Steinberg VST Workstation Halion Sonic Operation Manual

21
HALion Sonic
Poly (phony)
This setting is used to specify how many notes can be 
played at the same time. Since programs can contain up 
to four layers, the resulting number of voices (stereo sam
-
ples, synth voices etc.) can be much higher than the value 
specified here.
Transpose
Here you can shift the incoming MIDI notes by +/- 64 
semitones before they are sent to the loaded program.
Key range (Low Key, High Key)
Each slot can be limited to a certain key range. You can 
set the range by using the...

22
HALion Sonic
Level
Here you can you can adjust the loudness of the layer. The 
control range is from –oo dB to +12 dB.
Pan
Here you can set the position of the layer in the stereo 
panorama. The control range is from hard left (-100%) to 
hard right (+100%).
FX1-4 send levels
These four sliders adjust the send levels for the global 
AUX FX busses for each layer separately. The control 
range is from –oo dB to 0 dB.
Output
Here you can select the output for each layer separately. If 
you do not want...

23
HALion Sonic
To copy a layer:
1.Right-click the layer name field to open the context 
menu.
2.Select “Copy Layer”.
3.Right-click the layer name field where you want to in-
sert the copy.
4.Select “Paste Layer” in the context menu.
Layer ranges subpage
Poly (phony)
This setting is used to specify how many notes can be 
played at the same time.
ÖUnlike all the rest of the parameters of the Program 
page, the Polyphony setting is part of the layer settings 
and therefore restored when you load a layer....

24
HALion Sonic
Accessing the parameters of layers
The layer editor is divided into an upper and a lower part. 
The upper and lower parts display the different parame
-
ters of the layer.
To access the parameters of a layer:
1.Select the layer you want to edit.
2.In the upper or lower part, click the page button of the 
section, such as Pitch, Filter, Amp, etc. that you wish to 
access.
Voice page
The Voice page of the synth and sample layers gives you 
access to voice settings of the layer which allows...

25
HALion Sonic
Normal
“Normal” triggers a new note when stealing the previous 
note, which includes the envelopes being triggered from 
the start. A sample of a sample zone will also be triggered 
from the start. To minimize discontinuities set the Voice 
Fade Out parameter of the zone accordingly.
Resume
“Resume” does not trigger a completely new note: If the 
new note stays within the same zone, the envelopes re
-
trigger but resume at the level of the stolen note and the 
pitch of the zone will be...

26
HALion Sonic
Key On Delay
With this feature you can delay the playback of the layer 
by an adjustable time or a note value.
Delay Time
When you play a note, the playback of the layer will be de-
layed by the time or note value you set with this parameter. 
With Sync deactivated, the delay is specified in millisec
-
onds. The control range is from 0 ms to 5000 ms. With 
Sync activated, the delay is specified in fractions of beats. 
The control range is from 1/256 to 8/4.
Sync
To synchronize the delay...

27
HALion Sonic
Pitch page
The Pitch page of synth and sample layers gives you ac-
cess to the tuning of the layer.
To access the Pitch page:
1.Go to the Edit page and select the synth or sample lay-
er you want to adjust.
2.In the upper section of the editor, click the Pitch page 
button.
Tune section
The Tune section gives you access to the tuning of the 
layer. With the Octave, Coarse and Fine parameters, you 
can adjust the tuning in steps of octaves, semitones and 
cents. In addition, you can adjust...

28
HALion Sonic
Oscillator page
The Oscillator page of the synth layer offers six sound 
sources: Three main oscillators, the suboscillator, the ring 
modulation and the noise generator. To create interesting 
electronic spectra, you can mix any of these sound 
sources. The resulting signal is sent to the Filter and Am -
plifier sections for further sound shaping.
To access the Oscillator page:
1. Go to the Edit page and select 
 the synth layer you want 
to adjust.
2. In the upper section of the...

29
HALion Sonic
OSC 1/2/3 Octave (Oct)
Here you can adjust the pitch in octave steps. The control 
range is from -4 to +4 octaves.
OSC 1/2/3 Coarse (Crs)
Here you can adjust the pitch in semitone steps. The con-
trol range is from -12 to +12 semitones.
OSC 1/2/3 Fine
This parameter tunes the pitch in hundredths of a semi-
tone (cents). The control range is from -100 to +100 
cents.
OSC 1/2/3 Level
This adjusts the output level of the oscillator. The control 
range is from 0 to 100%.
ÖThe waveform, pitch...

30
HALion Sonic
Filter page
The Filter page of synth and sample layers offers settings 
to adjust the tone color of the sound. Filters shape the 
harmonic content of a sound by removing or accenting 
frequencies in the spectrum. HALion Sonic’s filter section 
is extremely versatile and powerful. With filter type you can 
select the basic sound character of the filter, either with or 
without Distortion. This feature  is also useful to scale the 
CPU consumption since filters without Distortion use less...