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FM Lab and Tales with Halion 7 (Sunday, 2 April, 2023)
Just upgraded from Halion 6 to Halion 7 (see also [here] from Steinberg. Halion is a powerful sampling and synthesis software platform that has now been upgraded with many new functionalities and sounds. Listen to my song ‘Everything‘ for which I used FM Lab and Tales. Both are virtual instruments that come with Halion 7.
FM Lab
One major addition, and my main reason for upgrading, is the FM Lab, which is developed in co-operation with Yamaha, the company which created some of the most iconic FM synthesizers in history, including the DX7 (see movie), which was one of the first synthesizers I played on but (unfortunately) never owned, but also the TX81Z and modern FM-X synth engine. See also my post about my first organs. The DX7 has some fantastic electric piano sounds.
Image: the famous Yamaha DX7
Image: Yamaha DX7 II. There are two different models: The DX7IID (258,000 yen) and the DX7II-FD (298,000 yen). D stands for dual: FD stands for floppy disk and dual. Dual refers to the ability to split and layer the keyboard. Floppy refers to the built-in 1 Meg 3.5” microfloppy disk drive.
Video: Many famous pop stars have used the DX7. A nice compilation including Simply Red, Toto, Stevie Wonder, Cindy Lauper, Level 42 and many others.
Spotify: playlist with DX7 songs
HALion 7 allows to freely combines up to eight operators, use them as carriers or send them to feedback loops. It features algorithms from the classic Yamaha DX7, FM-X and TX81Z, 20 high-quality effects in a five insert rack, many modulation options and an arpeggiator which allows to create evolving sounds. Together with the powerful Algorithm Finder, a comprehensive and easy-to-use algorithm designer, you can create everything from classic DX7 tones to the most contemporary FM sounds. HALion7 also supports DX7 and TX81Z SYX file import in FM Lab.
Image: HALion 7 FM Lab (Virtual Instrument).
Soundcloud: a few examples with FM Lab
Video: HALion 7 FM Lab walkthrough.
Video: HALion 7 FM Lab. Rediscovering the power of FM synthesis.
Tales
A second reason for upgrading was the addition of Tales, which is an open-tuned guitar and makes a nice addition to my guitar collection of Music Lab. Tales can be layered with additional acoustic and synthesized textures. The guitar strings were individually sampled as open notes and then tuned to a different pitch, giving each one a very pure and intimate sound. In addition to the open strings, they recorded articulations like muted notes and harmonics.
The Tales guitar was the last recording session in Hamburg’s legendary Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Studios before the building was destroyed by a gas explosion. The studio was perfect for the intimate sound of this handpicked guitar and resulted in an instrument with a very pronounced attack, different for every articulation, and the beautiful naturalistic decay of the now lost studio. The guitar was sampled with open tuned strings at different pitches, to obtain a particular long sustain for each note.
The textures make perfect use of HALion’s powerful features like granular, FM and wavetable synthesis or the sample engine. The sample-based textures include specially designed and recorded sounds from instruments, orchestral elements, and rare hardware units, including physical modeled sounds that complement the guitar particularly well.
Image: HALion 7 Tales (Virtual Instrument).
Soundcloud: a few examples with Tales
Video: HALion 7 Tales walkthrough.
References
