HALion 3 Nostalgia with Cubase 13

Steinberg Lounge
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This week I had a moment of nostalgia that I want to share with you.

This nostalgia is linked to HALion 3 which, in my opinion, had a high quality sound library and which unfortunately was never integrated into the other versions. This is probably due to the fact that it was produced by Wizoo which at the time was bought by Avid, I believe…

So, from version 4, this bank was no longer available unless you had version 3.

Still, HALion 3 had an extraordinary library. However, for those who have owned this version of HALion, they have been able to use and enjoy it with all versions of HALion.

Recently, I found my HALion 3 DVD and two demos from Peter Gorges which highlight the quality of sounds present in this library caught my attention. I just want to share this with you.

I was able to easily open the original demo files of this version 3 in Cubase 13 Pro. Having HALion 7, I was able to reconfigure the assignments for the various tracks used in these demos from the HALion 3 bank that I own. It goes without saying that some plugins used at the time like “Reverb32”, DoubleDelay", “Overdrive” and a few others no longer exist. I had to replace them with similar current plugins.

Here are these two demos, and as Peter mentions in his information document, ‘I hope you enjoy the songs – now it’s your turn!’ :

HALionMoon, is a semi-acoustic “smooth jazz” piece demonstrating the pure, clear sound quality of really huge, i.e. streamed sample instruments, plus the playing variations offered by velocity switches and MegaTrigg (layer switching by keys or controllers).

For this piece, there are no EQs and no plugins used on individual tracks, except the reverb assigned to the Sends for each track. I just inserted a little saturation, EQ and compression on the masterbus.

VanHALion, Peter did as a showcase for what you can do if you’re not hesitative to make creative use of sounds and processing possibilities. The lead sound started off as a raw saw wave. The lead guitar of this piece used “Minimoog VCO Saw” Preset.

This piece has very little equalization and only on a few tracks. I replaced the original plugins with a current equivalent and like the other song, I enhanced the master bus.

So there you have it, I share my nostalgia with you. here are the files of the Cubase 13 files, you will need the HALion 3 HSB files.

HALionMoon - C13.cpr (2.3 MB)
VanHALion - C13.cpr (2.8 MB)

Good listening!

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Gorgeous. I moved the topic to the Lounge with the made-with-steinberg tag.

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Cool, like the first Acoustic stuff. nice acoustic guitar and the drums & bass too ! very simple clear and punchy
is the library downloadable from steinberg and can be used in Halion 6-7 even if i didn’t buy Halion 3 back then ?

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This library requires having the full version 4, 5, 6, or 7 of HALion. This will not work with HALion Sonic 7, HALion Sonic 3 or SE.

The files from this library are available on this page:

Download Halion 3 Factory Sound Set 5 - 22.6 MB
HALion 3 ISO Image · Mac OS X & Windows · 4.5 GB

You may need an FTP application. CyberDuck works very well and is easy to use.

This is what the files in this library correspond to:

HALion 3 Files
HALion 3 Files1912×1009 198 KB

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No need for a special application. Just use Explorer on Windows or Finder on Mac…
grafik

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Do you need to have the USB dongle attached everytime you fire up the library in Halion?

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Thanks :+1:

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No need USB Dongle. If you have these libraries already installed on a hard drive, you can access them via the HALion Browser in order to register the HSB files, the library is created in HALion and you can use it like any other library without USB Dongle. It’s as if you were using a file from another sampler, no Dongle needed.

After installing this library at the time, I kept the files from it in a RAR file to avoid having to access the DVD again. This way, if necessary, I only had to decompress the file and thus have quick access to the library that I used with each new version of HALion.

On the other hand, I am not sure, but I believe that it will be necessary to have a Dongle and/or an activation code/installation serial number to access the files of this library contained on the DVD.

Even though I have the Authorization Number well preserved on a piece of paper stored with the DVD, I am not sure that I would be able to install under W11. I never redid this installation having kept a backup of the library in a compressed file (RAR).

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It seems the audio files are needed by the HALionMoon demo:

image
image710×416 43.3 KB

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No, these audio files are not necessary. These are very short extracts from existing MIDI tracks to give an overview of the sound and tracking. A short audio demo for each track provided with the Cubase SX2 or SX3 file. It was my mistake for forgetting to remove them from the Audio Pool.

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Got HALionMoon working now … nice work reviving this wonderful demo from Peter Gorges!

I’ll check again, but the last time I tried removing the upgraded HALion 6 license from the USB-eLicenser, all the H3 libraries because inaccessible (with the red mark).
image
I’m using HALion 7 but still have the USB-eLicenser connected for other old products.

[UPDATE] Once I removed “HALion 3 Factory Sound Set 5” everything worked. This soundset (which is really only a collection of presets) seems to still require the USB-eLicenser HALion license.

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So, I have an Absolute 5 upgrade to version 6 in my elicenser, which includes Halion 6 though I have full version of 7 installed. Can’t seem to locate the files on first look in media bay under VST Sounds or within HALion 7 itself. I placed them in the same folder hierarchy as the image above (Content/HALion/HALion 3 Sound Set), parts 1 to 5. I am using Mac OS. Have I done it correctly, or do I specifically need a separate individual HALion license?

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Please read the post above for a link to instructions for registering HSB files.

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Thanks. I was able to locate them using the HALion file browser. Also now in the HALion mediabay as shown in above post. Must have taken some time to populate. Some really nice patches in there!

Screenshot 2024-02-28 at 01.27.10
Screenshot 2024-02-28 at 01.27.101456×986 234 KB

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I’ve also posted a fix for the problem of “HALion 3 Factory Sound Set 5” still needing the USB-eLicenser:

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