Steinberg Groove Agent 4 Manual

Working With Pads
Pattern Pads51
4. Optional: To preview the pattern or style, trigger the pattern pad.
5. Double-click an entry to load it.
Unassigning Patterns and Styles
• To remove the assignment for a single  pattern pad, right-click the cell and 
select  Clear.
• To remove all pattern pad assignments fo r 
 the 16 pads of an agent, right-click 
one of the cells in the corresponding column and select  Clear Column.
Moving and Copying Patterns and Styles
• To switch the content of 2 cells, drag a...

Working With Pads
Pattern Pads52
Managing Pattern Groups
You can save the 16 pads of a group with their patterns and settings as a pattern 
group. This allows you to quickly restore  and reuse particular patterns and settings. 
Pattern groups include all pad sett ings, that is, the settings for Exclusive Mode, 
Jam State , Play Mode , etc.
• To save the current pattern group for a kit, right-click the kit in the kit rack or  th
 e corresponding slot on the  Overview tab and select  Save Pattern 
Group…...

Working With Pads
Pattern Pads53
Drum Sounds List
In the list on the left, the drum sounds are listed. What is shown in the list depends 
on the  Visibility  setting on the  Configuration pop-up menu.
The columns show the key, the pad name, the quantize setting, and the mute status 
of the pads.
NOTE
The column sorting is fixed, you cannot change it.
Drum Sounds List Context Menu
In the column header, the following menu options are available on the context menu:
Select All Notes
Selects all notes in the...

Working With Pads
Pattern Pads54
Select All Notes on KeySelects all notes on the selected key.
Delete All Notes on Key Deletes all notes on the selected key.
Delete Double Notes on Key Deletes all double notes on the selected key, that is, all notes that are placed 
on
 top of other notes at  the exact same positions.
Double notes can occur when quantizing, drawing in notes, etc.
Toolbar
The toolbar contains tools, visibility opti ons, and settings for creating and editing 
your patterns in the  Pattern...

Working With Pads
Pattern Pads55
• To edit a parameter, double-click on the value, enter a new value, and press [Return].
Configuration
If you click the  Configu
 ration button, the following options are available:
Preview Notes
If this button is activated, notes ar e playe
 d back automatically when you 
create or select them.
Auto-Scroll Activates/Deactivates auto-scroll.
If Aut
o-Scroll  is activated, the grid scrolls  automatically during playback so 
that the position cursor is always visible.
Show...

Working With Pads
Pattern Pads56
•If Snap is deactivated, you can move notes freely to any position.
Velocity for new notes
Determines the velocity of notes that are entered in the  Pa
 ttern editor.
• Click the button to select one of the 4 predefined velocity values, or  e
 nter the velocity value directly in the value field on the right.
Iterative Quantize On/Off Determines whether the notes are quantized exactly to the set quantize grid, 
o
r whether they are quantized iteratively,  that is, moved...

Working With Pads
Pattern Pads57
End BeatDisplays the end beat of the pattern.
• To change the pattern end, enter a new value or drag the end marker in the display to a new position.
NOTE
Notes after the pattern end are not played back. However, they are not 
deleted when you change the pattern end.
Sign (time signature)
Determines the time signature. You can enter the new signature as fractions 
of
 beats.
Creating and Editing Patterns
PREREQUISITE 
• To edit an existing pattern, select the...

Working With Pads
Pattern Pads58
• To change the length of a note, activate the Show Note Length button on the 
toolbar, move the mouse pointer over the border of the note so that a 
double-arrow is shown, then cl ick and drag left or right.
If  Snap to 
Grid  is activated, the note end or  start snaps to the grid when you 
change the note length.
• To move a note, drag it to another position.
• To delete a note, click it with the  Erase tool.
• To cut, copy, and paste notes, use the standard key...

Working With Pads
Pattern Pads59
You can also set the start and end positions for a pattern manually on the Agent tab.
Defining the Playback Range
You can specify the range of the patter n that you want to be played back.
• To define which part of a pattern is  played 
 back, drag the start and end 
markers of the pattern on the time line.
MIDI events before the start or after the end marker are not played back. They 
a
 re grayed out to indicate this.
Trimming Patterns
If you edit a pattern by changing...

Working With Pads
Pattern Pads60
LineIn this mode, you can click and drag to create a straight line of controller 
values.
Parabola, Sine, Triangle, Square In these modes, you can insert a seri e
 s of controller events representing 
different curve shapes.
Paint This mode allows you to freely dr a
 w in a series of controller events.
Recording MIDI Events Live
Instead of entering notes one by one using the tools in the  Pattern editor, you can 
also record MIDI events live.
PROCEDURE
1. To enable the...