Steinberg Halion 5 Manual

							171
MIDI Editing and ControllersAutomation and Factory MIDI Controller Assignments
Restoring the Factory MIDI Controller Assignment
To restore the factory MIDI controller assignments, open the Options editor, and in the 
MIDI controller section, click “Reset to Factory”.
Automation and Factory MIDI Controller Assignments
The following parameters show the controller numbers and names of the default 
factory MIDI controller assignment.
*Only available if the corresponding AUX Send effect is loaded.
ÖThe assigned MIDI controller numbers are the same for all 64 slots. However, the MIDI 
controllers listen only to the MIDI channels of the corresponding slot.
ÖYou can use MIDI controllers inside the modulation matrix of a synth or sample layer, 
for example, to control the cutoff.
CC 121 Support
HALion can be controlled with the AI knob of Steinberg’s CC121 MIDI controller unit.
To change a parameter value, proceed as follows:
1.Move the mouse pointer over the control you want to change.
2.Turn the AI knob to set the value.
ÖThe AI knob only works on parameters that are automatable. This means, for example, 
that you cannot use the AI knob to change the parameters of the Options editor.
ParameterController numberName
Volume#07Volume
Pan#10Pan
Mute--
Solo--
Send FX 1*#91Effect 1 Depth
Send FX 2*#92Effect 2 Depth
Send FX 3*#93Effect 3 Depth
Send FX 4*#94Effect 4 Depth
Program QC 1#74Brightness
Program QC 2#71Harmonic Content
Program QC 3#73Attack Time
Program QC 4#72Release Time
Program QC 5#75Sound Controller #6
Program QC 6#76Sound Controller #7
Program QC 7#77Sound Controller #8
Program QC 8#78Sound Controller #9 
						

							172
Mixing and Routing
The Audio Bus Architecture
The audio signals of zones, layers, programs, and slots are managed via audio busses. 
The slots always have one dedicated bus while programs can have one or more audio 
busses that mix the audio signals from the layers and zones they contain. Layers do 
not have to have an audio bus. However, you can optionally create audio busses for 
layers at any time, for example to create a submix of the zones they contain. You can 
load insert effects on any of these audio busses, for example to process the audio of 
a single layer or a whole program. AUX busses allow you to use send effects with 
zones, layers, programs, and slots. Send effects can be shared between zones, layers, 
programs, and slots, but you can also add local AUX busses to use send effects for 
individual zones or layers. Zones do not have an audio bus of their own. Instead, their 
outputs are routed automatically to the next available audio bus. Any of the zones, 
audio busses, and AUX busses can be assigned freely to one of the stereo outputs or 
the surround output of the plug-in. For example, a zone output can be routed directly 
to an output bus, omitting any audio busses and their effects in between.
The Default Audio Signal Flow
Typically, programs are loaded into slots. Each slot is directly connected to an output 
bus. The audio busses from the program send their signals to the audio bus of the 
slot. A program can contain single or multiple zones or one or more layers. Layers can 
contain other layers, which can contain zones. The output of the zones is mixed to the 
audio busses of the layers of the next higher level or directly to the program.
ÖIf a layer has no audio bus, the zones in the layer are automatically routed to the next 
higher audio bus.
Audio Busses
Audio busses can be compared to channels in a mixer but with much more flexibility 
when it comes to mixing and routing possibilities. By definition, each slot has at least 
one audio bus that mixes the audio signals from the layers and zones they contain. 
Layers do not have an audio bus by default, but you can create audio busses for layers.
Apart from the routing and mixing possibilities, audio busses allow you to load insert 
effects for processing audio on that bus. Depending on how you set up the audio 
busses, you can load insert effects on single layers, the whole program or the slot. For 
example, you can process only the strings of a piano and strings layer sound with a 
chorus effect, and keep the piano unprocessed. You load insert effects into the effect 
slots of the channels in the Mixer.
In addition, audio busses allow you to route audio via sends to an AUX bus. This way, 
you can set up send effects, which can be shared among the layers, programs, and 
slots. You assign sends directly in the zones or with the effect slots of the channels 
displayed in the mixer. The sends have an adjustable level, allowing you to control the 
amount of the effect that is loaded on the AUX bus. 
						

