There’s another bank (there are eight banks in the full version of Groove Agent) of 16 pads for MIDI loops, which ‘play’ the kit pieces, and again these are assigned a MIDI Note. Over on the right, it’s a little more complex: there’s an Edit page for the ‘Agent’ associated with the kit (more on that later), a Mixer for balancing and processing the various kit pieces, and an Options page, which we’ll explore later. The different Agents can be thought of as engines for customising the patterns or samples (depending which Agent you’re using). As I said, we’ll be examining the Acoustic Agent, which is all about tweaking the virtual performance. Finding a suitable kit isn’t straightforward, as the browse-by-Agent page of Groove Agent 4 is missing in SE4, but here’s a quick way to find a kit that’s compatible with the Acoustic Agent. Groove Agent SE4 defaults to a blank preset (no kit, no patterns), but the ‘Beat Agent’ is activated. Right-click on the Beat Agent box at the top centre, and select ‘Load kit with patterns.’. A kit browser window will appear which, alas, is fixed to a narrower width than is helpful. Scroll across until you see the Library Name column - it’s a good idea to drag this column over to the left if you wish to be able to select kits by Agent easily in the future. #Groove agent 4 upgrade full versionĪs there are some kits without a dedicated Agent, the column will be empty at the top (in A-Z), but if you scroll down you’ll soon find all your Acoustic Agent SE kits (the full version of Groove Agent gives you more options).Ĭlick on the column header and the results will be ordered alphabetically (A-Z) by Agent type, click again and you reverse the order (Z-A). Click on one: the kit and its patterns will load, and the Beat Agent icon will be replaced by an Acoustic Agent one. Whichever you choose you’ll be able to customise it, but if in doubt try the ‘Forget The Past’ kit: it sounds decent and the rhythms are simple enough for learning the ropes. Use the Pattern and Instrument buttons (top right of the left-hand pane) to view the Instrument (kit piece) or Rhythm pads. Click any pad or use a MIDI device to trigger the sounds. It’s helpful to drag the Library column over to the left, so you can easily find all the kits that work with Acoustic Agent, which is the newest and most sophisticated Agent in Groove Agent SE4. Groove Agent SE4 has its own transport but can also be set to start and stop in sync with Cubase, which is the way I prefer to work: click on the words ‘Follow Transport’ above Groove Agent’s stop and play buttons - they should turn yellow/orange. When you hit play (space bar) in Cubase, the currently selected pattern (highlighted by a yellow/orange line around the pad) will start playing. You should notice a little ‘clock’ and beat numbers displayed in the pad, which enable you to see quite easily how long/short the pattern is and when it will loop back to the beginning. Hit another Rhythm pad and, by default, it will take over instantly. If jamming these parts to come up with ideas, I prefer to change the Trigger Mode setting for all pads from Immediately to Next Beat or Next Measure (bar), to ensure smooth transitions between different-sounding Rhythms. “It’s safe to say that these point updates will find a wide acceptance among users.”īoth 5.1 and 4.2 updates for HALion 5 and Groove Agent 4, respectively, are freely available as downloads from the Steinberg website.To do this for several pads at once, click the first pad, then shift-click the last pad to make your selection. “We’ve been listening closely to our customers and many of the new features are centered around their requests,” said Matthias Quellmann, product marketing manager at Steinberg. Groove Agent 4.2 now offers more integration with Follow Transport and direct MIDI routing to the plug-in host, advanced Note Repeat functionalities, individual control of the pattern pads in each Agent, a new alternate loop mode as well as providing several workflow improvements suggested by Groove Agent users. With its additional capabilities to program patterns, mix drum tracks and add effects, Groove Agent is multi-role virtual drummer that leaves little room. The Groove Agent 4 drum workstation comprises different drum modules each specialized in certain acoustic and electronic drum styles. The 5.1 update provides many workflow improvements and adds many tools and features to the HALion sampler, introducing eight new effects, new looping modes, sample editing tools and the vintage playback modes. Its functional depth and flexibility allow sound designers the freedom to push their creative envelope. HALion 5 is Steinberg’s VST sampler and sound creation system, marrying sampling technology with the very latest in virtual synthesis. Steinberg has released version 5.1 of HALion, and version 4.2 of Groove Agent, updating its renowned VST instruments with many enhancements and new features.
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