Steinberg HALion - 3.0 Instruction Manual

Operation Manual

Operation Manual by Synkron Quality Control: C. Bachmann, H. Bischoff, S. Pfeifer, C. Schomburg Tutorial background material provided by Rudi Cazeaux Additional information provided by Pinkcanary

The information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH. 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 GmbH.

All product and company names are ™ or ® trademarks of their respective owners. Windows and Windows XP are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. The Mac logo is a trademark used under license. Macintosh is a registered trademark. Mac OS X is a registered trademark

Systems.

. Cakewalk SONAR is a registered trademark of Twelve Tone

9 System Requirements

and Installation

45 Editing in the Macro

page view

10 The Steinberg copy

protection key

11 Before you begin installation 11 System Requirements

(PC version)

12 Installation (PC version) 13 System Requirements

(Mac version)

13 Installation (Mac version) 15 Installing the HALion content 15 Register your software!

17 Preparations

18 Setting up HALion as a VST

Instrument in Cubase

20 Setting up HALion as a

DXi2 Synth

22 Using HALion in an AU

compatible application

23 HALion overview

24 Introduction 24 The Demo Songs 24 How HALion plays samples 25 About Program Banks and

Programs

31 The HALion page views 39 Common window sections

46 Introduction 47 The Filter section (DCF) 49 The Envelope sections 50 The Amplifier section (DCA) 51 Tune/Glide section 52 The LFOs 52 The Macro view area 53 The Options pop-up menu

55 Editing in the Global

page view

56 Introduction 57 Settings in the Global page

view

61 Editing in the

Keyzone page view

62 Introduction 63 Window overview 66 Selecting samples 70 About the “ALL/SELECT”

status button

72 Setting keyzone and velocity

range

74 Moving samples 74 Deleting samples 75 Setting the root key 76 Importing samples 84 Overlapping key zones 87 Context menu items in the

Keyzone window

93 About the RAM Save

function

94 Searching for missing

samples

HALion

4 Table of Contents

97 Editing in the Loop

page view

155 The Browser page

view

98 Introduction 99 Setting the start and end

points for a sample

100 Setting the range start point 100 Zooming the waveform 101 Loopsets 102 Setting a sustain loop 104 Setting the release loop 105 Loop tuning 105 Loop context menu items

107 Editing in the Sound

page view

108 Introduction 109 The filter section (DCF) 110 The amplifier section (DCA) 116 LFO section 118 Tune section 118 Grouping/Glide section 119 Mode section 121 The Envelope section 128 The Modulation section 135 MegaTrig 139 The Alternate function 142 The step envelope 147 Using the internal Effects

156 Introduction 157 The structure of the Browser 161 Browsing sample discs 162 Import 164 HALion content handling 166 Assigning Program

Introduction

Congratulations and thank you for your decision to purchase HALion.

This professional VST Instrument software is a complete 32-bit sam-

ple player, providing extensive modulation and editing features.

You can load and use a VST Instrument within the framework of any

VST 2.0, DXi or Apple Audio Units (AU) compatible host application.

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/AU/DXi

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:

• 256 Voices, 16-way multi-timbral, 128 programs per HALion unit.

• Supports Akai S1000/S2000/S3000, EMU 3/3X/ESI/4/4K/E64/E6400/ ESynth/Ultra, Roland S770, Emagic ESX24, SoundFonts 2.x, GIGA, LM4/ LM9, Native Instruments Kontakt, Kurzweil, ZeroX BeatCreator and REX file formats (and all common audio file formats and ISO/Nero/Toast Disc Image).

• 8-/16-/24-/32-bit file support.

• 5.1 surround support.

• Freely assignable number of virtual outputs (stereo, mono, or 5.1 surround).

• Notch/hi-pass/lo-pass/band-pass filter with selectable 12dB or 24dB slopes.

• Additional Waldorf filter types developed by the famous German synth manufacturer.

• Comprehensive internal effects section.

• Integrated Browser with assignable categories, advanced file browsing/filtering and location memory functions.

• Syncable envelopes, with up to 32 freely editable points.

• Syncable LFOs.

• Step envelope which can produce stepped modulation patterns.

• Megatrig functions to activate/switch samples via controllers or keys.

• Extensive, chainable modulation features.

• Drag & Drop support.

• All settings can be applied individually for selected sample(s) – or globally for the program.

• Integrated Loop Editor.

• Complete automation from within Cubase or Nuendo or any other VST host.

• Includes several professional sample collections.

We hope you will have a lot of fun with your new VST Instrument!

The Steinberg Team

HALion

1 – 8 Introduction

System Requirements and

Installation

The Steinberg copy protection key

❐

Please read the following section before installing the HALion software.

