Steinberg Groove Agent 3 Operation Manual

Groove Agent 3
60 English
Volume – You can adjust the total volume for each instrument group 
here. 
Output – Any channel can go to any stereo output. You may want to 
use Groove Agent 3’s EQ and Compressor for a specific channel or 
perhaps add some external treatment in your host. The total amount of 
stereo outputs is determined by the settings on the Setup page.
Groove Offset
As you can see, a full bar of 8th notes illustrates eight pos-
sible starting points for a Groove. The yellow colored note...

Groove Agent 3
English 61
ENGLISH
Memory locations
The Memory locations represent an alternative method of working 
with Percussion Agent. Think of each memory slot as a snapshot of 
the entire Percussion Agent panel. When you first open Percussion 
Agent, the first memory button is lit. This means that it’s active, it’s lis-
tening, it registers every change you make. You don’t have to activate 
this memory slot – it’s always live. The Copy button copies whatever 
is on Percussion Agent’s panel into any...

Groove Agent 3
62 English
Ideas on using Dual Mode creatively
Here are some thoughts on how to make clever use of Dual Mode and 
its modules.
•Find two different Groove Agent styles that both suit the song. Try to 
find the most effective combination by using the mute buttons to mute 
groups in both agents. Maybe the kick and hihat from the first agent 
sound great together with snare and percussion from the second.
•Let Percussion Agent perform the rhythmic backbone of your song 
and use one of the...

Groove Agent 3
English 63
ENGLISH
Import & FX page
This page is brand new! It holds the new Sample Import utility and the 
Effects section. You can access it by pressing any of the Import & FX 
buttons on the other pages. You leave this page by pressing Close in 
the upper left corner.
Sample Import section
Many users have asked for a sample import utility, so that you can use 
your own samples inside Groove Agent. Well, now that’s possible! 
Here’s how you do it.
Start by deciding what drum sound you...

Groove Agent 3
64 English
For every dry and wet sample pair there’s a set of knobs: Volume, Pan 
and Balance. 
Volume – You can adjust the overall volume for this sample pair by 
turning this knob.
Pan – You can pan the dry sample with this knob. You may want to 
follow the overall Groove Agent panning laws where hihats are slightly 
to the right etc.
Balance – If the relative balance between the dry and wet samples 
doesn’t sound right, you can adjust it here.
As a sensible starting point, use stereo...

Groove Agent 3
English 65
ENGLISH
Please note that the grouping rules that apply to Groove Agent’s internal 
structure (e.g. a closed hihat always kills the sound of an open hihat) 
also apply to samples imported by the user. 
Most Groove Agent groups – e.g. hihat, toms etc. – have several slots. 
To fully replace a group, all slots in that group must be filled. An exam-
ple: If Groove Agent plays a tom fill on all white keys between F1 and D2, 
any hits assigned to a slot that’s been left empty will...

Groove Agent 3
66 English
FX section
At last, multiple built-in effects! It’s rather convenient to have custom 
made effects right where you need them, wouldn’t you say?
Please notice the twelve tabs at the top of this section. They represent 
the twelve possible outputs in Groove Agent 3. The color coding is 
very important here, because it informs you about the following.
Grey with grey text – This output is not active/selectable, because it 
lies outside the number of outputs specified on the Setup...

Groove Agent 3
English 67
ENGLISH
The Release knob controls how quickly the compressor recovers 
when the volume of the drums drops. Short times increase the com-
pressed sound, and longer times give a more natural sound.
The Out Level knob allows you to compensate for the level changes 
the Compress and EQ settings may induce.
A word of warning! Although it is fully possible use effects on every sin-
gle Groove Agent 3 output (all 12 of them), your computer may not be 
able to handle the load. 
Gain...

Groove Agent 3
68 English
The Setup page
You can reach the Setup page by pressing any of the buttons labeled 
Setup in Classic Mode, the Dual Mode modules and the Import & FX 
page. The settings on the Setup page affect the functionality of the 
entire Groove Agent 3 instrument. 

Groove Agent 3
English 69
ENGLISH
Groove Agent GM Output 
When GM Output is active, this status is shown by a GM symbol in 
the LCD window. Click the symbol to turn this function on/off.
For Groove Agent we used the keyboard mapping as displayed on the 
Import & FX page. 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....