Steinberg Halion Sonic 2 Manual

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HALiotron
Introduction
HALiotron emulates the sound generation of the pre-digital sampling era. Before the 
introduction of digital samplers, original instrument sounds were created by playing a 
pre-recorded tape for every key. HALiotron comes with seven different tapes from 
these days, which can be blended to create sound mixtures. In addition to its classic 
archetype, HALiotron offers a set of the most important synthesis parameters, 
allowing you to vary the shape of the sound. Furthermore, you can play sounds 
dynamically by controlling filter and amp via velocity.
The Main Page
Loop On/Off
Here, you can decide whether notes should be played using looped versions of the 
underlying samples or whether the notes should stop when the tape reaches its end.
Volume
Adjusts the main volume of the sound.
Speed
Adjusts the speed of the tape playback. When this is set to Slow, the samples are 
played back an octave lower.
Cutoff
Adjusts the cutoff frequency of the built-in low-pass filter.
Pitch
Adjusts the tuning of the sound. When combining several HALiotron presets, this can 
be used to make the sound richer.
A, B, C
Click here to select one of the included tapes for each knob position. Use the knob to 
blend seamlessly between the tapes.  
						

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HALiotronThe Filter Page
Attack
Adjusts the attack time of the sound.
Release
Adjusts the release time of the sound.
Velocity
Controls the influence of the velocity on the level of the sound.
Pitchbend Down/Up
Sets the range of the pitch modulation that is applied when you move the pitchbend 
wheel.
Coarse Tune
Here, you can adjust the sound in semitone steps. This allows you to play intervals 
with multiple layered HALiotron sounds.
The Filter Page
Resonance
Adjusts the resonance of the low-pass filter.
Velocity
Sets the influence of the velocity on the level of the sound.
Env Amount
Adjusts the influence of the filter envelope on the cutoff frequency.
KYB
Adjusts the cutoff modulation from the keyboard, that is, cutoff key follow.
Attack
Adjusts the attack time of the filter envelope.
Decay
Adjusts the decay time of filter envelope.
Sustain
Adjusts the sustain level of the filter envelope. 
						

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B-Box
Introduction
The B-Box provides you with a veritable drum computer inside HALion Sonic. It 
comes with 13 instrument lanes that can make use of up to 128 different sounds. You 
can set up your drum patterns, create variations, and modify each drum sound using a 
low-pass filter and several distortion modes.
The B-Box contains three pages: Pattern, Mix, and Aux. To open a page, click the 
corresponding button in the top section of the B-Box.
The Pattern Page
The Pattern page is where you create and edit the drum patterns. It gives you access 
to the pattern editor as well as to some of the most important sound parameters.
The pattern editor section allows you to create and edit your drum patterns.
Setting up the Pattern Length
•Specify the number of steps for the pattern by dragging the small triangle in the 
lower part of the pattern display. The maximum length is 16 steps.
Pattern length indicator 
						

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B-BoxThe Pattern Page
Selecting Sounds
•To select another drum sound for a lane, change the value in the Sound column. 
You can choose between up to 128 drum sounds, depending on the selected 
drum instrument.
•To preview a drum sound, click the trigger button to the right of the instrument name.
Adding Steps to the Pattern
•To add drum steps, click on the step fields in the pattern editor. 
•To set all steps at the same time, hold down [Shift] and click.
Setting up the Velocity
You can set each step to low, medium, or high velocity. 
•To set up the velocity for a step, click it and drag the mouse up or down, or use the 
mouse wheel.
To change the velocity of all steps in a lane, hold down [Shift] and use the mouse.
Playing Back the Pattern
•To play back the pattern, use the play button at the top of the B-Box.
An indicator below the step number shows which step is playing.
•To mute or solo individual lanes, click the mute and solo buttons of the lanes.
Setting Up the Drum Sounds
With the controls to the left and right of the pattern editor, you can make settings for 
the selected drum instrument. The following parameters are available:
Coarse
Adjusts the tuning of the instrument in steps of semitones.
Fine
Fine-tunes the instrument in steps of cents.
Pan
Adjusts the panorama position.
Cutoff
Adjusts the cutoff frequency for the instrument.
Resonance
Adjusts the filter resonance for the instrument.
Distortion Type
Here, you can select one of the four available distortion types: tube, hard clip, bit 
reduction, or rate reduction.
Distortion
Adjusts the amount of distortion for the instrument. 
						

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B-BoxThe Pattern Page
Level
Adjusts the level of the instrument.
Removing Steps
•To remove a step, click it.
•To remove all steps, hold down [Shift]-[Ctrl]/[Command] and click a step.
•To remove all steps in a pattern, click the Clear Pattern button below the pattern 
editor.
Modifying the Pattern
•To move all steps of the pattern one step to the left or right, click the “Shift Pattern 
Left/Right” buttons.
This is useful if you have created a pattern that sounds the way you want but does 
not start on the first beat, for example.
•To mirror the pattern around its middle step, click the Reverse button.
Loading Patterns
You can load individual patterns for the selected variation. 
Proceed as follows:
1.Below the Pattern editor, click in the Pattern field.
2.On the pop-up menu, select the pattern that you want to load.
ÖKeep in mind that each variation can have a different pattern.
Exporting Patterns
You can export your patterns as MIDI files using drag and drop.
Variations
Each program can contain up to eight variations that can be used to create different 
rhythm patterns, such as intros, fills, and endings, for example. 
•Click the variation buttons to switch between the available variations. 
To create a variation, proceed as follows:
1.Activate the variation button for which you want to create a pattern.
2.Edit the pattern.
The variation is saved and can be recalled by clicking its variation button.
Copying Variations
You can copy the settings of an existing variation to another variation button with the 
“Copy/Paste Drum Player Variation” commands from the context menu. 
						

