Steinberg HaLion Symphonic Orchestra Operation Manual
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 XP is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. The Mac logo is a trademark used under license. Macintosh is a
registered trademark. Mac OS X is a registered trademark. Cakewalk
SONAR is a registered trademark of Twelve Tone Systems. ReWire is
a trademark of Propellerhead Software AB. Logic is a trademark of
Apple Computer, Inc. registered in the U.S. and other countries.
© Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH, 2006.
All rights reserved.
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Table of Contents
5 Welcome
7 Installation
7 The Steinberg Key
8 System Requirements (PC version)
9 Installation (PC version)
10 System Requirements (Mac version)
10 Installation (Mac version)
11 Activating the Steinberg Key
12 Register your software!
12 Upgrade to HALion
13 Upgrading from HALion String Edition
14 Preparations
14 Setting up HALion Symphonic Orchestra as a VST Instrument in
Cubase
16 Setting up HALion Symphonic Orchestra as a DXi2 Synth
18 Using HALion Symphonic Orchestra in an AU compatible
application
19 HALion Symphonic Orchestra stand-alone and ReWire
22 HALion Symphonic Orchestra details
22 About programs, banks and .hsb files
23 The 16 program slots
24 Sound editing
29 Global controls
30 Global Commands context menu
31 The Keyboard
32 The Disk LED
33 The RAM Save button
33 Performance issues
35 Content Description
35 Using the content in HALion 3.1
35 Expression and control
36 The main program types
38 Instrument-specific programs
40 Articulations in programs
48 Enhancing expressiveness and realism
52 Expression controls overview
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53 Content structure and program reference
53 Demo Content
53 Program reference
57 Programs
88 Tutorial: Arranging orchestra sections
88 Introduction of instruments
88 Score order
90 Common Articulations
92 Transposing instruments
93 Woodwinds
99 Brass
103 Percussion
107 Strings
111 Hierarchy and harmonic weight
111 Groups
111 Instruments
112 Chords
115 Reconstructing a score with HALion Symphonic Orchestra
115 The first page
116 Choosing the right programs in HALion Symphonic Orchestra
117 Distributing instruments
120 Fine tuning and mixing techniques
120 Literature
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Welcome
HALion Symphonic Orchestra is the complete, easy-to-use solution for
any musician and composer looking for the vast sonic palette of an entire orchestra. You can create stunningly full orchestral mas te rpi ece s,
ultra-expressive solo lines as well as beautiful smaller arrangements –
with all the advantages of modern computer-based producti on environments.
Capturing the pure emotive power, expressiveness and sheer sonic
range of an entire orchestra, HALion Symphonic Orchestra offers an
enormous wealth of outstanding sound content including solo and ensemble double basses, cellos, violas and violins, brass, woodwind and
percussion instruments. Each of these instruments in turn offers a
wealth of expressive playing styles and articulations. The enormous
27GB library is as flexible as it is accessible, ideally suited not only to
classical music but also Pop, Rock, HipHop, R’n’B and any other contemporary style.
HALion Symphonic Orchestra has been crafted to offer both exquisite
playability and stunning realism. Offering the advanced features of
Steinberg’s award-winning HALion 3 sampling engine, HALion Symphonic Orchestra is so much more than just another sample library,
providing an exceptional virtual instrument with the quality, variety and
usability needed to create arrangements on a truly orchestral scale.
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Enjoy playing with your new orchestra!
Your Steinberg Team
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About the producer of HALion Symphonic Orchestra — Claudius Brüse
Born in Germany, Claudius Brüse started his musical career in 1978 in
Seattle with a scholarship from Cornish Institute. Back in Germany, he
studied jazz composition and arrangement in Cologne, followed by
studying composition at the Folkwangschule in Essen, where he graduated in electronic and computer composition in 1984. Over the years,
he has composed a lot of contemporary concert music, ranging from
chamber music to orchestral works, and a multitude of film and commercial music, including documentaries, television work and feature
films on both sides of the Atlantic – frequently travelling between his
two homes in Cologne and Los Angeles. He co-developed the Waldorf Wave synthesizer and has written numerous magazine articles.
Over the years, Claudius and Steinberg have collaborated on many
projects, e.g. the VST instruments “The Grand“ and “HALion String
Edition”.
