Over the past nearly eight years, my company, SpiderWerks DSP, has been developing the world’s first seventh-generation synthesizer, based on Halion 7, named A.T.S. SKYFALL. My DSP workload puts me near the 50,000-preset mark, and you learn a lot about sounds at that level.
The World’s Most Powerful Synthesizer
With SKYFALL, I have access to exotic technology like four Frequency Augmentation Engines (Gravity, Body, Air, SKY), Delta Meridian Sound Design (component sound design consisting of massive amounts of DSP), and the Super DAC. I need to mention that SKYFALL is a tribute synthesizer designed for in-house company use only. It will not be available for purchase.
With all that out of the way, let us see if we can get to Montage country, shall we?
Step One
Play every single sound and rank the factory library. Halion’s current ranking system has no meaningful correlation with a sound’s overall quality. Go through all the sounds and rank them from five stars to one star. Halion’s library—let us just say it—needs a lot of work.
What are the good sounds, then?
In my humble opinion, here are the highlights:
Electric pianos (sounds like Yamaha to my ears)
Guitars (some Yamaha influence)
Acoustic bass sounds
Strings
I would not personally focus on the leads, pads, or similar sounds. Do not waste your time. You cannot turn a bad sound into a good one—not even if you are a professional-level sound designer. Remember, stage one is corrective EQ work. You should not be doing “synth engine sound designing” at this point.
Step Two: Purge the junk and save your new core library
Every sound that you ranked three stars and above—that is your new library to start with. I estimate you should have about 200 sounds. If you have more than this, go back and rate them again. Focus all your efforts on the best and use that as your springboard.
Go to those 200 sounds and place this on the output bus:
- DJ EQ
- Graphics EQ
- Studio EQ
You will always need these three. Why? Halion’s library is not “song ready.” The main issue is how boomy the sounds can be, as well as the harshness. You can either fix this every single time you write music in your DAW or do it the smart way and fix it at the source.
DJ EQ
The DJ EQ is going to be your primary tool to correct low end. You can also safely boost the high end without introducing much harshness. Reduce the low end, and boom—it is also a good way to reduce any harsh frequencies. Avoid touching the middle band.
Graphics EQ
The Graphics EQ is super important. If you have a sound that is boomy and want to zero in on the “boom,” take the 125 Hz slider and reduce it to zero. The boom should disappear without harming the rest of your low end. Do not boost high frequencies with this EQ—it has a harsh top end, in my opinion, so you need to be careful.
Studio EQ
The new Studio EQ somehow sounds better than the old one. I find it less effective in controlling low-end rumble, but it is the EQ you want to use to boost high frequencies. Since it is parametric, if you do not prefer it, stick to the other two.
Let’s put in that work
Now that you have your 200 sounds and your master bus is set up with the three plugins I mentioned, save those 200 sounds.
Next, set your Media Bay to show only your sounds. The factory library should be mentally gone to you now. Do not worry about the low number of starting sounds. As you progress and put in the work, those 200 sounds will become better than the original Halion library.
Remove the low-end boom with the DJ EQ and add some air with the Studio EQ. Never boost 125 Hz, 4 kHz, or 8 kHz, or you will regret it. Instead, dip those frequencies with the Graphics EQ. Focus on these three bands for every sound to begin with.
Now that you have your 200 or so sounds, get familiar with them because you will work on them a lot.
The Master Bus
In your mixer, create an additional bus. Your mixer should now show an audio channel for the synth engine plus two buses.
Why do you need these extra channels? For total control over the stereo image and to open up areas to employ DSP you would not use under older topologies.
Use the two bus channels to widen the stereo image and provide a consistent audio experience when switching between presets.
Learning Delta Meridian – The Basics
You now have three channels of audio. Start with the sounds you rated five stars and use as many equalizers as needed to clean up unwanted frequencies.
Go through all your 200 or so sounds and ensure they are polished with frequency corrections. Once finished, repeat the process to make each sound incrementally better. Do this until you reach a point where no more correction is possible.
These 200 sounds will form the foundation for everything you create moving forward. They will be your fundamental starting point as you progress and begin designing complex sounds using multiple synth engines and advanced DSP techniques.
Made it this far? You have stamina. I like your style and appreciate your dedication.
We will continue with part two soon to dive into more advanced DSP usage. Cheers!
4o