Steinberg Groove Agent 4 Manual

							101
Acoustic Agent
Acoustic Agent is a next-generation virtual acoustic drummer offering not only 
first-class drum sounds but also an integrated player that creates the perfect 
accompaniment for your songs.
3 outstanding drum kits are included, read y 
 to be played by the style player, who 
can conjure over 50 different grooves in a wealth of genres including Blues, Punk, 
Hip Hop and Indie Rock – perfect for any co ntemporary music style. And you retain 
full control, both over intensity and complexity of the style player’s drumming and 
over the sound, thanks to the included  Agent mixer.
Sound Editing
On the  Edit page for instrument  pads, you set up the sound of the kits.
• To open the Edit  page, click the Edit button in the upper right section of the 
plug-in panel.
• To show the parameters for a particular drum instrument, click on it.  Depending 
 on the setting of the  Mute Instrument Trigger on Editor  button 
in the upper right corner of the  Edit page, this also previews the instrument.
• If a drum instrument is triggered, this  is shown by the instrument turning dark. 
						

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Sound Editing102
About the 24 Bit and 16 Bit Sample Versions
All Acoustic Agent and Percussion Agent kits come with dedicated samples in 16 
and 24 bit. The 24  bit versions have the better audi o qualit
 y at the cost of longer 
loading times and higher RAM usage. The 16  bit versions load faster and utilize less 
RAM at the cost of a lower audio quality.
You can set up which samples are loaded by default with the  Load Preference 
setting on 
 the Options  page.
However, you can also switch between the 16 and 24 bit versions without changing 
the  Load Preference setting and reloading the pres et. This can be done on the Edit 
page.
• In the upper right corner of  th
 e Instrument page, click the 16 Bit or the  24 Bit 
button.
NOTE
Not all agents come with 16 and 24  bit versions of the samples. The  16 Bit an d 24 
Bit  buttons are only available if the agent supports this function.
Instrument Preview
On the  Edit page, you can specify whether you want to preview and select an 
instrument when clicking on it, or whether you only want to select it and show its 
sound parameters.
• To preview an instrument when clicking on it, deactivate the  Mute Instrument 
Trigger on Editor  button in the upper right corner of the  Edit page.
Instruments that have multiple 
 articulations play the standard articulation. For 
example, a snare can be played open, with a rimshot, or with sidestick. For 
preview, the open articulation is used.  To trigger the other articulations, use 
the instrument pads.
• To select an instrument and show its settings when clicking on it, activate  M
 ute Instrument Trigger on Editor .
Sound Parameters
If you select an instrument in the picture on the right, its sound parameters are 
available at the bottom of the panel.
Each instrument has its own set of parameters. 
						

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Sound Editing103
Kick Drums
Room LevelAdjusts the level of the room microphone.
Overhead Level Adjusts the level of the overhead microphone.
Bleed Adjusts how much the kick drum bleeds  in
 to the snare bottom microphone.
Tune Adjusts the pitch.
Attack Adjusts the attack time of the amplifier envelope.
Hold Adjusts the hold time of the amplifier envelope. Turn the control all the way to 
t
he right to play the entire sample.
Decay Adjusts the decay time of the amplifier envelope.
Kick A/B Each kit of the Acoustic Agent allows you to choose between two alternative 
kick drums. Click the 
 buttons to switch between kick A and kick B.
Snare Drums
Room Level
Adjusts the level of the room microphone.
Overhead Level Adjusts the level of the overhead microphone.
Master Bleed Adjusts how much the kick and the toms bleed into the snare bottom 
mi
crophone. This control serves as master control by attenuating the snare 
bottom samples of the kick and toms.
Tune Adjusts the pitch.
Attack Adjusts the attack time of the amplifier envelope.
Hold Adjusts the hold time of the amplifier envelope. Turn the control all the way to 
t
he right to play the entire sample. 
						

