Steinberg Groove Agent 3 Operation Manual

							Groove Agent 3
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You may prefer sending Program Change commands from your MIDI 
keyboard to select memory locations. If so, use normal MIDI recording, 
since automation will not be involved. If you play live drums on your key-
board while recording, those notes will also be recorded.
In Dual Mode, please note that the Upper module listens only to MIDI 
channel 1, and the Lower module listens only to MIDI channel 2
In Cubase SX, the MIDI SysEx filter must be turned OFF for parameter 
automation to work.
In Dual Mode, the Upper and Lower modules have separate memory 
slots. 
						

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About the Groove Agent Styles
Here’s a short description of each style, as expressed by the musi-
cians themselves. As you can see, we’ve had to abandon the idea of 
sorting styles chronologically. We have so many styles now that a new 
sorting method became necessary. We hope that the introduction of 
genres (categories) will prove helpful.
Those styles that were new in Groove Agent 2 are marked with an as-
terisk (*) and the new Groove Agent 3 styles have two asterisks (**) in 
front of their names. To assist you in finding styles that suit your music, 
we’ve added a “T” after the names of those styles that have a triplet or 
swing feel.
Jazz
Swing (T)
Here’s a style used for jazz and big band playing. It’s hard to cover all 
the possibilities in a field as complex as swing/big band drumming, so 
I chose a straight, forward view for this one. The style was pro-
grammed around 144 BPM. It’s divided into two sections: the first half 
in “2”, the second in “four on the floor” in order to match the different 
bass patterns often used in this type of drumming. RB
Jazz Trio (T)
The lost art of brushes! Not many people these days know how to use 
brushes “the right way”! It’s one thing to own a pair, another to be able 
to play them. A third issue is to make a VST instrument handle them 
convincingly. 
We’ve implemented the “brush stroke” in Groove Agent and com-
bined it with my own inspiration from brush greats such as Buddy 
Rich, Louie Bellson, Jo Jones and all the lessons taken from brush leg-
end Ed Thigpen (known from the Oscar Peterson Trio among others). 
You should know that I don’t agree 100% with Sven about what hap-
pens when we push the sidestick button! It’s a “hire one drummer – 
get two” effect and that’s not so bad, after all! RB 
						

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Tom-Toms (T)
This style is used in many different situations. With its origin in the 
1920’s, when Duke Ellington played “jungle music” in Harlem and 
then made totally unforgettable by Gene Krupa with the Benny Good-
man Orchestra at Carnegie Hall playing “Sing, Sing, Sing” in 1938, 
this type of drumming is heard in almost every movie made reflecting 
the 30’s and 40’s. RB 
* Bop (T)
This busy jazzy style could easily be used in a small jazz combo, like 
piano, bass, drums and a solo instrument. A good choice when you 
want to make your version of one of the many jazz standards out there. 
So open up Real Book, hit the Run-button and play. MEB 
** Acid Jazz (T)
Just snap into this cool yet energetic blend of jazz and funk. There's 
the liquid fluency of the ride cymbal and the ruff back-beat of the 
snare, all in one style. From level 16 and up the playful kick changes 
pattern to give a slightly different groove. There's a tambourine and 
finger-snaps from the percussionist - plus an overdubbed tiny splash 
on some higher levels. But you should definitely try mixing in some 
nice congas and stuff from the Percussion Agent into this. Have fun! 
NE
Latin
Samba
This Samba style is a mixture between the authentic Samba (when 
played on the drum kit) and the Samba style that many jazz and fusion 
drummers use in their playing. MEB 
Cha-Cha
Cha-Cha style is a sidestick based style that sounds best with the 
sidestick button enabled. MEB 
						

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Rumba
This is the Afro-Cuban version of the Rumba, not to be confused with 
the Rhumba (with an “h”) that can often be heard in older drum ma-
chines. MEB 
Bossa Nova
The traditional Bossa Nova style is played with the sidestick on the 
snare drum. Activate the sidestick button for that authentic feel. MEB 
Songo
Songo was created in the late sixties by drummer Chanquito of the 
group Los Van Van. This style has inspired many of today’s jazz and 
fusion drummers. Songo is one of the more modern Afro-Cuban 
styles and is sometimes a drummer’s first step into the world of Latin 
music. MEB
* Mozambique
The Mozambique was invented in the 1960s and is one of the more 
modern Latin rhythms. It’s often heard on recordings with funk, jazz 
and Latin bands and has been developed by several well known 
drummers. MEB 
** 6/8 Latin
If you want more swing in your 6/8 arrangements, try this one. It's 
based around a sensitive and lively snare drum, covering a wide range 
of velocity levels. The congas and the triangle add a nice Latin touch. 
This one works nicely with most tempo settings, with a sweet spot 
around 94 BPM. MMB
Moods
Paint
Sometimes there’s no need for regular, rhythmic drum playing. If you 
tell a drummer to “do something”, he or she will probably get into 
some sort of creative mood and start producing wonderful noises. 
This is a style that emulates such a situation. SB 
						

