Steinberg VST Workstation Halion Sonic Operation Manual
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31 HALion Sonic Filter shape Each filter type offers 23 diff erent filter shapes. By select - ing the filter shape you determine which frequencies will b e affected. The letters and numbers indicate the filter shape: For example, LP12 is short for low-pass 12dB/oct. Depending on the chosen filter mode, you can either se - lect one, two or four shapes. Filter shapes The filter types Classic and Tube Drive offer the following filter shapes: Filter shape Description LP24 Low-pass filter with 24 dB/oct. Frequencies above the Cutoff wi ll be attenuated. LP18 Low-pass filter with 18 dB/oct. Frequencies above the Cutoff wi ll be attenuated. LP12 Low-pass filter with 12 dB/oct. Frequencies above the Cutoff wi ll be attenuated. LP6 Low-pass filter with 6 dB/oct. Frequencies above the Cutoff wi ll be attenuated. BP12 Band-pass filter with 12 dB/oct. Frequencies below and above the Cutoff will be attenuated. BP24 Band-pass filter with 24 dB/oct. Frequencies below and above the Cutoff will be attenuated. HP6+LP18 High-pass filter with 6 dB/oct . plus low-pass filter with 18 dB/oct. (asymmetric band-pass filter). Frequencies below and above the Cutoff will be attenuated. The fre - quencies above will fall off stronger. HP6+LP12 High-pass filter with 6 dB/oct . plus low-pass filter with 12 dB/oct. (asymmetric band-pass filter). Frequencies below and above the Cutoff will be attenuated. The fre - quencies above will fall off stronger. HP12+LP6 High-pass filter with 12 dB/oct. plu s low-pass filter with 6 dB/oct. (asymmetric band-pass filter). Frequencies be - low and above the Cutoff will be attenuated. The fre - quencies below will fall off stronger. HP18+LP6 High-pass filter with 18 dB/oct. plu s low-pass filter with 6 dB/oct. (asymmetric band-pass filter). Frequencies be - low and above the Cutoff will be attenuated. The fre - quencies below will fall off stronger. HP24 High-pass filter with 24 dB/oct. Frequencies below the Cutoff wi ll be attenuated. HP18 High-pass filter with 18 dB/oct. Frequencies below the Cutoff wi ll be attenuated. HP12 High-pass filter with 12 dB/oct. Frequencies below the Cutoff wi ll be attenuated. HP6 High-pass filter with 6 dB/oct. Frequencies below the Cutoff wi ll be attenuated. BR12 Band-reject filter with 12 dB/oct. Frequencies around the Cutoff wi ll be attenuated. BR24 Band-reject filter with 24 dB/oct. Frequencies around the Cu toff will be attenuated. BR12+LP6 Band-reject filter with 12 dB/oct. plus low-pass filter with 6 dB/oct. Frequencies around and above the Cutoff will be attenuated. BR12+LP12 Band-reject filter with 12 dB/oct. plus low-pass filter with 12 dB/oct. Frequencies around and above the Cutoff will be attenuated. BP12+BR12 Band-pass filter with 12 dB/oct. plus band-reject filter with 12 d B/oct. Frequencies below, above and around the Cutoff will be attenuated. HP6+BR12 High-pass filter with 6 dB/oct. plus band-reject filter with 12 dB/oct. Frequencies below and around the Cutoff will be attenuated. HP12+BR12 High-pass filter with 12 dB/oct. plus band-reject filter wi th 12 dB/oct. Frequencies below and around the Cut - off will be attenuated. AP All-pass filter with 18 dB/oct. Frequencies around the Cu toff will be attenuated. AP+LP6 All-pass filter with 18 dB/oct. pl us low-pass filter with 6 dB/oct. Frequencies around and above the Cutoff will be attenuated. HP6+AP High-pass filter with 6 dB/oct plus all-pass filter with 18 d B/oct. Frequencies around the Cutoff will be attenu - ated. Cutoff Here you can adjust the Cutoff frequency of the filter. The control range is from 20 Hz to 22.000 Hz. The effect de- pends on the filter type you have selected. Resonance This parameter emphasizes the frequencies around the cutoff. The control range is from 0% to 100%. For an electronic sound, increase the Resonance. At higher set - tings of Resonance the filter will self-oscillate, which deliv- ers a ringing tone. Filter shape Description
