Steinberg Halion 3 Manual
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Editing Layers Oscillator Tab 41 OSC 1/2/3 Type The oscillator type defines the basic sound character of the oscillator. This pop- up menu lists the waveforms (sine, triangle, saw, or square), followed by the algorithm (PWM, Sync, CM, or XOR). The combination of waveform and algorithm controls the sound of the oscillator. The following algorithms are available: •PWM (pulse width modulation) is only supported by the square waveform. The Waveform parameter sets the ratio between the high and low value of the square wave. A setting of 50 % produces a pure square wave. With settings below or above 50 %, the oscillator produces rectangular waves. •Sync provides different hard-sync oscillators, where each is a combination of a master and slave oscillator. The wave shape of the slave oscillator (sine, triangle, saw, or square) is reset with each full wave cycle of the master oscillator. This means that a single oscillator can produce a rich sync-sound without using other oscillators as slave or master. The Waveform parameter adjusts the pitch of the slave oscillator, producing the typical sync sound. •CM (cross modulation) provides a combination of two oscillators where a master oscillator is modulating the pitch of a slave oscillator (sine, triangle, saw, or square) at the rate of the audio sample. The Waveform parameter adjusts the pitch ratio between slave and master oscillator, resulting in a sound close to frequency modulation. •XOR (exclusive OR) compares two square waveforms with an XOR operation. Depending on the outcome of the XOR operation, the waveform shape of a third oscillator (sine, triangle, saw, or square) is reset. The Waveform parameter adjusts the pitch ratio of the square oscillators resulting in a sound close to ring modulation of the third oscillator. Osc 1/2/3 Waveform Modifies the sound of the oscillator algorithm. Its effect depends on the selected oscillator type. NOTE •Except for PWM, all algorithms support the sine, triangle, saw, and square wave shapes. PWM supports only the square wave shape. •The Waveform parameter for the three main oscillators can be assigned as modulation destinations in the modulation matrix. OSC 1/2/3 Octave Adjusts the pitch in octave steps.
Editing Layers Oscillator Tab 42OSC 1/2/3 Coarse Adjusts the pitch in semitone steps. OSC 1/2/3 Fine Adjusts the pitch in cent steps. This allows you to fine-tune the oscillator sound. OSC 1/2/3 Level Adjusts the output level of the oscillator. NOTE Waveform, pitch, and level of oscillator 1, 2, and 3 can be modulated separately in the modulation matrix. Multi-Oscillator Mode For the three main oscillators, you can activate Multi-Oscillator mode. This allows you to create a richer sound by producing up to eight oscillators simultaneously. •To activate Multi-Oscillator mode, activate the MO button. If Multi-Oscillator mode is activated, you can click the edit button to show the corresponding parameters. NOTE If Multi-Oscillator mode is active for an oscillator, you can modulate the corresponding parameters in the modulation matrix. Multi Oscillator Number, Detune, and Spread Each of the main oscillators offers these multi-oscillator functions. They allow you to create a richer sound by producing up to eight oscillators simultaneously. •Number determines the number of oscillators that play back simultaneously. You can also set fractions of numbers. For example, with a setting of 2.5, you hear two oscillators at full level and a third one at half level. •Detune detunes the oscillators. •Spread narrows or widens the stereo panorama. With a setting of 0 %, you create a mono signal, and with 100 %, you create a stereo signal. Sub Oscillator The pitch of the sub oscillator is always one octave lower than the overall pitch. The overall pitch is determined by the Octave setting. On/Off Activates/Deactivates the sub oscillator. Type The wave shape of the sub oscillator. You can choose between Sine, Triangle, Saw, Square, Pulse Wide, and Pulse Narrow.
Editing Layers Filter Tab 43Level Adjusts the output level of the sub oscillator. Ring Modulator Ring modulation produces sums and differences between the frequencies of two signals. Ring Modulation Source 1/Ring Modulation Source 2 Determines the sources to be ring modulated. You can select OSC 1 or Sub as Source 1, and OSC 2 or OSC 3 as Source 2. NOTE Make sure that the corresponding oscillators are activated when you select them. Otherwise, no sound is heard. Ring Modulation Level Adjusts the output level of the ring modulation. Noise Generator The Noise parameter is used for non-pitched sounds. In addition to standard white and pink noise, there are also band-pass filtered versions of white and pink noise. Noise Type The sound color of the noise. You can choose between standard and band-pass filtered (BPF) versions of white and pink noise. Noise Level Adjusts the output level of the noise generator. Filter Tab Filter Mode The buttons on the left determine the overall filter structure. •Single Filter uses one filter with one selectable filter shape. •Dual Filter Serial uses two separate filters connected in series. You can select the filter shapes for each filter independently. The parameters Cutoff and Resonance control both filters simultaneously. However, you can offset these parameters for the second filter with the parameters CF Offset and Res Offset.
