samples of virtually any length, regardless of the
amount of RAM installed in your computer. This is because HALion can
play back audio direct from hard disk, like hard disk recording systems.
But due to the fact that samples can’t be triggered instantly from disk
(there would be a delay between pressing a key and the sound playing
back), the initial portion of the samples (i.e. the start of the sample) is
preloaded into the computer’s RAM. This way only a small fraction of a
longer sample will reside in RAM, while the rest is streamed directly
from disk.
English
HALion
HALion Overview 4 - 15
About Program Banks and Programs
For HALion to produce sound, you first have to load either one or more
audio files (i.e. samples), a Program (a collection of samples) or a Program Bank (a collection of up to 128 Programs):
• HALion always contains a “Program Bank” which in turn contains 128
Program “slots”.
Even if only one Program containing samples and parameter settings is currently loaded, there are still 128 Program slots, although in this case, 127 of
these slots will be empty. Only one Program Bank can be loaded at a time.
• A Program references any number of samples and contains all parameter
settings associated with the samples
Within a Program folder, samples can be arranged in any number of sub-folders, which makes it easy to organize and handle multiple samples.
❐
Samples are not stored in the Program file, but are “referenced” to a location on disk.
• You can load or save Program Banks containing up to 128 Programs but
also single Programs from the File pop-up menu in the VST Instruments
Rack.
The corresponding functions are called “Load/Save Bank” and “Load/Save Instrument”. It is also possible to load Banks, Programs or individual samples via drag
and drop (see page 62).
.
When you save your Cubase VST Song file, the following information is
stored:
• The number of HALion units used in the Song.
• The Bank and/or Programs used.
• The changed settings of edited Programs.
❐
However, if you wish to use the edited version of a Program in another Song,
you must save it using one of the Save functions in the File pop-up menu on
the VST Instrument Rack.
HALion
4 - 16 HALion Overview
Working with Program Banks
A Bank is a collection of up to 128 Programs.
Use the “Load Bank” option in the File menu to load a Program Bank.
Program Banks have the extension “.fxb”. Loading a new bank unloads
all previously loaded banks.
Together with HALion 1.1 a default sound bank is installed. If you wish
you can create your own default sound bank by saving your preferred
bank as “haliondef.fxb” in the HALion folder. We recommend to back
up the original “haliondef.fxb” file for future use.
Loading a Program Bank
As explained on page 15, when samples are loaded the initial portion of
the samples will be preloaded into RAM. When you load a Bank, all the
samples belonging to the Programs assigned to HALion’s 16 MIDI
channels will be preloaded into RAM. If you don’t intend to use some of
the channels, you should load an empty program (see page 46).
Working with Programs
For now, we assume that you have the “Macro” Page View open. This
Page View contains parameter controls that are global, i.e. they affect
all samples in the currently selected Program.
English
The Macro page view.
HALion
HALion Overview 4 - 17
• Click in the number display of the Program selector and hold down the
mouse button. This brings up a pop-up menu with all Program names of
the current Bank. Which MIDI Channel (1 to 16) each Program is currently
assigned to is shown in parentheses.
Select the desired Program by clicking on it.
• Programs can not be selected using the Program buttons in the VST
Instruments Rack.
Please use the Program selector in the HALion window.
Loading individual Programs
• You can use “Load Instrument” in the File pop-up menu to load a single Program from disk. Programs have the extension “.fxp”. It is loaded into the
currently selected HALion Channel and overwrites any previously loaded
Program.
For better overview, only one Channel at a time is visible in the HALion window.
❐
Please note that the previous sections about loading Banks and Programs
describe just one possibility of loading by using the VST Instrument “File”
pop-up menu. There are several alternative ways of loading Banks, Programs and samples into HALion, which are described later in the manual.
HALion
4 - 18 HALion Overview
Playing a Program
• Check out the currently selected Program by playing notes and chords on
your MIDI keyboard.
As an alternative, you can create a Part on a Cubase VST Track and fill that with
notes and MIDI Controller data by using the mouse.
• If you notice considerable latency times (delay) when you play HALion via
MIDI keyboard, the sound card that you use and/or its driver are the
source of the problem.
If the problem occurs within your system and you want to record by playing in
real time, you should replace your sound card and its driver with a fast audio
card and an ASIO driver, that have been optimized for the smallest possible latency time. When playing back HALion data from a Cubase Track, this problem
does not exist.