32 HALion Sonic X/Y control The X/Y control allows you to adjust two parameters si - multaneously. This is especia lly useful w ith the morphing filters where the X/Y control adjusts the blend between the filter shapes. For the other filter modes, the X/Y control adjusts Cutoff and Resonance. Depending on the se - lected filter type, the X/Y control adjusts different parame - ters: Selected filter Description Single, Dual Serial & Dual Paral lel The X/Y control adjusts the Cutoff frequency on the hori - zontal and the Resonance on the vertical axis. Morph 2 and 4 The X/Y control adjusts the morphing between the filter sha pes on the vertic al (Morph Y) axis. The horizontal axis adjusts the Cutoff frequency. Morph XY The X/Y control adjusts the morphing between the filter sh apes AD and BC on the ho rizontal (Morph X) and AB and DC on the vertic al axis (Morph Y). Env Amnt Env Amnt is short for Envelope Amount. Use this parame- ter to adjust the Cutoff modulation from the Filter Enve - lope. The control range is fr om -100% to +100%. Setting negative values inverts the direction of the modulation from the Filter Envelope. Velocity This parameter adjusts the Cutoff modulation from veloc - ity. It ranges from -100% to +100%. Set this parameter to p ositive values to increase the Cutoff with higher veloci - ties. Use negative values to decrease the Cutoff with hi gher velocities. Distortion This parameter adds a warm, tube-like filter distortion to the signal. The control range is from 0% to 100%. At higher settings, it allows a very intense distortion effect. Ö This parameter is only available for the Tube Drive filter type. CF Offset CF is short for cutoff frequency. For the dual filters, this parameter allows you to offset the cutoff frequency of the second filter (filter shape B). The control range is from - 100% to 100%. Res Offset Res is short for resonance. For the dual filters, this param - eter allows you to offset the resonance of the second filter (filter shape B). The control range is from -100% to 100%. Key Follow Here you can adjust the Cutoff modulation from note num - ber. The range is from -200% to +200%. Set this param - eter to positive values to raise the Cutoff with notes above the Center Key. Use negative values to lower the Cutoff with notes above the Center Key. At +100% the Cutoff follows exactly the played pitch. Center Key This parameter sets the note around where the Key Follow pivots. It ranges from C-2 to G8. Amplifier page The Amplifier page of synth and sample layers gives you access to the level and pan settings of the layer. With level you adjust the loudness of the layer. With pan you specify the position of the layer in the stereo panorama. Both level and pan can be modulated from MIDI note number. In ad - dition, the pan position can be modulated with each key - stroke randomly or left-right/right-left in alternation. To access the Amplifier page: 1. Go to the Edit page and select the synth or sample lay- er you want to adjust. 2. I n the upper section of the editor, click the Amplifier page button.