HALion Symphonic Orchestra shows Claudius’ handwriting all over
the place: The typical accuracy in the reproduction of the highly sensitive acoustic instrument sound, superior sound quality and transparency, perfection down to the tiniest detail and – last but not least – an
unrivalled feel for playability and control.
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Installation
The Steinberg Key
Please read the following section before installing the HALion Symphonic Orchestra software.
Included with the HALion Symphonic Orchestra package, you will find
an activation code for the Steinberg Key (sometimes referred to as a
“dongle”), a hardware copy protection device that is part of the HALion
Symphonic Orchestra copy protection scheme. HALion Symphonic
Orchestra will not run if there is no Steinberg Key and if this key hasn’t
been properly activated. You can either separately purchase a new
Steinberg Key for use with HALion Symphonic Orchestra, or use a key
previously bought for use with a different Steinberg application.
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The Steinberg Key
The Steinberg Key is, in fact, a little computer on which your Steinberg software licenses are stored. All hardware-protected Steinberg
products use the same type of key, and you can store more than one
license on one key. Also, licenses can (within certain limits) be transferred between keys – which is helpful, e.g. if you want to sell a piece
of software.
• If you have a Windows PC, the installation routine will initiate a restart
of Windows after installation of the key drivers and the program software. After the restart, you can plug the key into the USB port to proceed with the key activation.
• If you have an Apple Macintosh computer, there will be no automatic
restart. Be sure to read the information regarding the Steinberg Key
that is displayed during the installation process.
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• If you already own copy-protected Steinberg software, you must remove any existing Steinberg Keys from the computer’s USB port during the HALion Symphonic Orchestra installation.
The Steinberg Key must not be plugged in before or during the installation of HALion Symphonic Orchestra if this is the first ti me you use su ch
a key. Otherwise the operating system of your computer will register it as
new USB hardware and try to find drivers that won’t be present before
HALion Symphonic Orchestra installation.
If you already own a Steinberg Key (e.g. for Cubase or Nuendo), you can
load your HALion Symphonic Orchestra license onto that one, using the
activation code supplied with HALion Symphonic Orchestra. This way
you need only one USB key for both your host application and HALion
Symphonic Orchestra (see below).
System Requirements (PC version)
To be able to use HALion Symphonic Orchestra you will need at least:
• Windows XP (Home or Professional)
• Pentium/AMD Athlon 2GHz
•1GB RAM
• Fast hard disk for disk streaming and 27GB of free disk space for the content
• Host application compatible with VST 2.0, DXi2 or ReWire
• Windows MME compatible audio hardware (ASIO compatible audio card
recommended)
• Steinberg Key and USB component connector
• DVD ROM drive for installation
• Internet connection for activation of the Steinberg Key.
Please also observe the system requirements of your host application!
Check the Steinberg web site for recommendations on how to configure
your system.
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Installation (PC version)
Proceed as follows to install HALion Symphonic Orchestra:
1. Make sure that NO Steinberg Key is connected to the USB port.
2. Insert the HALion Symphonic Orchestra installation 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 Symphonic Orchestra DVD.
If autostart is activated, the DVD contents will automatically open in a n ew win dow .
3. Double click on the HALion Symphonic Orchestra Installer symbol to
launch the installation program and follow the instructions on screen.
4. As part of the installation process you will be asked if you wish to install the HALion Symphonic Orchestra audio files.
Activate the radio button for the desired option, and specify a path to a location on
your hard disk. Note that installing both the 16-bit and the 24-bit content will require a
total of 27GB of free disk space, and that the content installation will proceed after installation of the program software and the key activation. See below.
5. After installation of the software, the installation routine will initiate a
restart of your computer.
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6. After the automatic restart, you will be prompted to plug t he Steinberg
Key into the USB port to proceed with the key activation (see below).
7. If you chose either to install the 16-bit content files, or the 24-bi t content files, or both, as part of the installation, you must insert the corresponding DVDs once the Steinberg Key activation has finished.
• If you decide to not install the content during installation of the program software, and simply copy the desired content files from the
DVDs at a later point in time, you MUST use the Locate Content function to show HALion Symphonic Orchestra where to find the audio
files. See page 28 for details.
Once the Steinberg Key is activated and the content files are available
on your hard disk, you can start using HALion Symphonic Orchestra.
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System Requirements (Mac version)
To be able to use HALion Symphonic Orchestra you will need at least:
•Mac OSX 10.4
• Power Mac G5 2GHz
•1GB RAM
• CoreAudio compatible audio hardware
• Fast hard disk for disk streaming and 27GB of free disk space for the content
• For using as plug-in or ReWire slave, a VST 2.0, AU or ReWire compatible
host is required.
• Steinberg Key and USB component connector
• DVD ROM drive for installation
• Internet connection for activation of the Steinberg Key.
Please also observe the system requirements of your host application!
Check the Steinberg web site for recommendations on how to configure
your system.
Installation (Mac version)
Proceed as follows to install HALion Symphonic Orchestra:
1. Make sure that NO Steinberg Key is connected to the USB port.
2. Quit all other applications so that you return to the Fi nder. Disable any
system activity monitoring software or extension, in particular anti-virus
software. Now, insert the HALion Symphonic Orchestra installation
DVD into the computer’s DVD drive.
3. If it doesn’t open automatically, double-click the HALion Symphonic
Orchestra icon to open the DVD contents window.
4. Double-click on the HALion Symphonic Orchestra Installer symbol to
load the installation software. Follow the instructions on screen.
5. When the program software has been installed, proceed with the key
activation (see below).
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Installing the content (Mac)
To install the HALion Symphonic Orchestra audio content, proceed
as follows:
1. Insert DVD 1 into your DVD drive.
2. Decide if you want to install either the 16-bit content files, or the 24bit content files, or both, and launch the appropriate content installer.
Specify a path to a location on your hard disk, and click Choose. Note that installing
both the 16-bit and the 24-bit content will require a total of 27GB of free disk space.
3. A status bar is displayed to show the progress of the installation process.
Once the files have been copied, remove DVD 1 from the drive, and insert the next
DVD. Which one you need depends on which version of the audio files you are installing. Again, launch the desired content installer, specify a path, and click Choose.
4. Repeat these steps until all the content files you wish to use have
been copied to your hard disk.
• You can also simply copy the desired content files from the DVDs to a
location on your hard disk. In this case, however, you MUST use the
Locate Content function to show HALion Symphonic Orchestra
where to find the audio files. See page 28 for details.
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Activating the Steinberg Key
Your Steinberg Key does not yet contain the license required for HALion
Symphonic Orchestra. You must download this license before you can
launch HALion Symphonic Orchestra!
Use the activation code supplied with the program in order to download the valid HALion Symphonic Orchestra license to your Steinberg
Key. This process is the same both for existing and new keys. Proceed
as follows:
1. After installation of the dongle drivers and the program software (and,
on a Windows PC, after restarting your computer), plug the Steinberg
Key into the USB port.
If you are unsure of which port this is, consult the documentation of your computer.
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2. If this is the first time a copy protection device is plugged in, it will be
registered as a new hardware device. On a Mac, drivers are found automatically without further user interaction. Windows will display a dialog asking you whether you would like to find drivers for the device
manually or automatically.
Under Windows, choose to find drivers automatically. The dialog closes, and you may
have to reboot your compute r.
3. Make sure that your computer has a working internet connection.
License download is made “online”. If the computer on which you installed HALion
Symphonic Orchestra is not connected to the internet, it is possible to use another
computer for the online connection – proceed with the steps below and see the help
for the License Control Center application.
4. 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 Steinberg Keys and load or transfer licenses.
5. Use the License Control Center “Wizard” function and the activation
code supplied with HALion Symphonic Orchestra to download the license for HALion Symphonic Orchestra to your Key. Simply follow the
on-screen instructions.
If you are uncertain about how to proceed, consult the help for LCC.
When the activation process is completed, you are ready to launch
HALion Symphonic Orchestra!
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
Symphonic Orchestra.
Upgrade to HALion
Steinberg offers a special online upgrade to the full version of HALion
to all owners of HALion Symphonic Orchestra. For more information,
open the global context menu by right-clicking (Win) or [Ctrl]-cl icking
(Mac) anywhere in the HALion Symphonic Orchestra window background and select the “Upgrade to HALion” option.