Included with the HALion package, you will find a hardware key (sometimes referred to as a “dongle”) that is part of the HALion copy protection scheme. HALion will not run if this key isn’t installed properly.

•

If you have a Windows PC and have never used such a dongle on your computer before, the installation routine may initiate a restart of Windows after installation of the dongle drivers. After the restart, the dongle must be plugged into the USB port for the installation routine to continue.

•

If you already own software that requires a dongle, the copy protection key should be plugged into the computer’s USB port after installing HALion and restarting the computer!

When the copy protection key is plugged into the USB port, Windows will automatically register it as a new hardware device and will attempt to find drivers for it – these necessary drivers won’t be present until HALion has been installed and the computer restarted.

Steinberg copy protection key

The Steinberg copy protection key is, in fact, a little computer on which your Steinberg software licenses are stored. All hardware-protected Steinberg products use the same key, and licenses can (within certain limits) be transferred between copy protection keys – which is helpful, e.g. if you want to sell a piece of software.

HALion

2 – 10 System Requirements and Installation

❐

If you already have a Steinberg copy protection key (e.g. for Cubase or Nuendo), you can load your HALion license onto that one. This way you need only one USB key for both your host and HALion (see below).

❐

The copy protection key must not be plugged in before or during the installation of HALion if this is the ﬁrst time you use such a key. Otherwise Windows will register it as new USB hardware and try to ﬁnd drivers that won’t be present before HALion installation.

Before you begin installation

• When updating from any previous version of HALion, make sure that the old version is properly deinstalled before you begin with the installation of HALion 3. Parallel installation of older versions and the new version of HALion is untested and unsupported.

System Requirements (PC version)

To be able to use HALion you will need at least:

• Windows XP

• Pentium or AMD Athlon 800MHz (1.4 GHz or faster recommended)

• 384 MB RAM (512MB recommended)

• Fast hard disk for disk streaming

• VST 2.0 or DXi2 compatible host software

• Windows MME compatible audio hardware (ASIO compatible sound card recommended)

• USB port

• DVD ROM drive required for installation

• Display resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels (1152 x 864 pixels and dual monitor setup recommended)

❐

Please also observe the system requirements of your host application!

HALion

System Requirements and Installation 2 – 11

Installation (PC version)

Proceed as follows to install HALion:

Make sure the HALion dongle is NOT plugged in.

Insert the HALion DVD into your DVD drive, launch the Explorer or open the “My Computer” window and double click on the symbol for the DVD drive that holds the HALion DVD.

If autostart is activated the DVD contents will open in a new window automatically.

Double click on the HALion Installer symbol to launch the installation program and follow the instructions on screen.

After installation of the dongle drivers, the installation routine may initiate a restart of your computer.

The installation routine will continue automatically after this restart.

After the automatic restart, make sure the dongle is plugged into the USB port!

Simply plug the dongle into the USB port while the system is booting up. In case there is no restart, simply follow the instructions on screen.

When the installation process is completed, restart your computer.

❐

After installing the HALion software and the dongle drivers, HALion is ready to use.

HALion

2 – 12 System Requirements and Installation

System Requirements (Mac version)

To be able to use HALion you will need at least:

• Mac OSX 10.2.5 or higher

• Power Mac G4 867MHz (G4 Dual 1.25GHz or faster recommended)

• 384MB RAM (512MB recommended).

• CoreAudio compatible audio hardware

• Fast hard disk for disk streaming

• VST 2.0 or AU compatible host software (AU plug-in included)

• USB port

• DVD ROM drive required for installation

• Display resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels (1152 x 864 pixels and dual monitor setup recommended)

❐

Please also observe the system requirements of your host application!

Installation (Mac version)

Proceed as follows to install HALion:

Make sure the HALion dongle is NOT plugged in.

Quit all other applications so that you return to the Finder. Disable any system activity monitoring software or extension, in particular anti-virus software. Now, insert the HALion DVD into the computer’s DVD drive.

If it doesn’t do so automatically, double-click the HALion icon to open the CD window.

Double-click on the HALion Installer symbol to load the installation software. Follow the instructions on screen.

❐

After installing the HALion software and the dongle drivers, HALion is ready to use.

HALion

System Requirements and Installation 2 – 13

Using the copy protection key

If you wish to use the copy protection key supplied with your version of HALion, proceed as follows:

After installation and restarting the computer, plug the hardware protection key into the USB port.

If you are unsure of which port this is, consult the computer’s documentation.

The first time the copy protection device is plugged in, it will be registered as a new hardware device, and a dialog will appear asking you whether you would like to find drivers for the device manually or automatically.

Choose to find drivers automatically.

The dialog closes.

You may have to reboot your computer.

You are now ready to launch HALion!

