Steinberg VST Sampler HALion 3 Operation Manual

							HALionEditing in the Sound page view 9 – 111
Release envelope parameters
The Release parameters affect samples that are triggered by note off 
messages, i.e. when a note is released. Triggering samples with note 
off messages is set up on the MegaTrig sub-page, see page 135.
Setting up for use
The release envelope functions are used as follows:
1.Start by having two overlapping samples.
Sample Select editing mode should be selected, see page 70.
2.In the MegaTrig view on the Sound page, set one sample to be trig-
gered by note on messages, and the other to be triggered by note off 
messages.
Refer to page 135 for information on how to use the MegaTrig function.
3.When you now play notes in the range set up for the overlapping sam-
ples, you should hear one sample when you press a key, and another 
sample when the key is released.
4.Select the sample that is triggered by note off.  
						

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Release Envelope modes
The Release Envelope modes govern how the sample triggered by 
note off will play back. Click in the “No Mode” field to bring up a pop-
up where the following modes can be selected:
The Amount knob
The Amount knob governs how much the release envelope modes af-
fect the envelopes. It should normally be set to maximum value.
“REL. ENV.” Mode Description
NoteOff Env. at 
current Pos.This will take the volume from the current note off envelope po-
sition. When you hit a note, it will trigger the start of both the 
note on and note off envelopes, although as long as the note is 
held, only the sample triggered by note on is heard. When you 
release the note, the note off triggered sample will play back at 
the volume governed by the current note off envelope position.
NoteOn Env. at 
SustainThis will trigger the note off sample at the sustain volume set for 
the note on sample.
NoteOff Velocity This will use the velocity to set the volume for the sample trig-
gered by note off, i.e. the harder you strike a key, the louder the 
note off sample will be played back.
Current Amplitude This will use the volume from the current note on envelope 
position and apply this to the note off sample.
Decay In this mode, you can use the Rel Env. knob below the Amount 
knob to set a note off decay time. The note off sample will begin 
its decay from the point of the note on so that the longer a note 
on sample is held the quieter the note off sample will be.  
						

							HALionEditing in the Sound page view 9 – 113
Out
This lets you route all or selected samples to any virtual output, to Pro-
gram or Insert effect outputs, or to a 5.1 surround bus. Using surround 
encoded samples in HALion is described below. Routing to effect 
outputs is described on page 147.
•If the main Program output is set to Program (on the Global page), 
and you adjust the output setting with the “ALL” edit mode activated, 
this will define the main output for the Program.
Once you have set the main output, you can route individual samples 
to separate outputs by activating Select edit mode and using the out-
put menu.  
						

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About the 5.1 surround output option in HALion
HALion can import interleaved multichannel samples in the 5.1 format. 
This format contains 6 speaker channels of the following configuration 
(in this particular order): left and right front, center, subbass (LFE) 
plus left and right rear channels. 
Samples in this format should be routed to the 5.1 output option in 
HALion. Each of the six individual channels in the sample will then be 
routed to the host application mixer via the HALion surround outputs 
in the following way:
•If you are using Cubase SX 2.0 or Nuendo 2.0 or later, the surround 
channels will be sent to a single 5.1 configured surround channel.
The 5.1 surround channel in the Cubase SX Mixer.
The channels are internally configured as follows:
• Channels 13/14 (stereo) –> Hal L/R Front 
• Channel 15 (mono) –> Hal Center 
• Channel 16 (mono) –> Hal LFE
• Channels 17/18 (stereo) –> Hal L/R Rear  
						

							HALionEditing in the Sound page view 9 – 115
To route the channels to the surround busses in older versions of Nu-
endo/SX (prior to version 2) versions, proceed as follows:
•Make sure you have selected a 5.1 format in the Master Setup dialog.
•Route the Hal L/R Front (channels 13/14) to the SurroundPan output.
Double-click on the mini SurroundPanner and choose Y-Mirror as Mode, and move the 
L and R balls to the upper front Left and Right corners.
•Hal Center (channel 15) should be routed directly to the Center output.
•Hal LFE (channel 16) should be routed directly to the LFE output.
•
Hal L/R Rear (channels 17/18) should be routed to the SurroundPan 
output.
Double click on the mini SurroundPanner and choose Y-Mirror as Mode, and move the 
L and R balls to the lower rear left and right corners. 
						

							HALion9 – 116 Editing in the Sound page view
LFO section
HALion features two LFOs (Low Frequency Oscillators). The most 
common use of an LFO is to modulate pitch to produce vibrato. 
The LFOs in HALion have the following parameters:
Parameter Description
Freq. This controls the frequency of the modulation, i.e. the “speed” of the LFO. 
The range is 0 to 30 Hz for LFO1 and 0 to 10 Hz for LFO2.
Delay This allows you to set a delay before the LFO modulation starts. You can 
also set negative values, in which case this parameter controls the dura-
tion of the modulation. Range is +/- 3 seconds.
Waveform 
typesUse the options in this po-up menu to set the LFO waveform type, which 
governs the shape of the modulation. The available waveforms are de-
scribed below.
Sync This will sync the LFO to the tempo set in HALion’s host application. The 
Freq. dial is then used to specify the base note value for the modulation 
speed (i.e. 1/4 note, 1/8 note etc.). Dotted and triplet note values can 
also be set.  
						

