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  3. Information request about the performance tool (halion user)

  • Information request about the performance tool (halion user)

    S
    S
    Still in the process of choosing my orchestral library, I find more and more that Opus sounds more to my european taste than Gold.
    Converting the programs is something I could do without, but I may consider it if there is no other solution.
    This being said, as a Halion user, I’m a bit puzzled about the Tool.
    I saw on the Net that there are means to use the tool with Cubase/Halion, but the given workarounds seem to go with some obvious disadvantages, like the necessity for multiple tracks for just one "tooled" instrument (some with data for further editing, some with the initial played notes, some with, well I don't even remember). This may become quite complex and confusing as soon as the arrangement involves a few instruments.
    I know too little about that tool, so all this calls for 2 questions :
    - is the Performance Tool straightforward for Giga users (I mean, one instrument = one track, no need for more), or is it the very nature of this tool which makes multiple tracks mandatory ?
    - if the reply to the 1st question is « yes » then : even if VSL does not plan a conversion of their libraries to Halion (what I can partly understand because of the huge work this must be), is it not realistic to hope for a Tool adaptation, which could work straightforwardly in Cubase/Halion ??
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    - Other question not directly related to the 2 above :
    Studying the articulatiuons in Opus, I have the feeling that the Tool is provided only for the legato. I believed that the tool is normally used also for repeated notes. Is this to say that there is not handling of repeated notes by the Tool in Opus library ?
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    Thanks in advance,
    and any Hal/VSL user reading this is of course welcome to make every comment he sees fit about this general topic !
  • P
    P
    Hi sirbellog,

    I'm running all the basic instruments in HALion, and the whole library in Giga - but not on one machine (HALion is on a Mac, Giga on XP), so I have some experience in both systems, although I've never set up a perf tool with HALion within Cubase as it's a PC tool (the EXS24 version has a perf tool built in). I did set up the perf tool in between my keyboard and Cubase, as a "hardware" MIDI filter, and it worked on a single track, recording note and keyswitch data on track 1. I still had to tweak the keyswitch data if I changed any notes, though - not a real solution...

    Giga will run one instrument per track with the perf tool - there is no need for an edit track alongside the note data - every time note data is created it must pass thru the perf tool before it is routed to Giga: in this way, it runs in real time, with no recorded keyswitching information.

    The HALion/perf tool method records the keyswitch data on the 2nd track, so that you don't need to run the tool all the time - only for recording (this is how I understand the process) and not for playback.

    The big problem with a tool adaptation is that HALion is effectively hardwired into cubase - you can bounce the audio direct to a Cubase track and set up mixer automation etc. For HALion to talk to a performance tool, it needs to be routed out of Cubase, thru the tool and back into Cubase - by doing this, you are recording note data on track 1 and keyswitch data on track 2. It would need side-by-side involvement with Steinberg, as there was with Emagic for the EXS24mkII (this again is my understanding of the situation). Without a direct HALion-savvy product, I can't see any development from Steinberg for a tool...

    HTH

    Peter
  • S
    S
    Thanks a lot Peter,
    for taking some time to put a reply.
    What you say indeed arises another question : in fact, I have 2 PCs, and actually run Halion in a vst host (Steinberg's V-Sack, to name it) on the 2nd computer.
    Since you say that the limitations come from the fact that Halion is hardwired to Cubase....
    .... with my V-Stack I am able to run Halion via midi like just any other virtual sampler (as I would if I used Giga), just feeding it with one midi output from my master computer.
    Would that mean that, in such a setup, it is possible to use the performance tool kind of "native", a bit like with Giga, without having to wire it in uncommon ways (as it seems to be the only solution for a single computer) ?
  • P
    P
    I guess if V-Stack sees MIDI inputs, then you could have a setup like this:

    PC 1: Cubase + HALion - basic not perf instruments

    connect via MIDI interface or MIDI over LAN to

    PC 2 (outboard sampler): Performance tool (select input from MIDI or MoLAN and output to a V-stack instance): V-Stack + HALion - running legato instruments etc

    you might need Marble tools, but I'm not sure... PC bods should step in here...!

    Peter