Programs, Layers, and Multi-Programs

Programs and Layers

A program is a complex instrument or sound that can consist of multiple layers. Often, a program contains a single layer that includes all necessary components, such as the synthesis part or insert effects. However, programs allow you to combine different layers, to build up more complex sounds or to create combinations of sounds that you want to load as a unit. A typical example is a bass/piano split sound or a piano/string layer sound.

Because of the various layer types that come with HALion, these combinations can do a lot more. For example, think of combining a pulsating synthesizer sequence with a sliced loop completed by a bass on the lower keys, and so on. Finally, adding some effects to individual layers or to the whole program creates a unique sound experience.

Multi-Programs

HALion is a multitimbral plug-in that can load and combine up to 64 programs. This combination is called a multi-program. You can use multi-programs to layer several programs or to create split sounds by setting several programs to the same MIDI input channel, for example. However, the most common usage is to create sound sets with different instruments set to individual MIDI channels.

VST Sound Instrument Sets

VST Sound Instrument Sets from Steinberg provide additional content for VST instruments based on the HALion technology. They come with their own macro pages that feature a customized look and a collection of controls and parameters. For details, refer to the documentation included with the corresponding VST Sound Instrument Set.

Content Files and Folder Structure

HALion comes with a large amount of ready-to-use sound content, made up of hundreds of multi-programs, programs, and layers. This content is write-protected. You can edit files while they are loaded, but you cannot overwrite the factory content files.

To save edits to the factory content, save the files under a new name. These files get the file name extension .vstpreset and are referred to as user content. They can be searched and categorized in the same way as factory content.

User content is saved in a predefined folder structure on your hard disk. You can create subfolders within this structure to facilitate moving or exchanging content.