Editing Layers Filter Tab 44•Dual Filter Parallel uses two separate filters connected in parallel. You can select the filter shapes for each filter independently. The parameters Cutoff and Resonance control both filters simultaneously. However, you can offset these parameters for the second filter with the parameters CF Offset and Res Offset. •Morph 2 morphs between filter shape A and B. Adjust the morphing with the Morph Y parameter. •Morph 4 morphs sequentially from filter shape A to D. Adjust the morphing with the Morph Y parameter. •Morph XY morphs freely between the filter shapes A, B, C, and D. Adjust the morphing with the Morph X and Morph Y parameters. Filter Type Specifies the basic sound character of the filter. •Off deactivates the filter section. •Classic offers 24 filter shapes with resonance. •Tube Drive adds warm, tube-like distortion. You can set the amount of tube drive with the Distortion parameter. •Hard Clip adds bright, transistor-like distortion. You can set the amount of hard clipping with the Distortion parameter. •Bit Red (Bit Reduction) adds digital distortion by means of quantization noise. You can adjust the bit reduction with the Distortion parameter. •Rate Red adds digital distortion by means of aliasing. You can adjust the rate reduction with the Distortion parameter. •Rate Red KF adds digital distortion by means of aliasing. In addition, Key Follow is used. The rate reduction follows the keyboard, so the higher you play, the higher the sample rate. •HALion 3 offers the five legacy filter shapes from HALion 3. •Waldorf offers 13 filter shapes, including two comb filters. •Eco is a performance-optimized low-pass filter without Resonance or Distortion parameters. It allows you to adapt the brilliance of samples for different velocity layers of the same key, for example. NOTE Filters without distortion use less processing power. Filter Shape •LP24, 18, 12, and 6 are low-pass filters with 24, 18, 12, and 6 dB/oct. Frequencies above the cutoff are attenuated. •BP12 and BP24 are band-pass filters with 12 and 24 dB/oct. Frequencies below and above the cutoff are attenuated. •HP6+LP18 and HP6+LP12 are combinations of a high-pass filter with 6 dB/ oct and a low-pass filter with 18 and 12 dB/oct, respectively (asymmetric band-pass filter). Frequencies below and above the cutoff are attenuated. Attenuation is more pronounced for the frequencies above the cutoff.
Editing Layers Filter Tab 45•HP12+LP6 and HP18+LP6 are combinations of a high-pass filter with 12 and 18 dB/oct and a low-pass filter with 6 dB/oct (asymmetric band-pass filter). Frequencies below and above the cutoff are attenuated. Attenuation is more pronounced for the frequencies below the cutoff. •HP24, 18, 12, and 6 are high-pass filters with 24, 18, 12, and 6 dB/oct. Frequencies below the cutoff are attenuated. •BR12 and BR24 are band-reject filters with 12 and 24 dB/oct. Frequencies around the cutoff are attenuated. •BR12+LP6 and BR12+LP12 are combinations of a band-reject filter with 12 dB/oct and a low-pass filter with 6 and 12 dB/oct, respectively. Frequencies around and above the cutoff are attenuated. •BP12+BR12 is a band-pass filter with 12 dB/oct plus a band-reject filter with 12 dB/oct. Frequencies below, above, and around the cutoff are attenuated. •HP6+BR12 and HP12+BR12 are combinations of a high-pass filter with 6 and 12 dB/oct and a band-reject filter with 12 dB/oct. Frequencies below and around the cutoff are attenuated. •AP is an all-pass filter with 18 dB/oct. Frequencies around the cutoff are attenuated. •AP+LP6 is an all-pass filter with 18 dB/oct plus a low-pass filter with 6 dB/ oct. Frequencies around and above the cutoff are attenuated. •HP6+AP is a high-pass filter with 6 dB/oct plus an all-pass filter with 18 dB/oct. Frequencies around and below the cutoff are attenuated. X/Y Control Allows you to adjust two parameters simultaneously. •For the filter types Single, Dual Serial, and Dual Parallel, the X/Y control adjusts the cutoff frequency on the horizontal axis and the resonance on the vertical axis. •For the filter types Morph 2 and Morph 4, the X/Y control adjusts the morphing between the filter shapes on the vertical axis. The horizontal axis adjusts the cutoff frequency. •For Morph XY, the X/Y control adjusts the morphing between the filter shapes AD and BC on the horizontal axis, and AB and DC on the vertical axis. Cutoff Controls the cutoff frequency of the filter. Resonance Emphasizes the frequencies around the cutoff. At higher settings, the filter self- oscillates, which results in a ringing tone. Distortion Adds distortion to the signal. The effect depends largely on the selected filter type. At higher settings, it creates a very intense distortion effect.
