Steinberg Groove Agent 4 Manual

							Working With Pads
Common Pad Settings61
Common Pad Settings
• Pads show the associated MIDI note in the top right corner.For pattern pads, you can change the MIDI note assignment. For instrument 
pads
, you can only change this if  Use Hardware Controller Mapping  is 
activated.
• In the lower section, the name of the pad is displayed.
• If samples are assigned to an instrume nt 
 pad, the LED above the pad lights 
up.
• If a MIDI file is mapped to a patter n pad, th
 e LED above the pad lights up.
• A pad lights up if the associated MIDI note is triggered.
• A yellow frame around a pad indicates that this pad is selected for editing.
Pad Colors
You can colorize the instrument pads and  the pattern pads using up to 16 different 
colors.
This can be used to improve the overview of instruments within your kit, for example. 
You can set the bass drum to one color, the snare to another, toms and cymbals to 
another, and so on.
• To apply a color to a pad or to several 
 selected pads, open the context menu 
and select a color from the  Set Color submenu.
Selecting Pads
Apart from the regular selection options, you can use the additional selection 
options on the pad context menu.
•Select All 
 Pads – All 128 pads are selected.
• Select All 
 Pads in Group – All 16 pads of the pad group are selected.
• Invert Selectio
 n – Selects all unselected pads  and deselects all selected 
pads.
• Invert Selectio
 n in Group – As above, but only for the pad group.
Pad Functions
• To change the name of a pad, right-click the pad, select  Rename Pad from 
the context menu, enter a new name and press [Enter].
This is useful if the names of the sa mples ar
 e either too long or not very 
intuitive. Renaming pads also allows  you to indicate that more than one 
sample is mapped to a pad, for example. 
						

							Working With Pads
Pad Functions62
• You can edit multiple selected pads. The first selected pad shows a yellow 
frame, the rest of the selected pads a lighter yellow frame.
• To select a pad without triggering a sample or pattern, [Alt]/[Option]-click the  pad.
• In Instrument mode, the pads can be used to trigger sounds. You can trigger  the
 m with different velocities. Velocities are lower the further down towards 
the bottom of a pad you click. Clicking  towards the top of the pad results in 
higher velocities.
• To mute or solo an instrument pad, click the corresponding icon in the upper  le
 ft corner of a pad. Click again to unsolo or unmute.
• To unmute or unsolo all  instrument 
 pads, click the Reset All Mute/Reset All 
Solo  buttons below the pads.
• To remove samples from an instrument  pad, right-click 
 the pad and select 
Remove All Samples  from the context menu.
• To reset a pad, right-cl ick the pad and 
 select Reset Pad  from the context 
menu. To reset all 128 pads,  right-click a pad and select Reset All Pads from 
the context menu.
For instrument pads, this  removes 
 all samples and resets name, color, and 
trigger note for the pads  to their default values.
For pattern pads, this remo ves 
 the MIDI file and the name from the pads and 
resets color and trigger note to the default values. 
						

							63
Beat Agent
Beat Agent is a full beat production instrument with all the tools and sounds to 
create amazing beats for any electronic or urban music genre.
100 amazing sounding drum kits are included, alongside all the advanced features 
that you
  need to edit existing kits and cr eate your own ones. Beat Agent also excels 
in manipulating samples and loops, with features like automatic loop slicing, 
one-click drum hit replacement, an onboard FX rack and much, much more.
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.
The  Edit page contains the  Main, Pitch , Filter,  Amp, Sample , Slice , and  MIDI FX  
tabs. 
						

							Beat Agent
Sound Editing64
Absolute and Relative Editing
When editing multiple samples, you can either change values absolutely for all the 
samples (ABS) or make relative changes ( REL), depending on the setting of the 
corresponding button on the toolbar.
• If you use absolute editing and you change a parameter from 50  % to 60  % for 
one sample, 

all other samp les are also set to 60  %.
• If you use relative editing and you change a parameter from 50  % to 60  % in 
o

ne zone, another selected zone that was set to 70  % is set to 80  %.
NOTE
Relative changes can be made for all parameters that can be adjusted continuously. 
Changes of parameters that  select one of multiple modes or switch between two 
states are always absolute.
Editing Selection or All
You can apply your editing either to the selection ( SEL) or to all samples of the pad 
( PAD ), depending on the setting of the corresponding button on the toolbar.
Assigning Samples to Pads
You can assign samples to pa ds by using drag and drop, replace existing samples 
using the Mapping View context menu,  or add samples to pads using the Browser.
Assigning Sample s to Pads using Drag and Drop
You can drag one or more samples from the Explorer/Finder and from your host 
application onto Groove Agent. Samples ca n be mapped to the same pad, or to 
different pads.
You can drag files from the following locations:
•MediaBay
• Project window
• Pool
• Sample Editor (regions)
• Audio Part Editor
• LoopMash slices
• To assign a sample to a pad, drag it onto the pad. 
						