							173
Mixing and RoutingThe Audio Bus Architecture
AUX Busses
You need an AUX bus to route individual audio signals from zones or audio busses to 
AUX effects. HALion provides four global AUX busses and four local AUX busses that 
you can add for individual layers. To set up an AUX effect, load an insert effect into 
one of the effect slots of the AUX bus. To hear the effect, raise the send level of a 
zone, route the output of a zone or your audio bus to the AUX bus, or set up a send in 
the effect rack of your audio bus.
The send levels control the amount of the effect that is loaded into the AUX bus. You 
can set up sends for each zone and audio bus separately.
By default, the output of an AUX bus is routed to the master output bus, but you can 
reassign its output to other output busses.
Zones
By definition, the outputs of zones are routed to the first audio bus of the next higher 
layer or the program. You can reassign the outputs of the zones to any master output.
Layers
To save processing power, audio busses for layers are optional. You can create them 
at any time in the Program Tree. By default, audio busses of layers route to the first 
audio bus of the next higher layer or the program. You can reassign the outputs of the 
audio busses of the layers to any master output.
Programs
By default, the audio busses of programs are routed to the audio bus of the slot 
holding the program. You can create additional audio busses, for example to create 
more individual outputs. You can reassign the outputs of the audio busses of the 
program to any master output.
Slots
A slot outputs its audio busses directly to the master outputs of the plug-in. Each slot 
has one audio bus. You can reassign the outputs of the audio busses of the slots to 
any plug-in output bus.
Editing Audio Busses
Creating Audio Busses
To create an audio bus and a corresponding Mixer channel, proceed as follows:
1.In the Program Tree, select the program or layer to which you want to add a bus.
2.Click the “Create New Bus” icon on the toolbar.
Changing the Output Assignment of an Audio Bus
To change the output assignment of an audio bus, open the Mixer and click “Show 
Depending Bus Channels”. In the Program Tree, select a layer, program, or slot with 
one or more audio busses. All relevant channels are shown in the Mixer. Additional 
audio busses are displayed at the right of the first audio bus. In the Mixer, click on the 
output of the audio bus that you want to edit and select an output from the pop-up 
menu.
ÖThe output busses of the plug-in can be activated in the host sequencer or the 
Preferences dialog of the standalone version.
Changing the Output Assignment of an AUX Bus
1.In the Mixer, click the “Show AUX busses” button on the toolbar.
2.Click on the output selector of the AUX bus you want to edit and select an output 
bus from the pop-up menu. 
						

							174
Mixing and RoutingThe Audio Bus Architecture
Changing the Output Assignments of Zones
1.Select the zones in the Program Tree.
2.Open the Sound editor, show the Amplifier section and open the AUX tab.
3.From the Output pop-up menu, select a plug-in output or AUX bus.
ÖIn addition, you can use the send level knobs of the zones to route individual audio 
signals to insert effects on AUX busses.
Automatic Bus Width Adaptation
HALion is constantly monitoring the width of all busses in the signal path and adapts 
to the required width automatically. This can be the case when adding a surround 
sample zone to a layer that only contains stereo samples so far. In this case, the layer 
bus and all following busses are set to surround to allow a correct routing. The stereo 
sample will still be routed correctly to channel one and two.
Another way to change the bus width in the middle of the signal path is to add a 
surround panner to one of the insert effect slots of a stereo bus. In this case, the 
output of the bus changes from stereo to surround and forces following busses to do 
the same.
ÖAUX busses change their bus width, too, if they receive signals from surround 
sources.
Output busses cannot change their bus width automatically, because they are usually 
connected to a hardware device. Therefore, the routing to the plug-in output busses 
has to be changed manually. Make sure that surround slots are routed to the surround 
output and that stereo busses are routed to one of the stereo outputs.
In case your routing is not set up correctly, the corresponding channels show a red 
warning icon to indicate that the width of two or more busses does not fit and you 
loose audio channels.
ÖIn some cases it might be necessary to connect surround busses to stereo outputs. 
To avoid losing any of the audio channels, you can add the Downmix effect to one of 
the inserts. This reduces the bus width to stereo.
Working With Local AUX Busses
In addition to the 4 global AUX busses, you can also create local AUX busses for 
layers. This allows you to integrate typical AUX effects like reverb or delay into a 
program, for example. If you add a local AUX bus for a layer, the signal routing for the 
layer automatically changes from the global AUX bus to the new local bus.
AUX busses can be distinguished in the Program Tree by their green bus icon. A small 
number inside the icon indicates the specific AUX bus. AUX send effects that were 
added to a normal bus show a red effects icon with the same small numbers. This 
way, you can identify which AUX busses and sends are used even when the names 
have been modified.
Adding a Local AUX Bus
1.In the Program Tree, select the layer for which you want to add the bus.
2.Click the Add Bus button on the toolbar and select one of the four AUX busses.
Removing a Local AUX Bus
•To remove a local AUX bus, select it in the Program Tree and press [Delete] or 
[Backspace] or use the Delete command on the context menu.
When you remove a local AUX bus, all sends that were routed to it are sent to the 
global AUX busses. 
						

