Steinberg VST Sampler HALion 3 Operation Manual

							HALionAutomation, MIDI controllers and navigation controls 13 – 201
3.Click the plus-sign to open the category folder and display the items it 
contains.
Note that you can also click the “global” plus- and minus-signs in the top left corner to 
open and close all category folders at once.
4.In the list, select the item to which you wish to assign a key command.
Key commands already assigned are shown in the Keys column as well as in the Keys 
section in the top right.
5.Alternatively, you can use the search function in the dialog to find the 
desired item.
For a description of how to use the search function, see page 203.
6.When you have found and selected the desired item, click in the 
“Type in Key” field and enter a new key command.
You can choose between any single key or a combination of one or several keys 
([Command], [Option] (Mac), [Ctrl], [Alt] (Win), [Shift]) plus any key. Just press the 
keys you want to use.
If a selected item or function has a key command 
assigned already, it is displayed here......and here.  
						

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7.If the key command you entered is already assigned to another item or 
function, this is displayed below the “Type in Key” field. 
In case a key command already is assigned to another function, you can either ignore 
this and proceed to assign the key command to the new function instead, or you can 
select another key command.
8.Click the Assign button above the field.
The new key command appears in the Keys List.
❐If the key command you enter is already assigned to another function, 
you will be prompted to either reassign the command to the new func-
tion, or cancel the operation.
Note that you can have several different key commands for the same 
function. So adding a key command to a function that already has an-
other key command will not replace the key command previously de-
fined for the function. If you wish to remove an assigned key command, 
please see page 203.
9.Click OK to exit the dialog.  
						

							HALionAutomation, MIDI controllers and navigation controls 13 – 203
Searching for key commands
If you want to know which key command is assigned to a certain func-
tion in the program, you can use the Search function in the Key Com-
mands dialog:
1.Click in the search text field at the top left of the dialog and type in the 
function for which you want to know the key command.
This is a standard text search function, so you should type the command as it is spelled 
in the program. Partial strings are OK; to search for e.g. all sizing related commands 
you could type “Size”.
2.Click the Search button (the magnifying glass icon).
The search is conducted and the first matching command is selected and displayed in 
the commands list below. The keys column and the keys list show the assigned key 
commands, if any.
3.To search for more commands containing the word(s) you entered, 
just press the Search button again.
4.When you’re done, click OK to close the dialog.
Removing a key command
To remove a key command, proceed as follows:
1.If the key commands dialog isn’t already open, open the Options page 
view and click the “Edit Key Commands” button in the Editing section.
2.Use the list of categories and commands to select the item or function 
for which you wish to remove a key command.
The key command for the item is shown in the Keys list and the Keys column.
3.Select the key command in the Keys list and click the Remove button 
(the trash icon).
You will be prompted to either remove the key command or cancel the operation. 
						

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							14
Tutorials 
						

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About this chapter
Examples of how a certain feature or function can be used in practice 
is often the quickest way to learn. To help you get the most out of 
HALion, this chapter contains step by step instructions on how to use 
certain key features. The tutorials cover the following areas:
•The first tutorial aims to broaden the concept of folders, an important 
and powerful HALion feature – see page 207.
•Tutorial 2 deals with various ways to use the MegaTrig function – see 
page 210.
•In the last tutorial the use of crossfading curves over several layers is 
described – see page 213. 
						

							HALionTutorials 14 – 207
Tutorial 1: Using Folders
Folders are a convenient way of grouping samples or programs to-
gether, allowing you to edit them as units. 
Here are a few practical examples:
Example 1: Dynamic switching between samples
Let’s say you have a set of medium (mf) and loud (ff) samples of a pi-
ano that you would like to switch between by using different velocities. 
This is done as follows: 
1.Open the Keyzone page view in HALion. 
2.In the Program list to the right, select an empty Program. 
3.Rename the Program to “Piano mf-ff” by right-clicking (Win)/[Ctrl]-click-
ing (Mac) the Program in the Program list and selecting “Rename” from 
the Program context menu that appears.
In the dialog that appears, enter a new name for the folder in the Program/Folder Name 
field.
4.Select “New Folder” from the Program context menu. 
A sub-folder called “Folder 1 will appear under Program 1. Rename the folder to “Pi-
ano mf” by selecting it and using the Rename option on the Program context menu. 
5.Select the new folder and choose the “Import Samples” item on the 
Program context menu. 
6.Locate the “mf” samples on your hard disk and load them. 
The Mapping dialog appears with various options – see page 78. Map the samples to 
the appropriate keys.
You now have a folder that contains all your “Piano mf” samples. 
7.Repeat the steps above for the loud piano samples, and name the 
new sub-folder “Piano ff”.  
						

