Steinberg VST Workstation Halion Sonic Operation Manual

11
HALion Sonic
Synth and sample layers
For synth and sample layers, you will get access to a fully-
fledged synthesizer editor with components such as a 
highly flexible filter section, powerful multi-stage enve
-
lopes, LFOs, a Step Modulator and a Modulation Matrix. 
These layer types differ in their basic sound source. While 
a synth layer provides an oscillator section with three main 
oscillators, namely a sub oscillator, a noise generator and 
a ring modulation stage, the sample layer loads a...

12
HALion Sonic
HALion Sonic interface
The HALion Sonic interface follows a fixed size, single 
window concept and is subdivided into several main sec
-
tions. To save pixel space on the computer monitor it can 
be collapsed to a smaller version which only shows one 
slot with the most important sections and hides the Multi 
Program Rack and Edit Display sections.
Collapsed View
Plug-in functions section
At the top of the HALion Sonic window you find the plug-
in functions section. It contains important...

13
HALion Sonic
Multi Program Rack
In the Multi Program Rack (located to the left of the Edit 
Display) you can load up to 16 programs into HALion So
-
nic. Slots can be muted or soloed. Programs can be se-
lected to edit their parameters.
You can load programs into slots by drag&drop from the 
Load page. You can also click the down arrow button to 
open the MediaBay.
Edit Display
The Edit Display is a multipurpose display that shows var-
ious editor views depending on the selected page and 
slot. There...

14
HALion Sonic
Toolbars
Above the Edit Display section you find two small toolbars 
with various useful global functions.
Global insert, AUX and FlexPhraser buttons
Use these buttons to switch off all insert effects, all AUX 
effects and all FlexPhrasers for the whole plug-in at once. 
For instance, you can use this feature to quickly compare 
sounds with and without effects or to use a preset without 
the FlexPhrasers that have been stored with the preset.
Undo/Redo
HALion Sonic features an undo/redo...

15
HALion Sonic
Standalone functions section
Using HALion Sonic as a standalone application adds the 
standalone functions section above the plug-in. Here you 
can set Audio and MIDI interface routings, adjust the main 
volume and get access to the integrated MIDI scratch pad 
that allows you to easily record your musical inspirations 
without having to start a MIDI sequencer application. It 
can also be used to play multi track arrangements that 
trigger the 16 different sounds inside HALion Sonic....

16
HALion Sonic
Solo
Enable the Solo button of a slot in order to hear only the 
respective program.
Mute
Enable the Mute button to turn off a program. The program 
remains loaded and can therefore be turned on again 
smoothly.
Loading programs into the program slot
To load a program into the slot you have two options:
•Switch to the Load page and double-click the desired 
program.
•Drag the program and drop it to the desired slot.
Level
Use the level fader to adjust the output level of the slot. 
The...

17
HALion Sonic
Polyphony (Mono Voices)
This display indicates the number of samples currently 
played back to help you trace performance problems. For 
example, if you have to reduce the Max Voices setting on 
the Options page, you can verify your settings by monitor
-
ing the Voices display.
Memory
MEM is an abbreviation for Memory. This display indicates 
the overall amount of RAM currently used by the plug-in 
and the loaded programs. The amount you see results 
from the streaming buffer and the...

18
HALion Sonic
Loading multis
To load a multi preset you have two options:
•Switch to the Load page in the Edit Display and double-
click the desired multi preset or drag the multi preset and 
drop it onto the multi loader.
•Click the Load button to open a MediaBay browser win-
dow and load the multi program with a doube-click.
MediaBay
Saving multis
To save multi presets with HALion Sonic’s integrated multi 
preset management:
1.Click the disk icon button in the multi preset slot to 
open the save...

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HALion Sonic
Saving program
To save a modified program:
1.Open the context menu on the program name.
2.Select “Save Program”.
The program overwrites the original program on your sys-
tem. Note that you cannot overwrite protected factory 
content. In this case, the save dialog appears.
Saving program as…
To save a modified or new program under another name:
1.Open the context menu on the program name.
2.Select “Save Program As…”.
3.The save dialog appears.
4.Enter the new name and set the database...

20
HALion Sonic
Tagging with the save dialog
When you save a preset, the save dialog opens and 
shows the tagging editor section on the right side. Here 
you can easily edit your tags before saving the preset. To 
make it even simpler, you can first click an existing preset 
file in the file list on the left to copy its name and all its 
tags, then make changes the new preset requires, modify 
the preset name and save it.
Mix page
Introduction
The Mix page gives you access to the audio slot parame-
ters...