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Steinberg Halion Sonic 2 Manual

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    HALiotron
    Introduction
    HALiotron emulates the sound generation of the pre-digital sampling era. Before the 
    introduction of digital samplers, original instrument sounds were created by playing a 
    pre-recorded tape for every key. HALiotron comes with seven different tapes from 
    these days, which can be blended to create sound mixtures. In addition to its classic 
    archetype, HALiotron offers a set of the most important synthesis parameters, 
    allowing you to vary the shape of the sound. Furthermore, you can play sounds 
    dynamically by controlling filter and amp via velocity.
    The Main Page
    Loop On/Off
    Here, you can decide whether notes should be played using looped versions of the 
    underlying samples or whether the notes should stop when the tape reaches its end.
    Volume
    Adjusts the main volume of the sound.
    Speed
    Adjusts the speed of the tape playback. When this is set to Slow, the samples are 
    played back an octave lower.
    Cutoff
    Adjusts the cutoff frequency of the built-in low-pass filter.
    Pitch
    Adjusts the tuning of the sound. When combining several HALiotron presets, this can 
    be used to make the sound richer.
    A, B, C
    Click here to select one of the included tapes for each knob position. Use the knob to 
    blend seamlessly between the tapes.  
    						
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    HALiotronThe Filter Page
    Attack
    Adjusts the attack time of the sound.
    Release
    Adjusts the release time of the sound.
    Velocity
    Controls the influence of the velocity on the level of the sound.
    Pitchbend Down/Up
    Sets the range of the pitch modulation that is applied when you move the pitchbend 
    wheel.
    Coarse Tune
    Here, you can adjust the sound in semitone steps. This allows you to play intervals 
    with multiple layered HALiotron sounds.
    The Filter Page
    Resonance
    Adjusts the resonance of the low-pass filter.
    Velocity
    Sets the influence of the velocity on the level of the sound.
    Env Amount
    Adjusts the influence of the filter envelope on the cutoff frequency.
    KYB
    Adjusts the cutoff modulation from the keyboard, that is, cutoff key follow.
    Attack
    Adjusts the attack time of the filter envelope.
    Decay
    Adjusts the decay time of filter envelope.
    Sustain
    Adjusts the sustain level of the filter envelope. 
    						
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    B-Box
    Introduction
    The B-Box provides you with a veritable drum computer inside HALion Sonic. It 
    comes with 13 instrument lanes that can make use of up to 128 different sounds. You 
    can set up your drum patterns, create variations, and modify each drum sound using a 
    low-pass filter and several distortion modes.
    The B-Box contains three pages: Pattern, Mix, and Aux. To open a page, click the 
    corresponding button in the top section of the B-Box.
    The Pattern Page
    The Pattern page is where you create and edit the drum patterns. It gives you access 
    to the pattern editor as well as to some of the most important sound parameters.
    The pattern editor section allows you to create and edit your drum patterns.
    Setting up the Pattern Length
    •Specify the number of steps for the pattern by dragging the small triangle in the 
    lower part of the pattern display. The maximum length is 16 steps.
    Pattern length indicator 
    						
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    B-BoxThe Pattern Page
    Selecting Sounds
    •To select another drum sound for a lane, change the value in the Sound column. 
    You can choose between up to 128 drum sounds, depending on the selected 
    drum instrument.
    •To preview a drum sound, click the trigger button to the right of the instrument name.
    Adding Steps to the Pattern
    •To add drum steps, click on the step fields in the pattern editor. 
    •To set all steps at the same time, hold down [Shift] and click.
    Setting up the Velocity
    You can set each step to low, medium, or high velocity. 
    •To set up the velocity for a step, click it and drag the mouse up or down, or use the 
    mouse wheel.
    To change the velocity of all steps in a lane, hold down [Shift] and use the mouse.
    Playing Back the Pattern
    •To play back the pattern, use the play button at the top of the B-Box.
    An indicator below the step number shows which step is playing.
    •To mute or solo individual lanes, click the mute and solo buttons of the lanes.
    Setting Up the Drum Sounds
    With the controls to the left and right of the pattern editor, you can make settings for 
    the selected drum instrument. The following parameters are available:
    Coarse
    Adjusts the tuning of the instrument in steps of semitones.
    Fine
    Fine-tunes the instrument in steps of cents.
    Pan
    Adjusts the panorama position.
    Cutoff
    Adjusts the cutoff frequency for the instrument.
    Resonance
    Adjusts the filter resonance for the instrument.
    Distortion Type
    Here, you can select one of the four available distortion types: tube, hard clip, bit 
    reduction, or rate reduction.
    Distortion
    Adjusts the amount of distortion for the instrument. 
    						
