Groove Agent 4 announcement

That’s a great idea. I like using Groove Agent 3 to get an idea quickly going, but then get a MIDI track from it and switch to BFD, as the samples and processing options are much better. So assuming that GA3 is not going to have the BFD level of depth (going on GA3 facilities), being able to use the pattern engine of GA3 to trigger a drum module would be awesome :slight_smile:

I’ve said it before, but don’t forget to have more toms in the kit (6) and don’t forget the rototoms!

Please excuse me if I’m on the wrong spot for this…

I have the version of Groove Agent that came with Cubase Elements 6.0.

Please revise it to allow one sample to be played by multiple pads. That would make it easier to do drum rolls on a keyboard.

Thanks…

it has to be fully compatible with previous GA 3 projects and sound library

So when we are saying virtual drummer are we talking about a Jamstix type of thing or just a set of midi files that can be loaded.

Ian

Can’t wait…would love jamstick like functionality.Thanks !

It’s time for an update on the Groove Agent 4 development. In the last post I gave some insight on the creation of the acoustic drum samples that will be part of the content library. But as I mentioned before Groove Agent 4 will introduce a new concept comprising well-known workflows but also new approaches to virtual drummers. An idea that was already featured in Groove Agent 3 will be revised and turned into a new approach. In GA4 there will be again multiple agents that will play on their own or along with other agents in sync. The idea is to have a drum workstation that can be loaded with agents that are “specialists” for specific styles, sounds and genres. The advantage is that each agent’s feature set is as simple or as complex as it needs to be without having to add all parameters or features on every instrument.
Keeping it simple and intuitive is still on top of the list. The agent concept allows us to create instruments within Groove Agent with own personalities, including limits and strengths. Now think about what kind of agents you would like to see in Groove Agent!
Most of you know Groove Agent ONE that has been included in Cubase for several years. We received a lot of positive feedback on the easy and straightforward concept that this little beat machine has to offer, although there are also a lot of suggestions on how to improve the feature set and workflow. It just makes sense that something similar will also be part of Groove Agent 4: a dedicated agent for electronic sounds and beat productions that imports samples and comes with a fully loaded library for all kinds of styles. As with the recordings for the acoustic drum sounds, the content for the second agent is already in the making and is being taken care of by several producers from the US, UK and Germany.
One of the producers is Allen Morgan who has recently worked with Steinberg on several projects, including his own signature drums series for GA ONE and also mixing presets for Cubase 7’s new channel strip. Just yesterday Allen sent us a nice picture directly out of the recording studio in L.A. As you can see, the content library will have some surprises! (And Allen is serious about it!)

Just one last word: There have been a lot of questions about the release date of Groove Agent 4. As you can imagine it is a huge project to create a software application from scratch, even for Steinberg, and producing a new library with exclusive content is always a challenge. For all of you who are hoping for a release in the next couple of weeks this might come as a disappointment, but it won’t be possible to complete this project until the end of the year. We really want to make this right so we can offer our customers the best virtual drummer solution. This takes time, but it will definitely be worth the wait.

I love Groove Agent i.c.m. Beat Designer. Having them together would indeed by very cozy

But still miss a sampler in the Cubase products. Hence I bought Reason and thank heavens for ReWire…

Maybe I am behind (and this is already possible???), but what I would like is to

  • Be Able to load a sample in Groove Agent (for example sake: a piano)
  • Press a button and see the sample divided (IN DIFFERENT PITCHES) over the several keys
  • So I dont have to load it 12 times for an octave and change the pitch per pad
  • Any extra functionalities (like “apply appropriate timestretch” to pitched samples) would be very nice

Bottomline: make it a bit more the sampler that it could be…

^^ This ^^

And honestly I wasn’t impressed w/Allen Morgan’s soundset (Sorry, jmho)

There are thousands of sample libraries out there already so IMO focus on reliability, efficiency and aesthetics & most of all functionality!

I am currently using Battery 4 and I must say it is pretty Awesome! I’m using it w/ Beat Designer but am looking for a replacement for that since the horrible lack of window/layout hasn’t been addressed for years. :nerd:

not interested in the Allen Morgan drums , id rather record my own but im really intrigued about GA4 .
What with IC pro for the android being released and GA4 it should round the end of the year off nicely !!

Sounds like its all progressing well Matthias - thanks for the updates…

Like someone else wrote, the Allen Morgan ‘soundset’ also was not for me; too one-dimensional, over-processed and unforgiving/uninspiring. Sorry, though I’m sure he has his fans… :wink:

Now, for GA4. A ‘Country Music’ Agent…!

What you really MUST try hard to accomplish (for launch…!), is a trip to Nashville, USA; employ some of those great people there to make some super drum-grooves (country/country rock/pop/folk; roots americana etc,) and sample some great NATURAL drum sounds.