							HALionEditing in the Sound page view 9 – 117
LFO waveform types
The available waveforms have the following characteristics:
Please note that the LFOs show different triggering behavior.
•When LFO 1 is used for modulation, it is retriggered every time a note 
on message is received.
•LFO 2 is never retriggered.
When a new note on message is received, the modulation will not return to the begin-
ning of the waveform but continue at the point in the waveform it had reached at the 
time of the last note off message.
Option Description
Sine This produces smooth modulation, suitable for vibrato or tremolo.
Triangle This is similar in character to Sine.
Pulse This produces stepped modulation, where the modulation switches 
abruptly between two values (the ratio is 50:50).
Sawtooth This produces a “ramp up” cycle. The modulation sweeps up to a set 
point (governed by the Amount setting), after which the cycle immedi-
ately starts over.
SawPulse Similar to Sawtooth.
Pulse15 This produces stepped modulation, where the modulation switches 
abruptly between two values. This waveform “holds” longer on one of 
the values (the ratio is 15:85).
Pulse30 This also produces stepped modulation, where the modulation switches 
abruptly between two values. Similar to Pulse15 (the ratio is 30:70).
SineComplex Three sine waves overlap to produce complex sine modulation.
Log Pos This produces a logarithmic “ramp up” cycle. The early part of the mod-
ulation cycle rises slowly but rises faster higher up in the cycle.
Log Neg Same as Log Pos but inverted. 
						

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Tune section
This section allows you to tune all or selected samples in either octave, 
semitone (“Coarse”) or cent increments. You can tune the octave range 
+/- 5 octaves, the semitone range +/- 11 semitones and the cent range 
+/- 100 cents (cent = 100th of a semitone).
Grouping/Glide section
This section lets you assign samples to one of up to 16 groups, and de-
fine the number of voices (polyphony) for each group. One obvious ap-
plication of polyphony grouping is to assign open and closed hi-hats to 
a group with a voice setting of 1, so that one will cut off the other.
Glide
The Glide parameter can set a glissando (up to 3 seconds) between 
successive notes. Glide is sometimes referred to as portamento.
Overlap
Overlap allows you to play the same note repeatedly without each 
new note cutting off the previous one when the sustain pedal is held 
down. This is particularly useful for piano sounds. 
The Overlap amount determines how many new notes should be al-
lowed through before note stealing occurs. Thus, a setting of 1 would 
allow one sample to overlap before the first sample is cut off to make 
way for a new one.   
						

							HALionEditing in the Sound page view 9 – 119
Higher settings would allow more samples of the same value to build 
up on top of each other. Note, however, that this can place higher de-
mands on the system because repeatedly playing an 8 note chord 
with a setting of 0 only requires 8 voices whereas an overlap of 1 
would demand 16 and a setting of 2 would demand 24 and so on.
Mode section
In this section you can make various settings that govern how samples 
are to be played back. Using the pop-up menu at the bottom of the 
Mode section, the following play mode options can be set:
•If you activate the “Play Raw” option, selected samples will play with-
out the assigned modulation or applied parameter settings. 
The Amplifier Envelope parameters are still applied (Velocity, Envelope, Pan and 
Spread). Apply this mode to use as many voices as possible. For “raw” samples, send 
and insert effects are not applied. Program effects are applied, however.
•If you activate the “Drum Mode” option, samples will play in a “one-shot” 
manner, from start to end of the sample, regardless of how long you 
hold down a key.
Selecting Drum Mode also automatically selects Play Raw mode. Samples played 
back in Drum Mode use the least system resources.
•If you deactivate the “Enable Controller in Release” option (the option 
is enabled by default), controller data will not be processed once you 
release a key on your keyboard, i.e. there will be no modulation during 
the release phase.
The two Group options govern how voice stealing will work if all the 
assigned voices for the selected Group are used up:
• When all the voices have been used up, the first voice that was played will be 
substituted if “First In First Out” is selected.
• If “Steal Lowest Amplitude” is selected, the voice played with the lowest vol-
ume/velocity will be substituted when all the voices have been used up.  
						

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Legato
Legato works best with monophonic sounds. Set the number of voices 
in the Grouping section (see above) to 1 and try the following:
•Hold down a key and then press another key without releasing the first.
Note that the pitch changes, but the envelope does not “retrigger”. That is, there will 
be no new “attack”. 
•If the number of voices for a group is set to more than 1, legato will 
only be applied when all the assigned keys are used up.
For example, if you had a polyphony setting of “4” and you held down a 4 note chord, 
the next note you played would be legato. 
•If “Legato: From Range Start” is selected on the pop-up menu in the 
Mode section, the legato note will be played from the set Range Start 
value.
No Transpose
If this option is activated, samples will play back at constant pitch 
across the keyboard.