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Sound Editing104
DecayAdjusts the decay time of the amplifier envelope.
Snare A/B Each kit of the Acoustic Agent allows you to choose between two alternative 
snare
 drums. Click the buttons to switch between snare A and B.
Toms
Room Level
Adjusts the level of the room microphone.
Overhead Level Adjusts the level of the overhead microphone.
Bleed Adjusts how much the tom bleeds into the snare bottom microphone.
Tune Adjusts the pitch.
Attack Adjusts the attack time of the amplifier envelope.
Hold Adjusts the hold time of the amplifier envelope. Turn the control all the way to 
t
he right to play the entire sample.
Decay Adjusts the decay time of the amplifier envelope.
Cowbell
Room LevelAdjusts the level of the room microphone.
Overhead Level Adjusts the level of the overhead microphone.
Tune Adjusts the pitch.
Attack Adjusts the attack time of the amplifier envelope.
Hold Adjusts the hold time of the amplifier envelope. Turn the control all the way to 
t
he right to play the entire sample. 
						

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Sound Editing105
DecayAdjusts the decay time of the amplifier envelope.
Tambourine
Room LevelAdjusts the level of the room microphone.
Overhead Level Adjusts the level of the overhead microphone.
Attack Adjusts the attack time of the amplifier envelope.
Hold Adjusts the hold time of the amplifier envelope. Turn the control all the way to 
t
he right to play the entire sample.
Decay Adjusts the decay time of the amplifier envelope.
Claps
Room LevelAdjusts the level of the room microphone.
Attack Adjusts the attack time of the amplifier envelope.
Hold Adjusts the hold time of the amplifier envelope. Turn the control all the way to 
t
he right to play the entire sample.
Decay Adjusts the decay time of the amplifier envelope.
Single, Small Group, Large Group Determines whether the D#1 key triggers a single clap, or claps from a small 
or
 a large group.
Cymbals
Room Level
Adjusts the level of the room microphone.
Overhead Level Adjusts the level of the overhead microphone. 
						

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Sound Editing106
Choke On/OffA choke effect for cymbals is created by hitting a cymbal, and then grabbing 
it with th
 e hand, dampening the sound. If  Choke is activated, you can choke 
a cymbal using poly pressure, aftertouch, or note-off events.
Choke Controller Specifies which MIDI event triggers the choke for the cymbal.
•Note-off: To play th
 e cymbal, hit the key and hold it. To choke the 
cymbal, release the key.
• Aftertouch : To play the cymbal, trigger the corresponding note. To 
choke the cymbal, send an aftertouch event that is greater than 64.
• Poly Pressure : To play the cymbal, trigger the corresponding note. To 
choke the cymbal, send a poly pressure event that is greater than 64.
Ride Cymbal
You can play the ride cymbal with the shoulder of the stick on the bell of the cymbal, 
with the tip of the stick on the bow of the cymbal, or you can hit the cymbal on the 
edge for a crash sound.
Room Level
Adjusts the level of the room microphone.
Overhead Level Adjusts the level of the overhead microphone.
Bow Adjusts the level of the  Bow a
 rticulation that is triggered with D#2.
Bell Adjusts the level of the  Bell articula
 tion that is triggered with F2.
Edge Adjusts the level of the  Edg
 e articulation that is triggered with B2.
Hihat
Room Level
Adjusts the level of the room microphone.
Overhead Level Adjusts the level of the overhead microphone. 
						

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Pattern Editing107
Shank, Tip, FootYou can play the hihat with the shoulder  of 
 the stick on the edge or with the 
tip of the stick on the bow of the hihat. When you close the hihat, it produces 
a foot chick. You can adjust the level for each of these articulations.
• Shank  
 adjusts the level of the shank hihat articulation that is triggered 
with F#0 and A#0.
• Tip adjusts the level of the tip hihat articulation that is triggered with F#1 
and A#1.
• Foot adjusts the level of the foot and  pedal hihat articulation that are 
triggered with G#0/G#1 (F oot) and A0/A-1 (Pedal).
Hihat Min/Max These controls adjust the minimum and th
 e maximum opening state of the 
hihat, that is, they specify how much the hihat can be opened or closed with 
the corresponding hihat controller.
Hihat Controller The open state of the closed hihat on  
 A#1 and the shank hihat on A#0 can 
be controlled with MIDI controller  #1 (modulation wheel) or with MIDI 
controller #4 (foot controller). Use th ese buttons to filter out any incoming 
MIDI data for controllers #1 or #4.
For example, activate  MW t
 o avoid that any incoming MIDI controller #1 is 
received from your MIDI keyboard.
Pattern Editing
On the  Edit page for pattern pads, you can make settings for the MIDI patterns. 
						

