STEINBERG HALion Symphonic Orchestra

Apr 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Geary Yelton

           

FIG. 1: Like other software built on the HALion Player platform, HALion Symphonic Orchestra is 16-part multitimbral and allows you to route each part to individual stereo outputs.

For at least as long as synths and samplers have existed, musicians have aspired to putting an orchestra on their desktops. Achieving that goal has been a gradual process; sampling techniques have improved, realism has increased, and large sample libraries have become more affordable. Software instruments focusing on complete orchestras and priced under $300 are available from developers such as Garritan and MOTU. At the other end of the spectrum, premium virtual orchestras that cost $2,995 and up are available from Vienna Symphonic Library, SoniVox, and EastWest.

Taking the middle ground, Steinberg's entry is HALion Symphonic Orchestra (HSO), a sample library paired with a custom version of HALion Player. Composer Claudius Brüse is largely responsible for HSO's content. He's the developer behind Steinberg's HALion String Edition and The Grand, and HSO borrows much of its content from the former. Because HSO is built around HALion Player, it offers advantages such as real-time disk streaming and the ability to delete unused samples from RAM.

HALion Player is 16-part multitimbral, allowing you to load as many as 16 instruments or ensembles in a single plug-in. If you need more and your computer can handle it, you can open additional plug-ins. HSO supports AU and VST on the Mac and DirectX and VST in Windows, and it runs as a standalone application that supports ReWire.

Opening Night

I installed HSO on my dual-processor 2.3 GHz Apple Power Mac G5 with Mac OS X 10.4.8, 4 GB of RAM, and a 165 SuperDrive. I ran HSO standalone and as a VST plug-in in Steinberg Cubase SX 3.1.1 and an AU plug-in in Apple Logic Pro 7.1.1 and MOTU Digital Performer 4.61.

Four DVDs contain installers for the standalone version, plugs-ins, and sample content. After running the installer for the application and plug-ins, I ran separate installers for HSO's 16- and 24-bit content; you can install either or both. It took about an hour to install all the content, which added up to about 27 GB. If your computer is connected to the Internet, you run Syncrosoft's License Control Center application to authorize a Steinberg-compatible USB key (which is not included) using a code that comes with the software.

Across the Board

Like other HALion Player-based instruments, HSO's graphical user interface presents you with 16 Program Slots, each with a pull-down menu for loading programs and fields to specify MIDI channel, volume, panning, and output (see Fig. 1). Clicking on a button in each slot selects that program for editing, and a Category field lets you narrow down the listed programs to a particular instrument type, such as brass or woodwind.

A sound-editing section below the Program Slots contains eight soft knobs called Q Controls, and the selected program determines which parameters they control. In addition to standard parameters such as Attack, Velocity, and Pan, Q Controls provide hands-on access to parameters such as Body, Air, and Ambience. The manual doesn't explain every parameter, but you can quickly gain a feel for their effects by experimenting with them. Two additional knobs control volume and tuning for all parts simultaneously. A small display tells you how many voices of polyphony are being used. On the far left are a virtual LED indicating when effects are applied and a button to disable them.

FIG. 2: Clicking on the Options button opens a dialog box in which you can assign MIDI controllers and make adjustments that affect HSO’s demands on your computer.

The large Options button opens the Player Options dialog box, in which you can specify parameters concerning RAM allotment, sampling quality, and MIDI controller assignments (see Fig. 2). A pop-up menu lets you assign crescendo control to one of four MIDI sources. You can also assign MIDI Control Changes (CC) to the eight Q Controls, but I discovered a minor bug when I tried to scroll through a list of MIDI CCs: the scrollbar didn't work. Fortunately, I could use MIDI Learn to assign controllers.

Clicking on a slot's Program menu reveals an alphabetical list of choices. If you prefer to view instruments grouped into folders by family and type, you can select Show Content By Category in the Player Options dialog box (see Fig. 3). When that option is selected and you click on a slot containing a program, the folder containing the current program is open by default, which is quite convenient when you're choosing from similar articulations of the same instrument.

FIG. 3: You can choose to either list all programs alphabetically or, as shown here, list them grouped into folders by instrument category.

Clicking on HSO's onscreen keyboard lets you audition sounds at any Velocity, depending on where you click. The keyboard displays sample mapping for the currently selected program in alternating blue and green groups. Keys designated as keyswitches are labeled ks if they toggle and kr if they're momentary. To the keyboard's left, a Disk LED glows green when samples are streaming and red when they're unable to load quickly enough (I never saw that happen). Beneath that is the RAM Save button, which deletes any unused samples from RAM — a handy way to conserve computer resources.

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