Osc Tab - HALion - 7.1

Title Bar Controls

Wave/Spectrogram Opacity

The display at the top of the section allows you to show the sample waveform or a spectrogram of the sample, or a mixture of both. You can blend these two representations using the Wave/Spectrogram Opacity slider.

Drag the slider all the way to the left to show the sample waveform in the display. Drag it all the way to the right to show the spectrogram. Settings in between show both the waveform and the spectrogram superimposed onto each other.

Trigger Note on Click in Sample Display

Allows you to start playback of the sample by clicking in the waveform display.

Load/Replace Sample

Allows you to load an initial sample or to replace the current sample.

In the Load dialog, you can prelisten the samples.

Parameter Section

Legato

If Legato is deactivated, each note is played back from the position cursor.

If Legato is activated, the first note is played back from the position cursor, and playback of any subsequent notes starts at the current playback position, for as long as the first note is held.

This allows you to you add further notes, all of them synchronized with respect to their playback position. As long as you play notes legato, the oscillator continues to run, which allows you to switch between chords without restarting the oscillator.

Hold Last Spectrum

Activate Hold Last Spectrum to keep the last spectrum, once sample playback reaches the sample end or sample start, depending on the playback direction. This is especially useful if Sustain Mode is activated for the amplifier envelope, because the last spectrum acts like a single-cycle loop that can be played for as long as a key is held.

Channel Spread

Shifts the playback position for each channel of the sample.

• For stereo files, positive values modify the playback position of the right channel, and negative values modify the playback position of the left channel. In both cases, the other channel is not affected. This can be used to widen the panorama of the sound.

• For mono files, the oscillator creates a copy of the channel. This allows you to create a stereo sound from a mono sample, for example.

• For surround files, the front left and right channels are shifted in the same way as stereo files. The shift for the rear channels is twice as large. The center and the LFE channels are not shifted and remain in their original position.

Direction

Allows you to set the playback speed in smaller increments. Furthermore, this parameter determines the playback direction.

• If you enter negative values, you reverse playback, that is, the playback position moves backward through the sample.

Random Direction

Adds a random negative or positive value to the current direction when you play a note.

For example, if you want the direction to vary between -100% and +100%, set Direction to 0.0% and Random Direction to 100.0%. If you want the direction to vary within the full positive range, set Direction to 50% and Random Direction to 50%.

Position

Determines where playback starts. You can also click in the sample display to set the position.

Random Position

Adds a random value to the current position when you play a note.

For example, if you want the position to vary between 25% and 75%, set Position to 25% and Random Position to 50%.

Speed

Adjusts the playback speed of the sample. A setting of 800% equals an increase of three octaves in pitch. A speed of 0% plays a static spectrum at the current position.

Note

If you change the Speed parameter, you may need to manually adjust the envelope length on the envelope pages.

Acceleration

Allows you to specify the time it takes to transition from the initial playback speed set with the Speed parameter to the set Target Speed.

Higher values result in faster transitions, lower values in slower transitions. With Acceleration set to 0, the initial speed remains constant.

Target Speed

Allows you to specify a target playback speed. The time it takes to reach this speed depends on the Acceleration setting.

Speed Key Follow

Determines how the Speed parameter is scaled by the keys that you play. With a value of 0, the speed is the same for all keys. Positive values increase the speed for keys above the Center Key and decrease the speed for keys below the Center Key. Negative values decrease the speed for keys above the Center Key and increase the speed for keys below the Center Key.

For example, with Speed Key Follow set to 100 and Center Key set to C3, playing a note one octave above C3 doubles the speed, and a note one octave below C3 halves the speed.

Sync to Tempo

Allows you to synchronize the playback speed to the tempo of the host application.

If Sync to Tempo is activated, the playback speed is determined by the Speed parameter and the tempo of the host application.

If Sync to Tempo is deactivated, the playback speed is exclusively determined by the Speed parameter.

Sync Mode

• If Sync Mode is set to Tempo, the playback speed is calculated based on the ratio between the original tempo of the sample and the tempo of the host application.

• If Sync Mode is set to Beats, the playback speed is calculated based on the note length of the beats, the number of beats, and the tempo of the host application.

Auto Gain

Allows you to automatically adjust the level of quieter sample parts.

Note

By raising the gain, you risk losing the dynamics of the sample.

Level

Adjusts the output level of the oscillator. This can be used to compensate for level losses or increases caused by the spectral filter, for example.

Width

Narrows the stereo width of the oscillator. At a setting of 0%, the output of the oscillator is mono.

Formant Shift

Formants are harmonics within the spectrum of a note which are pronounced and help to define the character of an instrument. The positions of the formants in the spectrum mainly depend on the design of an instrument, such as the body of a guitar, the shape of the vocal tract in the human body, the filter settings for electronic instruments, etc. These conditions lead to specific frequency ranges that are emphasized regardless of the pitch of the note. Playing back samples or wavetables with a pitch other than the original one is usually done by increasing or decreasing the playback speed. This leads to the well known “monster” or “Mickey Mouse” effect, because harmonics are affected as well, that is, the characteristic formants are shifted. To avoid this, you can activate Formant Shift. In addition, you can route any available modulation source to the Formant Shift modulation destination in the modulation matrix. This allows you to move the formants through the spectrum with an envelope, creating filter sweep effects, for example.

Formant Shift On/Off

Activates/Deactivates the formant settings.

Formant Shift

Allows you to shift the formants of the spectrum.

Formant Scale

Scales the intensity of the Formant Shift.

If this parameter is set to 0, Formant Shift and Formant Key Follow have no effect. With negative values, the effect of the Formant Shift settings is inverted.

Formant Shift Key Follow

Allows you to shift the formants based on the played pitch.

• At 100%, the formants follow the pitch.

• At 0%, the formants remain static.

To emulate the rather static formant characteristics of real instruments, start by setting this value to 0, and slowly raise it until you obtain the desired formants when playing notes in different key ranges.