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Upgrading from HALion String Edition
If you are a user of HALion String Edition 1 or 2 and purchased
HALion Symphonic Orchestra using the upgrade offer, and already
have sequencer projects using the string sections of HALion String
Edition, you can add to these the orchestra sections provided by
HALion Symphonic Orchestra. Simply use both VST instruments in
your projects, or load the same sounds you used in HALion String
Edition in HALion Symphonic Orchestra and remove HALion String
Edition from your projects afterwards.
If you wish to remove the HALion String Edition content files from your
system after an upgrade, make sure that none of these files are used in
any projects before you remove them.
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Preparations
The following sections describe how to set up HALion Symphonic Orchestra for use with different interface formats.
Setting up HALion Symphonic Orchestra as a VST Instrument
in Cubase
The following information refers to the use of HALion Symphonic Orchestra within Cubase SX. We assume that you have correctly set up
both Cubase SX and your MIDI and audio hardware. Should you wish to
use HALion Symphonic Orchestra within another VST host application
such as Nuendo, please refer to its documentation.
Proceed as follows to activate HALion Symphonic Orchestra:
1. Make sure that Cubase SX receives MIDI data that you generate with
your external MIDI master keyboard.
2. In Cubase SX, open the “VST Instruments” window from the Devices
menu, and select “HALion Symphonic Orchestra” from the pop-up
menu of a free VST Instrument slot.
3. Clicking the “Power” button in the rack will activate/deactivate HALion
Symphonic Orchestra.
By default this is automatically activated when a VST Instrument is loaded.
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4. Click on the “Edit” button (“e”) to open the HALion Symphonic Orchestra window.
The HALion Symphonic Orchestra window.
5. In Cubase SX, select a MIDI track and set its output setting to “HALion
Symphonic Orchestra”. Make sure that the MIDI track input is set to “All
MIDI Inputs” or to the MIDI track to which your keyboard is connected.
This way, HALion Symphonic Orchestra will receive MIDI data from the selected track.
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• HALion Symphonic Orchestra receives MIDI data in 16 channel multimode. It is therefore not necessary to assign a specific MIDI receive
channel in HALion Symphonic Orchestra.
However, you should make sure that the currently selected Cubase SX track is set to
the MIDI channel on which HALion Symphonic Orchestra is to receive MIDI data.
When set, you are ready to load programs and start using HALion
Symphonic Orchestra!
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Setting up HALion Symphonic Orchestra as a DXi2 Synth
The following information refers to the use of HALion Symphonic Orchestra within Cakewalk SONAR. We assume that you have correctly set up
both SONAR and your MIDI and audio hardware. Should you wish to use
HALion Symphonic Orchestra within another DXi2 compatible host application, please refer to its documentation.
Proceed as follows to activate HALion Symphonic Orchestra:
1. 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.
The Insert button in the Synth Rack window.
4. In the Soft Synth submenu, select “HALion Symphonic Orchestra”.
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5. By default, the “Insert Soft Synth Options” dialog appears. To create
one MIDI track and connect an audio track to the outputs 1 and 2 of
HALion Symphonic Orchestra, activate the options “MIDI Source” and
“First Synth Audio Output”. To create all available HALion Symphonic
Orchestra outputs, activate “All Synth Audio Outputs”.
Note that an output routing scheme was used when programming the various instrument groups of HALion Symphonic Orchestra. Make sure that you connect all outputs
of your DXi application during setup, if you wish to use more than one output during
mixing. If you only connect the first audio output, you will save sys tem resources. However, make sure to manually set the output in the Out pop-up for the program slot in
HALion Symphonic Orchestra to this output, otherwise you may not hear anything.
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6. Clicking the “Connection State” button in the Synth Rack will activate/
deactivate HALion Symphonic Orchestra. By default this is automatically activated when DXi SoftSynths are loaded.
7. Double click on the “HALion Symphonic Orchestra” entry or click the
“Synth Properties” button in the toolbar of the Synth Rack to open the
HALion Symphonic Orchestra window.
The Synth Properties button in the Synth Rack window.
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8. In SONAR, select the previously created MIDI track “HALion Symphonic Orchestra”. HALion Symphonic Orchestra will now receive
MIDI data from the selected track. Make sure that the MIDI track input
is set to All or to the MIDI track to which your keyboard is connected.