Editing Layers Amplifier Tab 46NOTE This parameter is only available for the filter types Tube Drive, Hard Clip, Bit Red, Rate Red, and Rate Red KF. CF Offset For the dual filters, this parameter allows you to offset the cutoff frequency of the second filter, that is, of filter shape B. Res Offset For the dual filters, this parameter allows you to offset the resonance of the second filter, that is, of filter shape B. Cutoff Velocity Controls the cutoff modulation from velocity. Envelope Amount Controls the cutoff modulation from the filter envelope. Cutoff Key Follow Adjusts the cutoff modulation using the note number. Increase this parameter to raise the cutoff with higher notes. At 100 %, the cutoff follows the played pitch exactly. Center Key Specifies the MIDI note that is used as the central position for the Key Follow function. Amplifier Tab Level Controls the overall volume of the sound. Level Key Follow Allows you to control the volume depending on the note pitch. Positive values mean that the volume is higher the higher the notes you play. With negative values, the volume decreases the higher the notes you play. Center Key Specifies the MIDI note that is used as the center position for Level Key Follow. Pan Determines the position of the sound in the stereo panorama. At a setting of -100 %, the sound is panned hard left, and at +100 %, it is panned hard right.
Editing Layers Amplifier Tab 47Mode With this option you can specify how the loudness changes across the stereo panorama. •If this parameter is set to 0 dB, it works like a balance control. Setting the pan control towards the left fades out the right channel and vice versa. At the center position, the loudness is not cut. •If this parameter is set to -3 dB, the option uses the cosine/sine pan law. The loudness is cut by -3 dB at the center position, but the energy is preserved when moving the source signal across the stereo panorama. The -3 dB option sounds more natural. The transition from hard left to hard right sounds much smoother than with the 0 dB or the -6 dB setting. •If this parameter is set to -6 dB, this option uses the linear pan law. The loudness is cut by -6 dB at the center position, and the energy is not preserved when moving the source signal across the stereo panorama. The -6 dB option sounds more synthetic. The transition from hard left to hard right sounds more abrupt than with the -3 dB setting. •If this parameter is set to Off, no panning is applied. Random Pan Allows you to offset the pan position randomly with each played note. Higher values cause stronger variations. At a setting of 100 %, the random offsets can vary from fully left to fully right. Alternate Pan Allows you to alternate the pan position each time that you play a note. To start panning on the left, use negative values. Use positive values to begin on the right. At a setting of +100 %, the first note plays hard right, the second note hard left, and so on. Reset The initial pan position is set once when HALion Sonic is loaded. After that, each note that you play is counted to determine the next pan position. To reset this counter, click the Reset button. Pan Key Follow Allows you to adjust the pan modulation via the MIDI note number. Set this parameter to positive values to offset the pan position towards the right for notes above, and towards the left for notes below the center key. Use negative values to offset the pan position towards the left for notes above, and towards the right for notes below the center key. At the maximum setting of +200 %, the pan position moves from hard left to hard right within two octaves: Fully left is reached one octave below and fully right is reached one octave above the center key. Center Key Specifies the MIDI note that is used as the center position for Pan Key Follow.
