Steinberg Groove Agent 4 Manual

							Common Editing Methods
Buttons31
Adjusting the Value Ranges
You can adjust the value range of a parameter using the corona of the encoder. The 
values for the pads are distributed within the new range, keeping their relative 
distances.
• To compress or expand the value range, drag the corona.
• To adjust the upper limit of the range, hold down [Ctrl]/[Command] and 
 drag 
the corona.
• To adjust the lower limit of the range,  hold d
 own [Alt]/[Option] and drag the 
corona.
Buttons
On/Off Buttons
These controls normally have two states, off and on. If you move the mouse over an 
On/Off  button, it changes its appearance  to show that you can click it.
Push Buttons
Push buttons only trigger an action and then  go back to their inactive state. These 
buttons can be found for opening menus or file dialogs.
Value Fields
To set a value, you have  the following possibilities:
• Click in a value field, enter a new value, and press [Enter]. If the entered value exceeds the parameter  r
 ange, it is automatically set to the 
maximum or the minimum value, respectively.
• Click in the value field and drag up or down to change the value.
• Position the mouse over a value field  an
 d use the mouse wheel to adjust the 
value.
• To set the parameter to its default va lue, [Ctrl]/[Com
 mand]-click the value 
field.
• To use a fader to adjust the value,  
 [Alt]/[Option]-click a value field.
• Click the up/down triangles next to the field. 
						

							Common Editing Methods
Using Key Commands32
• You can adjust musical values, such as key ranges or the root key, using your MIDI keyboard.
To enter a value with your MIDI keyboard, double-click the value field, press a 
ke
 y on your MIDI keyboard, and press [Return].
• To navigate to the next parameter, press [Tab]. To jump backwards to the  previous parameter,  press [Shift]-[Tab].
If no parameter is selected inside the focused view, pressing [Tab] always 
jumps to 
 the first parameter.
Using Key Commands
• To open the Key Commands  dialog, open the Options page and click the 
Key Commands  button.
The commands are arranged in a hierarchical folder structure on the left. When you 
o
 pen a category folder, the items and functions are displayed with any currently 
assigned key commands.
• To set up a key command, select the function in the list, enter the key  comman
 d in the Type in Key  field and click the Assign  button to the right of 
the field. If this key command is already used for another function, this is 
displayed in the field below.
• To delete a key command, select the corresponding command, select the key  c
 ommand in the  Keys list and click the  Delete button (the trash icon).
• To search for a specific function, enter  its 
 name in the search field at the top 
of the dialog and click the search button (the magnifying glass).
NOTE
You can set up several key commands for the same function. 
						

							Common Editing Methods
Presets33
Presets
Groove Agent offers two types of presets: section/module presets and VST 
presets. VST presets contain all information necessary to restore the complete state 
of the plug-in. Section and  module presets store and reca ll the setup of a specific 
component on the Groove Agent panel.
During setup, the factory presets are installed in a dedicated folder and a user folder 
is created for your own presets. The handling of presets is the same throughout the 
program.
NOTE
Factory presets are write-protected, but may be overwritten when a software 
update is executed. Presets in your user  folder are never changed by the software 
update.
NOTE
For more information on VST presets, see the Cubase/Nuendo Operation Manual.
Handling Section and Module Presets
The preset controls can be found throughout the program. The handling is always 
the same.
• To save a preset, click the Save button 
 (the disk icon).
NOTE
You cannot overwrite factory presets. If you want to save changes made to a factory 
preset, save the preset under a new name or in a new location.
• To load a preset, click the arrow icon and select a preset from the list.
• To delete a preset, click the Delete but
 ton (the trash icon). Note that factory 
presets cannot be deleted.
Handling VST Presets
Loading VST Presets
PROCEDURE
1. In the header of the plug-in panel, click the  Preset management button next 
to the preset name field and select  Load Preset.
2. Select a preset to load it . Double-click a preset to load it and close the preset 
loader. 
						

							Common Editing Methods
Presets34
Saving VST Presets
PROCEDURE
• In the header of the plug-in panel, click the Preset management button next 
to the preset name field and select  Save Preset. 
						

