Absolute 3!! Oh yeah!!

All right. I think I’m ready to make music. I bought the Absolute 3 VST bundle with the discount offer. So excited.

Now reality sets in:

  1. When minor updates are released for each VST, does my license entitle me to install that update?

  2. Why aren’t there any usable drum patterns in GA4? I’m not into prog-zydeco and calyp-sco. Where are the straight ahead drum beats from previous GA releases?

I haven’t gotten to any of the Halions or the synths stuff yet. But I LOVE one of the Bosendorfer 290 presets a LOT!

Yes, all free updates will work. But let’s say Steinberg releases a “The Grand 4” tomorrow… You wont be able to just update The Grand, you’ll probably have to buy Absolute 4. But Steinberg’s upgrade prices are usually pretty fair.

As for the Groove Agent 4 drum patterns, it’s a matter of taste. If you’re unhappy with the stock ones, Steinberg released a ton of expansions:

-Acoustic Expansions add new deeply-sampled drum kits, and new patterns. These drums usually sound better than the stock ones.
-Style Expansions only add new patterns for the stock drums, along with mixer presets that fit the genre. They work similar to the stock presets.
-Beat Expansions add new electronic drums and yes, more drum patterns. These patterns tend to be simple, and with a little editing can work with the acoustic drums.

The free updates are what I was concerned about, so it’s good to know that we are licensed to update to them.

Regarding the built in drum patterns, I can’t tell if maybe I see only the weird patterns, but are there really no straight ahead drum patterns in GA4? I guess I should ask this in the GA forum.