Editing Layers Envelopes 48Additional Parameters for Drum and Loop Layers One Shot If this button is activated, any MIDI note-off messages are ignored. The release segments of the envelopes is not played. Instead, the envelopes play until the sustain is reached and remain on that level for as long as the sample plays back. Any loop settings of the sample are ignored. Reverse If this button is activated, the sample is played in reverse. Any loop settings the sample may contain are ignored. Envelopes On the Edit page, you can edit the pitch (P), filter (F), amp (A), and user (U) envelopes. Each of these is a multi-segment envelope with up to 128 nodes. The nodes specify the overall shape of the envelope. The amp, filter, and pitch envelopes are pre-assigned to the amplitude, the filter cutoff frequency, and the pitch of the layer. The user envelope is freely assignable. All envelopes can be used as sources in the modulation matrix. •Click P to display the parameters of the pitch envelope. The pitch envelope modulates the pitch over time. The pitch envelope is bipolar, which means it allows for negative and positive values to bend the pitch. •Click F to display the parameters of the filter envelope. The filter envelope controls the cutoff frequency to shape the harmonic content over time. •Click A to display the parameters of the amplifier envelope. The amplifier envelope shapes the volume over time. •Click U to display the parameters of the freely assignable user envelope. The user envelope is bipolar, which means it allows for negative and positive values, for example, to modulate the pan from left to right. Mode Determines how the envelope is played back when it is triggered. •Select Sustain to play the envelope from the first node to the sustain node. The sustain level is held for as long as you play the note. When you release the note, the envelope continues with the stages following the sustain. This mode is ideal for looped samples.
Editing Layers Envelopes 49•Select Loop to play back the envelope from the first node to the loop nodes. Then, the loop is repeated for as long as the key is held. When you release the note, the envelope continues playing the stages that follow the sustain. This mode is ideal for adding motion to the sustain of the envelope. •Select One Shot to play the envelope from the first to the last node, even if you release the key. The envelope has no sustain stage. This mode is ideal for drum samples. •Select Sample Loop to preserve the natural attack of the sample. The decay of the envelope does not start until the sample has reached the sample loop start. If you set the second node to the maximum level and use the following nodes to shape the decay during the loop phase of the sample, the envelope only affects the loop phase. The attack of the envelope is still executed. NOTE Sample Loop mode is only available for sample layers. Sync Allows you to synchronize the envelopes to the tempo of your host application. Snap You can select a second envelope to be displayed in the background of the edited envelope. If Snap is activated and you change the position of nodes, they snap to the nodes of the envelope that is shown in the background. •To specify the envelope for the background, open the pop-up menu to the right of the Snap button and select an envelope from the list. Fill Allows you to add multiple envelope nodes after the selected nodes. Fixed •If Fixed is activated and you move selected nodes on the time axis, only the selected nodes are moved. •If Fixed is deactivated, all nodes that follow the edited nodes are also moved. Env Node Displays the focused envelope node. Time Specifies the period of time between two nodes. Depending on the Sync mode, the Time parameter is displayed in milliseconds and seconds, or in fractions of beats. Curve Allows you to adjust the curvature of the envelope curve between two nodes from linear to logarithmic or exponential behavior.
Editing Layers Envelopes 50Level Specifies the amplitude of the envelope at the position set by the Time parameter. Level Velocity Curve You can select the curve type to specify how the incoming velocity translates to the level of the envelope. The characteristic of each curve is displayed by a small icon. Level Velocity (Vel>Lev) Determines how the velocity affects the level of the envelope. The level of the envelope depends on two factors: the setting of this parameter and how hard you hit a key. Positive values increase the level of the envelope the harder you hit a key. Negative values decrease the level of the envelope the harder you hit a key. Time Velocity (Vel>Time) Adjusts the influence of velocity on the phases of the envelope. Positive values decrease the length of the phases for higher velocity values. Negative values increase the length of the phases for higher velocity values. Segments Here, you can select which phases of the envelope are affected by the Time Velocity parameter. •Attack – The velocity affects the attack only. •Attack + Decay – The velocity affects all phases until the sustain. •Decay – The velocity affects all phases until the sustain but without the attack. •Attack + Release – The velocity affects the attack and the release phases. •All – The velocity affects all phases. Time Key Follow, Center Key, and KeyF Rel (Key Follow Release) With the Time Key Follow and KeyF Rel parameters, you can scale the envelope phases across the keyboard. •Time Key Follow scales all times before the sustain node. •KeyF Rel scales all times after the sustain node, that is, the release phase of the envelope. The value that you specify for Center Key is used as the central position for the Time Key Follow and KeyF Rel functions. The envelope phases depend on the keyboard range in which the note is played and on the corresponding Time Key Follow setting: •Positive values decrease the phase lengths for notes above and increase the phase lengths for notes below the set Center Key, that is, the envelope becomes faster the higher the note you play.