							35
Working With Pads
The Pad section on the left can show the in strument pads or the pattern pads.
• To switch between the instrument pa ds and the pattern pads, click the 
corresponding button above the pads.
Transport Controls
• To start or stop playback of the selected pad, use the corresponding controls.
• To record MIDI live, click the  Record button.
• To activate Jam Mode, click the  Jam Mo
 de button.
R
ELATED LINKS
Recording MIDI Events Live on  page 60
Jam Mode on  page 39 
						

							Working With Pads
Instrument Pads36
Instrument Pads
The pad section provides up to 128 pads, organized in 8 groups of 16 pads. The 
instrument pads can be used to trigger so unds. Each pad is mapped to a MIDI note, 
which triggers a sample. If samples are assigned to a pad, the LED above the pad 
lights up.
You can switch between the groups by clicking on the group buttons below the 
pads. The button of the active  group is highlighted. If one or more pads of a group 
have samples mapped to them, an orange LE D above the group button lights up. If 
a pad within a group receives  a MIDI note, a green MIDI indicator LED lights up.
By default, group 3 is acti ve when you open Groove Agent.
Below the pad section, you find several butt ons. These are different for the different 
agents.
Showing Information about the In strument Pads (Beat Agent Only)
• Activate the i button below the pad section to show the following information 
for the pads: the pad number, the number of samples, and the output.
• Activate the  E butto
 n to show the exclusive gr oup settings for the pads. If you 
move the mouse over a pad that belongs  to an exclusive group, all pads that 
belong to the same exclusive group ar e highlighted. If a hidden pad group 
contains pads that belong to the same  exclusive group, a red LED above the 
group button lights up.
Setting the Output for the  Pads (Beat Agent Only)
You can set the output of the samples via the pad context menu. 
						

							Working With Pads
Instrument Pads37
• Right-click the pad, open the Assign Output submenu, and select the output 
that you want to use.
This sets all samples of the pad to this output.
Locking Color and Output Se ttings (Beat Agent Only)
• You can lock the color and output sett ings for the pads. For example, this 
allows you to lock the output configuration for the pads, and then switch 
between kits while keeping these outputs. You can specify which parameters 
you want to lock for the pads on the context menu for the Lock button below 
the pads. If the button lights up, at le ast one setting is locked for the pads.
Locking Pad Settings (Acoustic and Percussion Agent)
You can lock the color settings for the pads by activating the  Lock Pad Colors 
button. The button lights  up when it is active.
Using an Alternative MIDI Note Assignment
If you use an external hardware drum controller that sends specific MIDI notes for 
specific instruments, you can specify an alternative MIDI trigger note mapping.
PROCEDURE
1. Activate the Use Hardware Controller Mapping  button in the lower right 
corner of the pad section.
Now you can load, save, and delete di fferent trigger note configurations.
2. Specify a new trigger note for the pad.
• Right-click a pad, select Edit/Learn Trigger Note and specify the new trigger 
note by entering it into the value field or by playing the corresponding note on 
your hardware controller.
• On the pad context menu, open the  Assi
 gn Trigger Note submenu and select 
the note from the submenus.
3. Groove Agent jumps to the next pad. A ssign a MIDI note to all the pads that 
you want to use and press [Enter] to stop assigning MIDI notes. 
						

							Working With Pads
Instrument Pads38
Pad Section
For instrument pads, the Pad section on the  Agent page contains several playback 
functions and settings.
Active
Activates/Deactivates playback for the pad.
Exclusive Activates/Deactivates exclusive playback  for 
 a pad. Triggering an exclusive 
pad stops playback of the current pattern, according to the set restart mode. 
Pads for which this  button is not activated can pl ay simultaneously with other 
patterns.
If  Ex
clusive  mode is activated for a pad, this  is indicated by an icon in the 
upper left corner of a pad.
Jam State
Determines the play orde r of the pads if the Jam Mo
 de button is activated and 
the pattern pad is in exclusive mode.
Play Mode • To play a pattern for as long as you hold down a key, select  Ho
 ld.
• To start and stop playback with th e trigger note for a pad, select Toggle.
Toggle  mode is best used for live performances. Otherwise, it can lead 
to unpredictable results, for exampl e, when stopping and restarting 
playback in the host application or  when locating to another position 
during playback.
• To play a pattern complete ly to its end, select One Shot. In this mode, 
note-off events are ignored. Playback stops automatically at the end of 
the pattern. To make sure that th e pattern plays from start to end, 
deactivate  Sync to Beat .
Restart Mode Determines whether a pattern starts to  play 
 immediately, at the next beat, or 
at the next full measure.
Sync to Beat If Sync to 
Beat  is activated, triggering a pattern starts the pattern in sync with 
any other patterns that are playing. Fo r example, if you trigger a pattern and 
trigger the next pattern afte r 3 beats, this pattern starts playing at beat 3. If 
Sync to Beat  is deactivated, the second pa ttern starts from the beginning. 
						