33 HALion Sonic Level Here you can you can adjust the loudness of the layer. The control range is from –oo dB to +12 dB. Key Follow Here you can scale the loudness across the MIDI key- board. The control range is from -200% to +200%. Set this parameter to positive values to raise the loudness the higher you play. Use negative values to lower the volume the higher notes you play. Center Key This specifies the MIDI note around where the Key Follow pivots. The range extends from C-2 to G8. Pan Here you can set the position of a sound in the stereo panorama. The control range is from hard left (-100%) to hard right (+100%). Mode With this option you can specify how the loudness changes across the stereo panorama. You can select be - tween the four modes 0 dB, -3 dB, -6 dB and Off: •The 0dB option works like a balance control: Setting the pan control towards the left fades out the right channel and vice versa. At the center position, the loudness is not cut. •The -3dB option uses the cosine/sine pan law: The loudness is cut by -3dB at the center position, but the en - ergy is preserved when moving the source signal across the stereo panorama. The -3dB option sounds more natu - ral. The transition from hard left to hard right sounds much smoother than with the 0dB or the -6dB setting. •The -6dB option uses the linear pan law: The loudness is cut by -6dB at the center position, and the energy is not preserved when moving the source signal across the ste - reo panorama. The -6dB option sounds more synthetic. The transition from hard left to hard right sounds more abrupt than with the -3dB setting. •When set to “Off” no loudness correction is applied when a signal is panned across the stereo panorama. Random This parameter allows you to offset the pan position with each played note randomly. The strength of the random - ization can be adjusted within a range from 0% to 100%. Higher values cause stronger variations. At a setting of 100% the random offsets can vary from fully left to fully right. Alternate This parameter allows you to alternate the pan position each time you play a note. For example, a value of +100% means the first note plays hard right, the second note hard left, and so on. You can specify the pan position for the first time when you hit a note with the algebraic sign: For negative values the initial pan position will be left and for positive values it will be right. With the value in percent you determine the deviation across the stereo panorama. The control range is from -100% to +100%. Reset The initial pan position is set once after HALion Sonic is loaded. Then, HALion Sonic counts each note you played to determine the next pan position. To reset this counter, click the Reset button next to the Alternate control. Key Follow Here you can adjust the pan modulation from MIDI note number. The control range is from -200% to +200%. Set this parameter to positive values to offset the pan position towards the right for notes above and towards the left for notes below the Center Key. Use negative values to offset the pan position towards the left for notes above and to - wards the right for notes below the Center Key. At the maximum setting of +200% the pan position moves from hard left to hard right within two octaves: Fully left is reached one octave below and fully right is reached one octave above the center key. Center Key This specifies the MIDI note around where the Pitch Key Follow pivots. The range extends from C-2 to G8.
34 HALion Sonic Envelope pages The envelope pages of the synth and sample layers give you access to the four envelopes of the layer, i.e., Pitch (P), Filter (F), Amp (A) and User (U) envelope. Each of these is a multi-segment envelope with up to 128 nodes. The nodes specify the overall shape of the envelope with their Time, Level and Curve parameters. The times and levels of the envelope can be modulated from velocity. The Key Follow parameters modulates the times via MIDI note number. Curve allows you to adjust the curvature between two nodes from linear to logarithmic or exponential behav - ior. The Sync option allows you to synchronize the enve- lope times to the tempo of your host application and you can setup a loop between two definable nodes. You can select a second envelope that is displayed in the back - ground of the edited envelope, serving you as an optical or snap reference. The envelopes Amp, Filter and Pitch are pre-assigned to Amplitude, Filter Cutoff Frequency and Pitch of the layer. You can adjust the pre-assigned modulations in the ac - cording section of the layer. The purpose of the User En- velope is freely definable. You can select the User Envelope as a source in the Modulation Matrix. However, you can also use the envelopes Amp, Filter and Pitch as sources in the Modulation Matrix as well. To access the envelopes: 1.Go to the Edit page and select the synth or sample lay- er you want to adjust. 2.In the lower section of the editor, click the page button of the respective envelope. •A: Click “A” to display the parameters of the amplifier envelope. The amplifier envelope shapes the volume over time. •F: Click “F” to display the parameters of the filter enve- lope. The filter envelope controls the Cutoff Frequency of the Filter to shape the harmonic content over time. •P: Click “P” to display the parameters of the pitch enve- lope. The pitch envelope modulates the pitch over time. The pitch envelope is bipolar, which means it allows for negative and positive values to bend the pitch up and down. •U: Click “U” to display the parameters of this free as- signable user envelope. It is bipolar, which means it allows for negative and positive values, for instance, to modulate the pan from left to right. Presets Presets for different envelopes can be loaded and saved in the upper right of the lower section of the layer editor. •To load a preset, click on the preset loader and select the desired preset from the menu that pops up. •To delete a preset from your system, click the trash bin button. Then, you will be asked to confirm the deletion.