HALion Symphonic Orchestra receives MIDI data in 16 channel multi-mode. It is therefore not necessary to assign a specific MIDI receive channel in HALion Symphonic Orchestra. However, you should make sure that the currently selected SONAR track is set
to the MIDI channel on which HALion Symphonic Orchestra is to receive MIDI data.
When set, you are ready to load programs and start using HALion
Symphonic Orchestra!
Using HALion Symphonic Orchestra in an AU compatible
application
You can use HALion Symphonic Orchestra in an AU host application
(e.g. Logic).
The HALion Symphonic Orchestra AU version is installed in your AU
plugins folder and lets HALion Symphonic Orchestra work in an AU
environment – without any performance loss or incompatibilities.
For Logic Pro 7 proceed as follows:
1. Open the Track Mixer and choose the desired Instrument channel.
2. [Command]-click the I/O field and, in the pop-up menu that appears,
choose either Multi-Channel or Stereo.
3. In the submenu that appears, select All Instruments and then HALion
Symphonic Orchestra.
HALion Symphonic Orchestra is now loaded as an AU instrument.
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HALion Symphonic Orchestra stand-alone and ReWire
HALion Symphonic Orchestra can be used as a stand-alone application, independently of any host application. This makes it possible to
use HALion Symphonic Orchestra in sequencer applications that do
not support one of the provided plug-in formats of HALion Symphonic
Orchestra (i.e. VST, DXi and AU), but allow for data exchange using
ReWire.
ReWire2 is a special protocol for streaming audio and MIDI data between two computer applications. When using ReWire, the order in
which you launch and quit the two programs is very important, as the
first audio application launched will capture the audio card resources.
Proceed as follows:
1. First, launch the sequencer application you wish to use (e.g. Ableton
Live, ProTools).
If your sequencer supports ReWire, it will provide a way to assign audio and MIDI
channels for the exchange of data. See the documentation of your sequencer application for details.
2. Now, launch HALion Symphonic Orchestra as a stand-alone application.
You can launch the program just like any other application on your computer through
the Start menu or desktop icon (Win) or by double-clicking the application symbol in
the Applications folder (Mac). You can also double-click the HALion Symphonic Orchestra program file in the installation folder.
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When you are using a Mac, note that after installation of HALion Symphonic Orchestra you have to launch the program in stand-alone mode
once to activate the ReWire functionality.
When you now play a sample with HALion Symphonic Orchestra, the
sound is streamed via ReWire to the assigned mixer channels in your
host.
Note that you are now running two completely separate applications.
When you save your sequencer project, this will include the overall
channel and bus configuration, but none of the settings in HALion
Symphonic Orchestra! To retain your HALion Symphonic Orchestra
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settings, choose the Save Bank command (in HALion Symphonic Orchestra either from the File menu or from the context menu). You may
want to choose a file name that indicates that the file contains settings
created for a particular sequencer project.
Similarly, when you re-open a project in your sequencer application
and have launched HALion Symphonic Orchestra, use the Load Bank
command in HALion Symphonic Orchestra to reload the HALion
Symphonic Orchestra settings pertaining to this particular project.
The Preferences dialog
When running HALion Symphonic Orchestra as a stand-alone application, you will find a Preferences item in the File menu in the top left
corner of the application window (Win) or in the HALion Symphonic
Orchestra menu in the top left of the display (Mac). When selected, a
dialog with a number of options opens.
• This dialog is opened automatically when you launch HALion Symphonic Orchestra as a stand-alone application for the first time.
• Select an audio card driver from the ASIO Device pop-up.
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• In the table below the ASIO device pop-up, click one of the entries in
the ASIO Output column to change the assignment of virtual outputs
of your VST Instrument to the physical outputs on your audio hardware.
Click the ASIO Control Panel button to open a dialog with advanced settings for your
ASIO device.
• When the “Enable Hybrid Rewire Mode (requires restart!)” option is
activated (it is deactivated by default), you will directly access the system MIDI ports while in ReWire slave mode. Incoming MIDI data from
the selected system port will be merged with the MIDI input from the
host sequencer received via ReWire.
Note that when you change this setting you must restart HALion Symphonic Orchestra
in stand-alone mode for the change to take effect.
• Use the MIDI Input pop-up to specify a MIDI input. Click the Reset
MIDI button to reset all MIDI controllers.