							Working With Pads
Instrument Pads39
Velocity ModeSpecifies how the velocity of the notes that you play affects the notes of the 
pattern.
•If  Or
iginal  is selected, the notes of the pattern are played with the 
velocity that is saved with the pattern.
•If  As Played  is selected, the notes of the pattern are played with the 
velocity that you are playing on the keyboard.
•If  Original + As Played  is selected, the pattern  velocity is determined 
by the combination of the velocity saved with the pattern and the 
velocity of your playing.
Jam Mode
Jam mode allows you to  automatically switch betwee n pattern pads during 
playback. For example, you can switch from an intro to a verse, or from a fill back to 
the previous verse, or even automatically stop playback.
Jam mode is useful if you want to play  along 
 and jam with Groove Agent. But it is 
much more flexible than a static song or pattern list.
If the  Jam Mode button is activated, the  Play Mode and Restart Mode parameters 
are not available for pads in exclusive mo de. These pads are played back with a 
single click. Patterns only switch afte r entire bars. Pattern pads for which the 
Exclusive Mode  button is deactivated behave like normal.
Jam States
How the pattern pads behave in  jam mode is defined by the Jam States setting. 
This parameter is available if the  Jam Mode button and the Exclusive Mode button 
are activated for a pattern pad.
Standard If a pad with  Standard jam state is 
 triggered, any previous pads stop playing. 
The new pad plays exclusively.
Next In this mode, playback jumps automa tic
 ally to the first pad for which Standard 
jam state is selected and  which is mapped higher up on the keyboard. If no 
pad with  Standard  jam state exists, the current  pad plays back in a loop.
Return In this mode, playback jumps back to the 
 previous pad. Use this mode to 
switch from a pad with a fill back to the previous pad, for example. If you 
trigger several pads for which  Return is activated in sequence, Groove Agent 
returns to the last pad in  Standard, Next , or Stop mode. If no pad was 
triggered before, the current  pad plays back in a loop.
Stop Playback stops automatically after the entire pattern was played back. 
						

							Working With Pads
Instrument Pads40
The jam state is indicated by different icons in the upper left corner of the pads.
Pads in Standard , Next, Return , and Stop mode.
Using Jam Mode
PROCEDURE
1. Load an intro, a verse, a fill, and an  ending to 4 consecutive pattern pads.
2. Activate Exclusive Mode  for all 4 pads and set up the  Jam State as follows:
• Set the first pad with the intro to  Next.
• Set the second pad with the verse to  Standard.
• Set the third pad with the fill to  Return.
• Set the fourth pad with the Ending to  Stop.
3. Activate the  Jam Mode button.
The Play  button starts blinking to indicate th at Groove Agent is waiting for a pattern 
pad to be triggered.
4. Trigger the pad with the intro.
The intro is played back and afterwards, pl ayback automatically switches to the pad 
with the verse. The verse is then played back in a loop.
5. Trigger the pad with the fill. After the fill, playback automatically switches back  to the pad with the verse. Now, the verse is played back in a loop.
6. Trigger the pad with the ending. Play back
  stops automatically once playback 
of the ending is completed.
Pattern Section
For instrument pads, the Pattern section on the  Agent page contains MIDI pattern 
and pattern player functions.
Pattern Player On/Off
Activates/Deactivates the pattern player.
Pattern Library Allows you to select a MIDI pattern. Click to select the file from the list.