Steinberg Groove Agent 3 Operation Manual

Groove Agent 3
90 English
Arena
During the glory days of the 80s, the hardrock guys wore tight pants, 
sprayed their long hair and stole make-up from their girlfriends. There 
is no doubt that they really could play drums though – hard and dis-
tinctive. Since the music should be hard and loud, the dynamic has 
pretty much just one level – louder! The fills are very typical for those 
drummers, intense, distinctive and almost composed sometimes. PS 
* Indie Punk
A classic drum figure for a Punk song...

Groove Agent 3
English 91
ENGLISH
** 5/4 Rock
This is a rather basic rock pattern, with one significant difference: the 
odd meter that adds a fifth beat to the bar. You might think it's like 
driving a car with five wheels instead of four, but really – this style can 
add new dimensions to any rock production. The percussionists get 
busy keeping a steady groove as the drummer hits the low tom or 
snare on all those “extra” beats. Gimme five… NE
** Irish Rock
“Slowly evolving, one little step at the...

Groove Agent 3
92 English
Reggae (T)
This is a triplet based version of reggae usually played with sidestick. 
The sound of the drums is very dry. When we recorded these drum 
samples for Groove Agent, sound engineer Jens Bogren turned 
around, looked at us and asked: “Do you really want it to sound like 
that?”. We nodded. MEB
TexMex
I once played a song to Sven with a strange, loose kind of drumming 
together with bass, piano and slide guitar. It sounded a bit like a not-
so-very-well-rehearsed-gig in...

Groove Agent 3
English 93
ENGLISH
** Mandela
Picture yourself below the equator, in the good hands of a crowd 
longing for freedom and democracy. The heavy beat from the bass 
drum has become unstoppable. Eager hands play skin drums and tri-
angles, and in all of this, there's also the programmed grooves of mod-
ern electronica. They all start off whispering but soon enough a roar 
will reach the oppressors. You can blow out a candle, but you can't 
blow out a fire… NE
** Senegal (T)
Somewhere...

Groove Agent 3
94 English
Slick
This style is a 16th note based beat, inspired by the sessions re-
corded in L.A. around 1980, with master drummers like Jeff Porcaro 
and John Robinson. Actually, the beat itself isn’t very innovative, but 
it’s too representative for this great genre to leave it out. A slow tempo 
is a must for this style. Favorite tempo range is 73-88 bpm. FvW 
Breakbeat
Wirebird shouted “HEEEELP” from deep down in “the Pixelmine”, 
when he created that fabulous front panel. I said...

Groove Agent 3
English 95
ENGLISH
Busy Beat
A lot of 16th notes coming at you in this one, especially at the higher 
complexity levels. Busy Beat is a kind of modern funk style with plenty 
of ghost notes on the snare drum. I’ve been inspired by the groove 
from the Spin Doctors’ hit “Two Princes” as well as Candy Dulfer’s 
song “Funkyness”. If you listen carefully, the sources of inspiration 
should be obvious. Programming was made at 104 Bpm. FvW 
** Ambitious
Here's the typical 16th note based...

Groove Agent 3
96 English
Heavy
Hard Rock
I grew up listening to The Beatles in the early seventies. After that I 
was a young soul without a home, listening to whatever was on the ra-
dio, but I never found “my thing”. Then, when I was sixteen, someone 
gave me a black album from a band I’d never heard of, and I was just 
blown away by the intro of “Hells bells” starting up their album “Back 
in black”. Yep, I became a hardrocker!! So here you have some steady 
and heavy drums for anyone with...

Groove Agent 3
English 97
ENGLISH
* Grind
These grooves are kinda busy and made for higher tempos. Notice 
how the bass drum uses 8th notes, 8th note triplets and then 16ths in 
various modern approaches. These grooves were influenced and 
played in the style of The Haunted, Krisiun and Hate Eternal. If you’re 
a huge fan of brushes, these grooves are not for you! ;-) RM
* Progressive
Here’s a rather technical style with a lot of busy fills. “Progressive” is a 
mixture of the sound of new progressive...

Groove Agent 3
98 English
Hip-Hop
Groovy, fat and heavy Hip-Hop with a modern sound in contrast to the 
Basic Hip-Hop style. It’s been programmed to sound a little “off” in 
the beat with a nice swing to it. Closely related to Modern R’n’B. New, 
fresh kick, snare and effects noises were designed especially for this 
style. LW 
Nu RnB
An effective groove with poly-rhythmic fills for that special feeling. 
Modern RnB/Hiphop style with a compressed sound, if you like. Kick 
and snare were designed...

Groove Agent 3
English 99
ENGLISH
Electronica
Elektro
My intention here was to create a style that sounds like an analog 
drum machine programmed for early synth-pop tunes. It’s not an 808 
or a 909 but a totally new “box” with retro and electronic sounds. LW 
Mini Works
All the sounds in this style come from the legendary Mini, built by a 
very clever guy called Moog. Every sound is note-off dependent. This 
means that the important note-off events become independent of the 
tempo. Mini Works is built...