Clicking Reset MIDI is similar to pressing the Panic button on a MIDI keyboard.
• The Tempo and Time Signature fields provide HALion Symphonic Orchestra with tempo and time signature information.
In stand-alone mode, such information is not available from a host application.
The other items on the File menu (Save/Load Bank and Save/Load
Program) are the same as on the VSTi’s context menu.
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HALion Symphonic Orchestra details
About programs, banks and .hsb files
HALion Symphonic Orchestra plays back the samples of the content
files supplied with your HALion Symphonic Orchestra DVDs. The
content files are saved as HALion Sound Bank (.hsb) files. To play the
content, HALion Symphonic Orchestra provides 16 so-called “program slots” which are used to access “programs”. The idea behind
programs is outlined below:
• A Program file (.fxp) can be loaded into one of the 16 program slots. A
program can contain any number of samples and all associated parameter settings.
To load a .fxp file, use the Load Program option, either from the pop-up menu opened
by clicking the down-arrow of the program slot, or from the global context menu. You
can also save changes made to a loaded program by using the Save Program option in
the global context menu.
• When selecting the Load Program option, the loaded program will
replace any program previously loaded in the current program slot.
• A Program Bank is used to load/save a particular program configuration.
If you want to save the current settings of HALion Symphonic Orchestra, including all
programs and program settings currently loaded, select the Save Bank option from the
global context menu.
• Program files and program bank files are lists of refere nces to sample
files, but do not contain these samples. The .hsb files, however, are
“containers”, they contain both the programs and the samples referenced by these programs.
A .hsb file can contain up to 128 program files, which in turn can reference any number
or samples.
• You cannot load a .hsb file directly. HALion Symphonic Orchestra
needs to know the location of the .hsb file on your hard disk and then
displays the programs contained in a located .hsb file in the list of programs.
See page 28 for a description of the Locate Content function. By selecting a program
from the list in the Load Program pop-up menu it is loaded into the current program slot.
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The 16 program slots
A program is loaded into one of the 16 program slots of HALio n Sym phonic Orchestra.
The first program slot in HALion Symphonic Orchestra.
The 16 program slots in HALion Symphonic Orchestra provide a
number of settings.
Column Description
Ins. Click here to select the corresponding program slot.
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Category The two category pop-ups are used as fi lter criteria when browsing for a
Program Click on the arrow to open the Load Program pop-up menu. In the pop-
Ch This pop-up menu allows you to select a MIDI channel for each program
Vol To change the volume setting for a program slot, right- click (Win)/[Ctrl]-
Pan To change the panorama setting for a program slot, click in this field. A
Out Clicking in the “Out” column for a channel slot opens the Ou tput pop-
particular program: when you want to load a new program into a program slot, you can set the Category pop-ups to limit the number of programs displayed in the Load Program pop-up (see page 28).
up, select Load Program to load a new program and replace any currently loaded program. A file dialog is opened in which you can browse
for .fxp files. You can also select a program to load from the list below
the option. Note that the list is available only if you previously located a
.hsb file for this slot, and that only .fxp files contained in the located .hsb
file will be listed.
slot. By default, the 16 slots are logically assigned to the MIDI channels
1-16.
click (Mac) into the field and enter a new value. Note that this value affects the program slot, not the program.
slider appears allowing you to change the pan value. Note that this value
affects the program slot, not the program.
up menu. When set to Program, the output information saved in the
loaded program will be used to determine the output. You can also select a specific output from the pop-up. Note that the outputs have been
named to reflect the default output routing for each instrument group.
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Sound editing
HALion Symphonic Orchestra is not limited to playing back programs
“as they are” – you can change some of the program parameters and
thus change the sound.
The Bypass button, the FX LED, the Q controls and the Options button.
Q controls
In the sound edit section below the program slots you find eight quick
control knobs (or “Q controls”) allowing you to control up to eight parameters of the selected program.
To change a parameter setting, simply turn a knob. The label above
the knob displays the name of the controlled parameter, the label below shows the current parameter value.
Which parameters are controlled by each Q control is defined in the
.fxp file. So, when you load a different .fxp file, the parameter names
displayed above the Q controls may change.