I don’t mind; dusty, beat-up kits; shiny, bright pop-tastic things; shuffles a-plenty and importantly the use of BRUSHES… not just sticks…! Another ‘Agent’ (sidekick) could handle all the washboards, triangles, shakers and groove-country paraphenalia… Yee ha…!

But its crucial; its the SOUND from those great studio spaces that you’ve gotta try and capture…! No-one is doing this properly; there is the Toontracks stuff of course; but I’m finding it hard to get hold of (m)any others frankly.

PLEASE, please look into this often neglected but hugely popular genre for your GA4 repertoire. I gather that Steinberg and Nuendo have great friends in some top facilities in the Nashville scene. Drop one or two a line Matthias and ask their opinion as to how best this might come about. Get the ball rolling…! Do it…!

Thanks for listening…!

Bob

Hi - I didn’t understand this. Are you meaning you’re not happy with Battery 4…? Or, you are not happy when combining it with BeatDesigner…? Its really BeatDesigner alone that you’re not happy with…?

I ask, since I am thinking about an upgrade to Komplete 9 end of this month - Battery 4 is one of the main reasons; the NI ‘demo’ is all flash-bang-whizzo - but I’m hoping the basic kits from Batt3 etc are all intact and even better would be that they’ve been added to…

Indeed as stated already - focus on BIG QUALITY DRUMS, instead of electronic samples and stuff: they are more than available! the Maschine real drums (60-70-80…) aren’t bad, but … they don’t sound “real” enough, as big a NI-fan I am, I hope YAMAHA/STEINBERG do a better job :wink:!! I like the different vibes-ideas I heard so far!

I meant I am Very Happy w/B4!!
Absolutely Love it, and combining it with Beat Designer is great but BD is just so riddled w/it’s window/AOT issues that sometimes it kills workflow… :nerd:

Ah…! Thank you for clarifying, oh Royal one…! :wink:

Yes, understood about BeatDesigner… :frowning:

I’m one of those fans. I’m not good at processing drums, or mixing in general, and I really don’t want to dedicate the time to get better. I like to write songs. That’s what I’d like to spend my time doing, as that’s what I enjoy most. Straight out of the box, some of Morgan’s acoustic sets sound better to me than anything else I have (BFD2, SSD4). I’m very interested in whatever else he has coming out.

Just to make sure I understand the last part here, this means we could import our own samples?

If so, I like this part the best, TBH.

A pre-fabricated drummer is great at times, but a custom one would be the beat. I’d love it if we’ll be able to make our own! I think a lot of people would appreciate such a feature.

Please make things as customizable as possible.

Looking forward to GA4 !

I’m sure it will be an Awesome Groover :slight_smile:

Cheers,
Muziksculp

Could be nice:

  • Preview of the presets with some Midi Clip, to quickly know all the elements of the library preset.

  • More library with Acoustic drums feel, World music Percs,

  • ability to modify the layers of all the sounds in each pad, Would be INCREDIBLE to Modify elements by layers, can create amazing sounds.

  • Asign Send FX and Inserts, IN THE PADS , At this time I spend a lot of time setting up GA, multichannel at the mixer just for add some EQ or Reverb.

I haven’t read much of what’s already been written in this thread and I have no expreience with prevoisu versions of Groove Agent, I just want to say that the ultimate drum plug-in is still not made and now Steinberg has the chance to do that. I hope you will take a closer look at Xfer Record’s drum plug-in Nerve and FXpansion’s Tremor for inspiration when it comes to sound design capabillities and layout of the seqencer (polyrhythmic, please!). Also, for a tight integration to Cubase I suggest that you create a new track type in Cubase that makes the interaction between the plug-in and the what’s going on in the project window as smooth as possible (take a look at Reason’s pattern lane).

My 2 c.

Intro:
Guys, I’m a BIG Halion Sonic fan & Absolute VSTi collection, so I wanted to test HALion 4 (I dwnled a trial).
To be very honest, I’m not impressed at all, I hoped that I could alter for example the Triebwerk sounds etc, looks like they are real samples etc. So my biggest wish for HALion4 is scattered :smiley: so to speak :wink:
I know it does a LOT more than that (it’s a sampler…) but i don’t really have time to mess with that kind of stuff.

BUT, I came a cross the preset “FlexPhrased Vintage Drums”, and OH MY GOD it sounds SO PHAT!!
:neutral_face: is this what they are preparing for GA4? or is this what GA3 had? because I LOVE that sound :neutral_face: please help me find more of these goodies :smiley:!!
=> Where did this come from, does Steinberg make more of these loops/drum-phrased-recordings? Is it a part of a legacy package?