Steinberg Groove Agent 4 Manual

Installation and Setup
Setting Up11
2. On the Instrument pop-up menu, select  Groove Agent.
3. Click  Ad
 d Track to create the instrument track.
4. Click the  Edit Instrument  bu
 tton in the Inspector to open the Groove Agent 
control panel.
RESULT 
Groove Agent is set up as a VST instrume nt in your DAW. For more information 
about working with VST instruments, see the Operation Manual of your DAW.
Selecting Outputs
Groove Agent loads with a stereo output co nfiguration by default. However, you can...

Installation and Setup
Setting Up12
Using the Instrument as Standalone Application
Groove Agent can be used as a standalone application, independently of any host 
application. In this case, you can connect the instrument directly to your audio 
hardware.
R
ELATED LINKS
Using the Standalone Version of the Plug-In on  page 178 

13
Introduction
Window Overview
The application interface follows a fixed-size single window concept.
The window is subdivided into several sections:
• The plug-in functions section at the top.
• The kit slot section and the kit rack below the plug-in functions section.
• The pad section on the left.
• The edit display on the right. It c
 ontains the Load, Edit , Mixer , and Options  
pages.
• At the bottom of the panel, you can display a keyboard.
• If you are using the standalone version of Groove...

Introduction
About Kits, Presets, and Groove Agent ONE Content14
About Kits, Presets, and Groove Agent ONE Content
Kits
Kits contain all information about the kit or sliced loop and about the insert effects 
that are used on the mixer channel. Kits can also contain MIDI patterns.
Kits can be saved and loaded via the kit rack or the kit slot section.
Kit Rack
Kit Slot Section
Sliced Loop Kits
Instead of MIDI patterns, sliced loop kits contain the MIDI phrase that is needed to 
play back the loop. Other...

Introduction
About Kits, Presets, and Groove Agent ONE Content15
Content Files and Folder Structure
Groove Agent comes with a large amount of ready-to-use sound content. This 
content is write-protected.  You can edit files while they are loaded, but you cannot 
overwrite the factory content files.
To save edits to the factory content, sa ve the files under a new name. These files 
get the file name extension  .vstpreset and are referred to as user content. They 
can be searched and categorized in the...

16
Managing Your Sounds
Loading Kits
There are several ways to load kits:
• Via drag & drop from the Windows Explorer/Mac OS Finder.
• Via the context menu in the kit rack.
• By clicking the  Load Kit 
 button at the right of the kit name in the kit slot 
section.
• Via the  Med
 iaBay or the  Browser
Kit Slot
This section shows the name of the loaded  kit. In addition, the following global 
controls are available:
Load button
 Click this button to show the list of available kits.
You can also click the...

Managing Your Sounds
Kit Rack17
PolyphonyAdjusts the polyphony of the kit.
MIDI Channel Sets the MIDI channel for the kit.
MIDI Input Indicator The MIDI symbol starts blinking if incoming MIDI signals are detected.
Velocity Curve Sets the velocity response curve of the kit. This allows you to adapt the kit to 
yo
ur hardware MIDI controller or playing style.
Song Position Counter The song position counter shows the current song position in bars, beats, and 
16t
h notes. If you activate the  Play button...

Managing Your Sounds
Kit Context Menu18
Kit Context Menu
Load KitOpens a pop-up menu containing the available kits. Double-click a kit to load 
it.
Load Kit With Patterns Allows you to load a kit with  
 its MIDI patterns, if any.
Load Pattern Group Allows you to load a predefined set of MIDI file assignments and play 
parameter settin
 gs for the 16 pads of the selected group.
Save Pattern Group Allows you to save the 16 pads of the current group and their settings as a 
pattern group.
Delete Pattern...

Managing Your Sounds
Managing and Loading Files19
Revert to Last Saved KitReverts to the kit that was originally loaded on the slot. If the kit was loaded 
w
ithout patterns, only the kit  and no patterns are loaded.
Cut Kit Copies the kit and its patterns and removes it from the slot.
Copy Kit Copies the kit and its patterns.
Paste Kit Pastes the copied kit into the slot. If  th
 e slot already contains a kit, it is 
replaced.
Rename Kit Allows you to rename the kit.
Reset Agent Loads the  In
 it preset...

Managing Your Sounds
Managing and Loading Files20
Managing Files via the MediaBay
In the top section of the MediaBay, you specify which sounds to look for. The lower 
section presents the corresponding results.
• To adjust the size of the two sections, drag the divider at the top of the results  list.
Applying Filters
Category Filter
You can filter the results list based on up to  3 filter criteria using the configurable 
attribute columns. Stan dard attributes are Style and Sub Style .
Only the files...