Which parameters are assigned to the eight Q controls depends on the
selected program, i.e. the assignment data is saved in each .fxp file. You
cannot change the parameter assigned to a particular Q control.
The Bypass button and the FX LED
To the left of the Q controls you find a button and an LED referring to
the use of HALion effects. The LED will light up whenever effects are
used by the program. Use the Bypass button to bypass effects.
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Player Options
The Player Options dialog opens when you click on the “ball” icon to
the right of the Q controls.
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The Player Options dialog
The settings in the Player Options dialog affect the overall behavior of
HALion Symphonic Orchestra. These are described below.
Memory – Voice
The setting for Preload into RAM determines how many seconds of
each sample are loaded into RAM. It should be set depending on the
number of samples that you intend to use, and the amount of RAM you
want to dedicate to HALion Symphonic Orchestra. The less RAM you
assign, the more often HALion Symphonic Orchestra has to access the
disk.
The Voice Buffer value should be set to the number of voices used by
HALion Symphonic Orchestra. This setting determines th e number of
RAM buffers requested by HALion Symphonic Orchestra.
The Size field indicates the size of each voice buffer in kilobytes. The
bigger the buffer size, the less disk streaming is required. By default,
this is set to 96KB.
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This section also contains the Advanced Disk Streaming opti on which
is activated by default. The Advanced mode provides optimized disk
streaming and should be deactivated only to save computer resources
when you encounter playback problems.
See page 34 for more information on how to use these settings.
Editing
The Knob Modes determine the behavior of the HALion Symphonic
Orchestra knobs:
Option Description
Circular To move a knob, you click on it and drag in a circular motion, much like
turning a “real” knob. When you click anywhere along the knob’s edge, the
setting is immediately changed.
Relative
Circular
Linear To move a knob, you click on it and drag up or down (or left or right) with the
Works like the “Circular” option, but clicking does not automatically
change the setting. This means you can make adjustments to the current
setting by clicking anywhere on a knob and dragging, without having to
click on the exact current position.
mouse button pressed – as if the knob was a vertical (or horizontal) slider.
Crescendo Control
This controller is exclusive to Xfade and Xswitch programs.
In the Crescendo Control menu, you can select either of the four following controllers to control the crescendo function described later:
• Modulation wheel (CC 1)
• Breath Controller (CC 2)
• Foot Controller (CC 4)
•Expression (CC 11)
• To hear the Xfade programs, you have to move the set controller up after loading the program. This is because the controller’s initial value is 0.
This setting is global for all program slots in HALion Symphonic Orchestra. It is saved and loaded with your current project (when using HALion
Symphonic Orchestra as a plug-in) or with bank files.
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Quality
The Quality setting provides a way of balancing audio quality vs. conservation of computer power. The lower the Quality setting, the more
voices are available. As a trade-off, sound quality is reduced.
The Resampling Quality pop-up provides three options: Fast, Good,
and Best. Resampling removes anti-aliasing artifacts, which can be
especially noticeable in high frequency areas. The higher the setting,
the better these artifacts will be suppressed. The trade-off with higher
settings is heavier CPU load. For samples with little high frequency
content, you can safely use the “Fast” option. For programs that use
different samples for every key (so that there is no resampling) you
should always use the “Fast” option to conserve computing power.
This section also contains the Use Export Mode option. Some host
applications do not provide loaded plug-ins with information about
whether an audio mixdown (also called “bounce” or “freeze”) is made
in realtime or in offline mode, which may result in incomplete exports.
In such a case, activate the “Use export mode” option to allow for a
complete export. Don’t forget to deselect this option again after the
export is completed.
ENGLISH
The MIDI controller list
The MIDI controller list is a two-column table. The column on the left
shows entries for the eight Q control knobs, while the column on the
right lists MIDI controllers assigned to each of the Q control s. Clicking
in the MIDI controller column for a Q control entry opens a pop-up
menu where you can pick one of the 128 MIDI controllers. There is
also a “Not assigned” entry.
To assign a MIDI controller to a Q control so that you can remote control HALion Symphonic Orchestra using a connected MIDI device,
proceed as follows:
1. Click in the MIDI controller column for the corresponding Q control
and pick the desired MIDI controller.
For example, to remote control the first Q control knob using the modulation wheel on
your MIDI keyboard, select “1. Modulation” from the pop-up menu.