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Pattern Editing108
Agent Tab
The Agent  tab contains the  Pad, Pattern , and Performance  sections.
The common pad and pattern functions are described in the chapter “Working with 
Pads”. Those functions that are agent-specific are described in the following 
sections.
R
ELATED LINKS
Working With Pads on  page 35
Pattern Section
Use Style
Activates the style player.
MIDI Export Field If the MIDI pattern player is active, the following applies:
If the style player is ac tive, 
 the following applies:
• To export a pattern, set the dial in the  Per
 formance 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 , Intensity , Quantize , Crash 
Mode , Hihat Mode , and Ride Mode  are taken into account. Not taken 
into account are the parameters that vary the playback automatically, 
like  Auto Complexity  and Auto Fill .
Using the Style Player
If the Use Style  button is activated and a style is selected on the pop-up menu, the 
style player is active and you can assign in tros, fills, and endings to pattern pads by 
using the large dial in the Performance section.
• To do so, activate the pattern pad and set  the dial
  to the intro, fill, or ending 
that you want to use.
The pattern pad plays the selected part each time you trigger it.
You can choose between 4 intros, 8 fills, and 4 endings. 
						

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NOTE
• Intros and endings are not affected by the parameters Halftime, Complexity , 
Auto Complexity , Auto Fill , and Crash Mode .
• Fills are not affected by the parameters  Halftime, Complexity , Auto 
Complexity , and Auto Fill .
Removing a Style
• To remove the selected style, right-click the  Style Library pop-up menu and 
select  Clear.
Converting Intros, Main Patterns, Fi lls, or Endings into MIDI Patterns
You can convert the selected part of a style  to a MIDI pattern. This allows you to edit 
this part in the  Pattern editor, for example.
The conversion takes into account the playba ck parameters of a style, for example, 
Intensity , Quantize , Swing , and Crash Filter  and converts them into MIDI events 
in the MIDI pattern. The resulting MIDI pa ttern for the main pattern of a style also 
reflects the set  Complexity.
NOTE
Auto Complexity  and Auto Fill  are not taken into account.
You can convert styles on the  Agent tab or on the  Overview tab.
• On the  Agent 
 tab, select a style, and select the main pattern, intro, fill, or 
ending that you want to convert. Set up the playback parameters, and click 
the  Convert Style to MIDI Pattern  button between the Use Style and Use 
MIDI File  buttons.
• On the  Overview tab, right-click the cell that contains the style and select 
Convert Style to MIDI Pattern  on the context menu.
NOTE
Once you have converted a part of a style into a MIDI pattern, it cannot be used in 
the style player any longer. 
						

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Pattern Editing110
Performance Section (Style Player)
Pattern DialAllows you to specify whether you want th e style player 
 to play a main pattern, 
a fill, an ending, or an intro. Depending on which part of the style you select, 
you can choose between different variations, for example, 8 different fills are 
available.
Complexity You can modify the complexity of drum patterns. Increasing the complexity 
c
an add more notes, change from hihat  to ride or from snare to toms, for 
example. This allows you to introduce a feel of free-style playing to a pattern. 
You can set the complexity in the following ways:
•Move the  Complexity handle below the display to  the right or left. Drag 
to the right to increase the complexi ty, and to the left to decrease the 
complexity.
• Click in the display and move the combined  Complexity/Intensity 
control to the left or right.
You can modify complexity and intensity at the same time by moving the 
control both on the x and the y axis.
• Double-click in the Complexity value field above the display and enter a  new value.
NOTE
The Complexity  parameter is only available for  main and halftime patterns, not 
for intros, fills, and endings.
Intensity
The intensity is controlled via the y-axis of the x/y control of the Style Player. 
A
ll patterns support the  Intensity parameter. The patterns play with their 
original velocity at the top position of the y-axis. Decreasing the intensity 
means decreasing the velocity. You can set the intensity in the following ways:
• Move the  Intensity handle to the right of the display up or down.
• Click in the display and move the combined  Complexity/Intensity 
control up or down.
You can modify complexity and intensity at the same time by moving the 
control both on the x and the y axis.