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* Ominous
This style is a non-rhythmic sound-fx journey through different moods 
and places, preferably unpleasant ones… Heartbeats, scary noises, 
chimes and many more noises merge into a melting pot of suggestive 
impressions. It ranges from the simple to the complex but in a non-lin-
ear fashion, beyond the boundaries of standard pattern playing. Still 
the Fill, Sidestick and Half tempo functions will vary the contents. Also 
try using the Random function a lot. So, imagine where you will be, 
and it will be so… NE
* Machinery
Factory hall? No it’s not a reverberation algorithm this time. It’s the 
static rhythm of machines working together. Some are small and fast, 
others are big and slow or vice versa, and they’re added one by one 
and speeding from a small scale industry into the final cacophony of 
hammers and wheels. Move carefully and put your helmet on! NE 
** Old Squeaky
Have you ever thought of pulling the emergency brake while on the 
train, just to make your daily commute more interesting? Well, of 
course you have, and of course you’ve never pulled the red handle. So 
here’s your chance! Just hit the fill button to cut off the electrical 
power to the tracks, i.e. the drum tracks. Old Squeaky – a brakebeat 
for all occasions. MMB
** Free Form
When talking about the fine art of improvization, a guy once said: “If 
you get any ideas, just forget'em!” Don't ever stick to anything. That 
must have been the motto for this Free Form style. It's totally wacko, 
with absolutely no structure or thought. But it still has a very nice and 
inspiring, spontaneous live feeling. The percussionist is somewhat 
hesitant at first, but gets into it after a while. Make good use of the 
Random function, or even better: Change levels often so that no acci-
dental patterns are created… Or whatever. Feel free. NE 
						

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** Storm
Look what the Storm brought us: a blend of different styles from dif-
ferent cultures. There is a soft latin touch to it, as well as marching 
drums and a nice R'n'B djembe groove in the higher levels, all interact-
ing beautifully. Try adding reverberation to get a more pompous feel-
ing or go to half speed. Eh... that would be a moderate gale, right? NE
Blues
12/8 (T)
This style is a hybrid. The original idea was to create a slow 12/8 feel, 
similar to what you can hear in many love songs from the fifties. While 
composing the patterns, I raised the tempo just for fun and noticed 
that with faster BPM rates there’s a whole new feeling, a funky and 
pretty modern touch. Use it in a ballad or turn it up for that groovy 
beat. PS
Boogie (T)
Some bands built their careers on simple three-chord songs where 
the drummer had to work a bit harder. This is a classic boogie style 
where the feeling is focused on the hihat and ride. PS
* Slow Blues (T)
If I were forced to choose one style and one tempo for an all-night jam 
session, I’d say “Slow blues at 60 BPM” without hesitation. It’s a 
mood and tempo that could last an entire evening. There are so many 
cool standards that fit here: “Summertime”, “Red House”, “Sweet Six-
teen” and numerous other classics. Or any relaxed improvization. 
Slow Blues in Groove Agent is rather dynamic; see how it increases in 
volume and intensity as the complexity levels get higher. Also, it re-
starts a couple of times (at level 7, 12 and 18) from it’s basic closed 
hihat groove. SB 
						

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Country
Shuffle (T)
An uncomplicated style which can give you, as a drummer, a lot of 
possibilities if you are creative. Instead of just playing backbeats on 
the snare drum, you can play the whole pattern along with the hihat or 
ride cymbal, which will give you a “fat” sound in what you’re produc-
ing. It’s harder for your left hand (if you play an ordinary drum set) but 
a lot more fun! RB 
Fox (T)
This is one style that has been around for longer than anyone cares to 
remember. Call it foxtrot, slowfox of whatever; some people would still 
refer to it as “music”. A merry and light uptempo style. SB
Train Beat
This is a style where the drummer has to work hard with the snare 
drum. It works well in country and rock’n’roll songs and will give your 
music a “busy” feeling. PS 
Pop
3/4
Here are a number of different styles that have the 3/4 signature in 
common. The complexity doesn’t go from easy to wild in this one. It’s 
more like a journey through different attitudes and emotions, all in 
“three quarter time”. For best results, set your sequencer’s time signa-
ture to 3/4. SB
Twist
The inspiration here was of course Chubby Checker’s classic “Let’s 
Twist Again”. On the record, the song is played really straight and 
simple, but as you crank up the complexity slider here in Groove 
Agent, you’ll get more variations and additions of bass drum patterns 
and ride cymbals. RB  
						

