I am considering purchasing the Iconica Steinberg library and downloaded some Cubase files that Steinberg sent me which show the Iconica library and how it was used to create the Iconica trailer music. In this project file there is a whole orchestra and , I see the composer uses many instances of Halion. One instance of Halion for each instrument! And there are about 50 instruments! Can someone please help me understand why this way of working might be better than using midi tracks and one instance of Halion with multiple outputs? Is there any benefit that I cannot think of why the project is setup using track instruments?
Hi @attaboy_jhb !
Good question. In modern projects it makes usually more sense to use an instance per track. From a technical point of view, it makes it easier for the host application to manage CPU threading etc.
From a project organisational point of view, it gives you more flexibility because each plugin can be treated individually without the need to setup multichannel routing, automation is cleaner separated and it is harder to mess up unrelated tracks while editing parameters.
The multi slot feature does really shine in the standalone version of HALion for split keyboard performing or if you want to save all the sounds for a song in one multi preset. It is kind of like scene recall. Depending on your workflow, this might outweigh the advantages I mentioned for multiple instances. At the end you have the liberty to decide what suits you best.
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THank you for the reply. What do you mean by this exactly? Won’t cubase overload the cpu by having so many instances of Halion running?
Also, what you mean about “each plugin can be treated individually” Do you mean when using FX like reverb or for EQ?
Without getting into specifics: If you load a new slot in HALion, it is kinda as expensive as creating a new instrument track in Cubase from a CPU point of view. Back in the days, using multiple slots of the same instrument was mainly a way to save memory. With power of modern computers, this is not THAT important anymore. In other words, you can overload your CPU either with too many instances or too many slots.
Modern hosts, such as Cubase, have special features to manage their plugin load. Using the multi instance approach makes that task easier, as hosts do not have to guess what is going on inside the plugin.
Yes. Instrument tracks are a convenience feature by combining a midi track, and audio channel and a VST Instrument into a single unit. Of course this is a question of individual taste, but I find it way quicker and intuitive to work with that combination rather then the old, hardware workstation inspired way (On the other hand, I prefer a manual shift in my car over automatic 
).
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Oh Ok, I never knew that. I was under the impression that one instance of Halion with 16 instruments loaded would definitely be better for CPU than 16 instances of Halion. If that is not the case then I don’t understand what the benefit of having 16 slots in HAlion is. Can you give me an idea?
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Again two sides.
From the technical point of view, this was a historical necessity back when hosts where creating more overhead with each instance. HALion is around since a while after all.
From a workflow point of view, some people like the workstation like scene and split approach.
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Thank you
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I could be as basic as simple organization - for example different kinds of percussive instruments on different Channels. Or maybe you put articulation variants in different slots.
While in general it is a good idea to spread your workload across multiple cores, it’s not a firm rule. If it makes your job (not the computer’s) easier to use multiple slots for something - do it.
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