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Halion Tutorial:
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This page is a basic HALion tutorial. If you are interested is getting this sweet piece of music making software then click here.
If you don't know what a sampler is let's start with that. If you already know then skip ahead to see Halion in more detail.
What is a sampler?
A sampler is a machine or program that loads sounds in (for example a .wav file). These sound files are then mapped across a keyboard so that when you press the keys the sample allocated to that key will play.Each key can have a different sound or the same sound can be used over a number of keys (say an octave) so that these sounds can be played at different pitches.
An example of this would be using a trumpet sample over a number of keys so that you can write a new trumpet melody.
Modern samplers also have extensive effects built into them. These effects are why dance music relies on the use of samplers to create weird and wacky sounds.
Halion has effects and filters that are perfect for dance music. However all these effects use up your computer's cpu so you will need a grunty PC if you want to get the most out of Halion.
Halion is a virtual or VST instrument. This means that it integrates totally with Cubase letting you apply effects and fade just as though the Halion output is a regular audio channel.
Let's look at Halion in more detail
Halion is easy to use:To get started with Halion go: panels>virtual instruments>Halion
This will load the Halion program into memory where it will start taking up system resources. You will now want to load in some sounds to play, so click to the options page. This will take you to the panel below:
Click in the oval lights at the bottom to get to this page. This is where you load samples by locating them on your hard drive.
The sound files will be loaded in the program you currently have selected. Just hit the import audio files button in the top left. You can have up to 128 programs but let's just start with one.
A single program is a bunch of sound files mapped across the keyboard. When you sequence the midi data you will want to know which key (in the midi editing window in Cubase) corresponds with which sound in Halion.
The Keyzone Window
Click to the keyzone window to have a look at how to map sounds across the keyboard.
Click the keys with your mouse to hear the samples you've loaded play. At the top is the specific information about which sample is mapped to which note. I've got heaps of drum samples loaded here.
Now you will want to go back to the main Cubase arrangement window.
Set the locators around a 4 bar block and double click in any midi channel. In the output box on the left of the arrangement window set the output of the midi channel to Halion. This will send all the midi notes you sequence to Halion so that you will hear your samples. Now simply edit the midi (see this basic Cubase tutorial to see how) and draw in the notes that correspond to your samples.
What samples should you use first?
I recommend using drum samples first. The rest of this guide takes you through Halion using drum samples.Load in some kicks, snares and high hats, map them onto the keyboard, and start making drum loops.
The best thing about doing drums like this is that you can easily change your drum patterns to keep your track interesting. With Cubase you can copy and paste you midi segments to quickly create drums for an entire song.
This is what makes Halion so powerful. You have the power of a professional sampler at your fingertips.
Halion Filter Effects
Now that you have some drum patterns playing it's time to use the filter effects in Halion to really make your track sound good!Click to Env/Filter page in Halion to start filtering your drums just like the professionals do:
The filter resonance, cutoff and amplification envelope have been arrowed.
The resonance adds extra intensity to the sound. The cutoff adjusts the frequency at which the filter cuts the sound. There are different filters and so the cutoff changes the sound differently with each filter.
Let's look at what the different filters do. The types of filter are:
- Low pass - which lets low frequencies through (raise the cutoff and some high frequencies will get through)
- High pass - lets only high frequencies through (lower the cutoff and some low frequencies will get through)
- Band pass - lets a small band of sound frequencies through (this band of sound goes up and down when you adjust the cutoff)
The Filter envelope (envelope 1) adjusts how the filter will affect the sound. You can have the filter affecting the sound strongly at the start or coming on at the end, or any other combination.
Before you start fiddling with your drum loop you will want Halion to put a separate filter on each sample. To do this go to the program bar on the left and click on the blue "all" button. This will change to a red "select" button. This will make all your filter settings apply to only the currently selected sample.
This setting eats up more computer power but you don't want a high pass filter killing your kick drum sounds do you? On second thought maybe you do ... so play around. There is never any substitute for fiddling around to get the sound you want.
I have tried a few different software samplers such as Emagic's EXS 24 and Bitzheadz Unity DS-1 but I think HALion is the best. Especially when you use it with Cubase 5. If you want to learn more about these two products then click the links below:
