Steinberg Groove Agent 2 Operation Manual

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Under the hood
So far we have only described the functions you can reach on the top 
surface of Groove Agent. The black area surrounding the large LCD 
window is not only holding the level meters, it’s also the lid under which 
the Edit department resides. Let’s open the lid by clicking “Edit” in the 
lower right corner of the instrument panel.
The sound edit knobs
There are eight rows of controls in 
the area close to the middle of the 
screen. The functions for all the 
eight instrument groups are identi-
cal, so we’re using the top row as 
an example.
All knobs have their default position 
at 12 o’clock.
Aud – This knob lets you audition the sound chosen in the group win-
dow to the left. This function is handy when auditioning the sounds 
themselves and the edits you make to them.
Vel – The Velocity Offset knob alters the response of the drum sounds. 
When turned counter-clockwise, the MIDI input velocities are scaled 
down to lower values, making more use of the softer samples. Turning 
the knob past 12 o’clock increases the input velocities, producing a 
harder, louder sound. To compensate for the decrease/increase in over-
all output, a volume compensating device is connected to each group 
output.
This knob may also be regarded as a quick method for making the 
acoustic drums sound more loose or tight.  
						

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Tune – You can tune each group up and down by as much as 12 
seminotes with this knob. Please note that for ease of use, the knob 
has a much finer resolution around its 12 o’clock position than at its 
end positions.
Dec – Altering the decay of an instrument can create interesting 
changes to the sound, especially if they’re recorded with ambience as 
our acoustic drum and percussion sounds. A normal snare can be 
turned into an extremely damped drum or to an almost gated reverb 
kind of noise.
Amb – Here you can fine tune the amount of ambience for each group 
from dry to wet. The main Ambience knob (in the bottom left corner of 
the window) always serves as a master control, so if you make sure it’s 
in its 12 o’clock position, it’ll be easier for you to do the fine tuning.
Vol – Finally you can adjust the total volume for each instrument group.
Out – Each group can be assigned to any of the 1-8 available stereo 
outputs. This is useful when you want to tweak one or more groups 
with external EQ or effects.
Memory
When you first open Groove Agent, the 
first memory button is lit. This means that 
it’s active, it’s listening, it registers every 
change you make. You don’t have to ac-
tivate this memory slot – it’s always live.
The Copy button copies whatever is on Groove Agent’s panel into any 
of the 10 memory locations. Click Copy and then a memory button, 
and the procedure has been completed.
A dark button means that this location is empty, a green-ish color indi-
cates that something has been saved here and a bright light shows 
the currently active memory.
Each of the 10 memory slots can be regarded as a snapshot of all set-
tings in the entire instrument. After some tweaking you may have found 
an overall setting that is absolutely right for, say, the verses of your song.  
						

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By clicking the Copy button and then memory slot number 2, all the 
current settings are stored in Memory 1 but also moved into the new 
memory slot. You are now free to go further and find the right sound 
for, say, the chorus. With slot 2 active, you may fiddle around the panel 
to your heart’s desire. That perfect verse setting is safely stored at 
memory position 1, so you’re free to experiment. (While this description 
does not represent the ultimate in flexibility when using Groove Agent, 
this is ONE way to use automation.)
Here’s another suggestion. Since the Memory slots store the entire 
front panel settings of this instrument, you can jump between com-
plexity levels instantly and even completely different styles and kits in 
one go! This may not be the ultimately realistic scenario – how many 
drummers do you know that can change an entire kit in a snap – but it 
sure gives you more flexibility than anyone could ask for!
❐If you save your Groove Agent settings as a Bank (.fxb), all the content of 
the Memory buttons will be retained.
Master volume
It’s not very hard to describe a knob marked as Mas-
ter Volume, is it? You may think that it controls the 
overall output from this instrument, and if so, you’re 
absolutely right!
When using several outputs, the Master Volume knob 
controls all outputs.
New in Groove Agent 2 is that audio activity stops when the Master 
Volume control is at its minimum position. If you’re using Groove 
Agent 2 as a pure MIDI player, and using none of its internal sounds 
(controlling external drum sounds only), you may want to save some 
CPU power this way.  
						