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8.Make sure “Select” edit mode is active and select the “Piano mf” sub-
folder.
Switching between “All” and “Select” edit mode is a central function in HALion. When 
“All” is selected, all samples in a Program are affected, and when “Select” is active 
only selected samples or sub-folders containing samples are affected when editing. 
The Pitch/Modulation controller (the “trackball” in the bottom right corner) indicates 
the selected mode by changing color; it should now be blue, not red. See page 70 for 
further information.
•All samples in the “Piano mf” sub-folder should now be selected. 
For easier overview in the Keyzone window, you can hide the samples in the other sub-
folder by selecting it in the Program list and choosing “Hide” from the context menu. 
To make them appear again later you select “Show” from the context menu.
9.By pressing [Shift] and placing the mouse pointer on the top or bot-
tom of a sample (so that the pointer is an up/down arrow) you can ad-
just the velocity response of all samples in the “Piano mf” sub-folder at 
the same time. 
This can also be done by clicking into the “Lo Vel/Hi Vel” numeric edit fields at the top 
of the window and either entering new values directly or using the arrow buttons.
10.Set the samples to respond to MIDI velocities 0 to 64. 
11.Repeat the above steps with the “Piano ff” sub-folder selected. This 
time set the samples to respond to velocities between 65 to 127. 
Use the “Hide” context menu item again to hide the samples in the other sub-folder if 
you like.
12.Save your Program. 
You now have a two-layer piano that dynamically responds to velocity.  
						

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Example 2: Creating Multi-Instruments
Say you have two Programs that you would like to layer, so that you 
can play them at the same time. One simple way of doing this is by us-
ing the Global page, where you can assign two or more Programs to 
the same MIDI channel. 
But what if you want to save the layered Programs as a single multi-in-
strument Program? For this you have to use folders.
Here’s how it is done:
1.Select an empty Program in the Program list.
2.Open the Program context menu and select “Load Folder(s)”.
3.Locate your Program files (.fpx). 
The Programs will be loaded as sub-folder(s). 
You now have basically created a layered instrument. But most likely 
you will want to set the balance between the two instruments, and 
perhaps make other adjustments to each separate instrument in the 
layered Program. 
4.Make sure “Select” edit mode is active and select the sub-folder con-
taining the instrument you wish to adjust parameters for.
5.Open the Sound page view. 
Here you can change volume, filter or envelope parameters as well as making other pa-
rameter adjustments for the selected sub-folder. 
6.Repeat this procedure for the other sub-folder until the Program plays 
and sounds the way you want it to.
7.Save the new Program when done.
By now you should be able to grasp the power behind folders. You 
can repeat the process described above ad-infinitum and create even 
more sub-folders (which can in turn contain further sub-folders etc.).  
						

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Tutorial 2: MegaTrig examples
In the previous tutorial we layered samples in a relatively straightforward 
manner. The next step is to control how and when a group of samples 
should sound using MegaTrig. 
MegaTrig allows you to set up a “condition” that needs to be met before 
a set of samples will sound. This gives you a convenient way to trigger 
different sounds or articulations by using controllers, a key or a key 
range on your keyboard. Some practical applications include switching 
between picked and slapped bass sounds, or switching between differ-
ent articulations in a string section. 
Example 1: Switching between two sounds
Say you have two violin Programs. One uses arco (i.e. “bowed”) violin 
samples, the other uses “pizzicato” (i.e. “plucked”) violin samples. You 
want to be able to instantly switch between the bowed and the 
plucked samples as you play. 
This is done as follows:
1.Use the “Load Folder(s)” context menu item to load your two Programs 
into an empty Program. 
They will appear as sub-folders in the Program folder.
2.Activate Select edit mode.
3.Select the “bowed” violins sub-folder.
4.Open the Sound page view and select the MegaTrig sub-page. 
We will now use the MegaTrig functions to make the currently selected sub-folder con-
ditional. 
5.Select “Key Switch” from the first controller Condition pop-up menu. 
6.Set both the Min and Max Range sliders to “C 1” (which corresponds 
to the lowest C on a standard five octave keyboard).