However, rather than just using the standard approach to key-switching for switching between the articulations, Wizoo and Steinberg have been slightly more cunning. When you load a Combi Instrument, the default articulation is legato, and pressing a keyswitch allows you to change the articulation that's played — sounds normal so far. However, the non-legato articulation is only used while the keyswitch key is held down — releasing it will resume the legato articulation once again.
In addition to the Instruments that can be loaded into HSP, HSE also provides a set of Instruments for loading into Halion, for those users who also own a copy of that program. Part of the reason for creating HSP is that Halion doesn't support the advanced crossfade modulation features or provide the necessary facilities for automatic bow-alternating, for example, so it goes without saying that these features are missing when using the Halion Instruments.
For this reason, it's recommended that you use HSP for string arranging and Halion for more brutal sonic manipulation, although apparently a future version of Halion will eventually be able to fully load and support the HSP Instruments.
When it comes to short bows, only a spiccato articulation is provided, although this is somewhat compensated for in the large number of variations provided. Firstly, as with the legato Instruments, there are 'A' and 'B' variation sets, this time supplemented by up and down bow sets as well, with the 'A' variation producing a lighter sound with a firm attack, and 'B' offering a thicker woody sound, which is particularly fierce on the cellos.
The bass spiccato samples are only available in one down-bow flavour, which is suitably aggressive and should move a fair amount of air in your subwoofer!
However, HSE goes one step further with its spiccato articulation and offers an Instrument featuring automatic up and down bow alternations. Admittedly, HSE isn't the first library to offer this, but it is the first library that doesn't require additional programs to be set up and used alongside your sampler, a fact that highlights the advantage of self-contained libraries running as virtual instruments.
The automatic Instruments offer a number of key-switches to change the bowing to only up or down bows, or to begin alternating again starting on either an up or down bow, which is very, very useful indeed.
The manual claims that up to nine velocity layers are used for each bow direction, although I have to say that I certainly couldn't discern that many individually. However, what you can hear is a brilliantly varied and realistic spiccato texture that avoids, as the manual puts it, the 'machine-gunning' affect often associated with short-bow string samples.
The pizzicato Instruments are available in loose and tight variants for the upper strings, tight and very tight which could be painful!
Seriously, though, it's not that easy for a group of bass players to control a tight pizzicato sound, which isn't surprising if you consider the length and thickness of the strings — you could probably get a tighter pizzicato sound with an ensemble of upright Hoovers! Overall, the pizzicato Instruments were nicely rounded with a musical character that just cried out to be played.
The samples used in Halion String Edition Volume One are taken from a three-year sampling project started by Wizoo at the beginning of to sample a complete symphony orchestra, which is to become The Claudius Bruese Orchestra. The primary aim of this gradually developing sample library, as demonstrated by Halion String Edition, is to provide high-quality sounds that are easy to use for any musician who requires access to an orchestral palette.
Claudius Bruese with orchestra during the sample recording sessions. In addition to his work with Wizoo, Claudius is a trained composer and sound designer who works in both Cologne and LA, composing for film and TV, and specialises in producing realistic-sounding orchestral mock-ups for himself and other high-profile Hollywood composers.
If you already own a software sampler and would like to use the sounds from The Claudius Bruese Orchestra without buying the full Halion String Edition Volume One, some of the programs are available for download at www.
At the time of writing, the legato, pizzicato and tremolo programs are available, with marcato, spiccato, trills and senza vibrato programs coming soon.
However, it's worth stressing that these are just ordinary multisampled instruments; they do not come with all the extra functionality of Halion String Edition Volume One.
In fact, the HSP interface is basically a stripped-down version of Halion's macro view, which takes away all the complication sometimes associated when using higher-end libraries with generic sampling software. HSP retains Halion's four pairs of stereo outputs, losing the additional four mono outputs that are obviously redundant in this context. Initally I thought it was a shame not to have five pairs of outputs — one for each section plus full strings — but you can of course run as many copies of HSP as your host supports to get the number of individual outputs required.