35 HALion Sonic •To save a new preset, click the floppy disk button. A file dialog opens where you can name and save your preset file. Navigating in the graphical envelope editor The vertical axis of the graphical envelope editor displays level. The horizontal axis displays time. For fine editing the times of the envelope, use the scroll bar below the graph - ical editor to zoom in on the horizontal axis: Zooming •To zoom in, click the “+” button to the right of the scroll bar. •To zoom out, click the “-“ button to the right of the scroll bar. •Drag the time line up or down to zoom in or out at the position that you clicked. •To zoom to a certain region, hold [Alt] and drag the mouse over the region. Scrolling •Drag the scroll bar to the left or right to scroll the enve- lope editor to the desired position. •Click on an empty space next to the scroll bar to jump to the according position in the envelope editor. •Click on the triangles left and right of the scroll bar to scroll the envelope stepwise. Envelope zoom snapshots Envelope zoom snapshots save the current state of the graphical envelope editor. For example, by saving two en - velope zoom snapshots, one for the beginning and one for the end of the envelope, you can conveniently switch be - tween editing the attack and release of the envelope. Saving and loading envelope zoom snapshots To the right of the scroll bar you find three numbered but- tons which allow you to save and load envelope zoom snapshots for the current envelope editor (Amp, Filter, Pitch, or User). When saving an envelope zoom snapshot, it remembers the zoom factor and scroll position of the graphical envelope editor. The zoom factor and scroll po - sition will be restored when loading the envelope zoom snapshot. •To save the current state of the graphical envelope edi- tor, hold [Shift] and click one of the numbered buttons to the right of the scroll bar. •To load a previously saved envelope zoom snapshot, click on the according numbered button. The button changes its color to green indicating the snapshot is ac - tive. Zooming or scrolling with the graphical envelope edi- tor deactivates the Envelope Zoom Snapshot. The button indicates this by turning grey. Editing the envelope Each multi-segment envelope has up to 128 nodes with the Time, Level and Curve parameters. The nodes and their parameters specify the overall shape of the envelope. You can edit one or multiple nodes by using the graphical envelope editor or by typing in values from keyboard. Be - fore you can edit nodes, you must select them: Selecting nodes •Select a node by clicking the node in the graphical edi- tor. Selected nodes turn light blue in color. The focused node is indicated by an orange frame color. The focused node displays its parameters in the text fields to the left of the graphical envelope editor. •With multiple nodes selected, use the Node pop-up menu above the text fields to set the focus on a different node without losing the current selection. •Hold [Shift] and click on a node to add it to the selec- tion. Selected nodes will be edited together. •In addition, you can select multiple nodes by drawing a rectangle with the mouse around the desired nodes. •With a single node selected, use the left or right arrow key to select the next or previous node. In a multi-selec - tion, the focused node will change instead and the previ- ous or next node within the multi-selection will be focused. •Click on an empty space in the background of the enve- lope to cancel the current selection.
36 HALion Sonic Adjusting Time Time specifies the duration between two nodes. The change in level from the selected to the following node will be carried out in the duration set by Time (0 ms – 30.000 s). Depending on the Sync mode, the parameter Time is displayed in milliseconds and seconds, or fractions of beats (when Sync is activated). Adjusting the Time parameter with the graphical envelope editor: •In the graphical envelope editor, select the node(s) you want to edit and drag them left or right. Drag the node(s) left to decrease and right to increase the time(s). •For a higher resolution, hold [Shift] while moving the node(s). •Hold [Ctrl] (Win) / [Command] (Mac) while dragging to limit the movement to the time-axis (horizontal positioning only). Setting the Time parameter by entering values from key- board: •In the graphical envelope editor, select the node(s) you want to edit. Use the Env Node pop-up menu to change the focus if necessary. Enter a value into the Time text field located to the left of the graphical envelope editor. Then, hit [Return]. Adjusting level Level specifies the amplitude of the envelope at the posi- tion set by Time. The Amp and Filter envelopes are unipo- lar. Therefore, the values for level range from 0% to +100% (positive values only). The Pitch and User enve - lopes are bipolar, the values for level range from -100% to +100% (negative and positive values) for these enve - lopes. ÖYou can change the polarity of the envelopes in the Modulation Matrix, for instance, to map the range of the Amplifier Envelope (unipolar) to Pan (bipolar). However, the envelopes always display their values with their default polarity. Adjusting the level parameter with the graphical envelope editor: •In the graphical envelope editor, select the node(s) you want to edit and drag them up or down. Drag the node(s) down to decrease and up to increase the level(s). •Hold [Alt] while dragging to limit the movement to the level-axis (vertical positioning only). •For a higher resolution, hold [Shift] while moving the node(s). Setting the level parameter by entering values from key- board: •In the graphical envelope editor, select the node(s) you want to edit. Use the Env Node pop-up menu to change the focus if necessary. Enter a value into the level text field located to the left of the graphical envelope editor. Then, hit [Return]. Adjusting Curve Curve allows you to adjust the curvature between two nodes from linear to logarithmic or exponential behavior. The range is from -10 to +10. Adjusting the Curve parameter with the graphical enve- lope editor: •In the graphical envelope editor, drag the curvature of the desired envelope segment up or down. Dragging up adjusts the curvature towards logarithmic, dragging down towards exponential behavior. •[Ctrl]-click (Win) or [Command]-click (Mac) a curvature to reset it to linear behavior. Setting the Curve parameter by entering values from key- board: •In the graphical envelope editor, select the node(s) you want to edit. Use the Node pop-up menu to change the focus if necessary. Enter a value into the Curve text field located to the left of the graphical envelope editor. Then, hit [Return]. •Positive values of Curve change the curvature towards logarithmic and negative values towards exponential be - havior.