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The setup lid
By clicking the rugged button 
above the little Setup lid, you 
open an area resembling a bat-
tery compartment. This is where 
the really secret functions are 
hidden. You close this lid by clicking the Close button in the lower 
right corner. Let’s open it and have a look!
MIDI Output
One fantastic feature of Groove Agent is its ability to write a MIDI part 
containing the notes you actually hear! By setting this switch to the 
ON position, a whole array of new possibilities appears!
If you arrange your drumming in real-time with your sequencer in record 
mode (you should try it – this was our ultimate goal when designing 
Groove Agent), a MIDI part will be created as you go. After this stage 
you are free to open that newly created part and perform various tasks:
•Delete, add, copy or move individual notes.
•Copy any desired length of this new part into another section of the song or 
into another song altogether.
•Use another kind of quantizing or dynamics.
•Copy the entire part, delete the kick drum in the original part and delete all 
other instruments in the copy part on another track. Now you can assign the 
kick part to another virtual or physical instrument, e.g. your favorite sampler. If 
you’re using a Cubase drum map, this whole operation is even simpler.
❐The MIDI Output feature really belongs to the outskirts of the VST 2.0 
protocol. We’re pushing the limits here. We have no idea what MIDI Out-
put may do (or not do) in every available host program. We only guaran-
tee that MIDI Output works correctly in Steinberg’s Cubase and Nuendo.
If you’re using a program that can’t handle MIDI output from a VST in-
strument like described above, you’ll have to use your host’s automa-
tion facilities while creating your arrangements. Please also refer to 
the following section describing a brand new function: Live  File.  
						

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•It’s usually a good idea to turn on the SysEx (System Exclusive) filter in 
your sequencer when using Groove Agent. If you don’t filter out SysEx, 
the Run and Stop commands are written into the MIDI part, causing 
Groove Agent’s engine to start playing along with the incoming MIDI 
data. If you filter out SysEx, the Run and Stop commands aren’t written 
into the MIDI part and life becomes generally easier.
❐It is advisable to turn off your sequencer’s auto quantize function when 
Groove Agent writes a MIDI track. You can always quantize the drumming 
later, if you want to.
When MIDI Output is active, this status is shown by a MIDI 
plug symbol in the LCD window.
Live  File
Here’s another new feature in Groove Agent 2! You may choose to di-
rect its MIDI output to either a MIDI part in your host – as described 
above – or to a MIDI file on your desktop!
If you set MIDI Output to ON and the newly added DIP switch 
Live  File to the File position, Groove Agent 2 will record a MIDI file 
for you and place it on your desktop. Remember to set the MIDI Out-
put switch to OFF when you’re finished (this action instructs Groove 
Agent 2 to write that file). You can then import that MIDI file into your 
song for further tweaking. Just use the “Import MIDI File” function of 
your host, or common drag and drop import if you prefer, and you’re 
there! Please note that every time you start Groove Agent 2 in this 
mode, any previous MIDI file will be overwritten.
Right-clicking on an unused area or clicking in the logo area gives you 
these same options in the pull-down menu.  
						

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GM Output
We’ll tell you more about GM Output shortly, but first some background.
For Groove Agent we used the following keyboard mapping. You’ll 
see it if you use the MIDI Output function and look at the MIDI part that 
Groove Agent creates. It starts off like an ordinary GM map with kick 
drum on C1, sidestick on C#1 etc. But after tom 1 you’ll notice differ-
ences. There are two groups of percussion instruments and, finally, a 
series of ride and crash cymbals above C3.
This is the map we’ve used, but we honestly don’t think you’ll have to get 
too involved in it. When editing a Groove Agent generated MIDI part,   
						

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you’ll probably want to have the speaker icon (or similar) activated, so 
that you can hear the drum sounds while you scroll through the notes.
When you set the GM Output to its ON position, Groove Agent will 
redirect output notes so that it follows the General MIDI protocol.
When GM Output is active, this status is shown by a GM 
symbol in the LCD window.
Ambience Split
You can make Groove Agent output the ambient or reverberated 
sounds to a separate mixer channel output. This is handy if you want to 
process that part of the sound separately. With this button activated, 
the wet signal will only be heard on the highest numbered mixer output.
So what can you do with the ambience on a separate output? Well, EQ 
or dynamics processing can create interesting effects. Or if you export 
Groove Agent’s drumming to an audio file, you can experiment with the 
isolated ambience file. What does it sound like with the ambient sound 
a bit late – or a bit early? Or with the dry sound from a techno snare 
combined with the ambience from a piccolo snare…? Experiment!
When Ambience Split is active, this status is shown by a split 
sound chain in the LCD window.
Vintage mode
We’ve exaggerated the effect of a timeline that houses authentic styles 
and sounds by adding some clever filtering and narrowing the stereo 
width. We believed that you would appreciate the old fashioned sound 
of an old style playing an old kit. But there may be times when you want 
to turn this effect off, so we’ve added a button here for you to do so. 
With Vintage Mode deactivated, all vintage emulation gets deactivated.
The Vintage Mode effect can only be heard on styles between 1950 
and 1975 and it is most prominent on the earlier genres.
When Vintage Mode is active, this status is shown by a 
gramophone symbol in the LCD window.    
						