2. Switch on the Learn button and move the control of your MIDI device.
In our example, you should now move the modulation wheel.
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3. Switch off the Learn button.
Now the parameter assigned to the Quick Control is controlled by the selected slider
or knob on the remote device!
Show Content by Category
When you activate this option, all installed and located .hsb content
will be shown in the Load Program pop-up menu, sorted by categories.
When you deactivate this option, the Load Program pop-up shows the
located .hsb files as collapsed folders, and you can browse the complete content of each .hsb file by opening the corresponding folder.
If you don’t want to see all programs contained in a .hsb file, you can
still use the Category pop-ups in the program slot (see page 23).
About Content
This opens a window displaying information about the located content
(.hsb) files of HALion Symphonic Orchestra. Use the pop-up menu at
the top to select a .hsb file (you may also click one of the tabs at the
bottom of the window to display the information for the corresponding
.hsb). The window displays the name, short name, manufacturer, manufacturer web site, and the path of the selected file.
Locate Content
The Locate Content function is used to “show” HALion Symphonic
Orchestra where the .hsb files are stored. Once th e content has been
located, it is displayed as a list in the Load Program pop-up menu.
To use the Locate Content feature, proceed as follows:
1. In the Player Options dialog, select “Locate content…”.
A file dialog appears. By default, the function looks for .hsb files.
2. Locate and select the desired file(s) and click “Open”.
When you now open the Load Program pop-up menu, the programs contained in the
located .hsb files are displayed in the list and can be used in HALion Symphonic Orchestra.
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Note that when you install new content files (.hsb) on your hard disk, or
when you move installed content, or when you chose not to install the
content during installation of the program software, but copied it from
the DVDs at a later point in time, you MUST use Locate Content to make
this moved/new content available in HALion Symphonic Orchestra.
• When your content is located on an external hard drive, you may find
that switching off this external device will cause HALion Symphonic
Orchestra to loose all location information referring to this device.
Therefore, always make sure that an external drive with located content on it is up and
running before you launch HALion Symphonic Orchestra. Otherwise, you will have to
use Locate Content again.
Global controls
Master Tune/Volume settings/Voice number indicator
ENGLISH
Here you can set tune and volume globally for HALion Symphonic Orchestra. You can tune up/down in Hertz, and set the master volume
from silence up to +6dB. The Voices field dynamically displays the
number of voices currently used. The Steinberg logo in the bottom
right corner of this section provides an Internet link to the Steinberg
home page. An Internet connection and a suitable browser appli cation
are required for this to work.
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Global Commands context menu
You can open the Global Commands context menu by right-clicking
(Win)/[Ctrl]-clicking (Mac) on the background of HALion Symphonic
Orchestra. The Global commands menu provides the following options:
Parameter Description
Clear All… This will remove all loaded programs. A warning message
will be displayed.
Clear Current Program… This will remove the currently selected Program.
Load Bank… When you select this option, a standard file dialog will open
where you can select a .fxb file to load.
Save Bank… When you select this option, a standard file dialog will open
where you can enter a file name for the currently loaded pro-
gram bank.
Load Program… Use this option to select a program file (.fxp) to load into one
of the sixteen program slots.
Save Program… When you select this option, a standard file dialog will open
where you can enter a file name for the currently loaded pro-
gram.
Reload Samples
(from RAMSave)
Upgrade to HALion As owner of HALion Symphonic Orchestra you are entitled
Steinberg on the Web This submenu contains links to Steinberg’s home page, to
Help… This brings up the online help for HALion Symphonic Or-
Version History… This opens a document describing what is new in the cur-
IMSTA.org An Internet link to the IMSTA anti software-piracy website.
About Content… This opens a window displaying information about the lo-
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This option is available only if you previously unloaded sam-
ples from RAM using the RAMSave function (see page 33).
Use it to reload all samples that were unloaded.
to an online-upgrade to HALion. Select this option to open
the respective Steinberg web site.
the HALion and HALion Symphonic Orchestra web sites, to
a product upgrade page and to the user’s forum.
chestra (in .pdf format). To be able to read it, you need to
have Acrobat Reader installed, which is included on the pro-
gram DVD.
rent version of HALion Symphonic Orchestra.
cated content.
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