							175
Mixing and RoutingThe HALion Mixer
Automatic Output Connection
HALion allows you to select outputs in many places. You can find output selectors in 
zones, layer busses, AUX busses, and slots. Each output can be freely named and the 
output selectors reflect these names.
Different programs on different slots may contain output configurations that are not 
available, because busses with the required names are not present in a HALion multi.
In case that connections cannot be established due to different names, a dialog 
opens showing all pending busses. For each missing bus you can select another bus 
to be used instead.
Pending busses can also occur when loading layers into programs. In case a layer does 
not find the required busses, the same dialog opens and you can select another bus.
If an assigned output bus is deactivated in the host, HALion shows a red warning icon 
on the output channel and the Mixer channels that are connected to it. Nevertheless, 
you will still be able to hear the signal, because all signals are deviated to the master 
bus in the background. However, all output selectors remain on their current setting 
and you can reestablish the connections later, by activating the outputs in your host.
Output Configurations in Different Hosts
Apple Logic 9
In general, HALion provides 32 stereo and one surround output connecting with the 
host application or a hardware device in standalone. In most applications all of them 
are available. However, Logic 9 only allows for 16 outputs for a single plug-in. When 
opening an instance of HALion, you can choose one of four output configurations: 
Stereo, 5.1-Surround, Multi-Output (1x5.1, 15xStereo), Multi-Output (16xStereo).
Ableton
Ableton Live 8 does not support surround busses.
Sonar 9
Sonar 9 allows to activate all outputs either in mono or stereo. For mono, you get 64 
channels for the 32 HALion stereo channels plus six channels for the surround bus. If 
the stereo outputs are activated, Sonar uses 32 stereo channels plus three stereo 
channels for the surround bus.
The HALion Mixer
The HALion Mixer editor manages all busses that are available in a HALion instance. 
These are the 32 stereo output busses plus one surround bus, the 64 slot busses, the 
4 AUX busses and a dynamic number of program and layer busses depending on the 
actual program architecture.
Each bus can be controlled using a dedicated mixer channel, featuring functions like 
level, pan, mute, solo, and up to eight insert/send effects.
The Mixer editor provides a toolbar that allows you to specify which type of busses 
you want to see at a given time. 
						

							176
Mixing and RoutingThe HALion Mixer
The Toolbar Options
Displaying Different Mixer Channels
To define which mixer channels to display, click one of the show buttons.
Expanding and Collapsing all Mixer Channels
•To expand all mixer channels at once, click the right arrow button.
Expanded mixer channels provide direct access to the insert/send effects.
•To collapse all mixer channels at once, click the left arrow button.
Collapsed mixer channels only show the most important controls like level, pan, 
solo, mute, and a level meter.
Showing Empty Slot Channels
If set to “Show Slot Bus Channels”, the Mixer editor only shows channels that are 
currently in use by programs loaded into the corresponding slots. To show all empty 
slot channels as well, activate the “Show Empty Slots” button.
ÖThis button is also available in the Slot Rack and the MIDI editor.
Hiding Deactivated Output Channels
If set to “Show Output Bus Channels”, the Mixer editor shows all output busses. 
Deactivated outputs are grayed out. To gain a better overview about which channels 
are currently used, activate the “Hide Inactive Outputs” button.
OptionDescription
SlotShows all slot channels.
AUXShows the AUX channels.
OutputShows all output channels.
Child bussesShows all the busses that can be found inside the selected 
program or layer hierarchy.
Depending bussesShows all busses that are in use for the selected program or 
layer (including AUX busses).
Slot
Output
Depending busses
AUXChild busses 
						

							177
Mixing and RoutingThe HALion Mixer
The Mixer Channel Strip Controls
All busses have a similar mixer channel, with a few exceptions. For example, the output 
busses do not have an output pop-up menu. The various types of channels are using 
different label colors:
Mute
Mutes the bus.
Solo
Mutes all other busses and lets you hear the solo bus only. You can put several 
channels into solo mode to hear all of them.
Level
The level fader allows you to adjust the volume of the bus. All busses allow an 
amplification of +12
 dB.
Pan
By default, in the stereo panorama, all stereo mixer channels provide a stereo panner 
that allows you to define the position of the sound in the stereo field. When working 
with surround busses, the stereo pan is disabled, but you can use a surround panner 
to pan the stereo signals in the surround field. This can be achieved by adding a 
Surround Panner to one of the insert slots. The mixer channel shows a small version of 
the Surround Panner, which can be used to remote-control the inserted surround 
panner. Additionally, the Surround Panner provides a level fader for the LFE channel.
ÖFor more detailed editing, use the Sound editor of the Surround Panner.
Meter
The meters of a mixer channel show the output level of the bus. Depending on the 
number of audio channels of the bus, the number of meters is adapted accordingly. 
Stereo busses have two channel meters, surround channels have six.
ChannelColor
SlotYellow
ProgramBlue
LayerGray
OutputRed
AUXGreen 
						