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Sound Editing65
When you drag one or more samples onto a pad, the drop icons are shown. These 
determine whether the samples are added to the pad, whether the current sample 
is replaced with the one you are dragging, or whether the samples that you drag are 
assigned to multiple consecutive pads.
• Drag samples to the topmost drop icon to add them to the pad.
You can assign up to 8 samples to a pad.
• Drag one or more samples to the middle  drop icon to replace the currently 
assigned samples with the ones that you are dragging.
• Drag several samples to the lowest dr op icon to assign them to several 
consecutive pads in one or in several groups.
A yellow border is shown around the pads that receive one of the samples.
NOTE
How many samples can be dropped to several pads depends on the number of 
available pads.
If Groove Agent cannot supply a suffic ient number of free pads for the number 
of dropped samples, a dialog is displaye d, allowing you to proceed or cancel 
the operation. If pads already contained samples, these are replaced.
R
ELATED LINKS
Mapping View on  page 67 
						

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Sound Editing66
Moving and Copying Samples between Pads
Samples can be moved and copied between pads.
• To move the samples from one pad to an other 
 pad, drag the pad to either the 
top, the middle, or the bottom dr op icon of the destination pad.
NOTE
To copy the samples instead of moving them, keep [Alt]/[Option] pressed when 
dragging the samples.
NOTE
When you copy pads that are part of a sliced loop, they are pasted as normal 
instrument pads, that is, they are no longer related to the loop.
Moving and Copying Samples between Groups
To move or copy the sample s to pads in another group, drag the samples on the 
group button first to show the group, and then to the new pad.
The options are the same as when moving samples between pads of the same 
group.
Moving Sliced Loops
You can move sliced loops with one drag and drop operation.
• Drag the first slice of the loop and move it onto the pad section.
When you start dragging, Groove Agent shows the pads on which the sliced 
loop can be dropped, that 
 is, the pads that are followed by enough empty 
pads to insert all the sl ices. Pads on which the lo op cannot be dropped are 
grayed out.
• Drop the slice on the pad from which  you want to start 
 inserting slices.
Changing the Order of Pads
By default, instrument pads are sorted chromatically, based on the standard 
mapping. However, in some ca ses, you may want to display pads from other groups 
within a particular group. Therefore, you can exchange the position of pads.
For example, often a second bass drum is mapped to B0, which can be found in 
pad g
 roup 2. Most of the other common drum kit instruments are, however, located 
in group 3. If you want to see the second bass drum together with the other 
instruments of group 3, exchange the B0  pad with an unused pad in group 3.
• To exchange 2 pads, hold down [Shift ] a
 nd drag one pad onto another pad.
This exchanges the entire contents of the pads with all their settings. 
						

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Sound Editing67
• To see whether the order of the pads differs from the standard sorting, you 
can either check the trigger notes of th e pads to see whether they are mapped 
chromatically or not, or you can click the  Info button to see the pad index of 
all pads.
• To reset the order of all pads to a chrom atic
  order, open the context menu for 
a pad and select  Reset Pad Order .
Mapping View
The mapping view shows the current sa mple mapping of the selected pad.
You can replace and remove samples in the mapping view and adjust their velocity 
ranges. The focused sample is displayed in a lighter color.
NOTE
The mapping view always shows the velocity ranges, even if they are not used to 
trigger samples. However, the values only have an effect in Velocity mode.
Changing the Velocity  Ranges of Samples
• Select the sample in the mapping view and enter new values in the  Hi and  Lo 
fields on the right.
• Position the mouse between two samples,  so that 
 a double-arrow is shown, 
and drag to the left or right.
NOTE
Changing the velocity range of a sample  automatically adapts adjacent samples, 
that is, velocity ranges cannot overlap.
Editing the Mapping of a Pad
A pad can contain up to 8 samples.
• You can add samples by dropping them  onto the mapping view. They can be 
inserted between two other samples, behind  the last sample, or in front of the 
first sample. This is indi cated by a red insert line.
• To replace a sample, drag a new sample onto an existing sample. Which  sample will 
 be replaced is indicated by a red frame. 
						