37 HALion Sonic Adding and removing nodes The envelopes Amp, Filter, Pitch, and User can have up to 128 nodes. All nodes added after the sustain node always affect the release stage of the envelope, i.e. after the key is released. •To add a node, double-click at the position where you want to add the node. •To remove a node, double-click the node you want to remove. •[Delete] or [Backspace] removes multiple selected nodes. ÖYou cannot remove the first, last or the sustain node. Adding nodes using the Fill function The Fill function allows you to add multiple envelope nodes after the currently selected node(s): 1.From the pop-up menu located to the right of the Fill button, select the number of nodes you wish to add. 2.In the graphical envelope editor, select the node from where you want to add nodes. The new nodes will be in - serted after the selected node. If several nodes are se- lected, the new nodes will be inserted after all selected nodes. 3.If the Fixed function is deactivated, the added nodes are placed with the time interval specified by the Time pa - rameter of the currently selected node. If multiple nodes are selected, the interval is specified by the focused node. By activating Sync, you can specify the interval with the Sync note value. For example, if 1/4 is selected, new nodes will be added at exact quarter note intervals. 4.If the Fixed function is activated, the added nodes fill the space between the last selected node and the follow - ing one. 5.Click the “Fill” button and the nodes will be added. Positioning nodes using the Fixed function When Fixed is activated, only the selected node(s) will be moved on the time-axis. With Fixed deactivated, nodes that follow the currently edited node(s) will be moved also on the time-axis. •Click “Fixed” to activate or deactivate the function. Fixed is active when the button is highlighted. Positioning nodes using the Snap function You can select a second envelope that is displayed in the background of the edited envelope serving you as an opti - cal or snap reference. Nodes you position with Snap acti- vated will snap to the nodes of the envelope that is shown in the background. •From the pop-up menu located to the right of the Snap button, select the envelope to be displayed in the back - ground. •Click “Snap” to activate or deactivate the function. Snap is active when the button is highlighted. Using Sync You can synchronize the envelopes to the tempo of your host application. This allows you to set envelope times that relate to musical time intervals (for example 1 bar), re - gardless of tempo changes made later on. 1.Click “Sync” to activate the envelope’s synchronization mode. Sync is active when the button is highlighted. A grid spaced in fraction of beats appears in the graphical enve - lope editor. 2.From the pop-up menu located to the right of the Sync button, select a note value. This sets the resolution of the grid, i.e. the minimum note value the nodes will snap to when moved. For example, if you specify a 1/4 note value, the nodes will snap to 1/4 note steps. If the “T” button is activated, the note values correspond to triplet values. •The Time text field of a node displays times in fractions of beats. The fraction will always be reduced to the small - est possible value. For instance, “2/16” displays as “1/8”. •Envelope nodes that do not exactly match a note value display the note value which they are closest to. •Nodes that exactly match a note value are indicated by a red dot inside the handle of the node. This can be useful, for example, when you switch the grid between triplets and normal note values: The triplet nodes still indicate that they match a note value, even if the grid shows normal note values.
