Steinberg VST Sampler HALion 3 Operation Manual

							HALionHALion overview 4 – 31
The HALion page views
When you open HALion, the afore-mentioned “Macro” page view is 
shown by default. In addition to this there are 6 other page views each 
containing various parameters and controls. These page views have 
common sections like the Program List (see page 39) and the Key-
board (see page 41).
Selecting page views
You switch between the different page views using the row of buttons 
at the bottom of the HALion window. You can also use the function 
keys [F6] to [F12] to select the Global to Macro page views, respec-
tively. For this to work, the option “Plug-ins receive key commands” in 
the VST page of the Cubase Preferences must be activated and 
HALion’s “Always on Top” option must be deactivated – this is set by 
right-clicking (Win)/[Ctrl]-clicking (Mac) the top area of the HALion 
window.
The page view selector buttons.
In the following sections you will find an overview of the different page 
views.  
						

							HALion4 – 32 HALion overview
Global Commands context menu
You can open a Global Commands context menu by right-clicking 
(Win)/[Ctrl]-clicking (Mac) on the background of the Macro page view 
or any of the other page views. 
Parameter Description
Clear All... This will remove all loaded programs. A warning message 
will be displayed.
Clear Current Program... This will remove the currently selected Program.
Archive The options in this sub-menu allow you to save Program 
files (.fxp) with or without the samples contained in them for 
archiving purposes. See page 165 for a description of the 
“Save HALion Content File…” options.
Help This brings up the online help for HALion (in pdf-format). To 
be able to read it, you need to have the Acrobat Reader in-
stalled, which is included on the program DVD.
Version History… This opens a document describing the version history of 
HALion 3.
Steinberg on the Web… This submenu contains links to Steinberg’s home page, 
HALion’s website, Product Updates and Online Registra-
tion pages.
Be-Cool.org An Internet link to the Be-Cool anti software-piracy website.
About HALion… This brings up information about the program. 
						

							HALionHALion overview 4 – 33
The Global page view
The Global page view contains settings for HALion’s 16 MIDI channel 
slots, and the virtual outputs. Here you can, amongst other things, set 
which Program should be assigned to each of the 16 channel slots, 
which MIDI channel each Program is assigned to, and to which of 
HALion’s virtual outputs each Program should be assigned. Also 
shown on this page view are settings for the built-in effects.
• For information on how to make Program/Channel settings, see page 57. 
• For information on how to make Output assignments, see page 60.
• For information about the 5.1 surround option, see page 114.
• For information about how to use effects, see page 147.  
						

							HALion4 – 34 HALion overview
The Keyzone page view
The Keyzone page view offers a graphic overview of all samples in a 
Program, their key zones (the note range across the keyboard which 
samples are mapped to) and velocity settings. The Keyzone page view 
has many powerful features, and is where the majority of sample-
oriented editing takes place.
The vertical “strips” indicate the velocity range for each sample, and the 
horizontal width of each strip indicates the keyzone range for each sam-
ple. The sample mapped to the (low velocity) C3 key is selected, indi-
cated by the handles at the top and bottom of the strip.
For a full description of the Keyzone page view, see the chapter “Edit-
ing in the Keyzone page view”.  
						

							HALionHALion overview 4 – 35
The Loop page view
In this page view you can set loop points for a sample. It is possible to 
set up both a sustain loop that governs what portion of the sample 
should loop when a key is held down, and a release loop which governs 
a separate independent loop activated after a key is released. You can 
define loops graphically in the sample waveform, or numerically. See 
the chapter “Editing in the Loop page view” for more information.  
						

							HALion4 – 36 HALion overview
The Sound page view
The Sound page view contains a multitude of settings divided into 
several “sub-pages”. Here you can, amongst other things, make set-
tings for the two envelope generators, the multi-mode filter section 
(DCF) and the amplifier section (DCA). The page also contains set-
tings for modulation and effects assignment, the two LFOs, a tune 
section and a voice grouping section. See the chapter “Editing in the 
Sound page view”.  
						

							HALionHALion overview 4 – 37
The Browser page view
The Browser page view is used for importing external audio file formats, 
such as SoundFonts, Giga etc., and for browsing and indexing your 
computer for Programs and samples. You can also assign Programs to 
Categories and set up advanced search and filtering criteria. See the 
chapter “The Browser page view”.  
						

							HALion4 – 38 HALion overview
The Options page view
The Options page view is used for making memory settings and various 
other options that govern global HALion functions. See the chapter 
“Settings in the Options page view”.
About the Macro page view
The main difference between the Macro page view and the other page 
views is that the Macro page view parameters always affect all samples 
in a program. Hence, there are no window sections that relate to set-
tings on a “sample level”. Also note that the Macro page view parame-
ters are not separate parameters. The Macro Filter section governs 
exactly the same parameters as the Sound page view – the difference is 
solely that all samples in the Program are always affected. 
The following section describes the common window sections for all 
other page views (although the keyboard, the MIDI channel/page view 
selectors are also present in the Macro page view).  
						

							HALionHALion overview 4 – 39
Common window sections
Each HALion page view is subdivided into several logical sections, 
common to all page views. Following is a description of all the com-
mon window sections. To bring these sections into view you have to 
first select any page view (see page 31) except Macro.
The Pitch/Modulation controller
The Pitch/Modulation controller can be used to manually apply modu-
lation (vertical movement) and/or pitch bend (horizontal movement) by 
click-dragging the “ball”. The controller mimics the movements of the 
pitch bend/modulation wheels on your MIDI keyboard.
The Pitch/Modulation controller also changes color to indicate 
whether Select or All edit mode is active (see page 70). It is red if “All” 
is selected, and blue if “Select” edit mode is active.
The Program List
The Program List is located on the right side of the HALion window. 
This list has many important functions. First and foremost, it is where 
you decide whether the current page view parameter should affect all 
or only the selected samples in a Program. 
You can also use it to select samples or Programs, drag samples from 
the list into the Keyzone window, create subfolders for organizing sam-
ples and much more.   
						

							HALion4 – 40 HALion overview
The Program List contains the following:
•The current Program Bank (i.e. 128 Program folders which may either 
be empty or contain samples).
A Program’s associated samples reside in the Program folder (or in subfolders). Empty 
folders cannot be opened.
•If you point on the left edge of the Program List the mouse pointer 
turns into a divider, allowing you to extend the width of the list in order 
to view longer Program/sample names in full. 
•You can zoom the text size of the Program List in or out by using the 
+/- buttons at the bottom the scrollbar.
For more detailed information about the Program List please refer to the 
chapter “Editing in the Keyzone page view”. 
Program Folders. A plus sign before the name in-
dicates that the folder is closed, a minus sign that 
it is open. Clicking on a Program name selects it 
and all the samples in the Program. [Alt]-clicking 
on a plus sign will open/close all Program folders.
The currently selected Program is indicated 
by a light blue border.
The currently selected samples are highlighted. 
A light blue border indicates the currently “View 
Selected” sample – see page 67.
These samples belong to the same Program, but 
are currently not selected. Use [Shift]-click to se-
lect a range of samples, use [Ctrl]-click (Win) or 
[Command]-click (Mac) to select multiple samples. This button toggles between All or Select mode – see page 70. The button 
above it indicates whether All or Select mode is active. In Select mode it also 
indicates whether one or multiple samples are selected.
This button toggles between Absolute 
and Relative editing – see page 71.
This button is used for the RAM 
Save function – see page 93.