If you already own a Steinberg copy protection key (e.g. for Cubase SX or Nuendo) you can transfer the license for HALion onto this key so that you only require one USB port for copy protection. Proceed as follows:

After installation and restarting the computer, plug your HALion key into the USB port.

Make sure that your computer has a working internet connection.

License transfer is made “online”. If your HALion computer isn’t connected to the internet, it’s possible to use another computer for the online connection – proceed with the steps below and see the help for the License Control Center application.

Launch the “License Control Center” application (found in the Windows Start menu under “Syncrosoft” or in the Macintosh Applications folder).

This application allows you to view your USB protection keys and transfer licenses between them.

Use the License Control Center “Wizard” function to transfer the license from one dongle to the other.

If you are uncertain about how to proceed, consult the help for LCC.

When the transfer is complete, you are ready to launch HALion!

HALion

2 – 14 System Requirements and Installation

Installing the HALion content

The sound content for HALion is delivered on the installation DVD. Please refer to the chapter “Content description” for an overview of what sounds are included.

To use the HALion content, it must be available on your hard drive. You can either install the files automatically during the installation procedure for HALion or choose to do this later.

•

To copy the content files to your hard drive during the installation of HALion, simply make sure the corresponding check box is ticked during the installation process (Win) or that you follow the on-screen installation instructions.

•

To copy the content files at a later point in time, insert the DVD in the DVD drive of your computer and copy the contents to a location on your hard drive.

❐

Don’t change the folder structure inside the program or sample files folder. Otherwise HALion will not be able to find the samples!

Once the content files are available on your hard drive, you need to open the Browser page view and instruct HALion where to find the files. Refer to page 164 for a detailed description of how to handle the HALion content files.

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.

System Requirements and Installation 2 – 15

HALion

2 – 16 System Requirements and Installation

Preparations

Setting up HALion as a VST Instrument in Cubase

❐

The information in this section refers to using HALion within Cubase SX. We assume that you have correctly set up both Cubase SX and your available MIDI and audio hardware. Should you wish to use HALion within another VST host application such as Nuendo, please refer to its documentation.

Proceed as follows to activate HALion:

Make sure that Cubase SX receives MIDI data that you generate with your external MIDI master keyboard.

In Cubase SX, open the “VST Instruments” window from the Devices menu, and select “Halion” from the pop-up menu of a free VST Instrument slot.

Clicking the “Power” switch in the rack will activate/deactivate HALion.

By default this is automatically activated when VST Instruments are loaded.

HALion

3 – 18 Preparations

Click on the “Edit” button (“e”) 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 chapter “HALion over-

view” for a brief description of all the page views.

The HALion “Macro” page view.

In Cubase SX, 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 in 16 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 SX 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 – 19

Setting up HALion as a DXi2 Synth

❐

The information in this section refers to using HALion within Cakewalk SONAR. We assume that you have correctly set up both SONAR and your available MIDI and audio hardware. Should you wish to use HALion within another DXi2 compatible host application, please refer to its documentation.

Proceed as follows to activate HALion:

Make sure that SONAR receives MIDI data that you generate with your external MIDI master keyboard. You can check this visually with the “MIDI In/Out Activity” tray icon.

2. In SONAR, open the “Synth Rack” window from the View menu.

3. Click the Insert button (or select the Insert option on the main menu).

The Insert button in the Synth Rack window.

4. Open the DXi Synth submenu and select “HALion” from the pop-up

menu.

HALion

3 – 20 Preparations

5. By default the “Insert DXi Options” dialog appears. To create one MIDI track and connect an audio track to HALion’s 1+2 outputs, activate the options “Midi Source Track” and “First Synth Output”. To create all available HALion outputs activate “All Synth Outputs”. Refer to your host application’s documentation for further details.

6. Clicking the “Connection State” button in the Synth Rack will activate/ deactivate HALion. By default this is automatically activated when DXi SoftSynths are loaded.

7. Double-click on the “HALion” entry or click the “Synth Properties” button in the tool bar of the Synth Rack to open the HALion window.

The Synth Properties button in the Synth Rack window.

HALion

Preparations 3 – 21

8. In SONAR, select the previously created MIDI track “HALion”. HALion

will now receive MIDI data from the selected track.

HALion receives MIDI data in 16 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 SONAR 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.

Displaying sample names in the Piano Roll view

The DXi2 version of HALion lets you display the usual keys or sample names in the Piano Roll view. You can select which Program (1-127) should display sample names by opening the DXi pop-up menu in the HAlion window and checking the desired Program(s). You can also select all or no Programs to display sample names. The setting is stored globally and independent of your project.

Using HALion in an AU compatible application

You can use HALion in an AU host application.

The HALion AU version is installed in your AU plugins folder and lets HALion work in an AU environment – without any performance loss or incompatibilities.