38 HALion Sonic You can also enter times by entering note values as frac- tions of beats: 1.Select the node(s) you want to edit. 2.Enter a note value as fractions of beats such as “1/4”. Type the letter “T” behind the note value to enter triplet note values such as “1/8T”. 3.Hit [Return]. The selected node(s) will be set to the entered note value. Envelope mode You can select one of four Envelope modes to specify how the envelope is played back each time you hit a note. •Sustain: The envelope plays from the first node to its Sustain. The Sustain level is held as long as you play the note. When you release the note, the envelope continues with the stages behind the Sustain. This mode is ideal for looped samples. •Loop: The envelope starts playback from the first node to the loop nodes. The loop will be repeated as long as the key is held. The envelope plays the stages behind the Sustain when you release the note. This mode is ideal for adding motion to the Sustain (which would be steady in Normal mode). •One Shot: The envelope will be played from the first to the last node, even if you release the note. The envelope has no Sustain stage. This mode is ideal for drum sam - ples. •Sample Loop: This mode allows you to preserve the natural attack of the sample. The decay of the envelope does not start until the sample has reached the sample loop start. Set the second node to the maximum level. Then, use any of the following nodes to shape the decay during the loop phase of the sample. This way, the enve - lope only affects the level during the loop phase of the sample. The attack of the envelope is still executed. ÖThe mode Sample Loop is only available for sample layers. Setting up the loop The envelope repeats its playback between the nodes you select. 1.Set the Envelope mode to “Loop”. 2.Adjust the loop with the graphical envelope editor: •The loop is indicated by the green region in the graphi- cal envelope editor. You can specify the loop start and end by dragging the borders of the region. •Drag the left border to the node where the loop should start. •Drag the right border to the node where the loop should end. ÖThe loop region can only be setup in the Decay of the envelope, i.e. after the first and before the sustain node. Level Velocity Use this parameter to adjust the velocity affecting the level of the envelope. The level of the envelope depends on the setting of this parameter and how hard you hit a note: Positive values increase and negative values decrease the level of the envelope the harder you hit a note. The control range is from -200% to +200%. Level Velocity Curve You can select one of eight curves to specify how the in- coming velocity translates to the level of the envelope. The characteristic of each curve is displayed by a small icon. The menu offers the following mathematical functions for velocity: •1 = Linear •2 = Squared •3 = Squared Inverse •4 = 2 Poles Squared •5 = 2 Poles Squared Inverse •6 = Cubic •7 = Quadric •8 = dB •9 = Logarithmic •10 = Constant (127)
39 HALion Sonic Velocity to Time Use this parameter to adjust the influence of velocity on the times of the envelope. Positive values decrease the times for higher velocity values. Negative values increase the times for higher velocity values. The amount ranges from -100% to +100%. In addition, with Segments you can also select which stages of the envelope will be af - fected by this parameter. Segments From the pop-menu, you can select which stages of the envelope will be affected by the Velocity to Time parame - ter. •A: The velocity affects the attack time only. •A + D: The velocity affects all times until the sustain. •D: The velocity affects all times until the sustain but without the attack. •A + R: The velocity affects the attack and the release times. •All: The velocity affects all times. Key Follow and KeyF Rel With Key Follow and KeyF Rel you can scale the envelope times across the keyboard. KeyF Rel is short for Key Fol - low Release. Key Follow scales all times before the Sus- tain node. KeyF Rel scales all times after the Sustain node (which equals the Release of the envelope). You can set a Center Key around where the Key Follow and KeyF Rel pivot. The envelope times depend on the position where you play the keyboard and on the according Key Follow setting: Positive values decrease the times for notes above and increase the times for notes below the Center Key; the envelope becomes faster the higher you play. Negative values increase the times for notes above and decrease the times for notes below the Center Key; the envelope becomes slower the higher you play. The control range is from -200% to +200%. Center Key Specifies the note number around where the Key Follow and KeyF Rel pivot. The range extends from