Steinberg HALion Symphonic Orchestra Operation Manual

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 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.
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 down-
load 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, make sure that your Steinberg Key is plugged into 
the USB port(on a Windows PC, you may have to restart your com-
puter first).
If you are unsure of which port this is, consult the documentation of your computer.
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 au-
tomatically without further user interaction. Windows may display a di-
alog 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 computer.
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. 
						

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5. Use the License Control Center “Wizard” function and the activation 
code supplied with HALion Symphonic Orchestra to download the li-
cense 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!
About HALion Content Converter
The HALion Content Converter is a utility for the fast conversion of 
HSB files to a new high-performance version. Converted HSB files al-
low for faster reading by the latest version of HALion Symphonic Or-
chestra.
Please note:
 The HALion Content Converter will place the converted files in a loca-
tion of your choice. The older versions of the HSB files remain at their 
previous location, but will be renamed (“.bak” is appended to the file 
name). Use the Locate Content function of HALion Symphonic Or-
chestra to show the program where to find the converted files.
 To be able to rename the older versions of the HSB files, these must 
not be located in a read-only location!
 Since the old versions of your HSB files are not automatically re-
moved, your content will require twice as much space as before.
You can of course remove the backup versions after conversion.
 Converted HSB files cannot be read by any previous version of 
HALion Symphonic Orchestra.
Note that using the Locate Content function to find both converted and unconverted 
content may lead to unpredictable results and is therefore not recommended.
Proceed as follows:
1. Place the HALionContentConverter.exe file in a location of your 
choice on your computer and double-click to launch.
2. When the HALion Content Converter window is open, drag the HSB 
files you wish to convert into the window. 
						

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3. A File dialog is displayed. In this dialog, specify the location in which 
the converted HSB files should be stored, and click OK.
The conversion is started. Depending on the size and amount of the 
HSB files to be converted, the process may take some time.
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. 
						

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Preparations
The following sections describe how to set up HALion Symphonic Or-
chestra 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 Or-
chestra within Cubase. We assume that you have correctly set up both 
Cubase 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 receives MIDI data that you generate with 
your external MIDI master keyboard.
2. In Cubase, 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 Or-
chestra window.
The HALion Symphonic Orchestra window.
5. In Cubase, 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.
 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 Cubase 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 Or-
chestra 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.
Note that DXi support is only available for the 32bit version of HALion 
Symphonic Orchestra.
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. 
						

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4. In the Soft Synth submenu, select “HALion Symphonic Orchestra”.
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 instru-
ment 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 system resources. How-
ever, 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 automati-
cally 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.
8. In SONAR, select the previously created MIDI track “HALion Sym-
phonic 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 there-
fore not necessary to assign a specific MIDI receive channel in HALion Symphonic Or-
chestra. 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. 
						

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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.
HALion Symphonic Orchestra stand-alone and ReWire
HALion Symphonic Orchestra can be used as a stand-alone applica-
tion, 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.
Note that to use the ReWire functionality, the corresponding ReWire files 
must be installed. If you don’t have these files already, you can down-
load them from www.propellerheads.se.
ReWire2 is a special protocol for streaming audio and MIDI data be-
tween 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 applica-
tion for details.
2. Now, launch HALion Symphonic Orchestra as a stand-alone applica-
tion.
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 Or-
chestra program file in the installation folder. 
						

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When you are using a Mac, note that after installation of HALion Sym-
phonic 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 
settings, choose the Save Bank command (in HALion Symphonic Or-
chestra 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.
If you are using the Vista 64-bit version of HALion Symphonic Orchestra, 
please note that ReWire is not supported.