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    B-BoxThe Pattern Page
    Level
    Adjusts the level of the instrument.
    Removing Steps
    •To remove a step, click it.
    •To remove all steps, hold down [Shift]-[Ctrl]/[Command] and click a step.
    •To remove all steps in a pattern, click the Clear Pattern button below the pattern 
    editor.
    Modifying the Pattern
    •To move all steps of the pattern one step to the left or right, click the “Shift Pattern 
    Left/Right” buttons.
    This is useful if you have created a pattern that sounds the way you want but does 
    not start on the first beat, for example.
    •To mirror the pattern around its middle step, click the Reverse button.
    Loading Patterns
    You can load individual patterns for the selected variation. 
    Proceed as follows:
    1.Below the Pattern editor, click in the Pattern field.
    2.On the pop-up menu, select the pattern that you want to load.
    ÖKeep in mind that each variation can have a different pattern.
    Exporting Patterns
    You can export your patterns as MIDI files using drag and drop.
    Variations
    Each program can contain up to eight variations that can be used to create different 
    rhythm patterns, such as intros, fills, and endings, for example. 
    •Click the variation buttons to switch between the available variations. 
    To create a variation, proceed as follows:
    1.Activate the variation button for which you want to create a pattern.
    2.Edit the pattern.
    The variation is saved and can be recalled by clicking its variation button.
    Copying Variations
    You can copy the settings of an existing variation to another variation button with the 
    “Copy/Paste Drum Player Variation” commands from the context menu. 
    						
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    B-BoxThe Mix Page
    ÖThe parameters Loop, Sync, Hold, Trigger Mode, Restart Mode, and Input Mode are 
    not part of the variations.
    Switching Variations With the Trigger Pads
    Variations can be assigned to the trigger pads, allowing you to switch variations on 
    the fly, see 
    “The Trigger Pads” on page 174.
    The Mix Page
    On the Mix page, you can add effects to the patterns. This page contains the following 
    settings:
    Level
    Adjusts the level of the instrument.
    Pan
    Adjusts the panorama position of the instrument.
    Delay
    Here, you can specify how much of the signal is sent to the delay effect.
    Reverb
    Here, you can specify how much of the signal is sent to the reverb effect.
    Output
    Here, you can select one of the available plug-in outputs.  
    						
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    B-BoxThe Mix Page
    The AUX Page
    On the Aux page, you can make global settings for the B-Box and the included 
    effects. It is divided into two sections. The left section gives you access to the global 
    performance settings, and the right section allows you to edit the integrated delay and 
    reverb effects.
    Performance
    Loop
    When this option is activated, the pattern plays in a loop.
    Hold
    Here, you can make the following settings:
    Trigger Mode
    The Trigger Mode determines at which moment B-Box changes the pattern when you 
    select another variation. 
    You can select one of the following options:
    OptionDescription
    OffThe pattern changes immediately when a key is released. The 
    pattern stops immediately when all keys are released.
    OnThe pattern plays to the end even when the keys are released. 
    When the Loop option is activated, the pattern plays continuously in 
    a cycle.
    GatedThe pattern starts playback with the first key being played. It plays 
    silently in the background even when the keys are released, and 
    resumes playback at the current position when you press any of the 
    keys again. This way, you can gate the playback of the pattern.
    OptionDescription
    ImmediatelyThe pattern changes as soon as you switch to another variation.
    Next BeatThe pattern changes on the first new beat after switching to another 
    variation.
    Next MeasureThe pattern changes at the first new measure after switching to 
    another variation. 
    						