							Beat Agent
Sound Editing68
• To change the order of the samples, drag them to a new position.
• To map a sample to another pad, drag it onto the pad.This removes the sample from the curren t pad. To map the sample to another 
pa
 d without losing the current mappin g, hold down [Alt]/[Option] while 
dragging.
Replacing Samples
You can replace individual samples in the Mapping View with other samples on your 
hard disk.
PROCEDURE
1. Right-click the sample and select  Replace Sample from the context menu.
2. In the file dialog, navigate to the file that you want to use instead, select it, and 
click Open.
RESULT 
The sample is replaced.
Removing Samples From Pads
• To remove a sample from a pa d, right-click it and select Remove Sample 
from the context menu.
• To remove all samples of a pad, righ t-click one 
 of the samples and select 
Remove Selected Samples .
NOTE
If the PAD/SEL  button is set to  PAD, you cannot select individual samples and 
Remove Selected Samples  removes all samples of the pad.
Main Tab
The Main  tab gives you access to the sample mapping of the pad as well as to the 
most important pa rameters, like Volume, Pan , Cutoff  etc.
The  Main  
tab also shows a simplified sample ed itor. You can adjust the sample start 
and end markers as well as fade-in and fa de-out markers and fade curves in the 
display.
Mode
Determines the trigger mode  
 for the samples of a pad:
•In  Velo
 city mode, the incoming velocity determines which sample is 
played. 
						

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Sound Editing69
•In Layer mode, all samples are played at  the same time, regardless of 
their velocity.
•In  Round Robin  mode, the samples are played repeatedly one after the 
other, from left to right.
•In  Random  mode, samples are played randomly. Repetitions can occur.
•In  Random Exclusive  mode, samples are played randomly, but 
repetitions are not allowed.
Poly
Sets the maximum polyphony of  a
  pad. For example, if this is set to 4, you can 
trigger a pad 4 times before notes are stolen.
NOTE
The polyphony value represents the number of notes that can sound 
simultaneously, therefore triggering la yered samples on a pad may lead to a 
much higher number of actual sample voices.
Fade
Specifies the time it takes for a voice to fade out when voices are stolen.
NOTE
You can specify different fade settings for the different samples of a pad.
Exclusive GroupThis allows you to assign a pad to one  of 3
 2 exclusive groups. Pads within a 
group are never played back simultaneously. When a new note is played, the 
previous note stops.
Volume Sets the level of the sample.
Pan Sets the position of the sample in the stereo panorama.
Coarse Adjusts the tuning  in semitones.
Fine Adjusts the fine tuning in cents.
Cutoff Controls the cutoff frequency of the filter.
NOTE
Cutoff , Resonance, and Distortion  are only available if a filter is used.
Resonance
Sets the filter resonance. 
						

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Sound Editing70
DistortionSets the amount of distortion. The effect of this parameter depends on the 
sele
cted filter mode.
Output The output to which the samples are routed.
• By default, samples are routed to the  Kit mixer, where they are also sent 
through the insert effects.
• You can route samples to one of the 16 agent busses that are available  on the  Agent submenu. If samples are sent to an agent bus, they are 
also sent through the insert effects of this bus.
• You can route samples to one of the 16 available stereo outputs. The  first stereo out is always the Master  output. This output is always active 
and can also contain insert effects.
• You can also route a pad directly to one of the 4 AUX channels, to  create sub groups, for example.
NOTE
Samples that are routed to an output that is deactivated in your host 
application are automatically sent to  the Master output of the plug-in.
Playback Quality
Sets the quality.
•Standard : Select this mode to play back the samples with their original 
bit depth and sample rate.
• Vintage : Select this mode to emulate the sound quality of early 12-bit 
drum machines. The detuning of the samples produces the typical 
aliasing effect. The sample rate is limited to 26040 Hz.
• Turntable  mode is similar to  Vintage mode. The samples are played 
with 12bit/26040 Hz. Use this mode to emulate the typical workflow of 
hip hop producers. Because the first digital drum machines only had a 
very limited amount of RAM, turnta bles were sampled at a speed of 45 
RPM instead of 33 1/3 RPM. This  way, more samples could be saved 
into the available RAM. During play back, the samples were tuned down, 
to correct for the change in pitch. This added the typical crunch and 
aliasing that the early drum machines are famous for.
NOTE
If  Vintage  or Turntable  is selected for a sample, you cannot edit the sample 
using the AudioWarp functions on the  Sample tab. If you try to select one of 
these modes for a sample that uses  AudioWarp, a warning message is 
displayed.
Filter Type
Sets the filter type. You can choose between  Classic, Tube Drive , Ha
 rd Clip, 
Bit Reduction  and Rate Reduction .
To deactivate the filter, select  Off.