C-2 to G8. LFO pages LFO is short for low frequency oscillator. The synth and sample layers offer four LFOs: LFO1 and LFO2 are poly - phonic, LFO3 and LFO4 are monophonic. Polyphonic means the LFOs are calculated per voice allowing for in - dependent modulations with each triggered note. You can use this to create a richer sound, for example, with an in - dependent pitch modulation per note. Monophonic means the LFOs are calculated only once per layer. The same modulation will be sent to all voices simultaneously. Mono - phonic LFOs are often used for modulations such as trem- olo and vibrato. LFO1 to LFO4 can be assigned freely in the Modulation Matrix. For each LFO you can select from eight different wave- forms with an additional shape parameter. Frequency ad- justs the speed of the modulation and Phase sets the initial start of the waveform when the LFO is retriggered. In addition, you can synchronize the LFO Frequency to the tempo of the host application. Finally, you can define how the LFO is retriggered playing your keyboard. The poly - phonic LFOs have an additional envelope with Fade In, Hold and Fade Out that allows you to shape the modula - tion intensity over time. Furthermore, the start of the mod- ulation can be delayed. To access the LFOs: 1.Go to the Edit page and select the synth or sample lay- er you want to adjust. 2.In the lower section of the editor, click the respective page button. •To select one of the polyphonic LFOs, click P1 or P2. This refers to LFO1 and LFO2 in the Modulation Matrix. P is short for polyphonic. Polyphonic LFO page
40 HALion Sonic • To select one of the monophonic LFOs, click M3 or M4. This refers to LFO3 and LFO4 in the Modulation Matrix. M is short for monophonic. Monophonic LFO page LFO parameters LFO waveform and shape Waveform selects the basic type of waveform. Shape changes the characteristic of the waveform. The control range of shape is from 0% to 100%. Option Description Sine This produces smooth modulati on, s uitable for vibrato or tremolo. Shape adds additi onal harmonics to the wave - form. Triangle This is similar in characte r to Sine. The waveform period- ically ramps up and down. Shape continuously changes th e triangle wavefo rm to a trapezoid. Saw This produces a “ramp” cycle. Shape continuously changes the waveform from ramp down to triangle to ramp up. Pulse This produces stepped modulation, where the modula - tion switches abruptly between two values. Shape con - tinuously changes the ratio be tween the high and low state of the waveform. Set shape to 50% to produce a square wave. Ramp This is similar to the Saw wave form. Shape increasingly puts silence before the sawtooth ramps up. Log Shape continuously changes the logarithmic curvature from negative to positive. S & H 1 This produces random stepped modulation, where each ste p is different. Shape puts ramps between the steps and changes the S&H into a smooth random signal when fully turned right. S & H 2 This is similar to S & H 1. The steps alternate between r andom high and low values. Shape puts ramps between the steps and changes the S & H into a smooth random signal when fully turned right. Frequency This controls the frequency of the modulation, i.e. the “speed” of the LFO. The control range is from 0 Hz to 30 Hz. When Sync is activated, the frequency is set in frac - tions of beats. Phase This sets the initial phase of the waveform when the LFO is retriggered. The control range is from 0° to 360°. Rnd Rnd is short for Random. When activated, each note starts with a randomized start phase. The Phase control is automatically disabled. Sync mode You can sync the LFO to the tempo of the host applica - tion. The behavior of the Frequency parameter changes wi th the option you select: OptionDescription Off Select this to adjust the speed of the mod ulation in Hertz. Tempo + Retrig Select this to adjust the speed of the modulation in frac- tions of beats, for example, 1/4, 1/8, etc. You can also set dotted and triplet note valu es. The restart behavior of the LFO depends on the Retrigger setting. Tempo + Beat Select this to adjust the speed of the modulation in frac- tions of beats, for example, 1/4, 1/8, etc. You can also set dotted and triplet note values. The LFO restarts with the transport of the host and lines up to the beats of the song. The Retrigger setting does not come into effect. Retrigger mode This defines whether or not the LFO is restarted when a note is triggered. The waveform restarts at the position you set with the Phase parameter. The polyphonic and monophonic LFOs offer different Retrigger settings. The polyphonic LFOs can only switch between Retrigger On a nd Off: Option Description Off The LFO runs freely. On The LFO restarts with each note that is triggered.