Steinberg Studio Case VST Instruments Operation Manual

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VST Instruments
Virtual Bassist SE 3 – 61
Tone
The Tone knob is also just like the tone control on a bass guitar. Turning 
the Tone knob to the left will cut high frequencies and soften the sound.
Attack
Bass players can change the sound of their playing by choosing to 
play with their fingers or a pick. Playing with the fingers produces a 
softer sound while playing with a pick produces more of an attacking 
sound. The Attack knob in Virtual Bassist SE adjusts the strength of 
the attack allowing you to seamlessly produce the kind of attack sound 
you want, from fingered to picked or in between.
Damp
Bass players can subtly vary their sound by damping the strings with 
their hands, to make the sound duller and decay faster. The Damp 
knob emulates this behavior, turning it to the left makes the sound 
softer and more percussive. 
At the maximum left position Virtual Bassist SE will play deadnotes.
To emulate the sound of old bass strings try a setting between 10 and 2 
o’clock.    
						

							VST Instruments
3 – 62 Virtual Bassist SE
Pickup position
The sound spectrum a bass guitar produces depends on the position 
of the pick-up. A cool thing about Virtual Bassist SE is that it allows 
you to adjust the position of the pick-up. Moving the slider downwards 
from the neutral mid position increases the bite, while moving it up pro-
duces a warmer sound with more bass.
MIDI Controller assignments
To help you get the most out of Virtual Bassist SE in a recording or 
performance situation we have made many parameters available for 
use with MIDI controllers. The following table shows the factory de-
fault assignment of Virtual Bassist SE parameters to MIDI controller 
numbers. 
CC# Name Virtual Bassist SE parameter
1Mod Wheel Wah Pedal
7Volume Master Volume
11 Expression Bass Volume
64 Sustain Pedal Latch On/Off
71 Resonance Damp
73 Attack Attack
74 Cutoff Tone
76 Vibrato Rate Vibrato Rate
77 Vibrato Rate Vibrato Depth
78 Vibrato Rate Vibrato Delay  
						

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VST Instruments
Virtual Bassist SE 3 – 63
In Cubase SE (and other Steinberg hosts), you can automate the dials 
and switches in Virtual Bassist SE using the automation features of the 
host application instead of MIDI controller numbers.
Assigning MIDI controllers in Virtual Bassist SE
As well as the preassigned MIDI controllers listed above, you can as-
sign many of the features of Virtual Bassist SE to MIDI controllers for 
automation or real-time control, e. g. via the knobs of your MIDI key-
board.
There are two ways to assign a Virtual Bassist SE knob or parameter 
to a MIDI controller:
1.Right-click (Win) or [Ctrl]-click (Mac) on the parameter and choose a 
controller number from the drop-down list.
2.Right-click (Win) or [Ctrl]-click (Mac) on the parameter, select Learn 
and move the desired knob or controller on your MIDI keyboard or 
sequencer host. Virtual Bassist SE will set this MIDI controller to the 
parameter you have chosen.
•When you have assigned a parameter and decide that you want to 
remove it, right-click (Win) or [Ctrl]-click (Mac) on the parameter and 
select “Forget”.  
						

							VST Instruments
3 – 64 Virtual Bassist SE
Chord recognition
Virtual Bassist SE contains an intelligent chord recognition system, it 
always plays the correct bass line for the chords it receives from the 
MIDI input of your sequencer or keyboard, although for some chord 
types the bass line may not significantly change. The MIDI input can 
consist of a complete chord or simple one-finger notes – you don’t 
need to make any special settings because Virtual Bassist SE will al-
ways know what to do.
Playing chords
If you play a complete chord in the Pitch Range (for example, the 
notes C, F, and G for a Csus chord), Virtual Bassist SE will automati-
cally recognize it. 
For the best possible chord recognition, all the notes of a chord must 
be played. Playing three notes is sufficient for major, minor or sus4 
chords, but for other chord types (maj7, 7, 6, dim, mmaj7, m7, m6, 
m7-5, sus2 and 7sus4) you need to play all four notes.
Chord inversions
In most cases, it doesn’t matter what inversion of a chord you play. 
However, there are some exceptions where the bass note has to be 
the root or tonic note:
•m7: For example, in Am7 the A must be the bass note because Virtual Bassist 
SE would otherwise interpret the chord as a sixth (C6, in this case) – although 
the chord uses the same notes on the keyboard, it should have a different root 
note when played on a bass guitar.
•dim chords (for example, Adim uses the same notes as Cdim, Eb-dim and 
Gb-dim).
•+5 chords (A+5 uses the same notes as C#+5 and F+5).
•m6 chords (Am6 uses the same notes as F#m7-5). 
						

