Steinberg Groove Agent 4 Manual

Percussion Agent
Pattern Editing121
• To export a pattern, set the dial in the Performance section to the MIDI 
pattern that you want to export, adjust the playback parameters, and 
click the  MIDI export  field and drag it onto a  MIDI track in your host 
application. You can also drag the field to other locations and 
applications that support MIDI files.
If you export a main pattern, it will be 4 bars long. The lengths for intro, 
ending, and fill vary.
Your settings for Halftime , Complexity ,...

Percussion Agent
Pattern Editing122
You can also create and manage your own percussion styles via the preset controls 
in the top right corner of the  Agent tab.
Performance Section (Style Player)
Style parameters
The following parameters affect the playback of the entire percussion style.
Quantize Adjusts the timing of the pattern, from  live-played 
 to hard-quantized timing.
• At a setting of 0 %, the pattern plays with the original timing.
• At a setting of 100 %, the timing is hard-quantized.
NOTE...

Percussion Agent
Mixing123
•Clear All Inactive  removes all substyles that are not active.
• Clear All  removes all substyles.
Complexity
Allows you to select one of 5 variations.
• The higher the complexity, the mo r
 e intense the rhythm pattern.
This way, you can have more intensity in the bongo than in the cowbell, 
for example.
Random Complexity Randomizes the playback. The substyle automatically switches to a random 
c
omplexity at each full bar.
Intensity Decreases the intensity (velocity) for...

Percussion Agent
Mixing124
Agent Mixer Overview
The left section of the mixer gives you access to all recorded instruments that are 
grouped on the tabs A, B,  C, and D . The channel order in the mixer corresponds to 
the mapping of the instruments on the MIDI keyboard.
In the top right corner of the  Agent mixer, you can find the global  Mute and Solo 
buttons.
•To reset all Mute  buttons 
 of the Agent mixer, click the global  Mute button.
•To reset all Solo  buttons of 
 the Agent  mixer, click the...

Percussion Agent
Mixing125
PanDefines the position of the sound in the stereo panorama.
Mute Mutes the channel.
Solo Soloes the channel and mutes all other channels. Several channels can be 
solo
ed at the same time.
Peak Level Indicates the highest level on the bus.
• To reset the peak level, click the text field.
Output Each channel can be routed to the main output of Groove Agent or to one of 
the individual outputs.
• Click the  Output 
 field to open the pop-up menu with the available 
outputs.
AUX...

126
Mixing and Effect Handling
You perform your mixing operations on the Mixer page.
For each agent, a specific  Agent mixe
 r is available. The Agent mixer functions are 
described in the separate  chapters for the agents.
Mixer Page
The Mixer  page contains tabs for the  Agent mixer, the AUX  mixer, the Kit mixer, and 
the  Master  mixer. The order of the tabs represents the signal flow.
AUX Mixer
The AUX  mixer features 4 AUX busses that can be used to realize classic send 
effects.
Each bus hosts up...

Mixing and Effect Handling
Mixer Page127
LevelAllows you to set the level of the AUX bus.
Pan Sets the position of the AUX bus in the stereo panorama.
Mute Mutes the AUX bus.
Effect Slots You can use the 4 slots on the right of each channel strip to add insert effects 
to t
he slot.
Kit Mixer
The  Kit mixer contains the channel strip for the bus that is assigned to the kit slot.
Gro ove A ge nt all ows you  to  load up to  4 ki ts into the kit slots. Eac h slot co mes wi th 
a dedicated mixer channel...

Mixing and Effect Handling
Effect Handling128
MeterThe meters of the mixer channel show the output level of the kit.
Peak Level Meter The meter indicates the highest level on the bus in dB. To reset the peak 
met
er, click on the value field.
Effect Slots You can use the 4 slots on the right of the channel strip to add insert effects 
to t
he slot.
Master Mixer
The  Master mixer shows the channel for the Master stereo output bus. It can host 
up to 4 insert effects that can be used  to add a global EQ or...

Mixing and Effect Handling
Effect Handling129
Default Effect Settings
Each effect comes with factory default settings. However, you can save your own 
default settings for each effect as a preset.
• Set up the effect.
•Click the Save Preset bu
 tton in the title bar of the effect section and save the 
preset under the na me “--Default--”.
The preset is saved in the presets folder of  th
 e effect and is loaded each time you 
load the effect.
• To return to the factory default se ttings, delete your d...

Mixing and Effect Handling
Effect Handling130
• To copy an effect and insert it between two effect slots, hold down [Alt]/[Option], move the mouse below the edit button until the drag icon 
appears and drag  between two slots.
NOTE
You can also copy effects between the different mixers. First drag an effect to the 
corresponding mixer tab. Then drag it to  the position where you want to insert it.