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    B-BoxThe Mix Page
    Restart Mode
    Determines whether the pattern playback is restarted when a note is triggered. The 
    following options are available:
    Input Mode
    Keys that trigger the pattern are shown in green on the HALion Sonic keyboard. 
    Keys that are assigned to an instrument sound are shown as regular black and white 
    keys. Depending on the Input Mode, the black and white keys either trigger or mute 
    the assigned instrument. The following options are available:
    Sync
    To synchronize the pattern to the tempo of your host application, activate Sync.
    ÖFor the modes “Sync to Host” and “Follow Transport”, synchronization to the host 
    application is established automatically. In these modes, the Sync parameter cannot 
    be edited.
    Tempo
    When Sync is deactivated, you can use the Tempo parameter to set the internal 
    playback speed.
    Tempo Scale
    This parameter defines the speed at which the pattern is running. You can specify a 
    value in fractions of beats. You can also set dotted and triplet note values.
    When the Tempo parameter is 1/16 and you set this value to 1/8, for example, the 
    speed is cut to half.
    Groove Quantizing Patterns
    To adapt the timing of a pattern to an external MIDI file, you can drop this MIDI file on 
    the Groove Quantize drop field. You can quantize the playback of the pattern to the 
    timing of a sliced loop by dragging its MIDI file from the MIDI export drag field to the 
    Groove Quantize drop field.
    The “Groove Quantize Depth” parameter to the right of the drop field determines how 
    accurately the pattern follows the timing of the MIDI file.
    OptionDescription
    OffPlayback is not restarted when it is already running.
    First NoteRestarts playback when a note is triggered and no other notes are 
    playing.
    Each NoteRestarts playback every time a note is triggered
    Sync to HostAligns playback with the beats and measures of your host 
    application. Playback is synchronized every time you start the 
    transport.
    Follow TransportPlayback starts and stops automatically together with the transport 
    controls in your host application.
    OptionDescription
    OffTriggers the pattern with any key that you play.
    TriggerPlays back the sound of the assigned instrument.
    MuteMutes the track as long as you press the key. 
    						
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    B-BoxThe Mix Page
    Swing
    Use this parameter to shift the timing of notes on even-numbered beats. This way, the 
    pattern gets a swing feeling. Negative values let the notes play earlier, positive values 
    let the notes play later.
    Velocity Scale
    This parameter allows you to raise or lower the note-on velocities of the pattern. At a 
    value of 100
     %, the notes play with their original velocity.
    Delay/Reverb
    The delay and reverb effect have the same parameters as the Multi Delay and Reverb 
    effects that are available on the Effects page, see 
    “Multi Delay” on page 136 and 
    “Reverb” on page 134. 
    Here, the following settings are available:
    Delay
    Adjusts the general amount of delay.
    Reverb
    Adjusts the general amount of reverb.
    Master
    Adjusts the overall volume of the B-Box.
    Exporting Your Patterns as MIDI Files
    •You can export the selected pattern as a MIDI file by dragging the icon in the top 
    right corner and dropping it on the desktop or other program windows that can 
    handle MIDI files. 
    						
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    World Instruments 
    Introduction
    The World Instruments deliver a great variety of ethnic instruments which can either 
    be played manually or use the integrated arpeggiator.
    On the Sound page, the instruments can be fine-tuned with filter and amp settings. In 
    addition, you can use the built-in micro-tuning functionality, which allows you to 
    decrease the pitch of each key by a quarter note, to realize typical oriental scales.
    The Filter Section
    Filter Shape
    The filter shapes are the same as on the Filter subpage, see “Filter Shape” on page 39.
    Cutoff
    Controls the cutoff frequency of the filter.
    Resonance
    This parameter emphasizes the frequencies around the cutoff. At higher resonance 
    settings, the filter self-oscillates, which results in a ringing tone. 
    Env Amount
    Controls the cutoff modulation from the filter envelope. 
    Velocity
    Controls the cutoff modulation from velocity. 
    						
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