The overhead of running an extra instance of HSP, compared to the overhead of just playing the Instruments, would be negligible. The user is left with very few decisions to make in the operation of HSP, and the only settings you can make are those affecting the quality and performance.
As with Halion, you can select between a variety of quality and resampling options, where better means more processor intensive.
Halion's 'Preload To RAM' slider for controlling the balance between disk streaming and RAM-based playback has been simplified into five presets from the same settings menu as Quality and Resampling. Halion's Keyzone page isn't present in HSP, so you can't see which samples are assigned to which notes. To get around this, there's a nice touch in HSP's piano-style keyboard; the range of the current Instrument for the selected Channel is highlighted by small horizontal brown lines along the top of the keyboard.
In terms of computer resources, HalionString Player is fairly efficient. To give some idea of the performance you can expect, I loaded up the XXL '4-in-1' legato patch on my Windows-based test system, set Voices to 64, placed my foot on the master keyboard's damper pedal, and played an ascending note chromatic scale starting from the 'C' three octaves below middle 'C'. Disk streaming was set to the default Mid setting, and during the test there were no audible glitches, with the CPU Performance meter in Cubase registering about 60 percent.
Given that most musicians are unlikely to need to play note chords with a legato program, I think it's safe to say that if you purchased your computer within the last year or so, it should have no problem coping with even the most intensive string arrangements. And when it comes to polyphony, your computer is likely is to give up long before HSP, which has an upper voice limit for each of the 16 Channels, giving a theoretical maximum polyphony of a staggering voices!
An aspect of Halion String Player that did become annoying was that the Voices parameter always resets itself to 16 Voices every time you load an Instrument, regardless of the previous setting. This reason for this turned out to be that the Voices setting is saved in the Instrument files themselves, so resaving the Instruments with your required polyphony neatly solves what initially appears to be a problem.
The up and down buttons on the Channel, Output and Voices controls only respond to single mouse clicks, and I thought at first that this was going to significantly increase my chances of developing RSI — setting Voices from 16 to 64 requires 48 clicks! However, I later found a neat and undocumented feature, which, like Halion itself, enables you to change these parameters by hovering the mouse over the up and down buttons and using your mouse's scroll wheel instead — if your mouse has one.
This method also works for any of Halion String Player's other controls, including the piano keyboard, which can be scrolled via the wheel if the mouse is hovering inside the keyboard display.
The only other minor point is that a 'used voices' indicator to show the current polyphony for the selected channel would be useful for knowing when you need to adjust the Voices parameter for that given channel, as in Gigastudio and EXS24 MkII — there's certainly space for it. Tremolo, tremolo with accents, trills half and whole tone , pizzicato loose and tight , spiccato. Legato, tremolo, tremolo with accents, trills half and whole tone , pizzicato loose and tight , spiccato.
Legato, legato with portamento control, tremolo, tremolo with accents, trills half and whole tone , pizzicato tight and very tight! All things considered, there really is very little criticism I can level at Halion String Edition: aside from a few minor interface issues and a question of taste on the room and 'safe' legato choices, this is, quite simply, a great product that delivers on its promises. The only question remaining is whether these promises are sufficient and suitable for your needs.
I think Steinberg and Wizoo have been clever with Halion String Edition Volume One, aiming it squarely at musicians who require the quality of the larger sample libraries, but without the same number of articulations.
Although both GOS and Sonic Implants' Symphonic Strings SISS are available in smaller, more affordable versions, they represent the scope of the full library using fewer samples, as opposed to providing full-quality versions of the most common articulations, as Wizoo have done.
If you require a greater variety of articulations eg. On the other hand, Wizoo acknowledge that the Volume One appendage means that there'll be a Volume Two to cover more articulations, so you could buy Volume One now and Volume Two later as your needs grow. With this in mind, choosing whether to purchase HSE comes down to taste a simple question of which library's sound you prefer and ease of use — a category that Halion String Edition Volume One wins hands down for me.