• The audio signals that are created by a VST Instrument are automatically
routed to the VST Channel Mixer. Open any of the VST Channel Mixers
(1 or 2). In the Channel Mixer, four stereo channels and four mono channels, named “Hal 1” to “Hal 12”, are assigned to each open HALion unit.
By using the Output controls in the HALion window, you can route the Program
(or any sample within the Program) to any of these 12 audio channels - see
page 87.
English
HALion
HALion Overview 4 - 19
• Record a few Tracks and watch the channel level meters in the Mixer. Play
with the volume or EQ settings of the channels that receive a signal.
Using the VST Mixer, you can thus mix the sounds created by HALion and process them in the same way as other Audio Tracks by using plug-ins, effects or
external studio equipment.
• If needed, you can transform any or all HALion Tracks into an audio file. To
do so, simply use Cubase’s “Export Audio Tracks” function.
Saving a Program
Proceed as follows:
1. Select the desired Program.
2. Change the Program settings as desired.
Read the corresponding chapters of this manual to find out what you can do
with the various controls.
3. When you have finished editing, click the name in the Program display
and enter a new one via your computer keyboard.
You have three options to save an edited Program:
• You can save it as a single Program file, using the “Save Instrument” function in
the File pop-up menu on the VST Instruments Rack.
• You can save it together with its Bank, using the “Save Bank” function in the File
pop-up menu on the VST Instruments Rack.
• You can save the Cubase VST Song. If you do this, the changed Program is only
available within this particular Song. If this is not what you want, use one of the
two options above.
HALion
4 - 20 HALion Overview
About MIDI Channels and Programs
HALion is 16 channel multi-timbral. This means that each MIDI channel
(1-16) can be assigned a separate Program.
• The settings for one of the 16 Programs/channels can be selected for viewing.
By simply selecting another Program/MIDI output channel, its corresponding
settings are shown. In the HALion window this is called “Channel”.
The Channel selector.
• Each of these 16 Programs separately gets its notes via one of the 16 MIDI
channels (Channels).
• Remember: The MIDI data that your MIDI Master keyboard sends to Cubase
VST (and thus to HALion) is always routed via the MIDI channel of the Track
that is currently selected in Cubase VST.
• You should therefore always make sure that the currently visible HALion
Page View is set to the same Channel number as the Track currently active
in Cubase’s Arrange window. Additionally, the Output setting for this
Track must be set to “HALion”.
By keeping these rules in mind, you make sure that it is the correct channel
(of the available 16 channels) that you edit and hear when playing your Master
keyboard.
English
HALion
HALion Overview 4 - 21
The HALion Page Views
When you open HALion, the afore-mentioned “Macro” Page View is
shown by default. In addition to this there are six other Page Views each
containing various parameters and controls. These six Page Views have
common sections like the Navigation Controller (see page 31) and the
Program List (see page 27).
Selecting Page Views
You switch between the different Page Views using the row of buttons
always present at the bottom of the HALion window. You can also use
the function keys [F6] to [F12] (if set in the Cubase Preferences) to select the Chan/Prog to Macro Page Views, respectively.
The Page View selector buttons.
On the following pages you find a run through of the different Edit
Page Views available in HALion.
Global Commands Context Menu
You can open a Global Commands context menu by right-clicking on
the background of the Macro View or on the top or bottom of any of
the other Page Views.
Parameter Description
Clear All This will remove all loaded programs. A warning message
will be displayed.
Help This brings up the online help for HALion (in pdf-format).
Halion Website This launches your web browser application and opens
Steinberg on the Web… This directs your web browser to Steinberg’s Website.
About HALion… This brings up information about the program.
HALion
4 - 22 HALion Overview
To be able to read it, you need to have the Acrobat Reader
installed. This software is included on the program CD.
the dedicated web site for HALion.
The Channel/Program Page View
The Channel/Program Page View contains settings for HALion’s 16 MIDI
channels and the 12 virtual outputs. Here you can set which Program
should be assigned to each of the 16 MIDI channels, and to which of
HALion’s 12 virtual outputs each channel should be assigned.
• For information on how to make Program/Channel settings see page 46.
• For information on how to make Output assignments see page 47.
English
HALion
HALion Overview 4 - 23
The Keyzone Page View
The vertical “strips” indicate the velocity range for each sample, and the
horizontal width of each strip indicates the keyzone range for each sample. In the picture above, all samples have a keyzone range of one note.
The rightmost group of samples are selected, indicated by the handles
at the top and bottom of each strip.