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B-BoxThe Mix Page
ÖThe parameters Loop, Sync, Hold, Trigger Mode, Restart Mode, and Input Mode are 
not part of the variations.
Switching Variations With the Trigger Pads
Variations can be assigned to the trigger pads, allowing you to switch variations on 
the fly, see 
“The Trigger Pads” on page 174.
The Mix Page
On the Mix page, you can add effects to the patterns. This page contains the following 
settings:
Level
Adjusts the level of the instrument.
Pan
Adjusts the panorama position of the instrument.
Delay
Here, you can specify how much of the signal is sent to the delay effect.
Reverb
Here, you can specify how much of the signal is sent to the reverb effect.
Output
Here, you can select one of the available plug-in outputs.  
						

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B-BoxThe Mix Page
The AUX Page
On the Aux page, you can make global settings for the B-Box and the included 
effects. It is divided into two sections. The left section gives you access to the global 
performance settings, and the right section allows you to edit the integrated delay and 
reverb effects.
Performance
Loop
When this option is activated, the pattern plays in a loop.
Hold
Here, you can make the following settings:
Trigger Mode
The Trigger Mode determines at which moment B-Box changes the pattern when you 
select another variation. 
You can select one of the following options:
OptionDescription
OffThe pattern changes immediately when a key is released. The 
pattern stops immediately when all keys are released.
OnThe pattern plays to the end even when the keys are released. 
When the Loop option is activated, the pattern plays continuously in 
a cycle.
GatedThe pattern starts playback with the first key being played. It plays 
silently in the background even when the keys are released, and 
resumes playback at the current position when you press any of the 
keys again. This way, you can gate the playback of the pattern.
OptionDescription
ImmediatelyThe pattern changes as soon as you switch to another variation.
Next BeatThe pattern changes on the first new beat after switching to another 
variation.
Next MeasureThe pattern changes at the first new measure after switching to 
another variation. 
						

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B-BoxThe Mix Page
Restart Mode
Determines whether the pattern playback is restarted when a note is triggered. The 
following options are available:
Input Mode
Keys that trigger the pattern are shown in green on the HALion Sonic keyboard. 
Keys that are assigned to an instrument sound are shown as regular black and white 
keys. Depending on the Input Mode, the black and white keys either trigger or mute 
the assigned instrument. The following options are available:
Sync
To synchronize the pattern to the tempo of your host application, activate Sync.
ÖFor the modes “Sync to Host” and “Follow Transport”, synchronization to the host 
application is established automatically. In these modes, the Sync parameter cannot 
be edited.
Tempo
When Sync is deactivated, you can use the Tempo parameter to set the internal 
playback speed.
Tempo Scale
This parameter defines the speed at which the pattern is running. You can specify a 
value in fractions of beats. You can also set dotted and triplet note values.
When the Tempo parameter is 1/16 and you set this value to 1/8, for example, the 
speed is cut to half.
Groove Quantizing Patterns
To adapt the timing of a pattern to an external MIDI file, you can drop this MIDI file on 
the Groove Quantize drop field. You can quantize the playback of the pattern to the 
timing of a sliced loop by dragging its MIDI file from the MIDI export drag field to the 
Groove Quantize drop field.
The “Groove Quantize Depth” parameter to the right of the drop field determines how 
accurately the pattern follows the timing of the MIDI file.
OptionDescription
OffPlayback is not restarted when it is already running.
First NoteRestarts playback when a note is triggered and no other notes are 
playing.
Each NoteRestarts playback every time a note is triggered
Sync to HostAligns playback with the beats and measures of your host 
application. Playback is synchronized every time you start the 
transport.
Follow TransportPlayback starts and stops automatically together with the transport 
controls in your host application.
OptionDescription
OffTriggers the pattern with any key that you play.
TriggerPlays back the sound of the assigned instrument.
MuteMutes the track as long as you press the key. 
						

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B-BoxThe Mix Page
Swing
Use this parameter to shift the timing of notes on even-numbered beats. This way, the 
pattern gets a swing feeling. Negative values let the notes play earlier, positive values 
let the notes play later.
Velocity Scale
This parameter allows you to raise or lower the note-on velocities of the pattern. At a 
value of 100
 %, the notes play with their original velocity.
Delay/Reverb
The delay and reverb effect have the same parameters as the Multi Delay and Reverb 
effects that are available on the Effects page, see 
“Multi Delay” on page 136 and 
“Reverb” on page 134. 
Here, the following settings are available:
Delay
Adjusts the general amount of delay.
Reverb
Adjusts the general amount of reverb.
Master
Adjusts the overall volume of the B-Box.
Exporting Your Patterns as MIDI Files
•You can export the selected pattern as a MIDI file by dragging the icon in the top 
right corner and dropping it on the desktop or other program windows that can 
handle MIDI files. 
						

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World Instruments 
Introduction
The World Instruments deliver a great variety of ethnic instruments which can either 
be played manually or use the integrated arpeggiator.
On the Sound page, the instruments can be fine-tuned with filter and amp settings. In 
addition, you can use the built-in micro-tuning functionality, which allows you to 
decrease the pitch of each key by a quarter note, to realize typical oriental scales.
The Filter Section
Filter Shape
The filter shapes are the same as on the Filter subpage, see “Filter Shape” on page 39.
Cutoff
Controls the cutoff frequency of the filter.
Resonance
This parameter emphasizes the frequencies around the cutoff. At higher resonance 
settings, the filter self-oscillates, which results in a ringing tone. 
Env Amount
Controls the cutoff modulation from the filter envelope. 
Velocity
Controls the cutoff modulation from velocity.