							178
Mixing and RoutingThe HALion Mixer
Peak Level
The peak level meter indicates the highest level on the bus in dB. To reset, click the 
peak level.
Channel Label
By default, the channel label shows the name of the bus. Double-click the label to 
enter a name.
Output
Each channel can be routed to various busses. Click the output pop-up menu and 
select an output.
The output busses represent the audio interface to the host application or the audio 
hardware. Therefore, these channels cannot be routed freely and do not have an 
output pop-up menu.
You can route a surround slot bus to one of the stereo output busses. In this case only 
the first two channels are connected. To make you aware that the number of channels 
do not match, HALion displays a warning icon in the top of the mixer channels (slot 
and output). You can decide whether to add a downmix effect to the output bus, to 
reroute the slot to the surround output bus, or to leave it as it is.
Insert Effects
Each channel can load up to eight insert effects. To display the inserts, the channel 
strip needs to be expanded.
Each insert can either be a classical insert effect like a chorus or a delay, or it can load 
one of the 4 AUX send effects that allow you to send the signal to the AUX busses.
When an AUX send effect is loaded, the insert slot adds a small level fader below. 
Use this fader to set the level that is send to the AUX bus.
ÖYou cannot use send effects on AUX and output busses.
Pre-Fader Send Effects
By default, send levels are influenced by the level of the bus. If you want to adjust the 
send level independently from the bus level you can set the send to pre-fader. This 
can be done by activating the corresponding button to the left of the level fader.
Changing the Order of Effects
You can change the order of effects by dragging them to another position. When 
dropping a slot directly onto another slot, they exchange their positions.
The Program Tree synchronizes directly with the Mixer. When adding an effect on a 
bus in the Program Tree, this effect is also shown in the Mixer channel. The first 8 
effects are visible in the Mixer. 
						

							179
Auron
Introduction
The Auron synth uses granular synthesis with up to eight grain streams to produce 
oscillator waveforms. With the integrated arpeggiator and step sequencer, you can 
create anything from sequencer lines to stepped chords.
The granular oscillator is followed by a multi-mode filter that offers a large number of 
different filter shapes. The filter can be modulated by modulation sources like the 
keyboard, velocity, and LFO, but also by the controller lanes of the step sequencer, for 
example.
Auron includes two LFOs for pitch, grain position, formant, and duration as well as 
filter modulations. The first LFO can be synchronized to the tempo of the host 
application and allows for modulations of grain position, formant and duration, as well 
as filter cutoff. The second LFO is controlled by the modulation wheel and is used to 
create a vibrato.
For the grain synthesizer, three pages are available: Osc, Mod, and Voice. To open a 
page, click the corresponding button in the upper left of the Auron panel.
Selecting Samples
•To select a sample, click the selector in the upper left of the page and choose a 
sample from the menu. 
						

							180
AuronThe Osc Page
The Osc Page
On this page, you can make settings for the grain oscillator.
Position
You can set the playback position of the grains manually. For example, at a setting of 
50
 %, the playback position is in the middle of the sample. The playback position is 
updated with every new grain.
Position Random
Selects a random playback position within a certain range around the current position. 
At a setting of 100
 %, the playback position jumps to a random position between the 
start and the end of the sample. 
Duration
Increases the grain period by a factor ranging from 1 to 1000. 
For very short grains, the sound gets the pitch of the frequency at which the grains 
repeat. For grains longer than 30
 ms, the sound gets the pitch of the original sample. 
Duration Random
The random grain duration is calculated at the start of a new grain.
KF (Key Follow)
Determines how the grain duration changes with the notes you play. It is mostly used 
with short durations. Longer durations sound with the original pitch of the sample and 
therefore do not need to follow the keyboard. 
Pitch
Here, you can specify an interval between -12 and +12 semitones. The grains are 
played randomly at their original pitch, or are transposed according to the pitch 
interval. This parameter is suited for longer grain durations.
Pitch Random
Sets the random pitch range in semitones and cents. At a setting of +12, the random 
pitch values lie between -12 and +12 semitones. This can be used to enrich the sound.
Level
Adjusts the overall level of the grain oscillator. When you increase the number of 
grains, it might become necessary to lower the oscillator level. If you play back a very 
quiet portion of a sample, you can use this control to raise the level.
Level Random
Sets a random level for each new grain. At a setting of 100 %, the level varies between 
a factor of 0 and 2 of the original level.
Width
Narrows the stereo width of the grain oscillator. It is applied after the grain oscillator 
and does not affect the stereo width of the actual sample. At a setting of 0
 %, the 
output of the grain oscillator is monophonic.
Gain
Allows you to automatically adjust the level of grains using quieter sample parts. This 
way, you get a more homogenous signal and you can use a quiet part of a sample as 
source.