The Keyzone Page View offers a graphic overview of all samples in a Program, their keyzones (the note range across the keyboard which samples are mapped to) and velocity settings. The Keyzone Page View has
many powerful features, and is where the majority of sample-oriented
editing takes place.
For a full description of the Keyzone Page View, see page 48 onwards.
HALion
4 - 24 HALion Overview
The Waveloop Page View
In this Page View you can set loop points for a sample. It is possible to
set up both a sustain loop, that governs what portion of the sample
should loop when a key is held down, and a release loop which governs
a separate independent loop activated after a key is released. You can
define loops graphically in the sample waveform, or numerically. The
Waveloop Page View is described on page 72 and onwards.
The Envelope/Filter Page View
English
The Envelope/Filter Page View contains two Envelope generators with
up to eight stages each, a multi-mode Filter section (DCF) and an Amplifier section (DCA). This Page View is described on page 81 and onwards.
HALion
HALion Overview 4 - 25
The Mod/Tune Page View
The Modulation/Tune Page View contains an extremely powerful modulation section, where a source modulator can be multiplied by one or
several modulators and/or values and finally applied to a destination
parameter. In addition to the Modulation section, this Page View contains the two LFOs, a Tune section and a Voice Grouping section. This
Page View is described on page 89 and onwards.
The Options Page View
The Options Page View is used for importing external audio file formats,
making memory settings and various other options that govern global
HALion functions. The “Settings in the Options Page View” chapter begins on page 103.
HALion
4 - 26 HALion Overview
About the Macro Page
The main difference between the Macro Page View and the other Page
Views is that the Macro parameters always affect all samples in a program. Hence, there are no window sections that relate to settings on a
“sample level”. Also note that the Macro parameters are not separate
parameters. The Macro Filter section governs exactly the same parameters as the Envelope/Filter Page View – the difference is solely that all
samples in the Program are always affected.
The following section describes the common window sections for all
other Page Views (although the Keyboard, the MIDI channel/Virtual
Output/Page View selectors are also present in the Macro Page View).
Common window sections
Each HALion Page View is subdivided into several logical sections, common to all Page Views. Here follows a description of all the common window sections. To bring these sections into view you have to first select
any Page View (see page 22) except Macro.
The Program List
English
The Program List is located on the right side of the HALion window. This
list has many important functions. First and foremost, it is where you decide whether the current Page View parameter should affect all or only
the selected samples in a Program.
You can also use it to select samples or Programs, drag samples from the
list into the Keyzone window, create subfolders for organizing samples
and much more.
HALion
HALion Overview 4 - 27
The Program List contains the following:
• The current Program Bank (i.e. 128 Program folders which may either be
empty or contain samples).
A Program’s associated samples reside in the Program folder (or in sub-folders).
Empty folders can not be opened.
Program Folders. A plus sign before the name indicates that
the folder is closed, a minus sign that it is open. Clicking on a
Program name selects it and all the samples in the Program.
Use [Shift] + click to select multiple samples. [Alt]-clicking on
a plus sign will open/close all Program folders.
The currently selected Program is indicated by a red border.
The currently selected samples
are highlighted. A yellow border
indicates the currently “View Selected” sample - see page 52.
These samples belong to the same
Program, but are currently not selected. Use [Shift]+click to select a
range of samples, use [Ctrl] (Windows) or [Command]+click (Mac)
to select multiple samples.
This button toggles between All
or Select mode. In Select mode,
only the selected samples are affected when editing. In All mode
all samples in the Program are affected - see page 54.
HALion
4 - 28 HALion Overview
This indicator displays whether All
or Select mode is active (see below).
In Select mode it also indicates
whether one or multiple samples
are selected - see page 54.
This button toggles between
Absolute and Relative editing –
see page 55.
English
You can drag the Program List to the left, thus extending the width of the
list in order to view longer Program/sample names in full.
Proceed as follows:
1. Select the Keyzone Page View.
This function is only available when this Page View is selected.
2. Click anywhere on the left border of the Program List and drag it to the left.
Extending the horizontal view of the Program List.
HALion
HALion Overview 4 - 29
The Program List can also be “hidden” behind a blank panel. There is no
functionality attached to this feature - it is merely a viewing option.
Click anywhere on
the right side of the
list to hide it.
Showing/Hiding the Program List.
Click anywhere on the
panel to show the
Program List again.
For more detailed information about the Program List please refer to the
chapter “The Keyzone Page View”. Other functions, like scrolling the Program List is described in the next section.
HALion
4 - 30 HALion Overview
Loading...