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Reset All
The Reset All button is handy if you want to start building your own kit 
from scratch. This could be the case if you’re using Groove Agent as 
a pure sound module. Clicking the Reset All button empties all the 
group slots and sets all the edit knobs to their default position.
If you’ve lost yourself completely when editing the kit of a certain style, 
you can always get the original kit back by first selecting another style 
and then going back to the one you used before.
Creating a drum track in Groove Agent
When you want to add drums to your music, the scenario may be either 
one of these two:
1.Your sequencer program is an empty screen but you have very defi-
nite musical ideas in your head. You want to start with the drums.
2.A couple of instruments and/or vocals have already been recorded, 
and now you want to add a drum arrangement.
Groove Agent offers at least three different ways of creating a drum 
track:
•Method 1: Play along with your song in real-time, using your se-
quencer’s automation to capture every move you make. Those moves 
can include “non-musical” events like real-time tweaking of sound pa-
rameters (edit knobs etc.).
Advantage: After recording, you can edit your moves in great detail. Your own knob 
tweaking gets recorded as editable MIDI events. For sequencers that don’t accept 
MIDI output from a VST instrument, this is one of a few workarounds.
Disadvantage: You cannot edit individual hits in Groove Agent’s drumming this way, al-
though you can always add individual hits by playing them live on your MIDI keyboard. 
						

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•Method 2: Play along with your song in real-time, using the Groove 
Agent panel controls to create a living and breathing drum track. Your 
sequencer records the MIDI notes output by Groove Agent in a MIDI 
part. The MIDI Output switch must be activated for this to work. We 
believe this is the most intuitive and creative way to create a drum track.
Advantage: “What-you-hear-is-what-you-get”. The drum part will sound identical to 
your performance. Also, it’s easy to delete, add, copy or move individual notes in the 
newly created drum part. You can re-direct certain notes to trigger drum sounds in an-
other instrument, like e.g. a sampler. 
Disadvantage: If you want to use a lot of dynamic controls, like the Limiter knob fading 
in and out or switching snare drums during a song, these events are not captured, only 
the MIDI notes streaming out of Groove Agent.
❐Of course, you can mix these two methods of working, by automating 
Groove Agent to map out the song and then recording its output to a 
MIDI track for fine tuning. You can think of this as rendering Groove 
Agent’s output to a MIDI track, like you can render the audio output of 
plug-ins to an audio track. Of course, you can render Groove Agent’s out-
put to an audio track, too!
•Method 3: First create a series of settings using the Memory function. 
One setting may be perfect for the verse, the next one for the chorus 
and so on. Then, when you are happy with the individual memory set-
ups, you can map out the song by switching between memories while 
it plays.
Advantage: Since the Memories capture EVERYTHING currently on screen, this is the 
only way to switch instantly between different complexity levels or even between differ-
ent styles and kits! This is the method to use if it’s really drastic changes you’re after.
Disadvantage: Switching between pre-set scenarios may seem a bit static, since fills 
and real-time variations will need to be recorded or programmed in separately.
❐The creative musician may combine any of these methods to obtain the 
ultimate drum track, one that includes an editable MIDI part with moving 
knobs and instant switching between levels, styles and kits!
Here’s a slightly different angle: Set up a suitable controller – like a 
five octave MIDI keyboard the way you like it. Then record a MIDI per-
formance of pattern start, stop, select, fill, parameter adjustments and 
individual drum hits. This method can be used with Groove Agent’s 
MIDI output active or not. 
						

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Using Groove Agent’s MIDI output in Cubase SX
While we’re not sure what every available host will do with MIDI notes 
being sent from a VST instrument (as far as we know, Groove Agent is 
the first virtual instrument with this feature), Cubase SX users can cer-
tainly use this method. Follow these steps.
1.Open Groove Agent in your VST instruments rack. Select Groove 
Agent as your input (and de-select it as an output to avoid double trig-
gering) on the desired MIDI track. Open the Edit and Setup lids in 
Groove Agent and make sure that MIDI Output is set to ON. For most 
situations, the auto quantize function in your sequencer should be 
turned OFF. You’re now ready to start recording your drum track.
2.Start recording in Cubase SX. Record your drums. In this mode, the 
settings for Limiter, Ambience and drum sounds won’t be recorded, 
only the drum notes. When the song or section of the song is over, hit 
Groove Agent’s Stop button and then the Stop button in Cubase.
3.In order to hear what you just recorded, make sure that the MIDI track 
you’re using has its output set to Groove Agent. If not, it may output 
notes to another VSTi or external module, and you won’t hear Groove 
Agent play back the rhythm.