Putting my dreamer's hat on for one paragraph, one of HSE's most exciting aspects is what's to come when the same approach is applied to other sections of the orchestra — I can't wait to see what Halion Brass, Woodwind and Percussion Editions will offer! But it would also be good if Steinberg took this technology to its logical conclusion in Cubase and integrated it more tightly with the Score editor to offer Sibelius-style playback features. Overall, the programming of HSE's Instruments is meticulous and musical, demonstrating the level of expertise you'd expect from Wizoo and Steinberg.
I have nothing but admiration for those who have the patience to design these instruments and edit the sheer amount of data down into something so deceptively simple and playable. In conclusion, I really liked HSE. If you want high-quality, easy-to-play string sounds in a VST or DirectX Instrument for less than half the price of the larger libraries, and have no desire for the more intricate articulations required for more detailed orchestration, Halion String Edition is absolutely what you've been waiting for.
Previous article Next article. You may login with either your assigned username or your e-mail address. The password field is case sensitive. Highly playable and easy to use. Within each section, there are also some 'A' and 'B' programs which use different samples based on slight variations in playing style for example, different attack. Combining the A and B programs can create some very impressive results, particularly if the parts of performed separately that is, the MIDI parts are not just copied or quantised to death and given their own dose of the Crescendo Controller.
The sounds themselves are excellent and, with suitable time and effort to master the different articulations and the various performance controls, it is possible to create some very realistic string sections — from small and intimate to big and aggressive. Solo instrument programs are supplied for violin, viola, cello, and double bass and these are split into Xswitch, Velocity, and Velocity With Pitch-bend types, with plenty of keyswitch options available.
These programs include similar performance articulations to the sections, but with the added bonus of some fast-attack, short- and long-bow staccato as opposed to spiccato and ornament programs. The violin and viola legato programs feature quite a strong vibrato that is gradually introduced as a note is held. This sounds wonderful in the right musical context sad, lyrical melodies for example , but might not suit all situations.
Unlike the Garritan Stradivari Solo Violin reviewed in SOS August , there is no way to control the speed of the vibrato here, but, that comment aside, these are very playable solo instruments and a welcome addition to the palette of string sounds available in HSO. Many media composers like to have more than one string library available so that they can mix and match sounds for greater variety and flexibility.
It also means that 'bigger' string sections can be created without the danger of them simply being based on multiples of the same samples. If you already own a full orchestral library that you are happy with, then Halion String Edition 2 — which contains the same sample set as the HSO string section — might fill that niche.
In fact, 'trade-in' is perhaps not quite the correct term, as all Steinberg require is proof of purchase for the competing product, so you still retain use of your original library.
At this price, HSO is an absolute steal and would be an excellent way of expanding your orchestral palette. For the brass section, the instruments covered include trumpet, trombone, tuba, and French horn. The structure of the programs is very similar to that of the strings. With the exception of the tuba, both solo and tutti programs are provided and, minus the Xfade options, the same technical options are present. There are fewer programs for each instrument or small group than with the strings, but the choices made by Steinberg seem sensible and cover the key articulations in each case.
For example, the trumpet tutti programs include a keyswitched Combi, standard legato, soft legato, loud legato, accent, diminuendo, and staccato. As with the strings, there are also a small number of legato and staccato ensemble programs offering combinations of either trumpet and trombone or tuba and horn — another way in which computer resources can be saved if you just need these instruments to play in unison.
Using Halion Player's 16 stereo outputs, it is easy to tailor individual instruments or sections via the host mixer if required. The sounds themselves are very good indeed. While I occasionally found myself adjusting the amount of ambience for certain programs, the trumpet and trombone go from soft and warm when played pianissimo through to strident when played fortissimo.
As should be the case, the horn and tuba instruments are less aggressive at louder performance styles, but the horns do have a nice rasp in their lower register. Overall, while HSO perhaps lacks some of the less common brass articulations that might be found in a top-of-the-range orchestral library, at this price point the instruments are both very playable and capable of very realistic results.
