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 , 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 .
Style Player
The style player allows you to combine up to 8 individual instrument substyles. Each 
substyle plays a typical rh ythm pattern with a specified percussion instrument.
The substyles are organized into folders according to their musical style. By 
combinin
 g several instrument substyles, you can create a complete percussion 
style.
Each substyle has its own set of performance parameters that allow you to further 
modify playback. For example, the  Complexity parameter allows you to select one 
of five variations for a particular substyle . Once you made all your settings, you can 
save your compilation of instrument substyles together with the performance 
parameters as a percussion style.
In addition, substyles for accompanying particular styles from Acoustic Agent are 
available. These can be found in folder s that are named after the corresponding 
Acoustic Agent style.
Compiling a Perc ussion Style
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 compile a percussion style using up to 8 substyles.
• Select the substyles from the pop-up menus and adjust the performance  parameters.
Style Player Context Menu
•Clear removes the selected style.
• Show in 
 Explorer/Finder  opens the preset folder for user styles in the 
Windows Explorer/Mac OS Finder.
This function is only available for user styles, not for the factory content.
Percussion Styles Presets
Groove Agent comes with a number of factory presets for percussion styles. 
						

							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
Rudiments in the MIDI patterns are not affected by this parameter.
Global Intensity
Decreases the intensity (v elocity) for the style.
Global Swing Allows you to shift the timing of note s o
 n even-numbered beats to give the 
pattern a swing feeling. Ne gative values shift the timing backward, and the 
notes are played earlier. Positive values shift the timing forward, and the notes 
are played later.
Global Swing Grid Determines the grid for applying  Swing. 
 For example, to shift the timing at 
every 16th note position in a pattern, set this to  1/16.
Substyle Parameters The following parameters affect on ly 
 the playback of the substyles:
Instrument On/Off Activates/Deactivates playback for the corresponding instrument.
Instrument Substyle Context menu
• Clear removes the selected substyle. 
						

							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 each substyle separately.
Tempo Scale Allows you to set the tempo of a substyle to half speed ( 1/2), nor
 mal speed 
( 1x ) and double speed ( 2x).
Groove Offset Offsets playback of the substyle by up to  8
  ei g h th  n o t es .  F o r  e xa m p l e,  w i th  an  
offset of 2, the playback star ts on the second quarter note.
Swing Adjusts the swing factor for each substy le individually. 
 The swing grid is 
defined globally with the  Global Swing Grid parameter.
Mixing
Each agent comes with a dedicated  Agent mixer that contains agent-specific 
options and settings.
The  AUX  mixer,  Kit mixer, and  Master mixer
  are available for all agents, and are 
described in a separate chapter.
R
ELATED LINKS
Mixing and Effect Handling on  page 126
Agent Mixer
The  Agent  mixer is where you perform your mi xing for kits that come with the 
Percussion Agent.
The  Agent  mixer co
 ntains a channel strip for each percussion instrument and its 
articulations. 
						

							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 global  Solo button.
Room Microphone
The Room  tab contains the channels for the room microphone.
Kit Mix Channel
The Kit Mix  tab contains the channel strip for the  Kit Mix output.
For the  Kit Mix output channel, you can add a  Tube Saturator effect.
• To activate the  Tub
 e Saturator effect, click its  On/Off button.
•  To change the effect sound, adjust the  Dri
 ve parameter.
Channel Parameters
The channels have the following parameters:
Level
Adjusts the volume of the channel. 
						

							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 Sends 1-4 Use these controls to send the signal  to t
 he corresponding AUX busses of the 
agent.
Width (Room Channel Strip Only) Adjusts the stereo width of the signal from mono to stereo.
Agent Mixer Equalizer and Effects
In the lower section of the  Agent mixer, you can make equalizer and effect settings 
for the channels.
• To make settings for an instrument channel, select the tab for the instrument 
that you want to edit, and click the label of the channel strip for that channel.
If a channel strip is selected, the section below the mixer channels shows the insert 
e
 ffects for this channel. The order of the  effects can be modified by dragging the 
tabs. To show the parameters of an insert effect, select the corresponding tab.
• To activate an insert effect, click the corresponding  On/Off bu
 tton.
Each channel offers an equalizer, a vintage compressor, a tape saturator, and an 
envelope shaper for the insert effects. These effects are reduced versions of the 
included effect plug-ins. 
						

							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 to 4 insert  
 effects, which allows you to set up complex effects. 
The busses can be routed to the Master output of the plug-in or to one of the 
individual outputs. Each agent has its own  AUX mixer. This means that you can use 
different Reverb send effects for the different agents, for example. All settings of the 
AUX  mixer are saved in kit presets.
Parameters
Output
On this pop-up menu, you can select one of the 16 available outputs for the 
A
UX bus or you can route the signal to the  Kit mixer. 
						

							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 that can be used to adjust levels between the different 
kits, for example. You can also solo and mute  kits, to listen to individual kits, or 
combinations of them. Each mixer channel  provides 4 insert effect slots to apply 
effects to the overall output signal of the kit.
Parameters
Output
On this pop-up menu, you can select one of the 16 available outputs.
Level The level fader allows you to adjust the volume of the slot.
Pan Sets the position of the slot in the stereo panorama.
Mute Mutes the slot.
Solo Solos the slot. 
						

							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 compressor to the 
signal chain, for example.
Level
Allows you to set the level of the Master bus.
Effect Slots You can use the 4 slots on the right  to add insert effe
 cts to the slot.
Effect Handling
Each agent in Groove Agent features an AUX mixer with 4 AUX busses that can be 
used to realize classic send effects. Each bus hosts up to 4 insert effects, which 
allows you to set up complex effects. The busses can be routed to the  Master 
output of the plug-in or to one of the individual outputs.
The  Kit Mixer provides access to the mixer channel of the kit which also features 4 
inserts.
Furthermore, the Mixer provides access to the master output bus. This can be used 
to add a global EQ or compressor  to the signal chain, for example. 
						

							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
 efault preset.
Using the Insert Effect Slots
On the Mixer page, you can set up insert effects for the agent channels, the kit 
channels, the AUX busses, and the master channel.
• To assign an insert effect, click the effect 
 slot and select the effect from the 
menu.
• To remove an insert effect including its current settings, click the effect slot  and select
  None  from the menu.
• To bypass an effect, activate the  Bypass button of the slot. Bypass is active 
wh
 en the button lights up.
• To edit an insert effect, click the  e 
 button of the corresponding slot. You can 
edit only one effect at a time. The parameters of the insert effect are displayed 
in the bottom section.
• To move an effect to another slot, move the mouse below the edit button until  the drag 
 icon appears and drag it to  another slot. This replaces any effect 
loaded in this slot.
• To change the order of the effects, move the mouse below the edit button until  the drag 
 icon appears and drag it  to a new position between two slots.
• To copy an effect into another slot, hold down [Alt]/[Option], move the mouse  below the edit button until the drag icon  appears and drag it onto the new slot.

 
This replaces any effect loaded in this slot.
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. 
						

							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.