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Pop
High energy pop drumming at your service! Fave tempo is 146 BPM. 
These rhythms were created to inspire all the other boys in the band. 
Pop drumming is the motor to a popcycle, with fill-ins from corny to 
rocket fuel. Can you find the two-bar fill going from A to Z and back 
again? Happy ride! DB 
Backbeat (T)
This is the perfect up-tempo style. The drumming is pretty intense and 
it doesn’t stop to catch its breath, and maybe that is why it’s very easy 
to create a dance friendly song based on this groove. PS
Olympic
It’s funny how a drumming style without accentuated backbeats can 
make a song really swing. I took the drumming from The Beatles’ Get 
Back and scaled it down. The result can be heard at the lower levels. 
I also took the style a few steps further, the levels to the right. Wirebird 
suggested that this one could be used for gymnastic exercises, hence 
the style name. SB
* 6/8 (T)
One silly omission in the original edition of Groove Agent was that the 
6/8 style was missing. There are many lovely songs that need this kind 
of rhythm, songs like “If you don’t know me by now” and “When I need 
you”. Please note that you must set the time signature of your host to 
6/8 to play this style properly. SB 
* Steady Beat
Here’s a very basic style that suits almost any tempo. It’s perfect when 
you need a steady drummer who doesn’t do any unexpected exer-
cises, someone who never flips out, someone who’s not into impress-
ing anyone – but just plays. Plays a steady beat. This style can also be 
used if you want something with a triplet feeling. Just turn the Shuffle-
knob to the right and you will have a steady Shuffle-beat. MEB 
						

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** Wonderland (T)
The inspiration to this style comes from some of the best Stevie Won-
der songs. It's a mixture of some of his classic grooves that have be-
come part of many good drummer's “musical libraries”. This one is 
played with a 16th note triplet feeling. MEB
Dance Floor
Tamla
For this style I was inspired by the rock classic “Pretty Woman”. This 
rhythm was also frequently used by artists on the legendary Tamla 
Motown label. There can’t be a better way to start an up-tempo song, 
than with a snare drum pounding the beat! PS 
Soul
This style is influenced by some of the groovy drummers behind 
James Brown. MEB 
Disco
In the early 1970’s, the disco era began. In April 1976, the famous 
New York club Studio 54 took disco-ing to a higher level, but it was 
the movie Saturday Night Fever that spread the hustling world wide. 
The drums may sound muffled and some of the fills are kind of cheesy, 
but that is the charm of this style. When mixed with the rest of the 
band, this beat makes a nice and funky dance groove. So bring out 
your bell-bottom pants and your platform shoes, grow some hair on 
your chest, put on a satin shirt slashed to the waist and get down on 
it! FvW
* Bombay Dance Hall (T)
It’s the third millennium global dance hall beat. Could be London, 
could be Bombay, could be Sollentuna. It doesn’t really matter, as 
long as everybody is having a good time. Some artists marry this style 
to Reggae, others to Hip Hop. It’s all around and it’s up to you. Try 
adding or subtracting ambience to the different instruments to vary 
the sense of space. NE 
						

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** Jillie Bean
This style is inspired by the two world famous pop songs Billie Jean 
and Thriller by Michael Jackson. It features a cool, straight pop groove 
with a 8th feel that begins Jacko and ends Whacko. FvW
** Mad:ish
The grooves in this style come from some of the most captivating Ma-
donna songs. The beats are very basic with some small variations in 
the grooves that makes the style so “floory”. After a couple of days 
with Madonna tunes in my headphones, I finally realised the greatness 
of her music. MEB
Rock
Bonzo
This style is, as the name suggests, to some extent inspired by the late 
great John Bonham of Led Zeppelin, perhaps the most influential hard 
rock drummer. I suggest you turn the Ambience dial up to at least 2 
o’clock to get that big heavy feel. The patterns A to E are intended to 
emulate Mr. Bonham’s habit of playing the drum kit with his bare 
hands. To achieve this effect, Percussion 2 should be activated for 
these patterns. Percussion 1 is supposed to sound like a tambourine 
attached to the hihat. The complexity increases from pattern 1-10 with 
hihat and then it starts over for Pat 11-20 with ride. The Half Tempo 
Feel patterns have small snare triplet things going on that are not 
found in the regular patterns. 
Although perhaps not environmentally correct, some songs just call 
for being run on leaded fuel. MD 
Dark Side
It never ceases to amaze me how you can sell so many records and 
play so few notes. There’s a fair amount of inspiration from Pink 
Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” album in this style, well suited for 
slow songs. SB