The woodwind collection comprises solo versions of flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, piccolo, English horn, and bass clarinet alongside a small number of ensemble programs. The piccolo, English horn, and bass clarinet feature fewer programs, dominated by legato and staccato articulations. While all the instruments have plenty of character, I particularly liked both the flute and the bassoon. The legato flute has a wonderful breathy quality and grades into a nice vibrato that is strong without being overdone, while the bassoon is suitably dark and full in its lower register.
All these instruments are interesting to play, and the Xswitch programs make it very easy to add the dynamics required to create a realistic performance.
I did notice an occasional small change in level when keyswitching between the legato and staccato articulations at some dynamic levels, but nothing that detracted significantly from the overall performance.
The percussion instruments are split into a number of groups: pitched, skinned, wood, and metal. Given how most real percussion instruments are played, it is not surprising that all the programs are simply velocity based.
As well as programs for individual performance articulations, a full keyswitched version is provided for each instrument. In the pitched group are timpani, glockenspiel, vibraphone, xylophone, tubular bells, and a small bell. While these are perhaps not HSO 's strongest suit, all serve their purpose well enough and the timpani are suitably huge at high velocities with a nice roll articulation to go with the straight hits. The skinned percussion includes snare, gran cassa bass drum , and tambourine.
There are a few more articulations here — for example, the snare includes normal hits, flams, both short and long rolls, and a snares-off program, as well as the usual keyswitched program. The bass drum sounds impressive when played hard and the tambourine features normal and rolled performances.
The long roll programs for all of these are nicely looped and can therefore be held as long as required.
Woodblocks, templeblocks, and vibraslap make up the wooden percussion. Three different woodblocks are included, and each is presented with both wood and felt beaters, while two templeblocks are provided with beater choices of stick, leather, or wood. The vibraslap comes in a long and a short variety. The largest percussion group is the metal percussion. This includes suspended cymbals, piatti a due pair of cymbals , tam-tam, triangle, cowbell, small bell, sleighbells, finger cymbals, dobatchi cug gong , and campane di messa.
Of these, the cymbals and the tam-tam are particularly impressive: the former offer plenty of choice with drumstick and mallet options, plus various rolls and crescendo options; and the latter sounds suitably huge, with a long and natural fade to silence. Halion Player is certainly a lean front-end for HSO , and it is very easy to use. The Real Ambience sounds very authentic on most of the instruments, although I'd probably opt for adding a convolution-based 'concert hall' reverb via my sequencer's mixer if a really big sound was required.
On my newish dual-core Athlon PC, I was able to build up some quite complex arrangements without things grinding to a complete halt. Even so, I think Steinberg have been very shrewd in spending so much time and effort on features aimed at reducing both the RAM demands and the strain on the hard disk. Indeed, I'd be more than happy to work with the bit versions of these instruments while composing, moving to the bit programs only when it was time to create a final mix.
That said, demanding virtual instruments such as orchestral libraries are crying out for access to more than 2GB or RAM. Even having used the library for a relatively short period, there are a small number of items I'd place on my wish list for the first update. It would be nice if load times could be made a little shorter, although given the quantity of data being shifted, this is perhaps unavoidable with certain setups.
Given my comment above about moving between the bit and bit versions, a very useful addition would be an option to automatically switch between bit and the equivalent bit programs, either for an individual instrument or for all instruments loaded in a single Halion Player instance.
While this process would leave you twiddling your thumbs for a couple of minutes, it would certainly be a lot easier than doing the same job by hand. It would also be nice to see a harp added to the instrument list. The manual suggests that splitting the HSO instruments across multiple hard drives provides a way of increasing system performance, as the disk streaming is shared.
Unfortunately, the documentation doesn't provide any technical details as to how this should be achieved, although I suspect that this would require a RAID system, where several physical hard drives appear as a single drive letter to the operating system.
Steinberg should perhaps document this more fully for users. On the whole, Steinberg have done a remarkable job with HSO.
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