For instructions on installing and using the AU plug-in, please refer to the documentation of your AU host application.

• Please note that the number of available outputs for every instance of HALion depends on your AU host application.

HALion

3 – 22 Preparations

HALion overview

Introduction

This chapter contains an overview of the basic concepts and operational procedures, including brief descriptions of the different HALion page views.

The Demo Songs

On the HALion installation CD you will find a folder called Demo Songs. This folder contains three subfolders with demo projects for three common host applications: Cubase VST 5, Cubase SX and Cakewalk Sonar. There are two projects for both versions of Cubase and one for Cakewalk Sonar, and every project comes in two flavors: an XXL version (good sound quality, but more CPU load) and an ECO version (less quality, less CPU strain).

Copy the contents of the folder containing projects for your host application to your hard disk and follow the instructions in this manual to load and manipulate the samples used in the projects using HALion.

❐

When you open HALion to work with the demo songs, you may find that a message is displayed informing you about “missing” samples. See

page 94 for details about this message.

How HALion plays samples

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 directly from the hard disk, similar to hard disk recording systems. Since 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. However you can, should you so wish, assign a specific sample or Program to always be loaded into RAM.

HALion

4 – 24 HALion overview

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 para-

meter settings associated with the samples.

Within a Program folder, samples can be arranged in any number of subfolders, 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. When you change the location of samples, so that the reference of the Program file to these samples is no longer correct, a warning message is displayed, and you must re-establish the link between the Program and its samples. This is explained in detail on page 94.

• You can load or save Program Banks containing up to 128 Programs

but also single Programs from the File pop-up menu (the disk icon at the top of the HALion window).

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 79).

When you save your Cubase SX project file, the following information is stored:

• The number of HALion units used in the project.

• 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 project, you must save it using one of the Save functions in the File popup menu on the VST Instrument rack.

HALion

HALion overview 4 – 25

About Program Banks

A Bank is a collection of up to 128 Programs.

Use the “Load Bank” option on the File menu in the VST Instruments rack to load a Program Bank. Program Banks have the extension “.fxb”. Loading a new bank unloads all previously loaded banks.

If you wish you can create your own default sound bank by saving your preferred bank as “haliondef.fxb” in the HALion folder.

Loading a Program Bank

As explained on page 24, 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 57).

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.

The Macro page view.

HALion

4 – 26 HALion overview

Selecting a Program

There are several ways to select Programs in the Macro view:

• Click the down arrow to the right in the Program selector (located in

the top left corner of the HALion window). This brings up a pop-up menu with all Program names of the current Bank.

Select the desired Program by clicking on it.

• The window display in the middle of the Macro view can display one of

four views. If you select “Global” using the button at the top of the window display, the first 16 Programs in the selected Bank are shown. Clicking into the Program field for a slot allows you to select a Program.

If you select the Global page view there are additional columns that are not shown on the Global view on the Macro page.

• If you select the Keyzone view from the Macro page, an overview of

the Keyzone page view in the current Program will be shown.

Settings in this view cannot be changed, it is simply an overview.

• The other two views contain the program and send effects, respectively.

How to use the built-in effects is described on page 147.

• Programs cannot be selected using the Program buttons in the VST

Instruments rack.

Please use the Program selector in the HALion window.

HALion

HALion overview 4 – 27

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”. The program is loaded into the currently selected HALion channel and overwrites any previously loaded Program.

❐

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.

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 SX 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 occur.

HALion

4 – 28 HALion overview

• The audio signals that are created by a VST Instrument are automati-

cally routed to the Mixer. In the Mixer, four stereo channels, four mono channels, and a surround bus are assigned to each open HALion unit (by default – this can be changed on the Options page view).

Using the Output controls in the HALion window, you can route the Program (or any sample within the Program) to any audio channels or to a surround bus – see page 113.

Here, two HALion stereo outputs are used.

• 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 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

using the “Export Audio Mixdown” function of Cubase/Nuendo.

HALion

HALion overview 4 – 29

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 SX project. If you do this, the changed Program is only available within this particular project. If this is not what you want, use one of the two options above.

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 panel settings shown reflect the selected Program.

When you select another Program, the panel settings will change accordingly.

• Each of these 16 Programs separately gets its notes via one of the 16 MIDI channels.

• Remember: The MIDI data that your MIDI master keyboard sends to Cubase SX (and thus to HALion), is always routed via the MIDI channel of the track that is currently selected in Cubase SX.

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 track list. Additionally, the Output setting for this track must be set to “HALion”. By keeping these rules in mind, you ensure that it is the correct channel (of the available 16 channels) that you edit and hear when playing your master keyboard.

HALion

4 – 30 HALion overview

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