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VST Instruments
Virtual Bassist SE 3 – 65
One-finger chords
For the chord types major, 7, minor, and m7, you don’t actually need 
to play all the notes in the chord. Although playing a single note al-
ways indicates a major chord, you can indicate a different chord type 
by playing an additional key.
Chord display
The chord display at the top of the instrument panel shows the cur-
rently playing chord. Virtual Bassist SE will always play a fitting bass 
line to any chord although for some chord types the bass line may not 
significantly change.
Additional key Chord
None major
Next left white key 7
Next left black key minor
Next left white and black keys minor7  
						

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3 – 66 Virtual Bassist SE 
						

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4
Groove Agent SE 
						

							VST Instruments
4 – 68 Groove Agent SE
What is Groove Agent SE?
Technically speaking, Groove Agent SE uses thousands of custom 
designed MIDI patterns. These patterns trigger samples especially 
recorded for this instrument. That's basically it!
•The Timeline slider allows you to choose a musical style and its associated 
drum kit. Some of the kits are acoustic, others are electronic. 
•The Complexity slider provides you with increasing degrees of advanced play. 
For each level there's an associated fill, half tempo feel pattern and sidestick 
version. 
•On top of that, there's an Edit section where you can tweak the sounds and 
even change your instruments.
First test
Let's make sure Groove Agent SE is properly set up and ready to play:
1.Load Groove Agent SE as a VST instrument. Make sure Groove 
Agent SE is selected as the output for a MIDI track and that the MIDI 
channel chosen is any other than channel 10. If required, make sure 
your MIDI controller is routed to this track.
2.Open the Groove Agent SE panel. Move the Style slider to a style of 
your choice. Be prepared to wait for a second or two while Groove 
Agent SE loads its samples for this style. The yellow window is helpful 
here with its Loading and Ready messages.
3.Adjust the tempo of Cubase SE to suit each style's favorite tempo 
range as stated in the “range” field in the yellow LCD window.
4.Click Run in the Groove Agent SE window. By now you should see 
the beat light indicate 1-2-3-4 and you should hear rhythms stream-
ing from your speakers! 
						

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Groove Agent SE 4 – 69
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Groove Agent SE terminology
LCD window – The big, yellow window tells you, at all times, what's go-
ing on inside Groove Agent SE. This is your main source of information.
Style – A certain musical style, normally linked to a unique drum and 
percussion kit.
Complexity – The level of advancement in a style. In Groove Agent SE 
the complexity levels go from left (simple) to right (advanced). Music 
in general benefits from variations in a song, and in Groove Agent SE 
they're easy to reach.
Fill – A live drummer usually plays a fill every eight bars or so, empha-
sizing the song's structure and movement. A fill may be regarded as “an 
improvised exclamation mark”. Going from the verse into the chorus? 
Time for a fill!
Half tempo feel – Typically, slowing down the kick and snare pattern to 
half speed, while keeping the rest of the pattern going in the other in-
struments, creates a dramatic effect. This is very typical live drummer 
behavior.
Accent – Before drum machines became popular, an accent was a 
marked hit, typically played on the crash cymbal and kick drum. When 
played off beat, like e.g. on the 8th note preceding a bar line, it becomes 
a syncope.
Ambience – Groove Agent SE comes with a complete set of ambi-
ence recordings for all drums and percussion instruments. The acous-
tic sounds have been recorded with distant microphones and the 
electronic sounds have been processed through various reverb and 
effects units.
Dry/Wet – While “dry” represents the uneffected signal, “Wet” is the 
pure effect signal. A Dry/Wet slider typically adjust the amount of room 
ambience. 
						

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4 – 70 Groove Agent SE
Using Groove Agent SE
Choose what style you want to use with the upper slider. Make sure 
the lower slider is somewhere in the middle third of its total range and 
that the tempo is inside the tempo range of the chosen style. Start 
your sequencer, and when you want the drums to start playing, hit 
Run in Groove Agent SE.
For really easy living, activate Auto Fill. Move the Complexity slider to 
the left for easier/gentler playing and to the right for a more advanced/
noisy/wild drummer. Stop Groove Agent SE with its own Stop button 
or by stopping your sequencer.